BearFan2000

good to hear it is nothing major. Is it heat related it's been super humid here in the midwest

Class act on the field and off the field he will always be one of my favorite Bears, glad to have seen him play. The precision with which he punched the ball out was amazing the Peanut Punch will live on in our memories. Young players in the league and coming into the league should follow his example of a true professional, hard worker, smart player, great teammate, etc. And as great as he was as a player, he is and was an even better representative off the field. He did and no doubt will continue to do great things for whatever community he is in. Thank you Peanut for the memories, and the pleasure of watching you play for many years in Chicago. Enjoy your retirement, you've earned it.

Most new staffs and regimes make changes to schemes, systems, and roster because they bring with them their own schemes and systems. It would be abnormal otherwise and the reason Pace, Fox, and Fangio are here changing things is because the mess the previous regime left them with. Emery, Trestman, Tucker turned the Bears into an embarrassment. Change was needed and change has been happening. The Bears needed to get younger, the moves made have been geared towards doing that. A culture change was desired and I think needed and that has been addressed. Time will tell how the drafts shake out on the field but when was the last time the Bears were lauded by a large number of sources for their draft classes. We have been more often than not in recent years one of the teams that made people scratch their heads and laugh at us on draft day. Personally I've been pleased in general with the first two drafts and the moves we've made in FA. Have I agreed with every pick or move? No, but I have a lot more optimism in this FO and staff than I have had in years.

Agree, speed and versetility has been a high priority with the guys we've brought in through FA/Draft especially this offseason. The less one dimensional your players are especially in the front 7 the better. Like you said it gives Vic more options to be creative with blitzes, stunts, coverages, and being able to disguise and confuse offenses. It should be interesting to see what he does now that he has a better feel for the guys who are still there from last year and the new guys coming in.

Does remind me a little of Urlacher

On paper we've strengthened the front 7, which should in turn help the secondary but won't by default fix it. That area still is a question mark and has been for years. I do like how we are going about things by focusing on the line first and working outward. It all starts up front, if you don't get pressure on the QB or stop the run it only further exposes your weakness at second level both as a safety valve and coverage ability. But if you can contain the run and get after the QB you can force them in to bad throws giving your secondary more opportunities at big plays. When our D was last dominant one thing we did extremely well was take the ball away. It gives the secondary more freedom to make plays. Don't know how our D will look this coming season but I have to think it will be improved but only time will tell.

I LOL'd at the comment/question about Clausen "Will he piss everybody off immediately or capture the locker room?" They nailed Clausen an average at best QB who possessed the arrogance and attitude of a player 10 times his skill level. He got humbled pretty quickly.

The irony of him injuring himself celebrating a sack in a game that his team is getting it's arse handed to them still sticks in my mind when he's ripping Rodgers for celebrating. But I agree with his take you can't deny Rodgers game and skills. But I like the animosity and that the rivalry means something to these guys. They shouldn't treat Bears Packers week like just another game. Bring some extra nasty for the cheddar heads!

With Stafford's struggles that may be a good thing for them.

I agree and the mess that Pace/Fox inherited will take multiple good drafts to fix and turn the roster over completely. There is where the patience comes in, the last few years defense has been the weakest side of the ball pass rush needed addressed, we needed to get faster and more athletic, and that was the overarching theme to the draft. Let's face it QB/TE was not strong in this draft so why take chances on someone just to draft a QB and TE. We weren't going to get either Wentz or Goff. This was however a good defensive draft and a good opportunity to take a good number of picks to bolster our D. Strengthening the D will help keep us in games. This draft should also have a good impact on our ST by improving the team speed/athleticism of the bottom of our roster. Reality is our needs this offseason outnumbered our resources to fill those needs. But by having good drafts year after year that issue will go away and we can really start stacking our roster.

I agree, it takes a few years before you get a real picture of how well a new GM, coaching staff, etc. works out. We need to have patience, the Trestman /emery experiment sunk this team to a new low and we as fans have to realize that it wouldn't get fixed overnight. Every GM and every coaching staff makes mistakes or misjudges players, they are human and we all are fooled by potential or there'd never be any busts in the NFL The difference between this staff and the previous is they seem to have a clue, and a vision, and a plan. They haven't entered the drafts last year and this year, like a student that didn't study for the final exam, they are prepared have their plan, and have prepared scenarios that may come up. We've had enough drafts in the past where they seemed to be making it up as they went, and you had to have google open cause we'd pick and you'd be like "Who???" No more drafting like we think we're the smartest person in the room while making the dumbest calls. We as fans don't have to agree with every move and we won't. This staff/FO gives me a sense encouragement, and optimism that we can turn this once proud franchise back into a consistent winner. I like the enthusiasm, vision, and most of the moves we've made. You can see the difference on the field even though we didn't make the playoffs, we finished under 500, the eye test spoke volumes to the difference between this past year's 6-10 team vs the 5-11 team the previous year under Emery/Trestman that felt more like 0-16 or worse. With them in charge the Bears had hit rock bottom and begun to dig for new lows. It was embarrassing and probably the first year I lost interest in watching the games simply cause I didn't want to put myself through that. While it was an up and down year as expected, I saw a team that didn't quit, played with enthusiasm, played their hearts out, record wise it wasn't good enough, but the wins will come. Building the solid foundation and changing the culture will be worth it down the road. The true test will be time, I have to say I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far.

The pick is growing on my too. My first reaction was disappointment, but then again I wanted Buckner but he went two picks ahead of us. While perhaps not who I would have taken, we did get a freak athlete with one of, if not the quickest first step. Speed is huge in today's NFL today. If he adds more bulk that will only help, but not enough bulk to negate the speed. I do like that he played all over the field at Georgia giving him versatility and understanding of more than just OLB. I remember hearing somewhere that he sat in 3 different position meetings and that he has a high football IQ. If he could develop into a leader on D he could be one of those guys that helps his teammates get in their spots. He was clearly someone our coaches, scouts, and FO had targeted and were aggressive in moving up a couple spots to ensure they got him, tells me they see something in him that made the move worth it. Giving up a 4th to move up 2 spots hurts a little but when you have 9 picks you have some ammunition to move up. We very well may trade down in the next few rounds pick up more picks too. These next few rounds will be interesting. With the work that Pace did this offseason we have more flexibility this draft than we did last year.

Nice to see we finally play the most important preseason game at home. The only one worth buying tickets to see

Totally agree, Pace an Fox are rebuilding this team with youth, and creating a new core of players that they hope will form the nucleus of leaders and create a positive culture of winning. This is a time when we need to have guys in the building that will promote that growth rather than hinder it. Once that culture takes hold and is strong enough to handle guys who might need to be kept in line it can work because they are then coming into a winning culture and one that they will respect. Kind of like when the Bulls added Rodman, how many other teams did he wreak havoc on in the locker room, on the court, and off the court when the Bulls brought him to town. Difference in Chicago is the team had a strong established core and culture. Didn't mean Rodman stopped being Rodman, but he was kept in line for the most part, and he respected his teammates. The Bears are not at that stage, right now what we need are leaders who will help build that strong core and culture that can put us in a position to handle players and not let them become distractions and have that effect on the teams culture. The reply above is why it's more than just stats on Sunday. A young growing team that's developing it's identity, needs good leadership, and malcontents at this time can have long term negative effects, vs an established culture that can handle a BM or MB type. It doesn't help a team for a player to put up stats on the field but destroy it off the field. While it may in the moment help your on the field product that won't last when they have poisoned the teams culture.

I agree and that difference of opinion is what makes discussions on here interesting. Sometimes we are convinced by other posters to rethink our opinions, sometimes we convince others, sometimes we agree to disagree. It's all good as long as we are civil, it's when that civility breaks down that makes many of us stop reading a thread as there's no point in reading posts of people kicking dirt at each other. We all are Bears fans or we wouldn't be here doesn't mean we always agree with every move. When I read the post that this is in response to IMHO it's not cool to attack people for having a different opinion that you have. We have to keep in mind that not everyone in life will agree with us, that doesn't make them wrong, stupid, or ignorant by default. It also doesn't mean we are right or wrong. Before posting and calling people stupid, ignorant, and taking the "i'm taking my ball and going home" attitude. Stop, think, and ask yourself how would I react or feel if other posters called me stupid, ignorant, etc. for having a different opinion? We all want to be respected by each other on this board but that starts by respecting others. Just my 2 cents

Exactly, it's easy to forget as we were spoiled for so many years to have one of the best long snappers in the business in Mannelly. Also easy to forget is how much of a precision position that is. Punting, FG's, and XP's, are so much about timing with the place kicking for FG/XP requiring precision down to the rotation of the ball so the holder can quickly catch and get it down for the kicker. Since Mannelly retired we've struggled to find even a decent long snapper. That struggle can effect a kicker's confidence as Robbie went from a guy who had it down to a science and knew and trusted that when he lined up to kick he could count on the ball being placed in the best spot possible for him. He went from that to having to think about more than just lining up to kick but also trying to adjust on the fly when the timing is off or the hold isn't good, etc. I really do like this signing. He's young, and it sounds like he has that perfectionist quality that made Mannelly such a great snapper. I think it has more to do with filling a big need than it does who he previously played for. Same can be said for other former Bronco's we've signed. We are bringing in guys that we feel fit our system and fill needs. I think it is always somewhat natural for a coach who recently coached elsewhere to have guys in mind from his former team as he knows them better than other teams in the hunt for them.

It comes with the territory of have a quality coaching staff that includes guys who have aspirations and potential to make the jump to HC. When was the last time other teams were reaching out to our coaching staff for their teams coaching needs. Pace and Fox et all knew this when they assembled the staff that we may lose Gase or even Fangio but unlike Bears management past the Bears took the risk and hired quality coaches rather than the crud rejects that no one else would want that couldn't tell the difference between their arse and a whole in the ground. I do hope we keep our staff in place and that Gase stays. I would very much like to see what year 2 in this system with a healthy roster, and added talent. Jay has had is best season as a Bears QB at a point in his career where many of us, myself included wished last season we could rid ourselves of him. Keeping Gase gives us the opportunity to see this offense take the next step. So I am hoping the Bears make every effort to keep him, but if he does leave I am confident that the Bears have a plan and have been keeping an eye out for potential replacements to maintain the quality of coaching. This isn't the same management/ownership who would rather promote the water boy to save money than pursue coaches who can actually make the team better. The culture has changed here. And while not ideal to have Jay work with yet another offensive coordinator, I think he is confident in the ownership and current staff to know that they will bring someone good in and that the Bears are building towards something.

Peanut was one of my favorite Bears and was sad to see him go, sad to see him going on IR. He's reached a point where the mind is willing but the body isn't. Class act on and off the field he played the game the right way and was an asset to the community. I hope he does sign a one day contract to retire a Bear. He will always be a Bear. I think he'd make a heck of a DB coach if he does indeed hang em up for good.

The rules differ depending on who's name is on the back of the jersey plain and simple.

I agree and yes his miss cost us the game and he's struggled in some games this season, but I don't think we should forget that he has been solid for us for years, if we say cut him, or drop him, or trade him, after a couple rough games, is a bit reactionary. IMO Gould has earned some slack. Cry about the couple games he either cost us or contributed to a loss but forget about all the games he's won us is kinda short sighted. It's a game we thought we would win, knew we should have won, and the loss stings, I get that. Have we forgotten the turmoil of trying to find a solid dependable kicker. Before we got Gould it was a nightmare every kick even the simple ones were an adventure. Kickers like any other players can have down games, months, or more. Also keep in mind we cut our long snapper as well recently wasn't that this past week? Kicking FG's and XP's is a precision play where timing is huge. When you change long snappers it takes time to get that continuity and comfort and trust that everyone's doing their part right. We had the luxury in the pas of having Pat Mannely who was one of the best long snappers in the game retire after last year. You don't just toss someone in there and expect it all to gel immediately. I didn't get a chance to see the game so I don't know if it was just a kick that Robbie missed and the snap and hold was clean or not. So I'm just talking in general. I'm willing to cut Robbie some slack because I feel he's earned it. That said at the end of the season if he continues to struggle I could see restructuring and I don't think Robbie's the kind of guy who would not be willing to work with us if it can help the team. But to have a kicker who's been gold for you for years has a couple bad games and the lynch mob comes out chanting cut him I think is a bit extreme.

that's where we miss a guy like Patrick, he had that down to such a science it was crazy how good and how it's easy to take a good long snapper for granted till they are gone.

This game was gifted to the packers by both the Lions and the Refs. There was so much holding and OPI throughout the 4th quarter that never got called to aid the Packer's "come back" Total BS facemark to give GB an untimed down to make one last attempt. And holding that occurred on said untimed down. No team except maybe the Patriots get more assistance from the officials with either phantom calls, or refs holding their flags when ever needed than the Packers. They are the media darlings Rodgers is superman and can win all by himself except when they lose then it's everyone else's fault. That said the Lions did their best at inventing new ways to lose. The fumble on their own 10 to give GB a golden opportunity to score. Allowing GB to drive right down the field and horrendous tackling and contain that let Rodgers easily run in for a TD. Poor play calling when they had the chance to run the clock out with the lead. 3 straight runs designed to simply kill clock on the Lion's last drive that while it milked the clock to 30 seconds, why not at least try to pick up a first down? One first down and that game ends with a kneel down. Finally on the Hail Mary pass could you possibly defend that any worse? There wasn't a single lion in front of the goal line or in front of a row of packers. This gives you next to 0% chance to break up a catch. My take away from the game is GB needed an ungodly amount of help to come from behind to win against the Detroit Lions. The tide is indeed turning in GB. I hope their fall is swift and painful, and long lasting. May the odds be never in their favor As Parker pointed out should they make the playoffs and I'm betting that the league will not allow them not to, they won't last long when they have to play better competition.

LOL does anyone truly know what Trestman is doing on offense? After watching him here not sure even he had a clue what the plan was. Good luck with that Baltimore. LOL

all the if this and if that stuff on a what is/isn't a catch proves how dumb this is and how subjective it is. Rule should be two feet down in the end zone with clear possession = TD. When it's left up to interpretation on has he made a football move or become a runner, it gets to the point where we are where no one really knows what is or isn't. We have way too many arbitrary make it up as you go type ruling because the rules are either too complex or to vague. Same goes for roughing, holding, PI, etc.

It is nice to see. I've enjoyed every minute of their losing streak. Seeing Rodgers frown vs his smirk is priceless. I hope the bottom drops out on that team and they suck for the next 10-20 years.