Playoffs. Playoffs!? TALK TO ME ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS!

Whoo hoo. Time for some post-season action.

The rest of this week we'll be breaking down the Bears defense, as: Tackles, Ends, Backers, Corners, Safeties.

The offense, you know. Grossman either lays a turd or he doesn't. My guess is -- doesn't. He seems to play better under pressure.

One game

Tank gets suspended for one game by the Bears.

No, Tank Johnson isn't getting cut

And he shouldn't be.

First of all, let's review.

Player A: smashed his teammate in the skull with a blunt object that left a visible scar. Missed one game due to injury, was fined.

Player B: Punched player A in the face, breaking his jaw and knocking him out for a game. Was fined, not suspended.

Player C: Assaulted a man at a 24-hour dining establishment while still on probation for a previous assault. Suspended by the league for one game.

Player D: Has been arrested twice and been charged with misdemeanors for not having filed the proper state paperwork on his legally owned personal property. Was present when his friend was shot and killed by unknown assailants.

You will not convince me that player D has committed a serious enough transgression to be fired, but the other three haven't. Sorry.

Do I think he should sit on his ass? Yes. But can you win the Super Bowl without this guy? No.

No? But aren't you just replacing him with Ian Scott?

No.

Lovie Smith's system is based on 1) smaller players able to get up the field and pressure the QB. 2) a deep rotation to keep those smaller players fresh against much bigger offensive linemen.

The rotation a month ago was Tommie Harris, Tank Johnson, Alfonso Boone and Ian Scott, with spot appearances by Israel Idonije.

Now your rotation is Tank Johnson, Alfonso Boone, Ian Scott, and Idonije. If you take Tank Johnson off the front of that rotation, the 4th spot is taken by Antonio Garay. Now you have two run-first guys (who are, in fairness, better against the run than Tank is. Ian Scott started last season and the first 5 games this year and their run defense has suffered since he was bumped back in the rotation) and two replacement level players. Is there a dropoff from Tank to Antonio Garay? Yes. Can you win a super bowl with Mr. Garay as a key component of your line? Hell no.

You need that pass rush to keep the pressure of Danieal "Chumped by Tim Rattay" Manning and Devin "You Are Rediculous" Hester. Granted, Vasher will be back in the starting lineup come playoff time unless someone's fibbing about his hammy, but you still need that pass rush. Your #1 middle pass rusher is Tank Johnson.

For everybody clamoring for his ass -- Mr. Terry Boers, to the white courtesy phone -- ask yourself this. Do you want to see the Bears win a super bowl this year? Do you think they're going to be able to next year? Scott and Boone are both free agents, who knows when Tommie is going to be healthy again, and the entire defense is going to be a year older.

Are you going to root for the Bears to fail if they play him this postseason? Do you root against the Bears because Ricky "Nice Laptop" Manning Jr. plays for them? Do you root against Olin Kreutz and Fred Miller?

I didn't think so.

Willie Posey dead

He was apparently shot to death after a fight at the Ice Bar on N Clark. Tank Johnson was at the hospital, wasn't known if he was at the club.

Not much to say at this piont except my condolences to Johnson and his family.

Tank Johnson's Warrant

at 11 this morning a warrant was executed on Tank Johnson's house. The nature of the investigation was not disclosed. Comment from the Lake County States Atty should be forthcoming later this afternoon.

Hat tip WSCR and Lawrence Holmes.

WBBM is reporting that Tank Johnson was not there. The press release said (again, crediting WSCR) that a 26 year old male (Tank is 25), 25 year old female (Tank's a dude, as far as we know) and two children were in the house, but that the warrant was executed without incident and some of the items listed on the warrant were recovered.

Update: Chicago Tribune article

Update 2: WBBM TV is reporting that a man was led from the house in handcuffs and Tank Johnson left the Bears practice facility in the care of a Bears Security staff member.

Update 3: For the record, here's a map of the only house on the 400 block of N Delany in Gurnee. Only one house. Looks like the kind of place Tank would live. No idea who his pal is.

Update 4: Lawrence Holmes on WSCR is reporting that Tank Johnson IS being charged with 6 counts of weapons possession. His friend who lives in the house is being charged with unlawful use of a weapon and felony cannabis possession.

Bleah. For those of you keeping score, this is his second time run-in with weapons charges.

NE Preview

What's to say? This is a game that is going to be won or lost in Rex Grossman's head. He cannot let the (not that great, without Harrison) pass rush from the Pats rattle him. If he can concentrate on his mechanics and keep the balls out of the Pats hands, we'll win this game.

On the flip side, we've got to take away Brady's options and give the front 4 time to get to him. I think we can.

The Patriots

Sorry I haven't had much to say in a while. The last few weeks have been a great time to just kick back and watch the team kick ass.

For everybody who wants to throw Grossman off the bus, take a gander at Eli Manning. Here's a kid who simply makes bad throws, under no pressure with perfect mechanics. Mark my words, he's going to go down as one of the biggest draft busts in another 3 years. The only reason he's not considered that now is his last name.

He does read a defense well. T hat's about the best I can say for him. He just can't get the ball to a spot reliably.

Grossman is getting getter at not throwing awful INTs. He's taking the sack when he needs to. Now if we can get him to hit that hot read like the Bradley TD more often, we'll see some good stuff this Sunday. Especially since it's tough to run with Wilfork clogging up the middle. More to come on what to expect against the Fightin' Belicheks.

They're falling like flies

Urlacher day to day. McGowan goes straight from PUP to IR. Should be an interesting game in NYC.