CrackerDog

I guess that's a compliment but damn it, I'd much rather watch my team play on Sunday afternoon. And I hate Bob Costas!

That aggressiveness is why I give him a break on the few busts this season. I can tolerate errors related to "going for it" much more than those that are commited by being too passive. And while I agree with you he needs to improve his decisions at times, you have to take the good with the bad when a coach is prone to being aggressive. I wonder if he's "setting the tone" this year with his team. Making them feel he believes in them. Not saying he won't be that way next year, just wondering if this is partially the result of his nature, partially due to his needing to learn the NFL and somewhat also due to his telling his team he has high expectations and he believe they'll make him look good when he asks them to make that fourth and one. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit for being philosophical but after watching Phil Jackson and other good coaches over the years, it wouldn't surprise me if this "winners attitude" is something he's cultivating.

Lovie always had the luxury of knowing he could win a game once he had a 2 TD lead. Trestman doesn't with this injured bunch. While I'd love to give him 100% credit, I'm not sure he wouldn't have eased off the gas a little to burn clock. I didn't feel comfortable we were going to win until 2 minutes left in the game. You can't trust this D. Whatever, I've been wrong for decades about the Bears needing to be a Defense based running team due to weather, apparently. So what the hell do I know?

It might be OK in this case as you'd let Cutler know right up front that his agent would be free to negotiate a long term deal with other teams outside the division. If they get a deal, you make the trade. If not, you pay him. I'm not a fan of pulling the tag because as you say, it's uncool. I'm still not sure this is the right thing to do given McCown's age and unproven history but damn if it isn't hard to argue with the results. And as you previously mentioned, it leaves a lot of money to get creative with in rebuilding the D.

Insane game for J Mac tonight!

I don't think so dude. I don't think a team is allowed to say "We're going to be going after Player X hard in the off season." I could be wrong but let's face it, there's nothing in the article to suggest Tennessee really said anything. This is probably just the opinion of the writer.

I think it's called tampering when one team talks about another team's player while he's under contract.

I understand but can't bring myself to do it. I always root for a W despite it being "smarter" to root the other way, at times.

If it isn't us I'll root for whoever is playing the Lions or Packers. After that I'll just watch the games for enjoyment. I can't sleep until those two teams are eliminated.

Guess that's what losing to Jacksonville gets you...

They put in a cellular enhancement system this year. Not sure how well it works but it wasn't up and running until a few games into the season. http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/grizzly-de...-228979451.html

As to the O Line play, I have no idea how to measure it. I'd assume starting with two rookies at the beginning of the season was no picnic and Cutler's mobility, etc made a difference. Can't prove it. The experts comment wasn't meant as a dig. I disagree with many things they've done and stated that. But as to the decision on our QB going forward, I think they'll get it right. That's what I actually said.

A few you missed: Age: Jay Cutler - 4 years younger (an eternity in QB years) Wifes: Jay Cutler - Hot Josh McCown - Cute Career best passing yards in a season: Cutler 4,500 McCown 2,500 Passing yards in 2012: Cutler - 3,000+ McCown - Zero In short, Cutler, younger and not a fluke, McCown old for a QB and we're not sure if this is a fluke. But are you going to believe me or your lyin' eyes? PS. A lot of this is meant in jest. Don't get all pissy with me.

Accurate. But now also find a way to factor in that I believe the O Line steadily improved throughout the season and McCown had full benefit of that while Jay had to weather the early part of the year. Let's be honest, it's all subjective. I do think if Jay were a more likeable guy, there wouldn't be nearly as much desire to see someone else out there. I'm a Cutler fan and I don't really like the guy! It's undeniable McCown has been great. In comparison to some of the other turds we've had to endure over the last few years (in terms of backup) and even over the last few decades (in terms of "starters") I'd say I 100% understand why some think he'd be a better option given the money it would potentially free up elsewhere. I just don't agree with those folks based on all of the more tangible things I pointed out that you essentially agreed with. And I forgot one: Age. So, given the fact that this is all guesswork on our parts I'll leave it to our "experts" on the team. I may not agree with everything Trestman and Emery have done but I do think they'll get it right when it comes to QB.

I think this is unnecessarily harsh and overly dramatic. The report card on Emery is still full of incompletes with a few A's and a few C's (or worse) but I don't think you can or should translate his comments on SMC into what you did above. He's a professional and he isn't going to shit on one of our guys in the press. And he may honestly think he still sees something in SMC that we don't. I'm not saying he's right here but I am saying he isn't a liar or delusional either.

Did you read my post as defending SMC? If so, I did a poor job of communicating. I think SMC is either out of position and needs to be moved to OLB or put in on third and long only. Or he needs to bulk up some and learn a lot about run defense, contain, etc. He's still playing like a rookie out there and we should've seen more growth by this point.

I think there are several better arguments for Cutler but whatever, we're on the same side here. Just pointing out that you can't give Jay credit for the D scoring, etc. And to be completely fair you'd need to compare the relative strength of the defenses each played against. With that said, my arguments for Jay are: * His arm is an elite NFL arm. His deep ball is accurate and he can win games for us. We haven't had that QB in my lifetime. Jimmy Mac was as close as we've had and even he would admit Cutler's arm is better. * He's aggressive. This leads to mistakes but generally, when he's been given protection, he's overcome those errors. With time in this offense I think he'll grow such that he's making more big plays and fewer errors. * His mobility isn't top 5 in the league but he's pretty good at scrambling to pick up first downs, getting out of the pocket, etc. And his passes on the move are accurate. * Toughness and health. Despite Jay's run of health issues this year and that fabricated media bullshit a few years ago about how he quit on the team, I don't think he's fearless or impervious to injury but he's probably tougher than most QB's and has stayed reasonably healthy during his NFL career, despite some ridiculous OL's in front of him. * His rapport with his receivers is second to none in the NFL. I think he knows how to keep Marshall away from the abyss his personality disorder might otherwise lead him into. While Jeffrey's undoubtedly been stellar under McCown, there's nothing I've seen that says his production would drop markedly with Jay out there. I know Jay seemed to force the ball into Marshall more often earlier this year but that's more attributable to his personality and the level of trust he has in him more than anything else. And Alshon has had some excellent games under Jay as well. None of the above is meant in any way to slight McCown, his play has been incredible for a backup we picked up off the scrapheap. I want that guy back too!

Ha, another SMC fan! I was listening to the portion of the Bears game in the fourth quarter when we intercepted the ball and returned it to the 50 yard line. Thayer ripped SMC for not taking out the QB on that play claiming if he did, the return would've been a TD. I didn't see it so I can't say if I agree or not. Can anyone confirm? If so, that loss is on SMC!

Your analysis would need to exclude ST and D points to be 100% accurate. I don't want to do those calcs but know we were scoring D points with a higher frequency early in the year when Jay was out there.

You and I actually get along pretty well when you're not being dumb.

Just wish I'd seen some evidence of it here, that's all. I guess you could say he expected our current crop of D players to stay healthy and produce at a high level but that doesn't explain some of the bad picks he's made here on D. I'm not saying he can't do it, just that I haven't seen much evidence thus far with him being the "Man" here.

Amen. But we have a backup QB in the lineup and he's playing well. I'd expect Jay to take more chances and that could potentially have upside and/or downside, depending. But at least we'd be putting forth our best most in your face effort. I like agressive play and therefore would love to see Jay back this weekend.

What I expect the Bears to do is approach Jay this off season and say here's what we think your market value is for a 5 year contract which'll let you end your career a Bear. And they'll negotiate from there and come to some sort of agreement with a big bonus check. But both sides will realize throughout the negotiations that: 1.) Jay's value was somewhat hurt by his injuries this year. 2.) That the Bears will have to write a huge check to tag him and only get one season if they do. These two factors will offset each other and they'll end up pretty much with a market deal. They'll then sign McCown up for a 2 or 3 year deal unless he finds greener pastures, which I don't expect. Jay's numbers go up if he returns this weekend and performs at a high level for the remainder of the season. If Jay comes back and isn't ready or underwhelms, all bets are off. The Bears could very well then think about going with McCown and drafting a rookie if they get a high enough pick to nab one of the prospects coming out this season. That would leave lots of $$$ for signing free agents and bringing the D back to life, which is the upside to not breaking the bank on Jay. Several others here including Jason have rightly pointed out this potential windfall. If the Bears decide this is their best option, I won't be happy but I won't cry either as I do have a lot of faith in Trestman's ability to groom the QB of the future. Jay being a "gunslinger" style QB might benefit elsewhere in an offense more suited to his mindset. It'll be an interesting off season...

Does anyone think if the Bears had both QB's signed up for the next few years that any NFL team would offer more for Josh than they would Jay? The only place in the world that McCown is rated more highly than Cutler is in the world of internet football experts. In the real world, most see the difference. With that said, I repeat, Josh is playing great and I'm happy we have him. And Jay makes too many mistakes! I just want to see what he can do when he's had the same OC for two damn years in a row, and another off season with the Nerd whispering in his ear. He might actually live up to his damn potential! And I want it to be with the Bears, not against them...

Here's what we did on that drive: 1-10-CHI 47 (7:17) 22-M.Forte up the middle to MIN 46 for 7 yards (69-J.Allen). 2-3-MIN 46 (6:44) 22-M.Forte left end to MIN 42 for 4 yards (34-A.Sendejo; 52-C.Greenway). 1-10-MIN 42 (6:11) 22-M.Forte up the middle to MIN 33 for 9 yards (34-A.Sendejo). 2-1-MIN 33 (5:30) 22-M.Forte up the middle to MIN 32 for 1 yard (90-F.Evans). 1-10-MIN 32 (4:45) 22-M.Forte up the middle to MIN 29 for 3 yards (69-J.Allen). Pretty hard to say we "had to" kick on 2nd down when we'd averaged over 4 YPC on that drive up until that point. Both D's were dragging ass. I do see the angle about the Vikings negating their own try with a penalty but you can't coach your team based on what the other team did. I say just line it up, smash mouth it until it's time to kick and then do it. Don't run a lot of cute plays that typically draw holding calls, just straight ahead kick ass football. End of story. And I agree with you, the team has made too many mental errors recently and that's somewhat on Trestman and somewhat on the inexperience of the players out there. Somewhat on the refs too, as there've been enough bullshit calls recently to our detriment. But the Bears had this one in the bag and let it go. I feel a Denny Green rant coming on!