Hello all! This is my first ever blog post so please go easy on me. Let me first start by saying thank you to Brian Franklin, John Hayes, and Jack Cooney. I am honored to be added to the team!

Well here we are again, week 1 of the NFL. Tony Romo is already injured, Johnny Manziel is still off to his old shenanigans, and Packer fans are already talking as much smack as possible. Almost everyone across the nation is excited for the NFL year to begin. Football fans ‘pregamed’ the NFL season by gathering around and watched the NCAA games this Labor Day weekend. I must admit, seeing my Iowa Hawkeyes win and Notre LAME losing to a then UNRANKED Texas team was amazing! But now, IT’S NFL TIME! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Many “Experts” are going to tell you that the early Super Bowl favorites are the Broncos, Packers, Panthers, Patriots, Cardinals, and Seahawks. Hey I can’t deny that all of these teams are good, but there shall be only one team hoisting a Super Bowl trophy, a team that is known as DAAAAAA BEARS!….. Ok but seriously, let me tell you FOUR reasons why Da Bears have a serious shot at being the leagues dark horse and surprising everyone. Before I start, let me mention that I am your typical Chicago wannabe south side short bearded chubby guy and there are 3 things everyone knows about me: I’m Irish, I LOVE MILLER LITE, and I am almost too passionate about the Bears that during game time you better hope you have more Millers than me… I am the biggest Bears fan I know and that says A LOT!

Pace and Fox. Last year, we finally saw an improvement from the shit storm Trestman and Emery left us (sorry Chloe Trestman for all the negativity you received from me via Twitter). Yes the Bears had a losing record, but they competed in “almost” every game (the games Cutler was injured we didn’t have a chance because we let former Notre Dame “spectacular” Jimmy Clausen play as our backup). John Fox has always had success in his second season with a team, and I think that his disciplined style of football gives the Bears a great chance. Also, GM Ryan Pace has added some great pieces to the team by signing the likes of Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman to the defense; and Josh Sitton and Bobby Massie to the struggling offensive line. With adding talented players, Pace has managed to anger some fans with the departures of standouts Matt Forte, Martellus Bennett, and Robbie Gould. Forte is the only one I have a problem with releasing. He is for sure one of the best RB’s the Bears have ever had. I get he was getting up there in age, but to get rid of him because we have faith in a back who had an OK year last season scares me. Let us not forget the mistake the Bears made a few years ago by letting Thomas Jones go because they had all the faith in the world in a young Cedric Benson. TOTAL BEARS MOVE! I am so happy to see Martellus Bennett gone. He was a good TE, but way too much baggage came with him in the locker room. Robbie Gould will be missed, but HE MISSED TWO game winners that crushed any hopes of making the playoffs (you win those two games and then possibly take the last game vs Detroit at home a little more seriously making them 9-7). Yeah he did win key games for the Bears, but you have to look to the future. I am not saying the new kicker will be as great or is the future, but hopefully he doesn’t cost the Bears any games.

Last year, we finally saw an improvement from the shit storm Trestman and Emery left us (sorry Chloe Trestman for all the negativity you received from me via Twitter). Yes the Bears had a losing record, but they competed in “almost” every game (the games Cutler was injured we didn’t have a chance because we let former Notre Dame “spectacular” Jimmy Clausen play as our backup). John Fox has always had success in his second season with a team, and I think that his disciplined style of football gives the Bears a great chance. Also, GM Ryan Pace has added some great pieces to the team by signing the likes of Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman to the defense; and Josh Sitton and Bobby Massie to the struggling offensive line. With adding talented players, Pace has managed to anger some fans with the departures of standouts Matt Forte, Martellus Bennett, and Robbie Gould. Forte is the only one I have a problem with releasing. He is for sure one of the best RB’s the Bears have ever had. I get he was getting up there in age, but to get rid of him because we have faith in a back who had an OK year last season scares me. Let us not forget the mistake the Bears made a few years ago by letting Thomas Jones go because they had all the faith in the world in a young Cedric Benson. TOTAL BEARS MOVE! I am so happy to see Martellus Bennett gone. He was a good TE, but way too much baggage came with him in the locker room. Robbie Gould will be missed, but HE MISSED TWO game winners that crushed any hopes of making the playoffs (you win those two games and then possibly take the last game vs Detroit at home a little more seriously making them 9-7). Yeah he did win key games for the Bears, but you have to look to the future. I am not saying the new kicker will be as great or is the future, but hopefully he doesn’t cost the Bears any games. Easy Schedule. The Bears take on the most overrated division in football, the NFC East, and a pretty bad AFC South. Do not let any “expert” fool you and say that any team from the NFC East poses a threat. The Cowboys lost Romo so they are done; the Redskins, I admit, are talented but they can’t win a Super Bowl; the Giants will manage to beat good teams but lose to BAD teams; and the Eagles will “Fly” into last place. I am not afraid of any of those teams. The AFC South has a strong Texans defense and a turnaround Colts offense. However, both will be beatable! The Titans and Jags… well let’s just say sit back and RELAX! The Bears first 4 games are Texans, Eagles, Cowboys, Lions. The Bears COULD be 4-0 after these games. I personally think they will find a way to blow it and go 2-2, but I will touch on that later. Yes the NFC North is still a tough division, but if the Bears can go . 500 in division play, then playoffs here we come!

The Bears take on the most overrated division in football, the NFC East, and a pretty bad AFC South. Do not let any “expert” fool you and say that any team from the NFC East poses a threat. The Cowboys lost Romo so they are done; the Redskins, I admit, are talented but they can’t win a Super Bowl; the Giants will manage to beat good teams but lose to BAD teams; and the Eagles will “Fly” into last place. I am not afraid of any of those teams. The AFC South has a strong Texans defense and a turnaround Colts offense. However, both will be beatable! The Titans and Jags… well let’s just say sit back and RELAX! The Bears first 4 games are Texans, Eagles, Cowboys, Lions. The Bears COULD be 4-0 after these games. I personally think they will find a way to blow it and go 2-2, but I will touch on that later. Yes the NFC North is still a tough division, but if the Bears can go . in division play, then playoffs here we come! Less dumb plays… (Or so I hope). With losing the laughable plays designed by Trestman and stealing Adam Gases smart calls of last season, The Bears will be alright offensively. This new coordinator, Dowell Loggains, will most likely copy the calls of Gase. Last year, we saw a really good Cutler because finally the Bears had a coordinator that knew exactly who Cutler is, an average QB. I am not going to get into the Cutler argument right now, but he is the best current option for the Bears. He is OK guys come on…. Gase knew this and said “alright let’s run the ball a lot, throw smart passes, and have Cutty scramble.” No longer did we see any screens to fat/slow Bennett, reverse handoffs to Alshon, or Cutler throwing into triple coverage. Cutler cares, DO NOT SAY THAT HE DOESN’T, the guy literally just thinks he is better than he is and now we have a staff saying “mmmm no Jay, throw it to an open target.” For the love of GOD though, NO SCREENS TO KEVIN WHITE!!!!

With losing the laughable plays designed by Trestman and stealing Adam Gases smart calls of last season, The Bears will be alright offensively. This new coordinator, Dowell Loggains, will most likely copy the calls of Gase. Last year, we saw a really good Cutler because finally the Bears had a coordinator that knew exactly who Cutler is, an average QB. I am not going to get into the Cutler argument right now, but he is the best current option for the Bears. He is OK guys come on…. Gase knew this and said “alright let’s run the ball a lot, throw smart passes, and have Cutty scramble.” No longer did we see any screens to fat/slow Bennett, reverse handoffs to Alshon, or Cutler throwing into triple coverage. Cutler cares, DO NOT SAY THAT HE DOESN’T, the guy literally just thinks he is better than he is and now we have a staff saying “mmmm no Jay, throw it to an open target.” For the love of GOD though, NO SCREENS TO KEVIN WHITE!!!! Zach Miller. IT’S MILLER TIME! Yes I am on the Miller train and you should be to. I was laughed at badly in my fantasy league for selecting him early, but just watch out! IF he can stay healthy, the Bears will have a top TE in the league! YES WE CAN CHICAGO!….. Ok but really, he is a good TE and every time he scores this season, I will shotgun a Miller Lite, deal?

Week 1 game prediction: BEARS 17 Texans 21. Hear me out, I think the Bears have every chance in the world to win this game. JJ Watt is back, but how healthy will he be? Also, the Bears offensive line just got a whole lot better by adding Sitton. The Texans do not have a good offense, sorry Brock! Osweiler will not be worth his ridiculous contract, granted the Bears secondary is a joke and will make him look like he is pretty good. They do have a decent RB in Lamar Miller and I think he will create some problems for the D. This is how I foresee the ending of Sunday’s game: The Bears, trailing by 4, get the ball back after a nice defensive stand late in the 4th quarter. It’s the 2 minute drill and they are marching down the field. They have it on the Texans 30 yard line with less than a minute to go, I finally put the Miller bottle down as my mom is yelling at me for spilling on the carpet too much from jumping up and down/I feel like I can puke from eating too many Polish Sausages. BUT THEN, 1 of 3 things will happen: A) Cutler gets blindsided by Watt and fumbles the football. B) Cutler throws a TERRIBLE interception right to a defender not even covering anyone. OR C) “Smokin” Jay Cutler hits Zach Miller deep in the endzone and I sprint to Kenny’s (the local Irish bar) and drink Miller Lites like they are going out of style!! Like I said, the Bears have every chance in the world to win this game and I think their chances are great, but do not count on them pulling it off. MILLER LITE COUNT: 5. (one for each quarter and one for a Zach Miller TD).