AZ54

I'm not surprised to see DJ Williams on IR. His career is over. I applaud the move to sign a FB. I like having a FB on the roster and I think it helped our running game last year. It's a bit late but at least indicates we are looking at this for next season. http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/bears-li...njured-reserve/

I wouldn't mind having DLP back next year. He was largely let go from the Saints because he couldn't run block. He did ok with us. De La Puente = From or Of the Bridge

Is he our starting center next year? Groy filled in decently for Ola last week once he got the first series jitters out of the way. Looking at his background and knowing he played FB at one point for Wisconsin which means he has to have some athleticism. Garza just doesn't move his feet as well as he used to and I think we need to address the center position this offseason. Taylor Boggs hasn't cracked the lineup and with all the injuries we've had there were plenty of opportunities to do so. Groy gets a 3 game tryout. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...1208-story.html

Just wondering if anyone here would make that deal and if so, why? I'm pretty sure up until Oct 1st of this year the answer was heck yeah. Now I doubt that's true. Outside of Mariota the QBs in the draft aren't that great. We know Snyder won't worry about taking on Cutler's contract and much like the Bears he needs to, or always wants to, do something to quickly turn his team around. For all his faults, Cutler will make their team better and likely much better than any of the rookie QBs they can draft. On our part it's the same…we're not going to be in a position to grab a good QB although we can take someone who needs a season or two to develop. I think this would all depend on if we felt ok if Clausen were our starter. In other words, we would let the Clausen and RGIII compete to be the starter. I don't know what has happened to RGIII. Right now he looks completely lost on the field. There is no discounting his physical talents but we've heard that for years about another QB. For sure RGIII needs a change of scenery and probably needs to step back from the spotlight and just go to work. I don't know that our offense under Trestman is a good fit for him.

If true then I think the choices of Hoke or Pasqualoni make sense. Personally I prefer Pasqualoni simply for his overall experience. I also like the idea of bringing in Rex Ryan but he'd do that only if 1) he didn't have a shot at another HC job (I think he will but you never know) and 2) that we'd commit to interviewing him for the HC job should it become available in another year. As others have stated, why is this suddenly out there? We have now set things up so that anything Tucker says is disregarded. That is no way to run any organization because people will just sit back and wait for the change to take place. There is no reason to worry about their own performance as Tucker will take the fall for all that goes wrong. I don't believe this is Emery's style at all and so it is not coming from him. Trestman? He's in enough trouble as it is I can't see him doing something to further upset his standing with Emery. If not them then who? As with all things I think we should look at who stands to prosper if a change is made. Ownership is one party who could "prosper" from this because they want to keep their fan base happy. Coaches also could prosper. This will be looked at as a 1 yr job so we likely won't get a decent DC to come in and take over. A guy like the ones mentioned (Pasqualoni, Hoke) might think they could prosper better if they were named the interim coach for the last few games and got a shot to show what they can do as a DC. That would be a huge gamble on their part if Emery found out they leaked this to the media but then again, they could figure that any new DC might just fire them too so what do they have to lose. Players are another group and for similar reasons. They might want to get rid of the D we're running for the last few games so they can show they can play better and keep their jobs next season. I doubt this as Rappoport wouldn't have phrased his words the way he did if this was the case. IMO…most likely is Pasqualoni or someone in the ownership. Similar comments about Cutler make me think this is all coming from ownership.

No to Sanchez, he's making the same mistakes. We might as well see what Clausen can do before jumping on the Sanchez bandwagon.

Sadly, I have to start looking at how we fix this mess in the offseason or the emotions of these losses will really make me depressed. I've said fixing the pass rush is the top priority for us in the offseason. Safety is in the mix too. However, what if the value isn't there when we pick in the 1st Rd? When you draft early in the first I think it's imperative that you grab a blue chip player period regardless of needs. If that blue chip player fits a need all the better but regardless, you always take the elite player when the opportunity presents itself. Draft Tek has us picking a LT, Andrus Peat, from Stanford. I know they are using computer simulations but still it got me to thinking. LT2 once said there is only one way to get a franchise LT and that is to draft one. I don't know anything about this guy but if this scenario plays out would our best move be to draft a franchise LT? If, as many here think will happen, this coaching staff and roster will end up in total upheaval either this offseason or next then why not? Even in the short term it won't hurt the offense. This moves Bushrod over to RT and kicks Mills to backup OT/OG. That's some pretty good bookends at OT and depth on our roster and then you have two very good OG in Slausson/Long. I'd do it especially considering we may be looking for our next QB in the 2016 draft.

People ripped him for his rant but I think he was right and has the right passion for the game. We're going to miss that.

I hate the Cowboys and their fans are arrogant. With that out of the way… Offensive line…is the Michael Ola experiment over? He's been alright for us but we've bounced him all over the place and tonight he just fell flat on his face. I don't know if he was injured or just got pulled for bad play. All I know is that suddenly there is #79 Ryan Groy out there at LG. It seemed that pass protection was better with Groy out there and the offense was more productive with him out there but I'll have to re-watch the game. Run blocking…just hit or miss with more misses than hits. RB….Forte with no excuse for his fumble. I like Matt, classy guy, works hard, but at some point it would be nice to see our RB make the first defender miss. I remember years ago that was the common refrain on the board for our RBs yet Forte gets a pass on that expectation. It doesn't matter if it's a DB or LB he will be tackled. I want to see more of Carey. He's not fast but he's much quicker around the LOS, mix it up a bit. I'm not looking to get rid of Forte but next year we need to put some effort into getting another good RB, no more of the high dollar Michael Bush end-of-career types either. WRs…Marquess Wilson is definitely quicker than either Marshall/Jeffrey as seen on one slant pass, we need that on field. With Marshall likely going to IR he's going to get his chance to show us what he can do and he needs to show more than what we saw tonight. Jeffrey was his usual steady self finishing with 95yds and 1 TD. Martellus Bennett played well and it was nice to see us go in his direction a lot. Wish we'd done more of that in some other games but despite that he might finish the season as a 1000 yd receiver. QB…Cutler had a good game IMO. I see articles out there faulting him for the lack of points early but he's not running the football. He's not blocking and more importantly he's not playing defense. When he got time he was effective. Forced a pass into the end zone at the end of the game. Defense…Dline no pressure most of the night. Nothing up the middle whatsoever. A few times we got something off the edge but on one key play Willie Young took a bad angle on Romo ending up in a broken play for a TD. Is Jared Allen even playing? Yes he's out there. Overall the Dline was manhandled all night. Cowboys have one of the best Olines in the league and we still need a couple more pieces to get our Dline where it needs to be. LBs…John Bostic you have been around too long to be making basic fundamental errors. He was in great coverage of the TE on the 3rd and 15 play and runs step for step with him but right at the first down line Whitten stops and turns to his left to look back at Romo. Bostic turns right and looks at Romo. While his back was turned Romo threw it behind Bostic for the 1st down. Anyone who played high school sports like basketball or even soccer knows you don't take your eyes off the man you are covering. SMC…does ok when plays come at him he holds his ground even against some Oline blocks but he's not reading things and getting into the gaps to make plays for a loss. In fact none of the LBs did in this game, they just wait for the play to get to them. In Bostic's case waiting in his gap would be a good thing. The closing speed of SMC on Murray and tackle on that one outlet pass near the sideline was excellent. Christian Jones belongs on the football field. His athleticism and closing speed standout. He's making plenty of mistakes too but just give him the game experience now. DBs…same day different…no... same results. Stay in the soft zone outside leverage where the LBs are supposed to be in the underneath inside leverage except no LBs are there and on deeper routes safeties are always late to the show. These guys (Fuller, Jennings) would be ok for 2-3 sec if we went man or more press coverage but with no pass rush we won't be covering anybody for 4-5 seconds. Coaching…we have many threads covering this.

What the Bears need is a franchise QB. Get one of those and the rest of what you do looks a lot better to outside observers. Take that away from the franchises being discussed and the one that really stands out is Baltimore. The guy calling the shots there is Ozzie Newsome and he learned his craft working for Belichick in Cleveland. The other constant those franchises have is stability in the organization and it's one thing the Rooney's have emphasized in Pittsburgh. They ride out the rebuilding storm with their head coaches. Likewise Green Bay has been consistent with their offense, at least in terms of the system. When you have that stability it's easier for new players to get up to speed because veterans know all the details and it's easier for a player like Matt Flynn to look good. Their defense has flipped around a few times and that's where they usually struggle. When you think about it, Green Bay usually enters the offseason focused on fixing their D yet for all that attention they can't get it done, at least consistently to a top 10 unit which, if you focus that many resources on it, should get there. Aaron Rodgers makes people overlook that no differently that Tom Brady makes people overlook defensive issues in New England.

At this point I'd prefer to take the true ballhawk FS Holliman. Ballhawking FS are great to have especially in a pass happy league. Then I went and watched his 3 INT game against Boston College http://draftbreakdown.com/video/gerod-holl...n-college-2014/ Now I wouldn't draft him until the middle rounds. He's soft, not a football player, takes casual angles on tackles, often doesn't hustle in pursuit. I can forgive some of the bad coverage lapses he had that gave up a couple TDs because he doesn't have a lot of experience. He does not like to hit and this is at the college level, can't imagine how he'll hold up in the NFL. If he were elite athletically then some of that can be overlooked but I don't see anything that says he's in that category. Collins might not be as fluid in coverage but he's still good at it (nice one-handed INT) and he's the better football player IMO. He is far more physical than Holliman and more prepared to tackle a RB in the hole or in space than Collins. Plus he'll hit a WR who is going after a catch. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/landon-col...s-florida-2014/

I know stats in the NFL are deceiving and of course there are dozens of ways to breakdown what is happening. I don't take that much time to dig around and explore it but your data on passing defense validates things. Run defense is there most of the time, pass defense is not. If we can get a solid pass rush we'll survive but beyond 3 seconds no way. Of those teams with injuries how many a playing 10 rookies or 2nd year players on defense? When Briggs reported to camp out of shape his poor play was inevitable. I expected we'd be a competitive team but given how things have gone, including injuries to Briggs (ribs earlier in the year), I don't mind throwing all the young guys out there and advocated for that weeks ago. It's frustrating at times to live with the mistakes but even without the injuries on defense this roster is not going deep into the playoffs. Let's just go into full rebuilding mode and see what we've got with the young guys now so we know what to do in the offseason. I am one of few, maybe very few, but I like our young LBs (SMC, Jones, Bostic) and I think in time they will become a good unit. I see good signs in each game, and more frequently within the games. Jones was completely lost earlier in the year, now he is finding his way to the right spot about half the time. Bostic too has improved in both run support and pass coverage but his pass route recognition is still slow. SMC has improved as well around the LOS. Hopefully we continue to see improvement in LBs coverage over the next four games. My expectations for improvement are lower for the DBs. I'm not sold on Vereen as our future FS, in fact I like Conte much better but he can't stay healthy. We really need a Mike Brown type of a leader at safety on this roster. Brown wasn't the best athlete but his smarts and leadership in getting other players lined up made up for that. Find a leader who is fast and physical in tackling would be even better. Fuller I think will become another Tillman type of player for us. Behind him Al Louis-Jean? Hurst?

Yes but we all knew Cutler's deal was a 3 to 7 year deal meaning the team could get out from under it anytime after the 3rd season. It will be interesting to see how we handle this with Clausen already in house. Clausen has the physical talent to play QB in this league, unlike Fales who's arm isn't very strong. I don't see us drafting a QB in Rd 1 with so many other needs but if we go after one in Rd 2 or 3 then the coaches have decided Clausen isn't the answer. All of which brings up the question: At what point will we see Clausen play? Knowing you have that decision to make regarding Cutler or future option, wouldn't you want a better idea of what Clausen can do before you commit such a high pick to a rookie QB?

We can ignore it but it is a factor. This is a young man's game and we've relied on some long in the tooth veterans on defense (Williams, Briggs, Tillman, Ratliff, even Allen). When the next man up is either a rookie or a player in his 2nd year there's a drop off, at least in terms of job knowledge, and it was very visible at times. Despite all that it hasn't been all bad as we are 12th in the league against the run. On the flip side we are 30th against the pass. FWIW the Cardinals are 25th, Panthers 26th, and Ravens 29th against the pass. Fixing the run defense was our number one priority heading into the past off-season and I have to say we made significant improvement. Some of the reason for ranking 12th against the run is due to teams finding it easier to pass but our 2013 defense proved that if it's easy to run teams won't stop doing it so the ranking means something. Sutton, Ferguson, Washington, Fuller, Bostic, Jones, and Vereen will all be better for having this experience. They've all had their rookie moments but off that list Vereen and Washington seem to be the biggest question marks going forward. The rest look like they'll be significant contributors, if not starters, down the road. On offense…Oline for sure injuries impacted things (unless you like Ola at RT) but they never fell apart which is good progress considering where we've been in the past with our Oline. Elsewhere they have no room to hide. Offensive issues typically came down to players not executing and the blame goes around to everyone. Cutler more often than most but everyone had a share in key mistakes throughout the season: Forte fumbled early in year, Marshall key fumble/penalties, Bennett had his two hot-reads that were missed and turned into key INTs.

Glad to see Bears commit to the younger players. Briggs had a phenomenal career for the Bears and I don't think he'll get an offer to play anywhere next season. It's hard to believe his 35 tackles will be enough to impress anyone to pay more than a vet min salary and I don't see Briggs going through the motions for that. His skipping the 1st practice of the season to open a restaurant, not to mention his recent comments about not listening to his coaches during meetings, told the entire league what kind of leader he is…meaning a rebuilding team won't sign him as a backup player to provide locker room leadership. What Emery has done is smart because he frees up another roster spot to bring in a young player, or players if we cut and run, and see what they can do. It also keeps Briggs' attitude out of the LB meeting room and that alone might be the biggest help.

I think Fuller is just fine on the outside but he's still a rookie and learning. He's tough and played through a bum knee yesterday. Everytime I saw him walking around after a play he was limping a little bit. He went at Megatron and lost but he'll learn from it. He also wasn't getting the support he should have had on the inside routes. If he's playing outside technique then there has to be someone assigned to take away that inside slant and that player usually wasn't there. Or, like on the TD throw to Johnson, Fuller was right there on the outside but the FS Vereen was late. According to one article I read Vereen actually pulled up and decided not to hit Johnson on that play.

We have good players on offense. We have two receivers who can make great catches. But we need several things but for sure we need some speed on offense. I don't care about the record for swing passes because they were largely effective early on. I don't think Calvin Johnson was bothered with his record for 15 yd slant routes either. When it was time to take advantage of the closer coverage we cannot get guys open deep, or we can't run the coverage off deep and have someone underneath take advantage of single coverage. I can't be the only one who sees LBs running stride for stride covering Forte and not just in this game. Forte is versatile but does anyone really think a D is scared of him breaking off a big play? Jeffrey and Marshall don't often run away from coverage either. Everyone knows it will be a jump ball when they go deep. Our best advantage appears to be Martellus Bennett and I think we should be using him more. There's plenty of blame to go around for the offense. Can't protect (against that Dline) long enough to spread the D out. We certainly couldn't run block against them. Ola against Fairley? Kyle Long is a stud though. Overall if you are going to run these type of players out there then you better have a very good Oline to get them time to get open. We don't. Most certainly not against the best Dline in the NFL. I felt Cutler did ok taking what the D gave him and stayed within the game plan, at least until very late in the game. By then it didn't really matter. On defense I counted 10 rookies or 2nd year players we relied on: DBs: Demontre Hurst, Kyle Fuller, Brock Vereen LBs: Christian Jones, John Bostic, SMC, . I'll include SMC in 2nd year group solely because he's in a 1st year of position switch but yes he's in his 3rd season. DT: Will Sutton, Ego Ferguson, and some guy I never heard of name Brandon Dunn DE: David Bass, Cornelius Washington (until he was injured was the 11th) That has to be the youngest defensive group in the NFL by far, maybe one of the youngest ever fielded. Despite that the run defense was very good. Pass coverage was not and learning curve seemed to be flat on the same routes over and over. Yet in the 2nd half they came out and improved in coverage. There are definitely some good things to build on from this young group but it will take time although the LBs pass coverage has a long way to go. While I see improvement in the front 7 players we must add some good safeties to the mix. Mundy had a bad game often taking poor angles on plays.

Golden Tate actually concerns me more than Calvin Johnson. Johnson will get his big plays of course but he is less nimble in/out of cuts and easier to double cover. Tate is the guy running all over the field and if you don't get a good pass rush he's impossible to cover when they start free lancing. That's the kind of plays that really break down a defense. Nothing changes in the NFL…you get a good pass rush and your secondary looks better.

I've been reading some good things about Al Louis-Jean and got curious about his background. I don't typically follow our UDFA signings as they rarely end up contributing but he appears to be on track to doing just that. (Christian Jones too). I figured I'd post some of the links I came across here in case others were interested. He's 6' 1", 190lbs and ran a 4.52 forty. He has the size and athleticism to play the position but he came out of college at just 20 years old and without making much of an impact on the field. He also had a couple disciplinary issues in his last season. A roadmap for any player who wants to go undrafted. In the last game when Fuller went out I felt we'd see a big drop off in coverage or run support. It never materialized, and that was also with Christian Jones on the field. Detroit will be a much tougher challenge. http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/bears-lion...w-worry-detroit “You’ve just got to compete,” said cornerback Al Louis-Jean, who filled in when Kyle Fuller was injured against Tampa Bay. “You can’t be scared and back off and let him dictate everything.” Louis-Jean at 6-foot-2 will be expected to keep Johnson from dictating. Fuller is not expected to be back from his knee injury and Louis-Jean graded out at a very high level against the Buccaneers, according to sources. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...l-louis-jean-jr http://www.bcinterruption.com/2014/1/19/53...ssmen-nfl-draft http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140...ports/140408101 http://chi.scout.com/story/1431801-br-rook...y-al-louis-jean http://www.suntimes.com/29120560-606/undra...ml#.VHUmlUs8gVc

We just faced a team with a good pass rush and one of the top 3-tech DTs in the NFL while two of our Oline starters are sitting on the sideline. We also had Eben Britton sitting out and he often comes in as the extra blocker when we take those shots downfield. Maybe Trestman should have had complete confidence in Charles Leno and Michael Ola or maybe these radio guys missed seeing the 3 sacks the Buccaneers had on Cutler in the 1st half. I also think there is some truth to reigning in Cutler. If they went so far as to discuss benching him recently then it's not unreasonable to think they'd do some things to make him find, and get in the habit of taking, the safer throws. I really don't have a problem with that. The radio guys can talk it up as Trestman doesn't trust Jay but I want my HC to do whatever it takes to get a winning product on the field. Part of this involves understanding what his players can do well and can't do well and aligning that with the play calls. If that involves hurting a particular player's ego then so be it. There was another thread on here that we should not cater to Cutler who likes to take those downfield throws. Well then, there you go.

First, I don't fall into the category of apologizing for any wins in the NFL. I don't think the Packers are apologizing for beating the Vikings by 3pts and only scoring 24pts. I not saying we beat the Patriots or Broncos either. From a few weeks back I wanted to see progress and I see it. Not everywhere but there is some fight in this team. Offense: Cutler…stayed patient even through several drops, 3 and outs, early on. That's not his MO but he did this earlier in the season and we won against San Fran so he needs to bookmark these two games and remember this is how to play the game and stop trying to be the hero on every play or series. Good things I mentioned during the game. Several times Cutler threw the ball incomplete at WRs who were well covered but it was clearly away from the defender, or in the dirt, to where there would be no chance of an INT. He typically tries to throw a bullet into these tight coverage spots which often ends up in a bad result. I'll live with the punt over the INT. I wanted to see more running plays early but we kept putting ourselves in a hole on down/distance. Discipline must improve! Marquess Wilson... he's definitely quicker in and out of cuts. Can he be the missing ingredient for the middle of the field? I don't know yet but as he gains experience with Cutler and the offense overall, his quick slants will be more troublesome for teams that blitz their LBs or DBs against us. I actually liked the 1 step drop and quick throw to Jeffrey late in the game when the CB was 10yds off the LOS. I don't think that was anything but ad-lib for Jeffrey/Cutler but it's what good teams do. At least it's what they've done to us over the years. Oline played well. Not great but that's a good Dline with one outstanding DT and with two backps at LG and RT we held our own. Certainly they couldn't have been happy with the way we ran the ball in the 2nd half. We still have issues with speed off the edge, likely won't change until we get a true LT and move Bushrod to RT but if the middle is clean we'll survive. DLP is not the answer at OG but as our backup C/OG he's better than any backup I can think of in recent memory. Matt Forte is slowing down. He's still a very good RB and his versatility remains his calling card. They need to get Carey more reps to keep Forte fresh. Defense I was impressed today. No, we're not going to shutdown Brady or Rodgers but there was a passion out there that was good to see along with better play. Jared Allen hustles and is a good leader for the D. He does not have the burst he used to have to get around the edge but he plays solid for us. OTOH, whoever has been working with Cornelius Washington they are doing a damn fine job. I though he was going to be a non-factor all year long except for his special teams play. We can all see the athleticism but effort often wasn't there, nor were the pass rushing skills. He showed up several times today. He had one play where he got around the LT, in full contact he still had the strength to dip low as he went around the edge, disengage from the block and chase McCown. He only finished with 2 tackles and 1 sack but there should be a couple QB hurries mixed in as well. I look forward to seeing how he progresses the rest of the season. I like Willie Young but his sacks come more from effort. and he can't make that same move around the edge. Paea…keep eating your Wheaties. We need to keep him around. 6 sacks from the DT position at this point in the season has been an outstanding effort from him. He's been good on run D as well. LBs…Briggs left the game and... our D got better? I don't know if I'd stick to that long term but it is hard to say it got worse after he left the field and Jones came on. I'll stick why the fact that Jones' play is ascending fast. In general the LBs played well today. Bostic is finally starting to show some instincts in the passing game. I don't know how he missed that INT, well yes we do because you catch with your hands not your arms. Nonetheless he was in the right spot and almost made a similar play in the end zone earlier in the game. SMC played decently as well. DBs…another INT for Conte but largely because of the pass rush. I take it anyway. Vincent Jackson and Evans are a tough matchup and we held our own for most of the game. For the most part this shows that if a defense gets a consistent pass rush then the DBs look better. Coaching. Nobody will want to hear it but Tucker had his defense ready to play. For those who like a fire and brimstone coach look up the articles on his halftime rant. It worked too. I see many dismiss this because Tampa isn't that good. True but we're also the worst defense in the NFL. We were, but now we're 21st more or less dead even with the Buccaneers. I see progress and I see young players like Bostic, Jones, Paea, Washington, Hurst, Louis-Jean improving and contributing positive plays. Offense is a different story but they came out and played better in the 2nd half. Special teams. Our kick coverage has improved dramatically in the last few games. The new returner didn't fumble. Hard to believe after not playing for so long and he looks like he wants to be out there. We'll see next week. We still have areas for improvement with the punt blocking and KR blocking but overall we are getting better and more consistent.

I think you misread my statement. I was never in the McCown is better than Jay crowd although I admit at times he ran Trestman's offense better than Jay. At times. Other times he didn't. McCown was the only avalable QB that I can think other's here wanted to have instead of Cutler. I don't recall any specific names being tossed about for 1st or 2nd Rd draft picks either. If you want a starter they will almost always be drafted in those two rounds.

That is true regarding the D coordinator. I felt Pasqualoni was brought in as a backup DC candidate should we go that direction. FWIW Pasqualoni has been a HC before as well albeit at the collegiate level. I totally agree we cannot get back into that mess where the DC (or OC) is effectively on a 1yr deal under a prove-it-or-lose-it head coach.

Perhaps it's a matter of scale. Catering to Cutler such that the offense is designed to take advantage of his strengths…makes sense. You don't cater to him at the expense of the future. Go back and see how Tom Brady felt when the Patriots let Wes Welker walk away. If that means bringing in another QB to seriously challenge Cutler as the starter, either through draft or FA, then so be it. At this point with Cutler's new contract that type of decision is likely to be done via the draft.

Agreed!