AZ54

Roquan, Trevathan, Prince, and Hicks all out. I don't like prevent defenses unless you are inside 4min with a big lead, or maybe last min or so. IMO we went into prevent too early, around the 7min mark. We had key players out and I think it affected some things in the prevent that ended up giving up more yards and let them stop the clock. Initially I think Pagano wanted to protect the sidelines and was willing to give up some easy plays in order to force Dallas to burn their timeouts or burn the clock. We didn't always do that well. Then late in the game it seemed they constantly went toward Tolliver and the coverage on big pass near the end that gave them the FG was totally blown. The DB went for the INT where if he just tackles the WR at the 20yd line and keeps him in bounds that game was over right there. I recall seeing about 20sec left when he caught it, and maybe 12-14 when he got out of bounds. If he's tackled inbounds by the time the offense runs 30 yd downfield and gets set Dallas might have had time for one more play. Even if they clock it, there would be a few seconds left and they could choose FG try or TD. Instead we missed the INT and then we left the sideline open and the WR ran for another 10 yd and stopped the clock.

I've been hard on our HC this year and think he's been a big part of the problem with our offense. I just watched his press conference and I'm going to give him some credit for turning it around. One of my criticisms weeks ago was that after Montgomery fumbled he never gave him the ball again in that game. Last night, after Monty's fumble and we were setting up for our next offensive series I told my son if Nagy has learned anything he'll give Montgomery the ball on this play. Lo and behold he did just that and Monty gained 5 yards off LT. Around the 18min mark he is asked about the fumble and his response is one of trust in his young RB. He even mentions the fact he just gave him the ball again on the very next play. https://www.chicagobears.com/video/nagy-we-re-mentally-callused-right-now We saw it on the field too when Trubisky threw an incomplete pass to Wims in the endzone. some have argued there was PI there. Anyway, after the play Tru gave Wims a thumbs up, and threw it right to him again on the next play. It was incomplete and Wims was injured on the play. That might be the first time I've seen Trubisky express that kind of confidence in a player not named Allen Robinson. I think he made good reads on both plays choosing to go at the WR who was 1on1 with a LB. All of this just tells me guys are starting to play for each other and they're not pointing fingers when something goes wrong.

I was assured this couldn't happen against a top 10 defense.

Lots of positives in this game especially overcoming some negative plays (INT/fumble/Miller drop).

I'm with you. Eddie had a pretty significant injury and played through it to his best ability but it clearly affected him. To be criticizing him for a lack of touchbacks when for about half the season he's been limited in his leg strength doesn't make sense to me. It was also obvious during that time he was not kicking with the same technique and it affected his accuracy. The last game was the first time I felt he looked like he did at the beginning of the season, both on kickoffs and FGs. Let's see how he finishes the season. Plus the Bears kept Eddy around despite knowing many of the options available when he was injured. From what I've seen, none of those other options have panned out for their respective teams. I like the fact the Bears stuck with Eddy through the injury. There is no problem with the team bringing in good competition for him this offseason either. Let him keep working to prove he belongs.

We must run the ball in this game and we'll need more out of our TEs, whoever they may be. TEs need to be good at blocking or good getting out in the route for quick gains to offset the pass rush. Dallas' Oline against our Dline is a concern but if there is a game where you want Kwit playing run defense it's this one. On top of that Roquan is back to elite play. Those two need to keep Zeke in check. Dallas started off the season with NYG, Wash, and MIami. At 3-0 they were on the way to the Superbowl. Since then they are 3-4 with two of those wins against the Giants and Lions. These two teams might as well be looking in the mirror as at each other. I'll say the better QB wins the day and I have no idea which one that will be.

Good find, not a lot of analysis and no happy faces.

Immature in what ways? By all accounts he's putting in the time. Is he immature like Goff who makes similar mistakes reading defenses?

One thing we know is that neither Mahomes nor Watson have been through the crucible like Trubisky has. If he somehow survives through these mistakes and stays on the learning curve to where he needs to be we'll have a very mentally tough QB. I watched Russell Wilson make several overthrows tonight and all he gets is a comment that it was just outside the receivers hands. That is not meant to compare QBs it's a comparison of comments about bad passes. Trubisky was about 6" behind AMiller, still hitting him perfectly in stride over the shoulder on one 30yd completion, and Troy Aikman was telling us how under-thrown the ball was. He started to say similar stuff on the next 30yd pass to Miller then just moved on to talking about how David Blough could bring back Detroit to win the game. When the facts don't fit your story just change the subject and ignore the facts.

Every time I watch Watson play I don't see a QB who is much different than what Trubisky shows on the field. That includes the game against NE. Sometimes he's holding onto the ball too long, sometimes he's inaccurate, sometimes he's really good. Mahomes seems to read defenses better than both yet his numbers, both last year after he lost Kareem Hunt, and this year when he lost Hill fall into normal mix. Among abusers there's a reason they kept Hill over Hunt. Mahomes is at the top but IMO all three QBs can lead a winning roster. That means Watson and then Trubisky need more help around them. I don't think this past game was Trubisky's renaissance but it might be the beginning of an upward trend that gets him there. If he arrives there it won't be until next year.

This is my take on it. Floyd is a really good 1st and 2nd down player and we have nobody else anywhere close to being as good as he is. He just can't bring the consistent pass rush. Give him a short extension, perhaps 3 years, that dramatically lowers his cap hit. His market value based solely on pass rush won't be high. 3 years still keeps him in his prime should he finally figure out the pass rush issues and he can cash in with Chicago or elsewhere. Aaron Lynch is horrible and I won't be surprised if, once we are out of the playoff hunt, we move him to IR and give a young player a shot. That practice squad player is likely not on our roster. Pace has done this before to try to bring someone into the clubhouse so he has a better shot keeping them in the offseason to see how they develop.

Was that the last we'll see of Shaheen? Would anyone even remember his last snap as a Bear?

I don't like either Fromm or Hurts because I don't see either reading defenses well. I would take a shot on the guy who replaced Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, if he enters the draft. The injury is serious but taking a shot on another first round QB who can sit on the bench for a season to fully heal works for me.

Lucas was awful in the preseason. Maybe he was thinking far too much pre-snap due to being new to the offense but he's done well as a backup. We'll see what happens with Trubisky but the most promising thing I saw was that the INT didn't faze him one bit and he threw some beautiful passes into tight windows afterward. IMO he has to overcome the most difficult thing in all of sports: Pressure of the fan base. That gets in his head and affects him in bad ways. People forget he had a very serious shoulder injury. I think he's been told to avoid hits whenever possible because that's the way he's been running/scrambling lately. Or his shoulder is bothersome enough that he's just naturally avoiding any contact on it. If you aren't going to lean into a tackle with the bad shoulder would you do so with your throwing shoulder?

Fans were behind the speculation on the jerseys. Whatever was going on Roquan is clearly back, hitting people hard, and I'm seeing him start to be the emotional leader on the field. I'd love to have Trevathan back next year but it will only happen on a much lower contract. He's had a couple injury plagued years, our defense hasn't played as well this year, and at his age his market value will not be as high as when we signed him. A lot has changed since the beginning of the season. We may well go with Kwit and expect Josh Woods or Iggy step up as a coverage LB. Woods didn't look to bad in coverage in the preseason.

When you have an offense that isn't performing well consistently it doesn't take much to get them off the field. Any holding call or offensive penalty and we're done. The defense can, and has, overcome mistakes most of the time.

I watched all 3 games today and I think Trubisky was the best QB among the 6 who played.... by far. That includes Drew Brees. Maybe someone will point out that Brees' Oline wasn't playing well and hindered the offense overall. Usually Bears fans are begging for a QB to put up the numbers Trubisky did today. They get it and still can't be happy. My request hasn't changed: I want the Oline to play as well, or as poorly if you prefer, as Trubisky. I've yet to see that. His teammates don't share the same feelings: "Where's #10?" https://www.chicagobears.com/video/club-dub-week-13-locker-room-celebration

I expect we'll trade a player to gain back a pick, likely a WR. IMO Ridley and Miller are two peas in a pod and then we have Wims who seems ready to contribute. Gabriel is good but limited, he's really a 3/4 WR. Anthony Miller seems like the candidate to leave IMO.

I'll vote for poorly coached team. In hindsight it was odd last year that Witzman showed up in the middle of the season and played ok for us. It'd be nice to see that level of play from our interior Oline. It makes me wonder if Harry is not getting along with what Nagy wants. I was never the biggest Hiestand fan and was happy when he previously left the team but was won over by all the positive opinions when he returned. For whatever reason, something isn't working right between the Oline and the play calls. I'm too ignorant of Oline play but I suspect we are tipping off plays either by formation/personnel or Oline players stance/splits. Too often the Dlines seem to know where to go on running downs. Or we're just that inept we can't block anyone. I've seen that on some plays too.

Interesting thoughts. While watching some football new I heard some chatter about how broken the Eagles offense is. I didn't stick around the hear the details just thought it was interesting since they have the QB who likely would have been league MVP two years ago before his injury. Yet they struggle to put up points just like we do.

Stats are really deceiving at times without context. I thought Trubisky played well the last couple games. Where does all this fit in? While I see the issues Mitch has, on the other hand he is still playing like the 3rd or 4th best player on the offense. I'll list them as I see it: ARob, Gabriel, then it's a toss up between Montgomery and Trubisky. At #5 I'd take Whitehair, Coward (big improvement over Long but still learning), Massie, Cohen, AMiller, Daniels, Leno. You can shuffle the bottom 5 in a ton of different ways but they've all had significant issues that cost us big plays, either positive or negative. Then there is the play calling. NFL Team Leaderboards: Receiving Receiving Categories: Receiving Yards Receiving Touchdowns Receptions YAC for Receivers Yards/Catch Passes Dropped Big Catches (>25 yd) Longest Reception Receiving First Downs %First Downs/Reception Receptions Inside Opponents' 20 Receptions Inside Opponents' 10 100 Yard Receivers For 100 Yard Receivers Against NFL | NFC | AFC NFL Passes Dropped Rank Team Passes Dropped 1 Chicago Bears 18 2 Miami Dolphins 18 3 Cleveland Browns 15

I had to watch this replay several times to see everything that went on. It was the last play of the game and Garrett tackles Rudolf by twisting him around down to the ground. Really unnecessary given the fact the clock was expired. Rudolf was upset and started pushing back while on the ground grabbing Garrett's helmet. Garrett retaliated and then off went the helmet. Once he hit Rudolf in the head with the helmet it set off Pouncey who just went wild after Garrett. After the hit, Rudolph complained to the ref and then another defender shoved him to the ground.

LOL. Bears fans complain about one or two overthrown passes with Trubisky. What will happen if we pay $19mil to see more of them?

We gotta get a consistent running game going. Goff has always had his limitations which we exposed last year and that's continued this season. We can win with Trubisky if we can pair him with a decent running game. I just watched JimmyG stink it up on MNF and he's 8-1. If anyone mentions that his starting TE was out ....well we're still waiting to see a starting TE this year.

Yes I still want EJack. Players, especially young players, have ups and downs in their career. He's still got a ton of talent and you can't just walk away from that potential.