Alaskan Grizzly

Add in Detroit’s second round loss by 14 points and I’m still not sure the NFC north was “all that”. Detroit was the #1 and Washington #6.

Yup. I think people were tricked into thinking he was some sort of offensive genius. Once we found out first hand he wasn’t it became much more who obvious who runs their offense in KC (Reid). Especially when Bienemy left to Washington and UCLA only to flame out in both places.

1000% agree.

The only real concern I have with Johnson, besides relatively unproven outside of Detroit is that Goffs production the last three years were very similar to his last three with the Rams. Which begs to ask, is Johnson or Goff the reason for their offense success? It would be sorta like comparing how Nagy looked in KC before coming to Chicago.

McCarthy actually coached the Packers to a SB win after the 2010 season (SB XLV). Ironically enough they played Pittsburgh who was coached by none other than Mike Tomlin. That was also the last time that Chicago played in the NFC Championship game (against GB).

How about Mike Tomlin? Is he in the McVay/Shanny conversation when it comes to potentially giving up a first for him? Reason I ask is that has come up in conversation. That Pittsburgh might be willing to part with him due to what appears to be him getting stuck in neutral when it comes to the playoffs. I saw some pundits suggest he and McCarthy should just changes locations and that might do the trick. With McCarthy it would make sense as he is a Pennsylvania native.

Brown had it figured out for the three games he was solely the OC. In those games the Bears played valiantly against Detroit, GB and Minny only to lose by a few points each game. Once he elevated to HC, the magic disappeared. Having watched all that All-22 my question is, what the hell was Kmet doing? Sitting on the sideline? He just disappeared…

So in hindsight was the NFC north as good as their combined records reflected? Both GB and Minny were bounced in the first round by a combined score of 49-19. And one other funny nugget I saw earlier today. Minny lost to only two teams all season. Detroit (twice during the regular season) and the Rams (once during the regular season and again last night).

I know but thought it would be worth noting. I mean Aaron could bring his buddy Paul Hackett as the new OC. 🤷🏻‍♂️

McCarthy strikes me as a blue coller, lunchpail totin type of guy. Would fit in with the Bears in that regard . No denying his winning record with both GB and Dallas . If this happens I hope that since Rodgers will be looking for a new job we don’t become a possible landing spot. 😱

5 (?) now???

I feel Johnson is going to be this year’s version of Daboll.

Disregard.

Add in Riverboat Ron.

Stories say that since Tom Brady is part owner of the Raiders now and that he and Vrabel are buds, he could be a front runner for Las Vegas. Still part of the “Patriot Way.” I admit you make a compelling point about Johnson and his affinity to the play action. Question I have is theor success more because of Goff or Johnson?

Surely you haven’t forgotten his brief tenure with Miami? Its epic disaster rivaled Urban Meyer while in Jax.

These are all reasons why Carroll is my leading choice. (He’d be #2 after Bill Cowher - I wish). He’s got that background you talk of and managed success at both the collegiate and pro level. Having been to the Super Bowl in 2 consecutive years (winning one) and taking Seattle to the playoffs numerous times he knows how to get it done. And for what it’s worth he has ties to USC both historically and currently with him recently taking on a teacher role for the school. My one concern with him is has the game passed him by? I was a fan of hiring Fox but for whatever reason he couldn’t get traction in Chicago after doing some good work in Carolina and Denver. Not a fan at all of hiring another “hot” coordinator. We’ve been burned (I’m aware of the pun) too many times consecutively by that. And Vrabel hasn’t really proven he’s capable of doing a whole lot other than look intimidating. His biggest knock to me is he’s from the Belichick coaching tree and so far no one from that group has shown great promise individually.

Well they did manage to make the playoffs with him as QB two years in a row. Also with former LB and former DC DeMeco Ryans as HC. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And the Bears are +1 in the total points scored between the two games they played each other this season.

Undefeated in 2025 is a lot nicer than where GB is right now. They play Philly next week with Watson and possibly Love injured.

I think right now I’m for the idea of Carroll as HC and maybe someone like Brown coming back as OC. For some reason the offense ran a lot better when Brown was just doing OC duties.

Just saw on Fox pregame show that both Darnold and Baker had former staff members from LA follow them their current locations. After Mayfield played for LA he left for TB and along came OC Wes Phillips who was previously the Rams’ TE coach and pass coordinator . And in Minny after Darnold left SF, current OC Liem Coen was previously the Rams OC in 2022. Something in the water in LA?

At the end of the day I think what a lot of this comes down to is coaching. Williams easily had a better roster (aside from his oline) than did Nix or Daniels. Having experienced coaches like Payton in Denver and Quinn in Washington undoubtedly helped navigate each of their rookies’ seasons. Especially if you consider both have been to the Super Bowl (and Payton won one). The only true measure of whether Williams panning out will be if they find someone who can better ‘manage the chaos’. I would think that his ‘generational talent’ should be enough to rise above it but that apparently isn’t enough. If they get the right guy in place, things should look up next year.

Yeah hindsight is definitely a help. Especially give a few short months ago we all thought he was a wizard with all the picks and players he was able to get through what I would consider GM management . Two years ago he was able to capture DJ Moore in a trade for ‘our #1’ and turned that into getting two 1st round picks for last year, one of those being someone else’s #1 overall. That’s pretty amazing. What he did with all those picks is certainly up for debate, hence the hindsight view. Not sure I agree as much with the ‘smartest guy in the room vibe’. Wasn’t it Cunnigham that had to talk him off the ledge for wanting to trade a pick to get Odunze? Allegedly Poles was in a panic that he wouldn’t get him. That doesn’t read as over-confident to me.

I have a strong feeling Odunze will be great. Behind Nabers he’s the best WR in this last draft. IMHO. I agree we could’ve (and should’ve) done as you suggested with the controversial “haul pick” but it is what it is. Meanwhile of the six QBs drafted in the first round of 2024 four of them will have teams most likely in the playoffs; McCarthy*, Penix Jr*, Nix and Daniels. And as an aside, Justin Fields and Pittsburgh will also be in the playoffs due in part to his 4-2 record with them as a starter.