BearFan PHX

They sure whipped our butts for a couple decades with Favre and Rodgers. The lifetime series has the Packers ahead by two games. That means this year if we sweep them, we will be dead even after 100 years of football, heading into the meat of the Trubisky Nagy Pace era. Time for payback. I hate the Packers, but I LOVE to hate the Packers. It's not like New York and Philly fans who would actually fight in the parking lot. Who would Batman be without the Joker? I LOVE the Packers, thank god they exist so we can beat them.

AZ - right, but theyre saying it is literally night and day compared to training camp last year, not compared to week 17. I get that this is the new baseline that he grows from this year, and that awesome, but they arent saying this is a whole new Mitch Trubisky, theyre just saying he will keep growing from where he left off last year.

I think what they keep saying is how far ahead of where they were THIS TIME last year, not at the end of the season, and thats really not news. We have to see him progress from where he was at the end of last year - and I expect that too, but if you listen, thats not what theyre saying. Theyre not saying he isnt either, they are just saying safe things for the reporters

thats just because we had a team that hadnt had a GM since 1985, and we all thought we were better than the team that drafted David Terrell or Stan Thomas for example. Now that we see a real GM, we see where we actually stand.

ahahahaha

Because I know I could never do as good a job as Pace has done, but Im pretty sure I could ruin a team

I think Trevathan provides more leadership and continuity than any of us realize.

GO PACE. When I was a kid I had a fantasy of being the Bears' GM. Now that I see a real GM, I know I am nowhere good enough to help the team. Now I have a new dream. I want to be the Packers' GM.

I'm saying the scheme was new to NFL offenses. In 1985 about half the pass plays in an NFL playbook didnt have a hot read. In 1986 every pass play in an NFL playbook had one. Buddy had the alignment for a while etc, but he wasnt as blitz-happy as he was in 85, and that's what Im talking about. We had a team full of athletes, but against a decent offense from the 1990s we wouldnt have been anywhere near as dominant. Dan Marino sort of showed us that. Dont get me wrong, I have NEVER enjoyed watching football more than I did that 1985 season. That is my favorite team ever. They were amazing. But a big part of their dominance was the way they overwhelmed offenses with too many rushers for their rules to handle.

Hampton and Dent were the engine that made it go. Marshall and Wilson are also really underrated. And Buddy Ryan too. That scheme at the time was so alien no one knew how to deal with it.

well said

I'm gonna say David Montgomery. I don't think any of us realize how much more Nagy really wanted to run the ball last year than he was able to. I think Montgomery is going to be a stud in our offense. And if that's true, then Trubisky is going to be a big breakout too.

Urlacher had a lot of talent, but i think he is overrated as a football player. I remember the 85 team, and how they transcended Xs and Os. Urlacher didnt even get a ring. Ray Lewis was going to will his team to win games they would otherwise have lost. Urlacher did that once against the Cardinals in the famous "We let them off the hook" game. Urlacher was an all time great imposing his will in that one. In other games he was fast and hit hard, he made it tough on opposing quarterbacks, but he wasn't transcendent like Ray Lewis, the 85 front 7 or Dick Butkis. Those guys got in your head. They were scary. Urlacher was just good, and while he had incredible talent, I don't believe he was "great"

I agree Shaheen can still turn it around. I sure hope he does, that would be fantastic for our offense. I also agree that Sowell doesnt replace what Shaheen does, so they arent related. I still think they arent convinced about Shaheen, and if he doesnt shine in camp, he might not make the cut. He still might, but a free agent might replace him too. Pace isnt one to sit on his hands.

I do think you're right that this is scheme related. Putting Daniels and his agility at Center is part of the quicker hitting inside run game that Howard wasn't suited for. Howard was a back with vision who had patience to let his blocks develop off tackle. Nagy prefers someone who hits the hole quickly, or one cut and go, and that means the blockerw reaching the LBs would be inside and move more quickly. Moving Daniels goes along with adding Mongotmery and Davis to the backfield. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XBfw3ktCIo I have another silly point that wouldn't be worth thinking about if ANYTHING else was happening to talk about LOL If they are looking to extend Whitehair, it seems that they're going to cost themselves some money if they do it as a Guard instead of a Center. According to this site: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/positional/center/ guards get paid quite a bit more than centers. Here's the average salary of each for the past four years... 2016 2017 2018 2019 Guard 5.8M 6.6M 6.9M 12.9M Center 2.6M 4M 4.9M 6.1M G/C +223% +165% +141% +211% You can see that in 2106 and 2019 OG made more than double what OCs got. Even in the closest example, centers only made about 2/3 what guards made. So switching Whitehair to OG might cost us a few million dollars each year on the cap. Am I suggesting that we shouldn't move him over until he's signed? Nah. They should do whatever's best for the team. I'm just bored, and have nothing else to do but ask and answer this question. It's interesting though...

I agree, Shaheen is looking more and more like a bust. If he has a good camp and plays up to his potential, he still has a shot, but I think unless some kind of lightbulb comes on, he's gonna be a swing and a miss. TE will definitely get some attention going forward into free agency, next year's market and the draft.

I agree about Mizzell. Sowell will just be a 6th OL type TE, a blocker. If he can get open on a few surprise plays like the one he caught in the endzone, so much the better, but he's still gonna be an OT, he's just gonna be the 6th OL on the field type.

Nagy said during the offseason that last year at this time, Mitch was learning basic things like getting out of the huddle and getting everyone aligned, and didnt really see the defenses. I think hes saying that Mitch has enough experience now that he is able to perform the mechanics automatically, and now his mind is free to work on the puzzle in front of him. Thats my take anyway.

I think when you look at those numbers from Kansas City, you get an idea of how poorly Jordan Howard fit the scheme last year.

I think it's an easy prediction to make - you look at Kareem Hunt, and extrapolate similar success here. It's another weay of saying that Nagy has a great system, and they believe that Pace picked a guy that fits perfectly into it. And this was in the third round, after having drafted most of Khalil Mack in the first round and Anthony Miller in the second. Dont forget that We got a 2 back next year for the one we traded away. If Oakland sucks, and we are good, those two picks we swapped next year might only be like 10 or fewer picks apart. Pace is absolutely killing it.

of course this is the actual answer.

I agree. I still have high hopes for Shaheen. At this point I think it's hard to tell anything, because the roster is so large, they may be playing depth games with players that wont be on the team come September. Yeah, there are so many bodies at this time of year, it's hard to read anything much into it.

The Bears today signed undrafted rookie tight end Jesper Horsted and waived guard Tommy Doles in a move that strongly signals that blocking emphasis is being shifted from the interior linemen to the perimeter. Clearly the Bears have already lost faith in Montgomery and this move shows that they will be running Cohen a lot more than expected to the outside. https://www.chicagobears.com/news/roster-moves-bears-ink-horsted-cut-doles Yes Im joking it sure is slow.

seems like it, and it sure isnt the McCaskeys. I think it starts with Pace. Some teams pay lip service to it. In the video about the Bills draft they had some guy in the hospital wearing a wrestling mask make their pick for them. That didnt seem authentic to me. These Bears do.

+1