AZ54

Trubisky an alternate Pro Bowl QB? That's going to upset a few people. I'm a Trubisky fan but I don't see the consistent performance to warrant this although he certainly has put together a few Pro Bowl worthy games. He is 3rd or 4th best in the NFC in TD% but other than that he's middle of the pack but trending upward.

Well you don't get much sunlight and I get overdosed on it so we don't always read things the same way. Sure we were all thinking that. Probably Nagy too. But, I admire Nagy's conviction and he came right out in the press conference afterward and said we'll do it again. So now our opponents know they must prepare for it, or anything else. What remains on the table is Eddie Jackson on offense. We know that was practiced a few times but I"m not sure we'll see that until he's fully healthy.

If he puts up 12-14 sacks in his 5th year he'll command at least $15mil/yr and we won't likely keep him around. There is always the possibility we franchise tag him after the 5th year and then trade him.

Floyd IMO is still ascending. I think with his body type we'll see that for a couple more years as he gains strength. The decision on his 5th year option is due this offseason and with all the things he does well I don't see anyway we can let him go after next season. So we're likely paying him the 5th year option which I believe is worth around $13-15mil. I'd rather see if we can work out a 3 or 4yr extension and since he doesn't have elite sack numbers try to keep him for around $8-10mil/yr. He's a good player but not elite in any category and his injury history mucks up the negotiating waters. If he's here for 4 more years (3 yr extension) he's just 30 when we can get his next contract. That's still young enough to get a big payday. He'd also be opposite Mack and that's a very good thing for Floyd as their strengths play off each other well. It will mean the end of Aaron Lynch/Willie Young type players, FA veterans for which we seem to pay around $4-6mil collectively each season, and we'll be relying more on young players like Irving and Fitts. It might also mean saying goodbye to Amos but I prefer to keep the defensive front together vs.a SS in Amos. In a way I'm glad we'll get to see Bush play for a game or two. It will help make that decision.

If I were Trubisky and Fangio said that to my face I'd be telling him ... you mean don't press my luck like the D did when they went into "prevent" against Miami and the great Brock Osweiller beat us on a couple screen passes? Or do you mean I'm pressing my luck if I give you a 20pt lead in the 4th quarter like the first Packers game that won't be enough? If you are going to have a real team the first thing to do is stop blaming others and focus on how we get better together. Trubisky has his own coaches to help him improve and it isn't Fangio's turf. No matter what a person may think the reality is one game, or one play, it will be their turn under the mistake spotlight. I've only re-watched a few games this year but I guarantee you with Game Pass even a casual fan can find everyone's bad game or two. Even Khalil Mack (see Patriots). Fortunately, under Nagy we don't appear to have this BS going on with the team and the players seem to have each others back. The coaches too are keeping out of the headlines (see Kromer et al). It's not the Trestman era either where there is no accountability because Kevin White has been sitting on the bench for half the season. Things are discussed coach to player like Howard's need to run harder when he hits the hole. Cohen's need to run upfield and stop trying to always go outside. Anthony MIller's need to run his routes correctly...all the time. Eddie Jackson's need to take better angles on tackles. Roquan Smith's need to stop standing there as his coverage responsibility runs right past him. I suspect the players have Nagy's back when fake punts don't work.

Found this on the web.. https://twitter.com/SportsByRick/status/1074414309474754561

Where did Burton go for a few games? I think as this season has gone along teams are playing the Bears differently. The announcers commented on a Packers CB covering Burton. Early on it was Burton and Robinson, then Miller and Cohen started showing up. Allen Robinson has had the most consistent targets among our receiving corps. Shaheen picked up a couple passes in the last game, stuff Sims wasn't doing. Sims had 6 games with zero targets. Another thing to note is the last two games were some of the lower totals for pass attempts with 28 (GB) and 30 (LA). The lowest attempts all year were against Buffalo with 20 but our median is just a bit higher at 31 pass attempts.

Floyd is a great Robin to Mack's Batman. I hope we find a way to keep him around because even if he's not a sack artist he's so versatile that it really helps the D overall. We can, and will draft another sack artist although I think in time Fitts can develop in that role. I thought MT played great and stayed within the offense. When we needed big plays we converted. What he did keeping plays alive when they blitzed was outstanding and that soft pass to Shaheen on the sideline was huge. No matter what was going on Trubisky never got flustered.

I've been saying this team has many ways to win and can overcome someone's bad game. Last week it was Trubisky with the bad game. This week it was Nagy.

I never watched Sayers live but even in his highlights its' clear Sayers was a really rare athlete. Cohen is a great athlete but he's not in Sayers class iMO.

Damn that sounds good!

I didn't know off the top of my head but a quick G-search shows this: https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/04/fifth-year-option-nfl "For top-10 picks, the amount of each player’s 2019 option has already been determined. The fifth-year salary for a top-10 pick is equal to the transition tender at the player’s position during his fourth season. So, because the transition tag for quarterbacks this year was $20.922MM, we already know that Mariota’s fifth-year option will be worth that amount." If Mariota is seeing $21mil we have to expect Mitch's 5th year will be around $23mil. The Kirk Cousins effect will hit QB salaries this offseason and I think teams will be a bit less exuberant when writing these checks.

Is this a 3-game rolling average where you average the last 3 game together for each data point, or did you just group each 3 games together with an average value? I think the rolling average will show a trend better.

The next two years will be where we see the biggest cap % taken up by Mack's deal. In that time frame we have players who make significant contributions like Floyd 1yr left, Bullard 1yr left, Robertson-Harris (FA but will be relatively cheap), Bilal Nichols 3yr, James Daniels 3 yr, Jordan Howard 1yr, Tarik Cohen 2yr, Anthony Miller 3yr , Eddie Jackson 2yr, Adam Shaheen 2yr, Roquan Smith 3yr. On top of that we are set at LT with Leno 3yr $9-10mil, NT Goldman 4yr $10-11mil, DE Hicks 3yr $10-12mil. The big piece to figure out will be Trubisky. Trevathan might have one more year here but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a 1-2yr extension to sort of sync him up with when Roquan gets his new deal. In the near term, 2019/2020 we are ok because of all the young talent. In 2021, the first year of Trubisky's new deal, we will have be prepared to somewhat reload the roster. Pace has 3 drafts to get that done. Pace has opened a good playoff window in just Trubisky's second season.

After facing Aaron Donald and Suh, James Daniels might feel like the Packers D is in slow motion. I'm very impressed by how well he handled himself against the Rams and that has to boost his confidence going forward.

...and we won! Imagine what's going on with the Rams fans after their QB threw 4 INTs and had a fumble. As the announcers said during the game Goff is still a young QB and it showed. What's great about the talking heads on TV is that none of this applies to Trubisky. I also think we're ignoring history when people say we can't win a Superbowl with an average performing young QB, who has ups/downs during the regular season, but who is backup up by a great defense. Check out Roethlisberger's game logs from 2005 vs. Trubisky. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RoetBe00/gamelog/2005/ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TrubMi00.htm The excitement from the victory over the Rams is simply the fact that for the first time we saw our young defense put together a dominating performance start to finish. We all knew the potential was there because we've seen it for 3 quarters in most games this season. Those of us who are old(er) know that kind of defense can take you a very long way in the playoffs, and even win a Superbowl. I'm glad we have Nagy running the show. He stays positive through the rough spots and stays behind his players. I see him all fired up on the sidelines during games and I'm sure the players see that too. They know the intensity that is expected of them. I think they've all come to learn that a bad game won't end the season for them.

Low man wins... https://twitter.com/keanukargar/status/1071980751372066816/video/1

Ah the energy Vic Fangio brings as he breaksdown Club Dub.. https://www.chicagobears.com/video/week-14-fantasy-bear-to-watch

We need to finish what we started and then just flat bury them. Our pass rush is better than it was in Week 1. Back then Floyd was injured and playing for the first time with a cast. Mack just got off the plane and hadn't played any football. Plus the interior rush is more consistent now that earlier in the season. Roquan Smith also has learned how to play well in our defense so he's out there instead of Kwiatoski. The DBs are just working so well together right now. One of the most impressive things I saw against the Rams was how much the D communicates with each before the snap. That's at all 3 levels from the Dline, LBs, and DBs. These guys are focused on their job and they've studied the opponent. One of two things will happen on offense. Either the Packers gear up to stop the run and Trubisky and the WRs run wild downfield. Or they sit back and try to cover in which case we will run over them. They can't stop both and Nagy will figure it out.

We all know Trubisky didn't play that well. I'm just not going to beat him up for it. If he does this 3 games in a row maybe then. Today? Heck no. Just like I didn't trash Eddie Jackson endlessly for all his missed tackles against Miami. I commented on it for sure because it's something he had to improve upon because, you know, we weren't going anywhere if he kept missing tackles. Or Roquan Smith had to improve his coverage reads because the D would never be elite if he kept giving up big pass plays. Overall this is a young team learning how to play in the NFL and how to win. IMO they are ahead of schedule but each quarter of the season they continue to grow and improve. At this point not only do we look capable of making the playoffs we look capable of competing with any team. Trubisky came back from a partially dislocated shoulder, a far worse injury than I thought he had, and he didn't throw for two weeks. Plus, he and Goff were throwing in some very cold weather. Say what you want but it affects how you grip the ball and it affected both QBs to some extent. Ironically it wasn't too long ago Bears' fans were wishing for Trubisky to play as well as Goff. The INT Trubisky threw when Gabriel was covered at the sideline was a horrible read. No excuse for him making that throw and he knows that. The other two are his usual over-throws to the same area of the field, 15-20yds on the left side of the field. I'm not sure what he's doing mechanically that leads to this consistent inconsistency but he's worked on it before and improved it greatly. Now that he can practice fully I see no reason he won't get back to making these throws. He's still a young QB learning the game but IMO he's shown the work ethic needed to make the necessary improvements for long term success. Unfortunately in life this takes time and requires experience. There's only one way to get the experience. Even so, across the season I think he's shown significant improvement on the field and the statistics back that up. He's not a finished product and he's tracking closely to what most good NFL QBs did in their second season. Even Hall of Fame QBs like Brees and Roethlisberger. He needs another offseason to work on his mechanics. Fortunately in this upcoming offseason, for the first time since he's joined the NFL he won't have to learn a new offense. I think that helps him next year. In the meantime Trubisky will come back and do his part in helping us win games this season. Just like Eddie Jackson, Kyle Fuller, Cody Parkey, Tarik Cohen, Leonard Floyd, Khalil Mack, Allen Robinson, and today Jordan Howard have. My most important takeaway is that this is the first team we've had in a very long time that doesn't require a perfect game all the way around to beat an elite NFL opponent. That's a rare space to be in and I'm celebrating that.

We won and that's all that matters. I said it before but we have multiple ways to win with this roster. Tonight Trubisky was off and the D stepped up big time. Next week who knows? Just keep winning.

We got your back!

Been waiting for this thread to popup but now it's time to speak my peace before the Rams game. First, no matter what happens I don't want Matt Nagy to call that play with the little inside touch pass to Trey Burton. This would be a good week to leave that off the play sheet. Next, let's run left and directly at Aaron Donald with Jordan Howard. Make him do what he does not want to do in fighting off a block to tackle a bit RB, and make him do it all game long. Donald is still quick enough if you whiff on the block he'll take down your RB for a loss before you can say uh-oh. I just feel we need to have him focused on the running game as much as possible. Their rushing D is among the worst in the NFL giving up 5.1 ypc. They may not appear to give up many yards per game but often they get teams into throwing the ball to keep up with their scoring which may mask how bad their run D really is. Play action and read option. Start early with the read option plays to slow down their pass rush. Again we need to make their run D work to cover all options and that means letting Trubisky run. Throw away from Aqib Talib. He's not great but he's good enough and Trubisky should find some good options with Gabriel, Burton, Miller, Cohen, and Shaheen. The D needs to do what they didn't get done last week: shutdown the RB.

Is this the mark of a man who can self-evaluate and improve his grading and draft philosophy? Time will tell but the fact we see a positive learning curve up to this point bodes well for our future.

He will undoubtedly be with McCarthy at his next stop and likely wanted to be let go so he can start his job search early. Everyone else has to stick around and see what happens in Feb.