AZ54

Cutting him is little more than a spiteful move. The money is spent either way. With extremely little depth at WR there is zero reason to release Wheaton. Job 1 right now is to get Tru up to speed and that isn't helped by bringing him yet another WR to learn the offense with 3 games to go. Genty had his shot too so no need to go back to that dream. Besides, Gentry has much to work on this offseason, mostly improving his quickness in/out of cuts. Let's give our QB some consistency with the WRs who are running routes for him in practice, even if they haven't been that productive in games. There is plenty of time in the offseason to address who stays and who goes.

Because Cleveland called them to inquire about trading up for the 3rd pick. In the last month before the draft there were many rumors that a serious debate was going on within the Cleveland organization because quite a few wanted Trubisky #1 overall. The logical reason for Cleveland to trade up was to get the QB they most valued. By all accounts that was clearly Trubisky. People dismissed all the talk as pre-draft chatter. Now if Pace said no immediately to their offer and told them he wanted to wait and see who was available then he was showing his hand and Cleveland knows he likely wants Trubisky. In that case it was quite likely Cleveland calls SF and trades up for #2. Pace was adamant he wanted Trubisky, clearly evidenced by the great lengths he went to keep the Bears interest quiet, so he kept Cleveland on one phone line negotiating a trade down deal while on the other phone line he called SF and traded up for #2. Draft analytics killed the Cleveland front office in the end but the statement they didn't have the draft capital to trade up to #2 when we know they were already willing to trade up to #3 overall is ridiculous. They had plenty of picks to give SF between 2017 and 2018. People said Houston didn't have the draft capital to trade up for Watson. If Cleveland was so married to their analytics then why were they on the phone trying to trade up to #3? No one was worth trading up for. We know they were trying to trade up for someone. If it was just a question of Cleveland taking any one of the top 3 QBs because their grades were similar then why did they trade away from Watson? Why didn't they trade up and grab Mahomes? Or since we took Trubisky and SF took Thomas why didn't they trade into #4 overall to get whoever else it was they coveted because they were still on the board and that trade to #4 or #5 overall was cheaper than the move to #3. They passed twice on Kizer late in the 1st Rd so clearly he wasn't high on their board. You are right the picks we gave up make no difference. One thing we know from teams with very good QBs...they win a lot. If Pace is right it's a fact he's was extremely unlikely to find a player, or players with those picks who can make as much positive difference to the team. If he's wrong, then he'd have been just as wrong and likely to get fired for not finding his Cutler replacement in 3 years. If Trubisky has a couple more games like today's then that deal, as well as the big trades KC and Houston made for QBs, will be talked about non-stop leading up to the draft.

A fun game to watch (finally). Trubisky: I see lots of comments all over, not just here, about where this play calling has been all season. When you are on a losing team, better yet rebuilding, everything and everyone falls under a microscope. Trubisky has held this offense back far more than any other player except Glennon. That from a fan who was happy we traded up to ensure we got him. Sure we've had one player or another make mistakes with penalties, or drops, missed blocks, etc. that killed drives but with Trubisky we had to be perfect. However, over the last few games the light is coming on brighter and brighter for him. He's reading the defense more quickly at the snap and we are seeing more and more quick hitting passes. I'm a very unsympathetic to anyone saying this was all because the Bengals were missing players. Listening to that during the broadcast proves how ignorant TV announcers are because they know nothing about the Bears team this year. I was expecting this performance moreso against the 49ers. I'll say that if Trubisky continues to improve then a) we must give his coaches credit for that and we need to be more open to keeping them around. I don't think firing anyone mid-season was going to help us evaluate what we have in Trubisky. When you are largely dependent upon rookies and 2nd year players it is important to get the full body of work befor evaluating. That does not mean I'm saying keep them around, I'm ok waiting to see how things play out. Shaheen: Nice to see him coming around. He still has work to do as a blocker. He missed one assignment that led directly to pressure on Trubisky late in the game. When you have a big man with soft hands for catching the ball, even when catching over his head, you have a great redzone target. He is still largely the self-made DII player we drafted but wait until he hits the weight room all offseason. No need to add bulk, just strength. Oline: Played far better than I expected but part of their success was really Trubisky making quicker decisions. With an effective passing game to balance against the running game we saw a glimpse of what can be. RBs: Congrats to Howard...first Bears RB to hit 1000yds in each of his first 2 seasons. Cohen impressed me because he is starting to run with patience and wait for holes to open, then he's using his lightning quick agility. Staying behind blockers on the wildcat play where earlier in the season he'd have been racing to get out front, is further proof that he's learning. Defense: Dalton wasn't that good today but our defense wasn't making it easy for him either. Mostly this was from good coverage from DBs on the backend. I'm glad to see Callahan back on the field, he makes us much better than LeBlanc, if only we can find a way to keep him healthy. I don't know what the future holds but Pace should bring back both Amukamara and Fuller for next year. Both have played well enough all year to earn that, both will make more money than fans think they deserve. Yet I think we can get both for about what is paid to one elite CB, maybe a bit more. Doing so keeps some continuity but more importantly allows us time to draft a good young CB and let him learn and bring in another CB on day 3 to compete for a spot. The last few weeks have been extremely hard on the coaching staff (nobody on this board would be comfortable listening to non-stop chatter at work that they are about to get fired). Through all that and the big hits on injuries the last two weeks (Unrein, Goldman, Long, Amos) they got this team ready to play for a road game. I liked Fox's comments in the post-game press conference recognizing and appreciating all the young players who continue to work hard.

FG Made % Connor Barth 2014 94% 2015 82% 2016 78% Robbie Gould 2014 75% 2015 84% 2016 83% preseason (cut) Touchbacks/Returns Connor Barth 2015 - 32/30 2016 - 26/35 2017 - 17/20 Robbie Gould 2014 21/28 2015 - 39/39 2016 - 19/32 2017 - data disappears? If Barth is bad when his FG Made % is in the 80's then why wasn't Gould a problem when he was at 75% and then 84%, followed by a preseason at 83%? When he was cut nobody wanted Gould until Week 7 or so. Barth was not an upgrade, although his 2014 season indicated he might be, but he at least offered similar performance for a lot less money. I still have no issues with cutting him. Bears carried his bad performance for 2 seasons and granted him a 3rd effort to prove he could still kick and he failed. My issue with Pace is that I wanted better competition for Barth this year and all we got was a guy who can ski. ---------- I'm not sure what you mean by RBS. I am defending Pace by saying that his actions (drafting RBs when he had Langford) speak to the fact that even though the word was Langford was the starter he wasn't satisfied that he could hold that role. Nor did he think Forte was worth multiyear deal worth ~$4mil/yr to hold that role and his performance for NYJ has proven that to be correct. For a rebuilding team I believe this is the right path to take with RBs. I have zero issues with Cunningham. He's played well, mostly on special teams but also on offense, when given opportunities and has earned his keep at just $855k for the year. Cohen has stolen many of his snaps and I'm ok with that too. What are you looking for out of a minimum wage 3rd RB? Or should we spend much more to put a guy on the bench? Cohen gets criticized here and there but fans (and I'll include you in this) are impatient with rookies as they learn the ropes of the NFL. We are fortunate that Cohen is a far better player than Sproles was his first few years in the league. 2005 Sproles 8 rush 50 yds, 3 receptions on 4 targets for 10 yds. looks like Sproles was injured in 2006 2007 Sproles 37 rush 167 yds, 10 rec on 12 targets for 31 yds. 2017 Cohen 68 rush 267 yds, 39 rec on 53 targets for 311 yds. I'm not saying Cohen is great but he is fulfilling the "Sproles" role very well for a rookie. He'll only get better. (stats are from NFL.com or pro-football-reference.com https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play...S/SproDa00.htm)

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...7b-1149a35f5625 It's been a tough year but take a moment to listen to this interview with Zach Miller. Best wishes to Zach on his recovery.

The thing about Pace is that he's on a 5 year plan and we're all on a 3 year plan. He does overpay free agents but he doesn't over-commit. He'll bring in a guy like Wheaton for $6mil on a basically 1yr deal instead of giving $34mil over 5 years to Robert Woods. I wanted Woods but what do you know, he's out injured too.

Pace was so convinced of Langford as a starter that he drafted Howard. He was so convinced of Howard that he drafted Cohen the next year, and signed Cunningham to challenge Langford. Gould was missing extra points, and easy FGs, two seasons in a row. If he wasn't motivated by the $3 or $4million dollars the Bears were paying him to fix his issues then what was Pace supposed to do? Like I said to many Bears fans...when did you ever see him kickoff the ball that deep in (or even out of) the endzone like he was doing for the 49ers? Early in his career he was lucky if he got the kickoff to the goal line. At his best for the Bears we saw kickoffs 5yds deep in the endzone. Clearly he has done something different to find the kicking fountain of youth but it is odd that at his age (35) he can suddenly kick further than ever.

I think the transition at DE has already started. Look at Bullard's stats http://www.nfl.com/player/jonathanbullard/2555335/gamelogs Unrein http://www.nfl.com/player/mitchunrein/2508016/gamelogs Then toss in the new guy who just got back healthy in RRH: http://www.nfl.com/player/royrobertsonharr...556665/gamelogs Numbers are never the entire story in sports but given where we are at I think the coaches and front office are comfortable letting Bullard and RRH handle things from here on out.

I think reality is that 80-90% of football injuries, and injuries in life in general are soft tissue. It's the stuff that connects the bones, which are stronger and should break less often. Unless your name is Kevin White.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2747087...nfl-teams-radar Sources in the Chicago scouting staff have told me the team is all about Calvin Ridley from Alabama, but no wide receiver is ranked highly enough on my board to be selected in the top 10. Ridley or SMU's Courtland Sutton have the skills to be No. 1 wide receivers in the NFL, but they might only be targets in a trade-back scenario.

What's that going to do other than make some fans feel better? We don't have some other former OC on the staff to take over and there is still a rookie QB who needs some stability in the program to help him develop. We need whatever gains we can get from Trubisky right now. You can argue he isn't developing that well right now anyway but how will he suddenly get better with a change? The only reason we would see a change at OC now is if Fox had another year and I don't think that's the case at all. Right now ownership needs to decide if they are keeping Pace. Once that dust settles the rest will shape up quickly after the season. I think Pace will know his fate this week, but if he's staying none of that will be made public. They must do that now because he needs to begin a thorough coaching search in earnest. Silence will tell us what we want to know.

After watching today's game against the 49ers it is clear this offense and Trubisky are not ascending. That means the end is nigh. After watching tonight's game there are two coordinators in Seattle that deserve some consideration: OC Darrell Bevel. He has shepherded Wilson throughout his career from a young QB relying heavily on the run game to the player who can take over a game from the pocket (if his oline can block for more than 2 sec). Despite the horrible line play the offense is still in the top half of the league statistically. Of course he's also the guy who didn't give the football to Marshawn Lynch at the 1yd line. That alone scares me. DC Kris Richard. Seems like every DB he coached in Seattle before becoming the DC became a Pro Bowl player. The defense has not missed a beat since he took over and they just shutdown the player most are calling the MVP in Wentz. That was done despite missing a Pro Bowl Safety and CB. Yes he still has players like Wagner, Thomas, and Bennett but his backups are ready to play. I don't mind a defensive minded HC because I still think that's the fastest way we get back to winning and to the playoffs, as long as he knows who to hire as an OC. There is a college coach in Washington that built Boise St into a top 10 program, Chris Petersen. Then in two years he built Washington into a top 10 program. He knows how to coach and get the most out of the talent he has on the roster. I can't see Pace going the college route, he'll want someone with NFL background, but this guy should eventually hit the NFL coaching ranks.

Start with the injury report: http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2017/12/01/i...ek-13-vs-49ers/ Trevathan is back and no longer listed on the injury report. Also looks like RRH will return. I'm hopeful he'll see the field because I still think he has good long term potential. Josh Sitton looks like he'll be a game time decision but did practice on Thur. We'll get to see the return of Lamar Houston. I think we're fortunate to pick him up this late in the season. I'm not overstating his ability but this late in the season it's almost impossible to find someone who knows your defense and can at least contribute right away. The big mystery is who will play safety alongside Eddie Jackson?

http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2017/12/02/f...on-with-eagles/

I'm open minded and willing to seeing the "MVP data". All I can find is that he's the 11th ranked passer in total yards, and 29th or 30th ranked in comp% (depending where you look). Eli Manning just got benched and his numbers are better. You can use QBR which has him 3rd but that's heavily weighted toward wins. Even then Case Keenum has him beat and nobody is singing his praises. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/year...017/passing.htm

Nope, said the same about Cam Newton when he won MVP. He played behind and fed off of a great defense. Newton was outstanding on those short fields that defense provided him that year. What happened the next season when the defense took a step back? Said the same about Dak Prescott last year when everyone was on his bandwagon last year. Even a Cowboy fan told me Prescott was missing too many throws in traffic. I don't think Wentz is a front-runner like Newton is but if you watched the same Bears-Eagles game I did you certainly saw some of his errant throws. I'm not saying he's always inaccurate but like Trubisky he sometimes makes rushed passes with poor technique, sometimes with no pressure around him. It shows up in his completion %. The raw talent and natural accuracy is there so over the years I think he'll correct that but I won't sit here and deny what's on the film and what his stats say. His 60% completion rate puts him 30th among starting QBs. His defense has 16 INTs this year, 2nd in the league. Just like Newton in 2015 those extra possessions help to achieve the avg 250yd/game passing (4000yds on a season) pace. I'm not saying he's playing poorly, I think he's playing well and most importantly he's protecting the ball much better this season. He's not putting up league MVP performances week after week and he is not the main reason the Eagles have the best record. He's playing behind a pretty good offensive line which is rushing the football for 3rd best yards/game in the league. If there is anyone on this board I'd expect to hear extolling the virtues of the Eagles Oline helping the young QB look good (and not the other way around) it is you. Now if people were clamoring for Eagles offensive coaches because they want someone to come in and build a good Oline and strong rushing attack to support the young QB, along with building a Top 5 defense... that would make sense because it's what the Eagles have done. Except of course that's what Fox wants do here, and already has to a large extent (we are 8th in rushing offense, Eagles are 3rd). Our defense has stints where they play Top 10 but clearly need a few more pieces to stay there consistently. Today they are ranked 15th. FWIW I'd say Wentz is on path similar to the one Russell Wilson took early in his career. Seattle won games because of their defense and rushing attack with good enough QB play to not turn the ball over. Years later they now win games because of Wilson. That formula is the way to win in the NFL with a young QB. If we change coaches that shouldn't be lost on Ryan Pace just because he drafted Trubisky.

I like Switzer and that's a nice return but "special"? At this point in his rookie year teams stopped kicking to Hester. Switzer's two receptions for the year does make me wonder if he'll follow in Hester's footsteps as a WR but I think he'll catch on over the next couple years and have a good career.

I'll stay put because we need to protect the biscuit. Draft LT Connor Williams. I know he's got occasional technique issues to work on but it's not a consistent problem and he's still young so some of that is to be expected. There is improvement from his 2016 film to 2017. He has the athleticism and vision to handle stunts and blitzes. Add in a bit of nasty because he has no problems burying his opponent or driving them back 5 yards off the LOS when he can. He's pretty good at getting to 2nd level blocks too. I'd like to see more strength on run blocks but again, he's young and that will naturally improve in time. For now, we use a zone blocking scheme and his feet and quickness are perfect fits for that. Draft him, put him at RT, and put Massie on the bench as our backup swing OT for a year...a significant albeit expensive improvement from today's backup OT who's name I don't even know. My other top 10 choice is Bradley Chubb but I admit he's not an elite talent so a trade down out of the top 5 to give him up is ok if the value is there. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=connor+williams+h...iai=v6HARqp8yNQ From 2016... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=connor+williams+h...iai=9k2MtQ_q9Vs https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/te...nking-nfl-fits/

People need to step back a bit from Wentz and Eagles mania. They have a good team this year but it's on both sides of the ball. Look at Wentz' stats last year and there's a lot of questionable games. Week 16 against the Giants he was 13 of 24 for 152 yds, 1 TD and 1 INT. If that isn't Foxball numbers what is? Put that in comparison to Trubisky's games so far and all the hysteria around his poor performance being the coaches fault. In fact Wentz threw 14 INTs last year. http://www.nfl.com/player/carsonwentz/2555...ogs?season=2016 Flip it over to 2017 and it's clear Wentz isn't lighting the world on fire. Against Dallas the week before the Bears he completed just 52% of his passes for a mere 168 yards. That's piss poor development of their young QB and an offense that's worthy of firing John Fox, if he were Wentz' head coach. Why then do people ascribe so much to success to Wentz and the offensive coaches? I'd say the person we should be looking at for the Eagles success is the DC of that Top 5 Defense. Yes, that's Jim Schwartz.

I've been quietly on the sidelines while all the Firefox hype ran rampant. I don't think he's a bad coach at all. Is he a great coach? Maybe not but he IMO does know how to hire good coaches to work for him. He will setup game plans for what he wants and they will be held to account to follow it. That can be good or bad but I've seen enough BS on message boards to know many fans are just clueless. For any HC to get two teams to a Superbowl is pretty damn good. The fact Fox got fired in Denver and then they won a Superbowl with Von Miller and Derek Wolfe both back in the lineup (they were injured the previous year) doesn't make me think any less of Fox. Facts are that Elway has failed his team without Fox. Why did Wade Philips leave after winning a Superbowl? IMO we were lucky to get Fox here to help change the culture. We saw for a couple weeks the "put Tru in and let him fail" so he can learn. Now the team is failing and Trubisky's struggles are all Fox's fault. Reality is Fox was right. Trubisky, despite raw talent that is much better than Glennon's, was far from ready to start in the NFL. Pace deserves some of the fault for the slow rebuild because he's been careful not to overspend in FA. In that I mean he's not making the big long term deals. We over spend all the time on one year type of deals (i.e. Wheaton) but Pace wants the short term risk/reward. The plus side of being more aggressive in FA is that we might get more wins early but in the end the high price deals could keep us from getting the final pieces to win a Superbowl when the roster is ready. Pace has stuck to his plan for a rebuild through the draft. That's painfully slow because you need players in their 3rd or 4th year before they are good enough to win consistently. Yet here we are. At this point I'm still not a FireFox fan but I realize that another offensive performance like last week will put the final nail in the coffin. Pace can't afford to let Trubisky's raw talent get scuttled early. None of us can. If Trubisky is not showing improvement this week then we need new offensive coaches and, with that, we need a new HC. The Bears' future rests on Trubisky's shoulders and that's where the coaching focus has to be. If Trubisky fails, Pace and everyone else is going down too. Pace knew that the day he was hired, even if he didn't know the QBs name at the time.

Not the first time someone "loses it" just before they get fired, and that's not just with football teams. There is usually more behind the scenes than what we know.

It is an odd decision to play in a regular season game coming off that injury but then pass up a bowl game. Seeing how his 2nd game back was very poor it is quite possible he came back too early and now realizes he has to take the time off to get his knee healthy before the draft. If that's true, we can't really expect him to be talking about how bad his knee is right now because that also hurts his draft status. His agent, if he has any common sense, will tell him to hide behind the "no bowl game risk for me" statement. --------- https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/te...nking-nfl-fits/ His health. Williams injured his MCL and PCL against the Trojans on September 16 and though he returned in a big way with an excellent game against West Virginia, he had his worst game of his collegiate career the following week against Texas Tech. --------- I've seen a couple games of McGlinchey and he just looks like he has really slow feet. Maybe I watched the wrong games and he's had better performances. I think he'll end up as a RT, and possibly get kicked inside, because he doesn't have the athleticism needed for LT. Trading back puts him on the radar late 1st early 2nd. Still, I don't want Massie 2.0 on our roster so I have more work to do to see if he fits what we need (IMHO).

We don't have a 3rd Rd pick but if we did and someone like Josh Allen is there we should take him, especially in the 4th Rd. I am a Trubisky fan but he isn't perfect (yet) so having another shot at a franchise QB does not hurt. If you hit on one you will get to trade the other. The prospect that I can see falling in this manner is Lamar Jackson.

Bowles as our DC would be outstanding. Loved what he did here in AZ and despite having some very good talent that D has not been the same since he left. He'd be walking into some of foundational talent for what he likes to do.

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2017/11/2...texas-longhorns Ready for him to be a Bear. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2745231...-regular-season