AZ54

I still like the young talent we have on our roster and I'm most likely the only one. The roster is by no means complete but I think we have some good building blocks now.

A friend who is a Cowboys fan told me he isn't that impressed with Dak so far. He said he's very inconsistent on long passes (the knock on him in the draft) but that he's good on the short routes. Of course he's also good at scrambling around and that makes up for a lot. His biggest concern was that Prescott is ineffective and often makes bad throws in the red zone. Impossible to tell if our defense will be able to find any advantage in that mix especially with so many players out with injury. We might get lucky in the red zone but Dez Bryant can make up for a lot of inaccuracies on a pass. On the other hand it all likely means Dallas will focus heavily on the run game. My glimmer of hope for this game is that every Cowboy's fan has the name Jordan Howard etched in their mind afterwards and they are wondering why they drafted a RB in Rd 1 when Howard was available on day 3.

Sorry but once again you are the one blaming everything on Cutler, and you are right no veteran QB should ever attempt a pass when a defender is about to tackle him.

When I get to the weekend and I'm emotionally ready I'll go look at the All-22 and see if Langford is missing opportunities. I can't believe that we put Howard in and suddenly we were ripping off 5+ yards a carry. It's a small sample size but he deserves more opportunities.

Because clearly all that is wrong is Cutler's fault... http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0922-story.html

We need more of this. Good pre-snap read of the play by Howard and I think we'll see more from him next week. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...ea-58ab68e544b9

Barkley is not the answer. If you like short/medium throws and 8 defenders in the box we might as well stick with Hoyer. It is really disappointing that Shaw broke his leg because he looked like a good backup QB for us, and if he had potential to be more we'd be getting a chance to see that now. IMO finding a QB requires one of two things: a) Luck (not necessarily Andrew but that'd be a good answer). Throwing a lot of darts at the board which is what Seattle did in Pete Carroll's first two seasons. Then the luck portion paid off with Russell Wilson. For all their genius is finding Wilson they are the same organization that traded a 3rd Rd pick for Charlie Whitehurst, started Tarvaris Jackson, and said this: "Seattle's front office later stated they had already picked up a potential franchise quarterback in the draft by acquiring Whitehurst with the 2011 pick". NFL history is littered with flameouts and surprises but statistically speaking you will need to use either 1st or 2nd Rd pick to get your QB. A third path is the reclamation project which is what the Cardinals did with Carson Palmer. I think we have to be bold and patient. Bold as in the proposal as Stinger said in his proposed trade for Connor Cook. I like the aggressiveness there but I just don't like Cook. Denver was bold when they went after Peyton Manning and still had Osweiller in the fold. That wasn't a slam dunk either given his recovery from his neck surgery. The patient part requires keeping Cutler around because with a good defense we can win games with him. Once we confirm we have a better option on the roster I'm good with moving on. Maybe locals can keep an eye on this kid: http://jetswire.usatoday.com/2016/08/18/pr...-deshone-kizer/ I expect Lasike back on the 53 once things get better but there are just so many injuries right now that we have to go in this direction.

Before the injuries I felt we were seeing the beginnings of a good defense. It was 3rd quarter and we'd given up 9pts. We still have holes to fill on the D and a lot of players need experience but there is only one way to get for them to get it. The offense OTOH is built to run even all the way out the big WRs who both block well. Yet we can't run the ball. More than anything else that bothers me.

I don't mind the concept as much as I'd rather see us trade for a good QB and not Connor Cook. I think Cutler is here next year unless the wheels fall off completely but he will be looking at his replacement. Until he tore apart his thumb he was not the reason the offense wasn't moving the ball. Unless he is key to run blocking. After the injury it was clear he couldn't throw a football.

The Texans will be the best Dline we face all season, and we had to do that in week 1 with a rookie at Center and a LG who had practiced with the team for 6 days. That said, Massie's weakness blocking on the edge was exposed and we're going to see that from time to time but hopefully with the interior players getting in sync Cutler will be able to step up in the pocket more often.

I get the number of attempts difference. I don't dislike Forte, nor am I glad he's gone. OTOH I don't mind that he's gone because I think it was the right thing for the future of the team. As far as 30 attempts to get to 100yds, I actually feel that trends worse towards Forte's part because defenses tend to wear down as running attempts go up but I didn't see the game so I can't say how or when the good runs happened, or all the short yardage situations. Matt's a good guy and keeps himself in excellent shape. He'll have a good year but I don't think he'll have 3 good years. I hope we give Howard some snaps this game. Fox sounded a bit upset that he wasn't on the field in week 1.

Trying to understand. Langford averages 3.4ypc in his first game and nobody is happy (for good reason). Forte leaves and averages 3.3ypc against Buffalo and that means he was a big loss to our offense. As I see it: Langford ends up as our change of pace back. Our bell cow will be Howard. Carey backfills when one is injured.

I know nothing about him but for Andy Reed to put him on the street like this is a huge red flag.

I'm glad Fox went with youth in this game. Whitehair did ok, a few misses here and there but considering the short notice and little practice at center, he'll be much better in just a few weeks. Floyd was ok but I can't understand why a player with so much short area quickness is always the last player off the line after the snap. He standing there reading the play before he goes into motion and he's not using his best advantage against OTs. Hopefully with more experience comes more understanding of how to read the play on the fly. Glenn might never relinquish the starting job to Fuller but at 185 lbs I doubt he'll hold up for the entire season. Hall impressed me too. For a guy with a slow forty time he finds a burst to get back in the play.

I like how Cutler and Massie are looking at Watt after this play. http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/09/12/w...rs-week-1-game/

Quietly it has slipped out that Whitehair will start at Center Sunday. I know there's a learning curve for him but I'll accept those issues and won't miss Ted Larsen one bit. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0908-story.html

Last year Eddie Goldman was out of shape too and he went through a learning curve as far as what the NFL is about. Floyd had no idea which team would draft him, for which scheme, and which role in that scheme. He was light for our OLB role when he came and I didn't expect he'd come in and be lights out right away. I think we're asking or expecting a lot for him to make that leap in just 4 months time. It took Cornelius Washington two off-seasons to get his body adjusted for the DE/DT role he's in now. Floyd is not being asked to make as big of a jump but it still takes more than a few months. As far as stamina I expected Floyd would be good with that, but then again he's now battling against bigger faster and stronger athletes than he's used to. That can wear out a smaller player but I haven't really noticed that much during preseason games. I always thought he was at least a year away from being a top contributor but I also think in the right sub-packages this year he's going to give us abilities in coverage and as an edge rusher that nobody else can do. If he falls behind Christian Jones on the OLB depth chart then I'll be worried. Could be worse: We could have Bosa with his leg wrapped up on the bench after 1 practice. Or Goff on the inactive roster as the 3rd QB behind players nobody knows.

I expected he'd get the start given the fact this is a road game and Whitehair hasn't had much time to adjust to snapping the ball, much less making the blocking calls. Then we've got a brand new LG who doesn't know the calls so having Larsen clarify things for him will help. Still it will be hard to watch Larsen getting blown up all game long. Hopefully Whitehair steps into the starting role within a few weeks.

How many extra points has Barth missed? In all honesty I think that's the death knell on Gould. It's not so much the extra point missed but the fact he is not getting the height off his kicks, or at least not consistently. IMO something changed and father time has caught up to his leg. I don't know that Barth is an upgrade but I imagine his price fits the performance a lot better. Gould will end up somewhere so we'll see how their seasons play out.

What they are telling us is this is his last season with the Bears and that other players like Bellamy and Meredith can now be productive 3rd/4th WR options, as well as Thompson out of the slot.

Fox said Center was Whitehall's best position. If you are Grasu recovering from injury that comment didn't feel good. Next year if Grasu becomes our backup OC and Whitehair is starting OC/Backup OG then we've done well for ourselves in terms of upgrading the interior of the Oline.

I didn't think Long's injury was that serious. I've heard he has a labrum issue but is torn?

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/robbie-...-barth-to-fill/ The timing of this is a bit odd a day after final cuts but I imagine they wanted to wait and see who was available beforehand.

Wow, never expected this. After all the turmoil we've been through with the Oline now we have Sitton, Whitehair, Long as our interior. Yes, I'm kicking Larsen to the curb/bench whatever. I like Whitehair a lot better than Larsen. Despite any rookie learnings on assignments he's just flat out better as a blocker even at C. With guys like Sitton on his left and Long on his right he'll have enough help early on until he gets it down. One training camp comment that stood out the most about Whitehair was when Eddie Goldman said that he thinks Whitehair is stronger than he is. Let's get this bus running! ------------------- http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/chi/chicago-bears Matt Bowen ESPN Staff Writer Josh Sitton is an immediate upgrade for the Bears offensive line. That gives Chicago one of the top guard combos in the NFL with Kyle Long playing on the right side. Key for a team that wants to lead with the run game. Pound the ball. ----------------- FWIW I went to a few Packers message boards to see what their fans were saying (mainly because of my concern that he's not playing as well as in the past). Sitton has had some injury issues especially last year. Most worrisome is his back which has caused him to miss a lot of practice. It seems it also kept him on the bench for much of their preseason yet even last year he always played through the injuries. Sutton lost weight this offseason so it would be less of an issue. Nobody said a single word about him not looking good in training camp, or what limited action he saw in the preseason. In fact, most said he was still their best Olineman. The Packers have a bunch of players needing new contracts next year and obviously Sitton was not in their long term plans. Why cut him now? They had enough cap space unless there are a couple deals they want to get done now versus next offseason. Packers are supposedly looking for a backup OG now so it's not like they had two good backup OG when they made this decision. As long as it is Whitehair going to C and Larsen going to the bench then I'm happy.

I couldn't find that on his resume but if true putting him in between Whitehair and Long would give us a lot of strength up the middle. With Massie on the right side as well I could see the run game taking off in a big way. I'm not a Larsen fan after what I've seen this preseason.