AZ54

First and foremost is figuring out what we do at safety. Both Brisker and Byard are UFAs this offseason. Byard is getting old but I feel good about getting one more year out of him, potentially two. Brisker is having a good but not great season. His health concerns are a problematic long term risk. I think we sign Byard, let Brisker walk, then draft a safety high for Byard to help come up to speed. Stevenson and Smith are both under contract until 2027 so they stay since they are cheap. Wright would be a good signing but he might cost far more than we can afford especially since I still think he's only backup material.

I felt the same way when I saw the replay. Izzy has to engage earlier on the play instead of waiting but it’s also a case where you need the DE to get upfield a bit to create the space.

With weather like that the Eagles game was never going to be good for passing stats. Nonetheless I still saw good things from Caleb that I haven’t seen much of before. On a couple plays the Eagles blew up the screens and Caleb just threw the ball in the dirt. On one pass play with a shallow crossing route he threw with nice touch to I think OZ who took it for a first down. In the past he put too much velocity on the ball on some of these short routes. He might have cost himself an INT with another soft toss on a screen but regardless I think he’ll learn from that and this is still a sign of growth.

Yep, replaced Kenny Clark with Parsons and now lost Wyatt. They are a long way off from the talent of Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter in the trenches. You know they watched that game too and know what is coming their way.

The $6mil for a 1st rd contract absolutely would be part of the balance sheet. It's 25% of a $24mil/yr contract. Further you would be spending the money on a more proven commodity versus taking a chance on a rookie, or spending time on the learning curve. Myles Garrett's contract cap hit in 2026 is just $23.6mil.

And Detroit is fading. Each week they get further away from Ben Johnson is another week their offense looks a little less efficient.

Love it. We put in our Navajo package with 5 Dlinemen and it still didn't matter.

It's going to take me a long time to come down off this high. We just manhandled the Eagles defensive front for 4 straight quarters. There are a lot of first round draft picks in their front 7. Fangio may have kept the safeties back for most of the game protecting against the big plays Ben Johnson loves but he paid for it dearly. Now we're taking that running game to Green Bay where they just lost their starting DT. We get a couple extra days of rest and planning to boot. If Green Bay tries to do the opposite and load up against the run you know Ben will respond accordingly. It was a horrible day passing for both teams, and a horrible kicking day for one team. 35mph gusts coming sideways in cold weather. It affects the ball. That's why you need a good running game late in the season. Despite all the skill position talent on the roster Ben has been focused on the running game since the beginning of training camp. Dennis Allen has put together a good staff on defense. It's hard to say he's not getting the best out of the talent he has on the field. Even the DE we traded for, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, is making impact plays the last two games. In summary.. the Bears just did to the Eagles what the media expected the Eagles to do to the Bears.

The second statement about Philly being pissed all week is correct.

Talk about owning the locker room. I'm pretty sure this entire team would run through a brick wall for him right now.

I can't speak for everyone else, nor how you know what all of their opinions are but.. your opinion is different from Ashkum's and mine. I agree with Ashkum that, depending how this season plays out, we are 50/50 on making a big trade to get a pass rusher. My preferred target, Myles Garrett, totally changes the Defensive front. Maxx Crosby is the second target and will cost less. I prefer giving up players if possible and less value in draft picks but the cost will be high. Players of some sort have to be involved because we're up against the cap limit and that is the biggest stumbling block. It also means the other teams have to value our players in some way. Moving away from signing a fully guaranteed 1st Rd deal improves cap space. IMO there is nothing wrong with this roster building model IF you are confident in the missing piece to your roster. The Rams did it, won a Superbowl, then hit the downside but with good coaching and good QB play managed to ride through the valley while they restocked the roster.

I’ll assume that’s starting LBs?

...quietly nobody is questioning what we'll be doing at LT. How odd.

Dennis Allen really simplified things against Pitt with just 4 blitzes all game. I expect more of the same against Philly although if Jaylon and Kyler are back it gives him more options in coverage/blitz packages.

Not a perfect game. I see slow feet against some of the speed rushes but also some really good plays against power. Great game considering his first start.

Ozzy makes his first start at LT and earns a 75 PFF grade. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2025/11/24/bears-steelers-pff-grades-week-12/87449245007/

Wow. Time to buy a jersey! For the record my Jersey collection: Sayers, Ditka, Urlacher, Butkus.

I'm still processing what I saw in today's game. There is far more good than bad. We scored 31pts and we're still complaining. At least I'm complaining about the missed plays. I can't tell you how refreshing that is. Offensive pre-snap penalties are way down and that is not just this home game but the trend has been favorable the last few games. We did that today with Ozzy making his first start at LT and Luke Newman taking some snaps both as 6th Olineman and subbing in at RG until Jonah was able to return. Oline struggled all day in the run game. Pass pro was better for the most part. I found it interesting that TJ Watt looked awesome until he rag dolled Darnell Wright. Then, just as quick as we gave up a TD on a sack fumble, TJ seemed to disappear from the game. Then the run game got better, not great but effective enough, and the passing game got better. TJ stats ended the game with 5 tot tkl, 2 solo, 1 sack, 1 QB pressure, 1 TFL. Most of that I believe I saw in the first quarter. I'll wait for the film studies to see if we schemed differently after that or did Darnell wake up and control him on his own? Did I notice Luke Newman on the field? No. Doesn't mean he played well just means he didn't play like a 5th round rookie. That alone makes me smile. Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy....I was concerned coming into this game how our LT would hold up because Pitt has two really good edge rushers, and some good LBs. The game ended with me still wondering how our LT held up. I don't recall seeing the usual left edge pressure Theo gives up. It did feel like we ran to the right side more than the left side. If true, was that by design to make it easier for Ozzy to focus on pass pro in his first NFL start? I'm not sure Theo gets his job back. Caleb just keeps getting better. No big leaps but each week is better. I know it was ugly early on but these chunk plays are seemingly on repeat week after week under Ben Johnson. Defense... in the Pitt first offensive series, maybe two, our LBs were largely static until the play was well underway. Dennis Allen and the LB coach (or someone) clearly got on them because you could see and feel the shift when they started playing downhill. After that there were still some misses but we also started getting some negative plays. It was enough that ,despite giving up big yards in the running game, it helped stall out some Steeler's drives. Maybe doing this meant giving up some pass plays because LBs were out of position in converage but the strategy worked against Rudolph. Might not have worked against Rodgers but that's the type of decisions and strategy coaches are supposed to do.

For all we know Jasón is enjoying life on a beach in the Caribbean. He might have better things to watch.

I don’t really know the answer but I don’t recall many games where Lovies offense scored 31 pts.

We had no business winning that game. There were players on the field who I’ve never heard of in a bears uniform. Very impressed by this coaching staff. i also like the fact I never heard Ozzy name alll game.

I want to see Ozzy. Theo looks like career backup.

If i said that it was in a trade back scenario, which I still think is a logical play for us.

I don't think anyone is out there saying this Bears team is a finished product. It's just year 1 of this coaching staff and turnaround. I don't know any Bears fan that think we're a Superbowl contender. Everyone I talk to is just happy that we now have a roster that no longer quits in close games and that our offense keeps getting better each week. I'm still not accustomed to all the chunk plays we get each game but 3rd and 10-15 is no longer the death sentence it has been for many years.

I don't think full participant necessarily means he's playing. There's a lot to football conditioning and one Thur practice followed by a light Fri practice isn't enough in my opinion.