was listening to XM radio the other day, and they were talking about the Bears. They have a tough schedule to start the season, guy calls in to say how they're going to crush it, he even bet his buddy they'd be at least 5-3 at the halfway point. I start thinking that this guy is just blinded by the fact that he's a fan.

Now I'm wondering if I'm the same. When asked who the worst teams are in the league, the first thing out of Chris Mortensen's mouth is the '9ers. One publication has us picked to go 3-13. Are you fricking kidding me?

The defense made tremendous strides last year, and they were on the field much longer than they should have had to be. This year, we get Manny Lawson back, and have made a few key additions.

People laugh at JTO starting at QB, but damn he looked sharp against the Bears. A guy coming out of nowhere to play well when given the shot? It's not that outside the realm of possibility by any stretch. It was esecially apparent how far ahead he is of Alex watching Alex missing guys left and right.

We've got some options now at WR finally, and of course we've got an OC that knows what the hell he's doing.

We were a trendy pick to make the PO's last year. Obviously didn't happen, but this team has more talent and better coaching than last year.

I, for one, will be disappointed if we don't go 9-7 or 10-6. Am I setting myself up for disappointment? Most likely...but I'm really looking forward to see this thing go. Hopefully Nolan grows some nuts this year, and gets more aggressive in his late game/4th down decision making...