AZ54

Congrats! http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...1102-story.html

Kelly is the idiot who after a game came out and said this is not a coaching problem. Then the next day he fired a coach. After that fiasco Kelly should have been terminated.

Congratulations!

FIRE THE CONSULTANT!

But Cutler didn't throw for 300yds? I have much more to say but I'll reserve some thoughts until I watch a replay. This was an ass kicking delivered to the best defense in the NFL. It would have been even better if Howard knew the audible near the goal line and ran left. Our coaching staff just took a bunch of backup DBs, and a rather significant amount of rookies up front (Washington 1st yr at new position, Bullard, Floyd) following the lead of their veterans and stuck it to the Vikings.

Well said and I couldn't agree more. 18 months into a total rebuild, that they (correctly) started, and yet they hit the panic button.

IMO he targeted the correct choices among the top QBs in each of the last two drafts. That at least bodes well for any future QB pick he makes but he has to know now that he'll need to be far more aggressive to trade up and get his guy. Now I don't blame him for not giving up a ton of draft picks. We're overhauling almost the entire roster, I'm ok with getting the bulk of the players early in this process.

Things will continue to change but Trubisky has moved into the top ranked QB spot in this years draft on CBS. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/mitch-trub...ittsburgh-2016/ There is a lot to like about his game and there are some question marks. It's already clear there will be question marks about each of the top QB in this years draft. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospec...&school=All

With the emergence of Meredith I'd make that trade but this will be a late first round pick. Jeffrey is hands down the better target for 50/50 balls but Meredith's route running makes him better at getting separation. Then there is Jeffrey's health where he's once again been struggling with hamstring issues. There's no reason to think that will get better as he gets older, or paid more money.

I don't see Rodgers running anywhere on his first sack. HIs first sack is the second play Thayer highlights in this clip. Yes, we covered the receivers for about 2 seconds because that's about how long it took for Floyd to get Rodgers to drop his eyes toward him. That's a pretty good rush on a 1st and 10 and I wouldn't put that into the coverage sack category. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...16-3860ce06dc9f

Very surprised there is not a thread on Leonard Floyd's performance last night. I was at work so I have yet to watch the game but I've seen highlights of his play. Both sacks, and even his "hurry" on Rodgers in the 1st quarter were excellent plays. Most impressive was seeing him cross the face of the OT and then fight through the double team right up the middle to take Rodgers down.

It's not so much who you are throwing to that generates YAC it's more how you throw it to them (i.e. in stride). If you throw a lot of out routes at the sideline you won't get a lot of YAC. There's also the decision on reading the defense as well so throwing to guys that aren't double teamed (as Cutler often did with Marshall, or as Hoyer often does on his frequent dump-offs in the middle) leads to more YAC. Keep in mind the type of routes run in the offensive scheme affect this too as well as pass protection. Wait until Gronkowski runs through the deep middle spreading apart the coverage and then dump off to Edelman underneath and watch him run. I don't think it's as simple as blaming the WRs for lack of YAC. Everyone has a part in it. I don't see Loggains on the hot seat to lose his job right now. It's hard to say our offense has not improved since week 1. Everyone sees where we still need improvement in the red zone but otherwise with a journeyman QB he's shown steady, albeit slow, improvement. If there's no further improvement as the season wears on then yes pressure will build.

True but we haven't yet seen Bush play as he's just now being worked back onto the field coming back from injury. Hall showed some promise before getting injured and it was the same with Houston-Carson. If one of them turns out to be a stud player for us then that gap is solved. I'm not sure that will happen and I think they'll fit the mold of the others who have played so far and appear to be just solid players for us. FWIW I read an article calling for Fuller to switch over to FS. He always seemed more comfortable with the play in front of him so that might be an option.

I've watched very little of Kizer. One full game on Draft Breakdown and parts of two other games I've seen live. There are times he hits guys in stride deep down the field with perfect precision. There are times I don't understand why his coaches have him throwing while on the run because he can't do that well. He can run decently but it's more in the mode of Jay Cutler not Cam Newton. I think he's got enough question marks, along with all the issues surrounding the ND program to have him fall to us. The flip side is Deshaun Watson and Clemson keep winning which will push his stock higher even if he too has some question marks.

No details here but Fangio sees the improvement in the young players. It can be easy to dismiss these comments as typical coach speak, but Fangio is the same guy who once said we have one good DT and the rest we'll see. He also called out Floyd and others at times. Hopefully we'll see some breakthroughs that turn into negative plays soon. My guess is we won't really see that until after the bye and we get McPhee and Goldman back into the rotation. Putting players like those two out there makes the job for Washington, Bullard, and even Floyd a bit easier. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...65-e5f9dd01d450

Just watched a Gamepass replay of the Jags game. I see a team with a good foundation of young players. We lack stars. Losing Goldman on defense was a huge loss. Young players like Washington and Bullard look a bit better each game as far as 2-gap responsibility, but neither is showing anything close to what we need in the pass rush. I expect that will improve as the season moves along and they get more comfortable in these new roles. We have zero speed on the edge rushers. That was where Floyd was supposed to come in but that hasn't shown up yet. OTOH Floyd has been ok in run support and coverage. If we can get him and McPhee back in the rotation it will help considerably. Our DBs are ok but there isn't one guy who is going to get an INT back there. I really like Callahan at NB but we need to get someone on the outside or at safety that can make those big plays for us. This is a definite focus area for the next offseason. On Oline Whitehair looked bad at times getting blown up and pancaked a couple times. He struggles with the big NTs but has been pretty good overall for us. The interior of the Oline has been ok as they settle in with Sitton and Whitehair learning on the job. We need to add more competition at OT this offseason. I can see a couple deep routes that Hoyer missed in the first half that could have been easy TDs (Jeffrey 1st qtr, Miller in 2nd qtr). We have to make those plays to help Howard find open space. Cutler will make those plays but will he also work the underneath routes when that's what the defense gives us? Cam Meredith is the real deal, he reads zone defenses well and moves into the right spots. It's no wonder Hoyer looks for him so often, just give him a bit of time and he'll find the gap. Yet he also handles the man coverage well. If we keep Jeffrey we are in a really good spot with WR for the next few years. If we don't keep Jeffrey it will be because Meredith is taking his spot on the outside.

This is football. A loss is rarely on one player, Brett Favre's 6 INT in the playoffs being one exception. That said, Hoyer's limitations are blatantly obvious when you watch film of the game. He is inaccurate beyond 20 yards. This is nothing new, go back and see what he did in AZ, Cleveland, Houston, etc. He tried to go downfield a couple times against Jax but he doesn't have the arm talent you need to challenge downfield unless a guy is wide open (i.e. blown coverage). He knows what he can do, and he knows what gets him in trouble with INTs, so he makes quick reads and throws for 7 yards. Defenses just bait him into it and drop the LBs back a bit to open up the underneath and Hoyer will jump right on it. Then Posluzny closes to decapitate your WR. When you get in the red zone nobody's dropping back. I don't think he's particularly good at reading coverages either. On one 3rd and long he had a well designed route by two WRs one running beyond the sticks and one underneath. The DB started to go with the over route but then came back to the underneath WR leaving the first down wide open. Guess who Hoyer threw to? If we have 3rd and 10+, already hard enough in the NFL, just forget about it because he'll rarely make the pass needed unless we get lucky on a catch and run. On the last pass he threw he was about 3 feet behind where it should been for Jeffrey. Jeffrey slows up and Ramsey comes underneath to knock it down and it's game over. The Packers D is good upfront and weak on the corners (injuries). We won't be able to consistently take advantage of the edges with Hoyer and they know it. Kizer can make those touch passes deep downfield outside the numbers. I"m not sure how well he reads and throws to the deep middle but he at least has the arm strength to get it there.

La di friggin' da

I disagree for the simple fact that Gase was hired for one primary reason: To fix Tannehill like he did Cutler. It's nearly 100% certain that is what his job interview focused on. If he can't get that done then he's on a short leash. Your premise is that he'd have a minimum of 3 years, maybe 4 to get the job done. I don't think the leash is that long and history in Miami shows they've had 8 head coaches in 12 years. Right now things are not going well at all for Gase. Keep in mind if he fails with Tannehill then he's already broken the biggest expectation his owner had for him. They aren't likely to wait and see him coach another young QB for 2-3 years if it starts out poorly. I'm not saying he'll be fired after this season but if he's on a really short leash next year he'll have to make moves he knows can pay off. Drafting and relying on a rookie QB is a total crapshoot. Point to Carson Wentz and in the other corner is the player who went before him sitting on the bench behind Case Kenum. From there you fall all the way to the 4th Rd in Prescott who is quite comfortable behind the best Oline in the NFL. Miami's Oline is it's own construction project. If this season continues the downward spiral, along with Tannehill's performance, then Gase will have to tuck his tail between his legs and go to the owners requesting a shot with another QB. IMO this makes it highly likely Gase will want to work with a QB who knows his system and has done it successfully, at least successfully enough to keep him in a job. Who is available from his recent past? Tebow, Peyton Manning, Osweiller, maybe Siemian, and Cutler. With Paxton Lynch's struggles I find it hard to believe Elway will go all in on him next year and let go of Siemian. That leaves Cutler, who may not be available either. If Gase trades for Cutler he has no guaranteed money in his contract so there's no long term pain for the owner. This might buy Gase two seasons and two chances to draft his future QB. The drums are already sounding in the distance: http://www.sbnation.com/2016/10/15/1324954...ehill-struggles Also in that article note that Tannehill earns $20mil next season, Cutler $16mil in 2017 then $17mil in 2018. That $20mil is also why Gase is so adamant he has to get it right this season. If they cut bait on Tannehill, Cutler's lower salary offsets $7mil of the $10mil dead money.

Not available this week but hopefully he can handle 15-20 snaps against GB. I don't expect much from him early but just giving Willie Young a rest will make Willie more productive.

He's our best DB and it's always noticeable whenever he's not on the field. If he can play this week it will be a nice boost to our defense especially with some more question marks at the outside corners.

A couple points: With Cutler's guaranteed money off the books he is a trade-able commodity, even at his current salary. Relative to the market he has a below average contract and that will only be more attractive after the next FA season. With zero guarantee there is no longer a big financial risk, cut him whenever you want. The way his season is headed Gase may not have enough time to draft a rookie QB and coach him up. He was brought in to do one thing: Win with Tannehill. If that isn't happening those owners, who have pulled the plug quickly on recent coaches, aren't likely to wait patiently to see him work with another QB. Gase may have just one more season to prove he deserves to stay a 3rd year. Sam Bradford's success, like Carson Palmer's in AZ, may convince a coach on the hot seat, or a new HC, that he could strike gold with Cutler even if he hedges his bet by also drafting a young QB to develop. Kurt Warner was damaged goods when he arrived in Arizona many years ago. If you want Cutler waiting for him to become a FA (which could happen later than sooner in the offseason) means you have to compete with other QB desperate teams. No matter what there are always a few each year. I don't think we'd get much for him, at best a 3rd RD pick and that's if he comes back and plays well. Yet, if he does that he's likely staying here while we draft someone. Sooner or later a good defense is going to expose Hoyer's limitations.

Class acts both of them.

I hope Langford learns from some of what Howard does. Langford showed some patience in the preseason but that seemed to fade away when the regular season started. Oline was also a mess early on so that didn't help. On the second play Thayer highlights Whitehall's block is impressive to me given how far he moves and how he gets to the outside of the defender. That is the key block that makes the play successful IMO. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...a1-da4e771e5e69

I know there is a lot of angst about PFF and there is valid debate about their scoring system. Nonetheless, to be listed among top 10 players in the entire league for Week 5 is a really good sign for our rookie center. Did anyone expect to see Whitehair on a list that has players such as Von Miller, Tom Brady, and ex-Bear Mason Foster? https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-top-10...-week-5-action/