Alaskan Grizzly

Oh yeah. I shoulda remembered. The National Champion Hoosiers (in Football) no less.

Spoken like a true Indiana-ite. I suppose at the end of the day what does someone from Alaska care? Not like I make it that way much anymore. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Fine with watching it on TV. Question. How do you think the helmet logo would be like? Still the iconic C?

Lol. Man the prices to have a professional team here would be exorbitant! We had a semi-pro hockey team for a few years but it was too much for them to maintain. Although I do have a couple friends running for office this November so I’ll ask around.

Not a fan at all of moving let alone ending up in Indiana. Have to re-evaluate my fandom if they move out of Chicago? It’s so weird.

For the record I love the posts with sponsors! The best. I’m with Mongo on this being a dead issue but not in agreement to who may have been in the wrong. That being said, since we’re here… Adam sorta said something similar to what I was thinking shortly after the game. It appears there was in fact a miscommunication but we don’t know about what it was. Regardlesss… I can’t help but heap praise on DJ for making all the other clutch catches he made throughout the season not to mention that incredible OT catch that helped the team beat GB (below). In my mind all those ‘ball out’ efforts offset any one play where he may have lagged a little…if he did at all. If he did, I’m sure Johnson and he will discuss at great length before next season begins. He has done some great things no doubt. He even commented earlier this week on how excited he is to come back next year. I hope that means something positive and he is part of the team again. I think he deserves it.

Fair. Ok unemployed after 2 years. 😆

Agree on the defense overhaul. But think the targeted guy (if they go that route) is Maxx. This post brought to you courtesy of Pendleton Whisky. 🥃

I have a feeling he’s a Ben Johnson coat tailer. Something tells me he’ll be unemployed by the end of next season. This post brought to you courtesy of Pendleton Whiskey.

Wait I thought Ryan Pace was the Falcons GM? 😏

Ben Johnson, I believe, was the one that set the bar for Caleb at 70% when he came to Chicago. Having worked with Goff he saw how much that could overall improve the game. Since Goff joined the Lions here's how he's trended: Interestingly, Johnson didn't start as the OC with Detroit until 2022 when you notice a dip from 2021-22 then back up again gradually until Johnson left at the end of the 24 season. Goff has always been a pretty decent passer. What kills him is his lack of mobility. He gets REALLY erratic after he's been hit a few times. I thought it interesting to see Williams had a 62.5% passer completion rate his rookie year (this despite his insane number of sacks). But then with his first year under Johnson dropped to 58%. I suspect he's tracking similar to how Lawrence is and get back to mid, maybe high 60% next year. And maybe in his third year of the system (like Stinger mentioned) we'll see him closer if not surpassing the 70% mark. NOTE: Drew Brees currently holds the record percentage rate at 74.4 (2018) so its not totally out of reach. A handful of guys have surpassed 70% in the 'modern era' in more than one season so again, nothing says Williams couldn't join them.

Interesting. So they hired a defensive minded HC in Minter. Hm.

Curious. How so? Could the same be said for Sean McDermott in Buffalo?

IMHO its gonna be hard to justify him staying around on the contract alone, as it currently stands. With his contract set to expire in 2027 his pay is commiserate to the Top-10 TEs in the game this last year. His contract currently ranks #8 among TEs tied with Jake Ferguson with the Cowboys and just behind David Njoku with the Browns. Production wise he was near the bottom overall: (*Note the stats above were from somewhere midseason as I think he finished in the top 5 for total TDS caught by a TE. Still he ranked low in most all the other categories). I'm with you in hoping they manage to find a way to keep him (are we both stricken with the good-guy syndrome of liking our players too much? 😉). I have to believe not only will they find a way to restructure his contract especially given his history as not only a fan of the team growing up but also literally growing up near Chicago...and for all the things you mention.

On a more serious note. He was carrying the gun with the assumption it was ok to do so as he allegedly was ok to carry it in Wisconsin. Sounds like he was going the process of declaring (unloaded in hard case) it before boarding when they discovered he didn't have a permit to do so for NY. Naive kid = naive mistake. Don't see much coming out of this. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6999636/2026/01/26/packers-rasheed-walker-arrested-gun/

Meh. The game conditions were pretty nasty . Mayes performance in that game was hindered by his defensive minded HC ( and “brainchild OC” McDaniels). Denver’s perrfomance (or lack thereof) was due to their inept backup signal caller. At the end of the day it’s quite possible Maye could still end up with the league MVP title.

Playoff related. Just reminded that of the 2018 QB draft class, one that includes 2x League MVP Lamar Jackson, 1x League MVP Josh Allen and 1st overall pick Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold is the first to start in a Super Bowl . He’s also the first to have back to back 14 win seasons with two different teams. (Note: current Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds was also selected that year at #16 overall). Meanwhile of the 2024 class Drake Maye is the first to reach the big game.

Ouch. You know where I stand on DJ (I’m totally with you) but if they get a third rounder for him that would be a pretty good deal. After all Monangai was a 7th rounder and Walker was a UDFA. 🤷🏻‍♂️

To this I couldn’t agree more.

Hell no!

All good options. I like the idea of cultivating from within.

I don’t know whether this got answered before but is there any real possibility in asking Thuney to play the position? I’d assume it would involve more money for him but he seemed to do fine in the one game he played it. That is until the play where Caleb chucked it to Kmet to tie the game. Your video with Kreutz mentioned ‘the left collapsed’ on that play . Wasn’t sure it was Thuney or McFadden he was referring to . Edit: sorta answered my own question. Looked to see if that was in fact a possibility and even though I didnr get a definitive ‘yes’ it was noted he’s done it before . Sounds like he did it as recent as 2024 when playing for the Chiefs. He did it for a stint later in the season but they noted a combination of the line itself wearing down and his body style (not really a tackle) being a big reason they made an early out on the playoffs. Still, could he be a bridge until Trapillo comes back or another ‘up and comer’ is identified?

Your backhanded insults are cute I’ll give you that. I see why Stinger gets so fed up with you. You don’t have to take my word for it since you seem to know who or what I am. Just watch the video clip Stinger supplied on Lucky’s post and see what Olin Kreutz has to say about it. We know he has the bonafides.

I think this may be in and of itself a huge factor. Especially as you mention the longevity of how long DJ has played and managed to stay (more or less) healthy throughout. And when you compare it to the performances thus far to players like Burden and Odunze; yeah that’s telling. Could it not be said that either of these guys were ‘taking plays off’ while being on the bench to recover from their injuries? Let’s not forget Odunze let a key pass fly right through his hands on a sure TD play against the Rams . Why was that? Too much time on the sidelines? I will say this about DJ. I have to ask how much productivity does he really have left? He’s put it out there, no doubt, but to what extent? And is he more valuable now as a trade piece or continuing to play for the Bears? As far as some stats to analyze I wanted to see, among the Bears receivers, was the most productive . By and large Loveland came out on top. And that was with him not really being involved for the front 1/4 of the season. But DJ was favored in a few other stats. One of those being he had the second most receiving yards, he also led the team in average yards per game and average yards per catch. I believe after Burden he was also # 2 at YAC. https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/chicago-bears-team-stats?season=2025&seasonType=reg&category=receiving

Yet we can just as easily forget all the other handsfuls of plays where he gave full effort (and then some). Again, we don’t know who really messed up the play. A lot of “experts” assume it was DJ. Sounds like Rome may have been complicit too? According to JT anyhow? By the by, I’m convinced if either one of us decided to apply ourselves just a little bit more in football we could’ve accomplished as much in life as has O’Sullivan. Starting a YouTube channel isn’t all that complicated. And although not a fan of just discarding a player because it’s what everyone wants, I realize that DJ is near the end of his shelf life (playing wise) and is now a valuable commodity towards maybe one younger (and probably unproven) defensive player. I still remember the days when people used to take pride in career players staying with their teams. The league has changed over time.