BearFan2000

very interesting read, our chances certainly are slim which we likely will be kicking ourselves for the couple games we gave away earlier in the year. All we can do is keep working to win the game ahead of us till we're officially eliminated. It sucks to know that 1 more win and we'd be in a far better position. I just hope that the momentum we've been building the last few weeks can carry over into next year. I'd love to see us make the playoffs and feel we could be a dangerous team if we do.

Relief that it wasn't more serious, it looked bad at the time and he was definitely in a lot of pain. I found it irritating though that he's laying on the ground in pain and two cowboy players were doing a celebration in the end zone. But then again why expect any thing classy from that organization.

always disliked this approach yet most teams do this. The Bears are not alone here. I've always felt you should not change the way you play regardless of the score if you are in the lead. When you have a team on the ropes take the knockout blow and finish them off. We allowed Dallas to climb back to within 7 in a game they were being dominated in. I do think we made more of an effort to keep the clock moving and actually trying to get first downs than we have in the past where we just hand it off a few times and punt. We could have been far more aggressive and just kept the pedal down and tried harder to chew up the clock. Had Miller caught that 3rd down pass, we may have been able to keep them from getting it within a score.

Easily the best overall performance by the Bears this year. Offense imposed it's will pretty much all night till late when they basically shut it down. The D played well outside of that first drive and a few garbage time drives. The scoreboard doesn't indicate how we dominated the Cowboys. For much of the game we were playing with a 17 pt lead yeah they cut it to 7 at the end which is something we can't get in the habit of allowing garbage points. But this one was never in doubt once we took the lead. You could see the frustration on their sidelines and on the field. It's been a while since we've watched an opponent display such turmoil on their sideline, and it was as fun to watch as the game itself. TE's wow, more TE action that we've had all year. Really impressed with both Holtz and Horsetead. They were big part of the offense. I didn't expect that. Maybe TE isn't as high on the need list as I thought. Granted it is one game, but I like that they were heavily involved. They were more involved last week or so than they had been but not as much as last night. I hope that keeps up. It's possible with them both being young and having had limited playing time they are now finding their role in the offense. I liked that we spread the ball around, it wasn't just force it to Robinson, the TE's, Wimms, Miller, Robinson, etc., and we even had a Ridley sighting. We were able to run the ball much better, which I think the passing game helped loosen up the box for Monty. I feel like we did more to get Montgummery the ball in space, by running to the outside, using the screen game with him and the TE's. This was the first game that the offense looked like what I'd envisioned they could be capable of in the offseason. Now can they continue that week to week? If we can keep spreading the ball around and get the ground game going, while sprinkling in Mitch making plays with his legs. This could be a dangerous offense as opposed to the one dimensional shell of an offense we've watched for much of the first half of the season. The officiating was again awful (as it has been league wide all year). Three face mask penalties not called, one of them would have negated a fumble, one of them would have made an offsetting penalty on the obligatory bogus block in the back that we seem to get called for at least 1-2 times a game. A pair of missed PI calls on red zone pass attempts, I think both times Wims was the target, one of them being the play he got hurt on. Jaylen never tuned to local the ball on either play. Other than that though it was a game refreshingly light on penalty calls, or at least it felt like they were letting the teams play more rather than stopping play constantly to call something. If the Bears can keep this up, it bodes well for next year. All they can control is these next three games. This late surge is likely to little too late to save this season by making the playoffs. They will likely sorely regret the handful of games they gave away. A strong finish however, especially given how bad things got for a while, does speak to both the players and the coaches. I chose to believe that they both have learned some valuable lessons this season. Adversity often makes you find out just how resilient you can be, it either makes you pack it in, or it makes dig in and fight to get better and figure things out. I give the Bears a and their coaches a lot of credit for digging out of the hole they put themselves in. To be 7-6 at this point when just 3-4 weeks ago I doubted we'd get more than 4 wins, shows they still have some pride and haven't stopped fighting. For the D to continue to play as well as they have considering all the injuries we've had speaks to the depth, it's great to see guys come in and step up. Getting Hicks back will be huge. Last year we had good fortune when it came to injuries, this year hasn't been the case but we've seen the next man up work and guys are getting valuable playing time and making plays.

I think that's what Hub was getting at, not immaturity as a person or lack of dedication. Perhaps a poor choice of wording by Hub but essentially it's about experience and growth as a QB/leader. I feel like this season can be a good teaching lesson for Mitch. Sometimes adversity is the best teacher. His play the last few weeks and especially last night show he's improving. Can he keep improving and more importantly play more consistently. One thing that is noticeably different the last couple games is he looks like he's having fun and playing more loose. I feel like he was playing tight and scared/afraid to make mistakes. It's good to see him using his legs as a weapon in the offense more. That is a dimension to his game that will help the offense by making defenses have to account for that possibility. He's not a pocket passer and his comments and actions make it seem he was told not to run but to try to be a pass first QB. Let him be who he is, and that's a mobile QB that can beat your with his legs and his arm. For Mitch with the remainder of the season it's all about keeping the arrow up and playing consistent football. If he can do that we can win with him.

Neither kicker Maher or Pineiro has been good, of the two I might rather have Maher, but it's kind of a tallest midget argument. We're stuck with Eddy for this season, and I don't believe he'll be back next year. There's just absolutely no confidence or reason for confidence in our kicking game. Not only has he been shaky when he's been called on, the coaches clearly have little faith in him, and tend to opt to go for it or punt, rather than trot Eddy out there. They know they don't have a good kicker and they coach like they don't have a good kicker. It's about damage control. On the positive side there are several good collage kickers that can be had either in the back end of the draft or UDFA signings. I'm personally tired of the Gould talk, he was in a slump when we cut him, he even said that woke him up. There was also some friction between Robbie and the staff at the time. That story is done though, he's not coming back and he has struggled this year as well at times. We need to look forward not backward. We need to either address it late in the draft and/or UDFA's. I don't want us to bring in another retread, or "hot FA" kicker that's expected to solve our issues. I do believe part of the issues with Eddy are issues that are inherent to being a kicker for the Bears, the swirling winds at Soldier Field don't help and only get worse as the season goes on. We need a kicker who can handle that environment, who excels in adverse conditions.

I don't mind the club dub thing if it's earned but at 4-5, and having struggled to beat a bad Lions team without it's starting QB. That is not a reason to celebrate, you limped to a win that finally broke a 4 game skid. This is the equivalent of celebrating a sack when your getting blown out. I believe you should have to earn the right to do these kinds of things. And this year the team hasn't earned it. It feels like handing out trophies for participation.

loads of talent but the cost of bringing him here would be too much for the inevitable season ending injury that will happen, couple that with the drama and I'll pass. We've already gone the route of overpaying for a QB who has talent past success, but has drama/maturity issues. *cough* Cutler *cough*

Pass for many of the reasons previously mentioned. 3 years removed from the NFL, 32 years old, sub 500 starter last time he did play and got benched, opted out of his 49ers contract, cried foul when no one showed interest, he was a huge distraction as a player, that hasn't changed since he last played. He's turned down contract offers, and seems to think he's worth somewhere in the area of 20 mil a year (no one's going to give him that). I agree with Mogo, his priority is not football he seems more interested in portraying himself as a victim. Politics and SJW stuff aside he's not worth it. I was listening to the Score not long ago and had to shut it off, don't know who the host was but he was railing on the Bears for not sending someone there and passing on a starter quality QB. Implying that by not sending someone to this "tryout" is admitting they don't care. He tried to make it sound like Kaep would be great fit and how good of a QB he is, yada yada. If he was/is as good a QB as so many claim he is, and if he was as desperate to play in the NFL as he claims he is, he'd be on a team.

We know Whitehair is capable of playing better (ie clean snaps) as he gets more reps in practice and game snaps this should get cleaned up. Why the change was made this offseason is a head scratcher, as he performed well there last year the move created issues at two positions. Regardless of why, and the timing of switching them back, can't change the past but this move can't hurt. He does need to clean up the bad snaps, so much is timing based and when your QB has to take his eyes off the play to secure the ball after the snap, be it low, dribbled, high etc. I feel like we've done things that have not helped Mitch build on last year, whether it's switching up his center, telling him not to run, not using the run game to elevate pressure, etc. Not that that absolves Mitch for his regression. A top tier QB or even a second tier QB can overcome those things and at the very least perform at a higher level than we've seen from Mitch. Up till that TD drive to end the first half against the Lions he just didn't look right, hasn't looked right for much of the year, you can see it in his eyes he was not having fun, not playing lose, or confident. He looked like a QB playing scared. From that drive on he looked more himself like he was having fun, and looked more confident. Will he build on that, or will go back into his shell. Just as important as the comfort between Whitehair and Mitch is getting the run game going by actually opening holes. Hard to run when your getting hit before you reach the line. We are losing the battle for the line of scrimmage on offense and that is one of the key reasons for the struggles we've seen.

I agree and it's easy to point to things like this. Club Dub wasn't even a thing till they started getting on a roll and winning. In order to do things like that you have to earn it on the field and they were by winning so I had no problem with that as it seemed to help motivate them to keep winning. When they are in their proper place and perspective those things aren't wrong and gave the team a personality and a swagger. But this year things like that should be the last thing on their mind and would be highly inappropriate like celebrating a sack when your getting blown out. At 3-4 we look like a team that just assumed it would take the next step and walk into the season and dominate. Last years success I feel made the team a bit arrogant and stumbling out of the gate is probably the last thing they expected. They look frustrated, and lost. What they need to do is get back to the basics do the little things, put in the work and rediscover your identity. Cut the crap and figure out how to get refocused. Easier said than done but there is way too much talent on this team to be playing this poorly in nearly every aspect. You can't truly start heal till you stop the bleeding. If that means simplifying till you find what works and build on that. Last year was last year that won't help you this year. Part of going from a team struggling to win year in and year out is learning how to maintain success year to year. Perennial playoff teams know how to do this, and self correct when they start slow. We had one good season last year but you can't get satisfied and assume that will just continue without putting in extra effort to reach higher. It's hard to watch as a fan that had high expectations of possibly seeing the Bears in the running for a SB to watch this mess of a team. Playoffs which we thought would be a given this year, seem less and less likely. I hated hearing pundits/"experts" pick us to be the playoff team to miss this year, thinking, it's just the usual hate/disrespect we've come to expect. Playoffs could still happen, teams have recovered from starts like this, the talent is there, but they've dug a hole for themselves. Outside of a monumental stumble within the division our best hope would be a wildcard spot. The way the rest of this season plays out has far more reaching impact potential than playoffs this season, either positively or negatively. If we can right the ship this season whether or not that is enough to make the post season this year it at least gives hope going into next year. If we can't things could get ugly fast. Either way they've got their work cut out for them can they regroup? I don't know, but the status quo is not going to cut it. Time for a serious gut check, and honest look in the mirror. They have no one to blame but themselves.

These kinds of plays and his comments about trying to be a pass first QB gives fuel to the theory that he's being told not to run but rather throw first. I also wonder if in his thinking he wants to make every play a big play rather than take what the defense gives you. If what they give you is easy 5-7 yard completions, take it and force them to take that away to open up the deep stuff. If they don't take it away tthey are giving up a first down every 2-3 plays which either lets you avoid 3rd down or have 3rd and short. He has to be aware of the noise from fans/media alike about our offense's woes and hearing about Mahome's and Watson, etc. The pressure has to be there wether he admits it or not. Sometimes that pressure can lead to overthinking and trying too hard rather than take advantage of what each play gives you, and if it's not there scramble and throw the ball away and live to fight another down. If he's being told to not run you take away a big part of his game. He's proven he can be a threat when he takes off, when teams no longer fear that they sit in coverage and let their D-line get after him. He's not a pure pocket passer don't try to make him what he's not. He looks neutered back there. Besides with our offensive line, forcing your QB to be a statue is asking for trouble. A good OC does what he can to call and design plays to take advantage of what his players do well, while masking or negating what they don't do well. Here it seems to be the square peg in a round hole syndrome. That doesn't absolve Mitch's inability to see open receivers and hold the ball too long. Hard to say if he's trying to hard to make big plays and hoping ARob will eventually be open and ignoring the easier shorter options because he's looking for the home run. At some point you have to realize it's better to focus first on getting men on bases before swinging for the fence.

Their scam works because with a HOF QB in Brady, these backups rarely see the field and yet when they do the system has been run for so long and run so well that these backups look great in limited action, so they can sell a turd for the price of gold. Thus far only Garoppolo has seemed to pan out. The rest have turned out to be fools Gold. As long as Brady keeps playing they'll be able to upsell backups to desperate teams.

I wouldn't be surprised if we lost hicks for the season, that injury looked gruesome. Hope I'm wrong but either way next man up. Other guys will have to step up their game to compensate.

this 100% it was irritating to watch Jacobs mostly untouched till he was in the second level and then watch Montgomery get mugged the second he gets the handoff. Our line is sad at best, it makes it hard to truly evaluate the skill positions.

I agree, the D has been the bright spot for the team. The game in London it's like we were watching a different team. Couldn't tackle, couldn't cover, couldn't get pressure, couldn't touch the RB till he was in the second level. They looked unprepared to play, perhaps they should have done what the Raiders did in flying the team out earlier and having them acclimated, they looked sluggish and out of sync. It wasn't till an unforced miscue by the Raiders offense that they started making some plays. In the 5 games we've played thus far it has more often been the offense that has let this team down, it's hard to play lights out D all game long trying to keep us in the game. It wears on you at some point. Perhaps that too is part of the issue of star players on our D like Mack fading in the 4th, as they are gassed trying to keep the team in the game till the offense does something. Considering the season thus far this game looks more like the exception than the rule. Now if they come out and play like this again and it starts to be a pattern then then I'll be concerned.

It is natural to wonder in the absence of facts, whatever it is if it is depression, or a family issue, or other personal issue that's effecting him, I hope he's able to get the help he needs to work through it, for his own mental health, we've seen good players, talented players crumble under mental health and it's sad to see. I do feel like he's in a good situation with good support from teammates, coaches, and an organization that cares about the well being of it's players. I know none of us are making assumptions that it's this or that. I'm glad that Nagy and Pace aren't betraying his trust if he's confided in them by not sharing details that the public doesn't need to know at this time. As far as the team goes we have the depth to allow him time if he needs it to sort whatever it is out. He's done a lot to make up for the holdout, with his play on field and his enthusiasm up to this point so I think we're all ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. We may never find out what led to his missed time but as long as he takes the time he needs to get things right and get back to playing at a high level, I'm good with it. I know personally having dealt with bouts of depression the mind can go to dark places with little or no warning. Having good support around you makes all the difference.

I think it’s best not to speculate at this point. We don’t know what is going on or what happened. I do give Nagy credit for keeping what ever it is out of the media out of respect for Roquan. We really don’t need to know. Just hope whatever it is he’s able to get past and sort it out.

And what do those two things have in common (no holes, and not being able to stretch the field). Offensive Line. They are not opening holes with any frequency and other than the short passing game they aren't keeping our QB's clean long enough for the deeper stuff to develop. We have the talent at WR/TE/RB to stretch the field, Danials and Mitch have the arm to make the throws, but as often is the case the game comes down to the war in the trenches, if we don't win the line of scrimmage we're going to struggle to make big splash plays to put defenses on the ir heels. We're going to need to address the OL in the offseason between FA and the draft. I'm hoping that as the season moves along and the current group develops more continuity and plays better, I don't expect great or even above average but for this group average would be good. As to Trubisky's injury and the QB situation, In the short term I see us bring up Brey as the backup but keeping our eyes out for other options on other teams rosters. I would say hell no to Keapernick he is a below average QB who brings a lot of baggage, and circus with him. He thinks of himself as a starting caliber QB but he had one good year and played very and played himself out of a starting role, and opted out of his contract. He over values himself, talking heads like to push for him whenever a QB goes down simply for the media circus it would create. I'm hoping Mitch's injury isn't a long absence but at the same time he can get some valuable perspective watching the offense from the sidelines. With this defense I think we can still win with Daniels. The offense doesn't have to be spectacular or lights out (though that would be fun to watch paired with our D), it just has to be efficient, control the clock and keep our D fresh while wearing down theirs. As long as we can put up say around 20 a game or more we'll be fine. The positive is that it's Mitch's non throwing shoulder

So far he's played better than expected people were dogging them for the pick, but they needed a QB with some potential to replace Eli who'd definitely lost a lot of his game in recent years.

Makes this upcoming game very important. Win and we have the same record as the Packers and we hand Minny a loss. We're going to have to come out firing. A win puts the vikings at 2-2, and us a half game behind the Packers tied at 3-1. The lions being in first place is a mirage and won't last.

Agree on Whyte, he's shown little that makes me feel like could even grow into a role. He doesn't have great vision, or determination. He looks indecisive in the backfield which time is precious and he waits to long to make a decision. Patience is a a virtue for a back, but overthinking and dancing will get you nowhere unless your name is Barry Sanders. I'd keep Montgomery, Davis, Cohen, and Nall. If we keep Whyte I'd rather it be on the practice squad. Shaheen from our perspective has shown little to justify continuing to invest in him. He may be looking fine in practice, but you don't keep guys cause they are practice studs, you keep guys cause they can contribute on game day and thus far Shaheen has contributed little on game day. I like what I've seen from Bunting he passes the eye test to me, he looks natural, has good hands. I can see Sowell sticking due to his work ethic and he has potential. Pretty sad when I feel better about a converted lineman in Sowell then I do Shaheen who's "natural" position is TE. Braunecker will probably make the 53. The TE waters on our roster are more murky.

probably is, he'll face more heavy boxes now that they don't have to respect the pass game as much. But the volume should be there.

He's got a good shot at making the practice squad, good kid, plays hard, has had a decent preseason with one game to go. One thing I liked about the turnovers we got in this game is they weren't the dumb luck variety where a ball just bounces to someone or is thrown right to them. These were athletic plays. The pick six Bush took the ball from the WR and was able to get up untouched and take off. The TD off the sack fumble later to recognize it was a live ball to scoop and score. Guys were fighting and making plays. In a game that seemed like it was going to be lopsided in favor of the Colts. Second half was bottom end of the rosters but there were some really good individual plays made. The late TD from Brey to Horsted (sp?) lob throw and catch was beautiful. They also took time to honor Chuck Pagano which was very classy.

it is sad. Indy could have done a better job protecting him. He took a heck of a beating when he was playing. I agree this team is now in better shape than it was when Manning got hurt and they rolled out Curtis Painter and the suck for Luck tour was on. With a healthy Luck they were set to challenge in the AFC. Now they will be a middle of the road. I agree with Adam I still see them winning 5-6 game possibly even finishing 500. Which we know what that's like and the struggle of trying to win vs draft position. Playoffs are no longer a realistic goal. The AFC South has gotten tougher. The timing of the story breaking didn't help either to have it come out during a Colts/Bears preseason game I'm sure made it harder on the fan base. Still didn't make it right for fans to boo him at the presser. Not very classy. It sucks for sure as a fan base but from Luck's position you can understand his choice to maintain a quality of life. I'm sure it was an incredibly tough decision but he had to do what was best for him. And he may have even had some urging by his doctors to consider retirement. Just a tough one all around. On a selfish note though I'm glad neither of my fantasy leagues have drafted yet, I was targeting both Luck and Hilton, and even Mack.