mulligan
Mike Mulligan biography
Mike Mulligan has been covering sports for more than 25 years with the Chicago Sun-Times. This will be his 19th season on the Bears. A …
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Will botched trade hurt Bears’ Jerry Angelo?
MIKE MULLIGAN: Normally it takes a few years to figure out how a team has done in the NFL draft, but what was clear by Friday night was that Jerry Angelo, the man at the center of Draftgate 2011 — or is it Tradegate 2011? — may have done significant damage to his reputation, regardless of how the Bears’ new rookies grade out.
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Bears need better defensive picks with Ruskell in foursome
MIKE MULLIGAN: Bears personnel boss Tim Ruskell came on board nearly a year ago. Ruskell will be helping run the draft for the first time this weekend. Here’s hoping he’s the missing ingredient in helping improve the Bears, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
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Bears either ante up or risk losing Mike Martz
MIKE MULLIGAN: The NFL’s economic downturn might be of its own making, but that hasn’t stopped the Bears from offering recession-fueled deals to key members of the coaching staff. A source told the Sun-Times that offensive coordinator Mike Martz, like special-teams coordinator Dave Toub before him, recently turned down a one-year extension offer because it didn’t include a raise.
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Lowballing Bears’ Dave Toub is a risky decision
MIKE MULLIGAN: There has been just one consistent unit in the Bears’ universe during the Jerry Angelo era and throughout Lovie Smith’s reign as coach. The defense has battled its ups and downs. The offense has mostly sputtered. But special teams has been as constant as Polaris, the North Star. Suddenly, however, a combination of factors have the Bears on the verge of veering dangerously off course.
Bears must start to get more talent from their drafts
At the NFL Scouting Combine in February and again at the Bears’ predraft media session last week, general manager Jerry Angelo talked about getting four starters out of the 2011 draft. He means eventual starters, of course, guys who can become fixtures in the next …
Bears coveting a mix and max in the draft
In the cloak-and-dagger world of the NFL, it’s never easy to decode the verbal camouflage at draft time. How do you differentiate between smoke signals and smokescreens? But if you’re wondering what will happen when the Bears are on the clock with the No. 29 …
Loss leaves questions in its wake
MIKE MULLIGAN: This is the way a lucky season ends? At the hands of the Green Bay Packers? In front of a home crowd and a national-television audience with the most untimely of injuries and a third-string quarterback?
Special teams, Hester’s opportunities again are the X-factor
The Green Bay Packers are as determined to keep Devin Hester from beating them as Hester is to pull off the trick. Hester has the ability to take over Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field, but sadly, Green Bay will have a say in …
Cutler vs. Rodgers: A new rivalry
MIKE MULLIGAN: Legend has it that when Jay Cutler arrived in Chicago a couple of years ago, one of the first guys he contacted was his old buddy Aaron Rodgers. Cutler sent a text to the Packers quarterback, saying he gets to beat Rodgers twice a year now.
Mulligan: Real money isn’t in playoffs
The NFL’s anticipated offseason labor strife promises to remind everyone that professional sports feature millionaire players and billionaire owners and a love of money more than a love of the game. That’s not a surprise, of course, after an allegedly amateur college football season that …
How to beat the Bears
MIKE MULLIGAN: It’s unlikely the Seattle Seahawks will be able to pull off a second consecutive colossal playoff upset, but not impossible. The Sun-Times talked with some NFL insiders about the best way to attack the Bears:
Seattle QB gets his wish, will face Bears
SEATTLE — Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck got just what he wished for when his former team, the Green Bay Packers, defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 21-16 on Sunday: a trip to Chicago. While most NFL quarterbacks are careful not to reveal what they wish for, Hasselbeck …
Brees the man more than ever
SEATTLE — The New Orleans Saints reached the dizziest heights possible last year thanks in large part to quarterback Drew Brees, whose marvelous individual performances not only made the Saints champions but also provided needed inspiration to the entire Gulf Coast community. Brees was the …
Martz’s balanced lesson from Green Bay
If the Bears wind up hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy this year, then it would be only appropriate to thank the Green Bay Packers. The 10-3 loss to the Packers in the regular-season finale Sunday may have served as the perfect reminder to offensive coordinator …
Nothing special about Bears loss
GREEN BAY, Wis. — In one corner of the locker room, Peanut Tillman was expressing a heartfelt belief that the Bears haven’t seen the last of the Green Bay Packers this season, while 10 feet away, Julius Peppers was talking about winning the Super Bowl. …
Seahawks shock Saints, could face Bears
MIKE MULLIGAN: Welcome to the upside-down world of the NFL playoffs, where even the most ardent of Bears fans will be cheering for the Green Bay Packers today.
Bears have year to think about Lovie extension
The Bears’ season has played out nearly the opposite of what might have been expected coming out of last year. No grim drama filled with rancor and recrimination for this bunch. It has been a year of glory. With one game remaining in the regular …
Even against Seahawks, Saints’ Brees must step up
SEATTLE — The New Orleans Saints reached the dizziest heights possible last year thanks in large part to quarterback Drew Brees, whose marvelous individual performances not only made the Saints champions but also provided needed inspiration to the entire Gulf Coast community. Brees was the …
Fake punt a Rex-ipe for disaster
MIKE MULLIGAN: It’s been a very tough week for Jets coach Rex Ryan, the former Bears ball boy and son of famed Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan.
It was a heal of a day for Favre
MIKE MULLIGAN: The injury report has been around almost as long as the NFL itself — well, almost as long as the NFL has been relevant anyway.
