AZ54

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

I've been waiting for over a month to see corrections. It's time to let him know his spot isn't so safe. We can start by giving a few 1st team reps to Hall.

He's got the athleticism to play in the NFL but can't run routes correctly.

I like Orlando Brown at RT. I think if he were there in Rd 2 it would be good value.

Jackson couldn't have played much worse than he did yesterday. If Hall is looking good in a couple weeks I'm willing to give him a shot at FS.

Pace has put more talent on this roster than anything Emery did. Keep in mind Emery is about the lowest bar possible. Angelo, despite the complaints about him, did build a team that got to the Superbowl. Time will tell but Pace may have found the best piece for an NFL team in Trubisky. It's going to take time for him to improve his fundamentals and knowledge of the game. Wentz wasn't spectacular today, not IMO. Unless you missed his poor passes when he had time in the pocket. He made some great plays with his feet but other than that he looked like a good, but not great, QB. His team, especially the defense dominated.

Horrible game. Nobody showed up ready to compete. Eddie Jackson is killing this defense. Can't get in his gaps, can't tackle, can't cover, late to arrive for help on a deep passes. Missing Trevathan doesn't help things either but with Timu out there Jones again looks ok, except his blocking on punts was horrible. I see complaints about Hicks (Dline in general) but he's a gamer playing through his injury. We can't fault his effort. For those who don't appreciate how well Floyd holds up as an edge defender it should be clear after watching Irving get pushed around like a rag doll today. On the flip side Acho came to play today and he did well. Acho isn't starter quality as a player but he stepped up today. Oline didn't show up today, really nobody on offense did including Trubisky. They were beaten before they finished stretching.

The only way I see us winning is if Trubisky lights it up and I don't expect that. Plus we'll need a big turnover or special teams play. The Philly Dline is stout inside but we're really good on outside zone runs. Expect to see a lot of Howard off tackle but they have good speed at LB. Overall I'd say the odds of Jeffrey getting injured are much greater than the odds of us winning. Then again, that was true for most of his tenure in Chicago.

Dead last. For single seasons, in 2017, played WR, requiring Targets >= 79, sorted by descending Catch Pct https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play...er_by=catch_pct

I see two players we should target, both at one of the 3 key positions, with our first pick: Chubb or Connor Williams. If both are gone before we pick then we should trade down. Williams would step in right away at RT, maybe stay there for a few years until Leno's deal is done. I don't think having Williams at RT (instead of LT) is as big of a deal as it used to be since so many elite pass rushers line up at LDE now. Eventually he'll be the LT of the future. For now, give Trubisky one side he doesn't have to worry about the pass rush and he'll take care of the rest. If we find someone else to handle RT and move Williams to LT we can trade Leno after a year or two. Unless someone gives us an offer that's too good to refuse. That could happen as we'll be sitting right around the spot where the last of the good QBs will be available.

It's worth noting that Lamar Jackson is rising into the top tier of QBs for the draft. Darnold is still a question mark to enter the draft but if he does we'll see 4 QBs with early to middle 1st Rd talent. Teams will keep in mind that the 2017 crop of "bad" 1st Rd QBs has done well so far. The Browns look really stupid for passing on QBs early in Rd 1 three times in two drafts. They had #1 and #12 in 2017 and didn't take a QB with either. At least that's true for Watson and more and more Trubisky looks like the real deal. Mahomes hasn't had a shot yet but his lack of action won't alter the discussion either way. Then there are the struggles of Kizer and any QB taken after the 1st Rd. No Dak Prescott showed up in 2017, but finding a good QB on day 3 only happens once every 3-5 years. Besides, Prescott has looked less and less like an elite QB as this season wears on, especially minus Elliot. Once again, it all adds up for GMs and owners: If you want a franchise QB your best bet is to go all-in early in Rd 1 on the best prospects. To mix it up further, there will be two decent veteran QBs potentially available in Alex Smith and Eli Manning. With all this you can feel the QB-needy sharks starting to circle the prey.

By the way... Arden Key is sliding down some boards: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2744978...latest-rankings

Yes trade down is the ideal. I don't like Arden Key at #10. Maybe in the late 1st early 2nd Rd I'd take him if he performs well at the combine. Every time I watch him play he does nothing exceptional. Physically he looks the part. I don't see anyway Ridley last into the 2nd Rd given how poor the WR draft is this year. At #10 I'd take first choice: Bradley Chubb DE/OLB. He fits the McPhee role but is more athletic, enough to drop into zone coverage at times. If he's gone I'd love to get Connor Williams OT. In fact Williams looks more like a future lock down LT than Chubb does as a DE so maybe that's the way to go should both be there. If we trade back, depending how far, then we put Ridley in the discussion but beyond him I really don't like the first round WRs this year. If not Ridley I'd wait until the 3rd Rd to draft one.

Pace and Fox knew Trubisky needed time to learn the game. Glennon, didn't give it to them. People have been all over Fox and Loggains because fans think they can't develop the QB. Trubisky had and still has shortcomings but he's clearly improved in 6 weeks. Somebody helped him get there. We're still waiting for the game where we know we got a good QB but I think it's on the horizon now. As Stinger said it's clear we have quite a few pieces of the future on the roster now. We look a lot like the 2014 Raiders and in some ways like the Eagles of last year: big concerns at WR, concerns in teh secondary. With the exception they have better players at both OT spots.

Quick notes from the game. Hicks must be hurting pretty bad. He was facing double teams most of the game but clearly is not 100%. He's a warrior and our leader on defense. Nothing today changed my thoughts that OLB is our top need heading into next season. Irving showed some flashes of good play in the preseason and now we'll find out if he can do anything in a real game. Expect to see more of RRH on the edge on early downs. McPhee might be the energizer of the defense, Hicks the leader, but Trevathan is the piece the makes it all work together. We need him back on the field. Marcus Cooper played like Marcus Cooper but I have no problem with coaches lighting a fire under Fuller. I'd like to see Callahan back on the field but today LeBlanc was a capable backup. On offense it is clear what a difference Kyle Long makes. He get criticized a lot from fans this year but he's playing through a lot of injuries. We'll get him right this offseason. Still love the guy despite his late hit penalty. He was looking away from the play so if the whistles aren't being blown how does he know? Saw signs of why we drafted Shaheen early, both in blocking and receiving. He's going to be a tough matchup next year after a full offseason with an NFL training program. This year is all about developing a rookie QB and again this week I see progress. He still makes errant throws with poor mechanics and you can tell he's reading things slowly at times. Hopefully as his mind catches up to speed of play he'll keep his feet under him more consistently. Overall he is starting to play quicker. Most remarkable through his first six games is that with all the new things he's trying to keep up with he's been pretty good at protecting the ball. Meanwhile Cutler threw 3 INTs today. Given all the obvious plays he's missing it's easy to see how over the next year or two Trubisky's completion % will improve quite a bit. His last two games he's completed 60%, a clear step up from his first few games.

I think that fact was completely missed or ignored by the fans here. As I said before there is nothing that shows the Bears are satisfied with Barth or consider him a long term option as our K. Bringing in Santos Thursday showed that and the pressure didn't improve Barth's performance today. I expect to see Santos wearing a Bears uniform within 2 weeks. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/...its-with-bears/

Came across this film study from a former NFL Offensive Coordinator.

I'm just waiting for the Trubisky breakout game. There will come a point in time where he sees the blitzes as his WRs see the blitzes and route and pass meet each other for big plays. I was hopeful we'd see some of that against the Packers but went home disappointed. I'm not confident this is the week either and I think to win we'll have to rely on a strong defensive effort. Without Trevathan I'm not optimistic that can happen. Last week after the game Trubisky basically called for having Josh Bellamy on the field more. I think that happened before the game too in some meetings with coaches. Lost in the frustration over his dropped passes is the fact that Bellamy can usually get separation and I believe he's far more likely to be in the right place at the right time than McBride was. We'll have to accept a couple drops in the game but Bellamy and Inman should be more productive on the outside than what we've had so far this season. With a little more confidence in his WRs I feel like we'll see a bit more relaxed Trubisky playing football his way than what he's done so far this year. If they can find success early it will open things up for Cohen who has sometimes faced top CBs when he's lined up as a WR. http://www.detroitlions.com/news/notebook/...e5-81f7efc6dccd Welcome back Cornwash... "Lions captains for Sunday are: Theo Riddick (offense), Darius Slay (defense), Cornelius Washington (defense) & DJ Hayden (special teams)."

He has my vote http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot?icampaig...Include_200x150

Every Trubisky completion, and there are more than 7 of them. I wish they included all attempts because it would be nice to evaluate his missed reads on blitzes and other plays. Nonetheless there is progress here that we haven't seen to date. Plus it's clear that even on the drive around 5min left in the game the Packers did not go into a full prevent defense although there were plays they'd have given up underneath routes. Trubisky still fired into the coverage past the 10 yard line.