adam

Right now the draft order is HOU, LVR, CAR, NO, JAX, CHI. With SEA (from DEN), DET (from LAR), HOU (from CLE), PIT, and DET all with one less loss. It is pretty crazy to think the Bears have as many wins as DEN, LAR, CLE, and PIT right now. Hopefully those teams start winning. I am surprised by how bad LVR, NO, and JAX are this year. HOU, CAR, and NO are taking QBs for sure. LVR is up in the air. So the Bears could possibly get the 3rd best non-QB off the board. After the Bears pick, DEN, LAR, CLE, and PIT are not taking a QB. So that leaves DET, ATL, WAS, and IND as the next team's looking for a QB. So there may be potential to trade back a few spots and recoup another pick without the risk of losing a top player. Next week feels like a win against ATL (so they don't lose 4 in a row). Then losses to NYJ and GB would have them 4-9 into the bye. After the bye its PHI, BUF, DET, and MIN. 3 easy losses and a possible win against DET. That is 5-12 max, potentially 4-13 which would be a top 4 pick.

Fields has just put a mushroom stamp on the 2021 class. No one drafted in the last two years can sniff his colon, he is that far ahead of everyone else and that is after a brutal first 4 games. Even in another loss, he had a QBR of 73.3, his 4th straight game over 64.0 (50.0=league average). Going back to the MIN game, he has had 5 out of 6 games with a QBR over 64.0. So last year he finished the season with a QBR of 31.4, one of the lowest ever and last in the NFL for qualified starters. This year? Now 11th at 57.2, ahead of Burrow, Herbert, Brady, Lawrence, Cousins, Murray, Rodgers, Wilson, etc. His year group and this year's rookie class: 2. Lawrence 52.1 3. Wilson 49.1 4. Pickett 39.4 5. Lance 35.5 6. Ehlinger 34.3 7. Zappe 33.5 8. Jones 32.6 9. Mills 32.5 10. Willis 3.7 (if qualified, would be the lowest QBR ever) The turn around has been nothing short of spectacular. This may be the new norm for the Bears offense, 200+ yards rushing and 200+ yards passing with Fields accounting for 300+ yards every game.

I am not a fan of Williams or this scheme. Besides the lack of pass rush, the coverage is so soft that any QB can just play pitch and catch all day.

So right now it is Mack for Brisker, Smith for Claypool + worse 2nd rounder. So technically we have 2/3 of the return already on the team and we are still this bad. Outside of the cap savings and a 4th for Quinn, there is no other compensation left outside of a 6th for Mack.

The Bears are now 3-7, but the offense has put up 29+ pts in the last 4 weeks. How much of this is Getsy "unlocking" Fields and how much is it Fields just being superhuman? For as much as I have liked some of what I have seen so far, this is a historically bad passing attack that can't win games. Without literally magician level stuff from Fields, how bad would this offense look right now? How hard is it to scheme players open? The Lions defense was one of the worst in the league and the Bears mustered only 167 yards passing with 50 coming on one play to Kmet. Has anyone seen a quick slant yet? It still feels like something is missing. Too many plays take too long to develop. They got too conservative, then had to take a chance that led to the Fields pick-6. Just seems like they are not using tempo as much as they could be. Also, the Jet Sweep to St. Brown for -2 yds is becoming the new Nagy CPat draw up the middle on 3rd and 1 for a loss. If they are going to Jet Sweep, do it with Pettis, Claypool, or Mooney. St. Brown doesn't have a quick enough cut for that to work without perfect blocking. I have heard media mention that Getsy may be a one and done Coordinator and that he would get interest as a Head Coach this offseason. Who is hiring him with this offense and performance? I just don't see it. Fields had more passing success under Nagy, which is saying a lot. At this point, I was hoping for a little more improvement from the passing game and I just haven't seen it yet.

Even in losses, what Fields is doing is truly extraordinary. Fields now has the two longest rushes in Bears history by a QB, in back to back weeks. He is now 6th in the NFL in rushing and is on pace to crush the single season rushing record for a QB (1206-Lamar Jackson). In his career, Lamar has only one game with more than 125 yards rushing, and Fields has two back to back. Lamar has two games in his entire career with 100+ yards rushing, 100+ yards passing AND 4+ TDs. Fields also has two, in 53 less games.

There are 30+ RBs with production better than him. If you are paying him as a backup, those guys only fetch $2-3M a year.

We are now over halfway through the first Poles season. For the most part, this is what was expected, especially after the trading deadline changes (Quinn, Smith). I know he was always going to get a free pass for the first couple of years, but how many free agent hits and draft hits does he have today? How many of those players are starters next year? If you brought in a league average free agent at a position, which Poles acquisition is starting over them? Brisker is the only one I can think of at this point. The top offensive guys (Fields, Herbert, Mooney, and Kmet) are all Pace guys. On defense, of the only sure fire keepers (Brisker, Jackson, Johnson), only Brisker is a Poles acquisition. Is it too early to be worried? Can we afford another Gordon/Velus Jones draft?

After seeing today's game, Jackson doesn't matter. He needs too many other good players around him to make plays. I would trade him in the offseason and get anything you can for him as draft capital is going to be the Bears best friend as they are going to need as many picks as they can get with this roster.

With Fields now also a runner and the emergence of Herbert in this scheme, it really looks like Montgomery is the odd man out. He has only had one rushing day over 70 yards all season, and since the offense started scoring 30 a game, he has averaged 3.55 yards a carry and 47 yards a game. He is on pace for a career low in attempts, yards, yards per carry, and TDs. His longest rush this year is 28 yards. Obviously he is going to command more than his rookie deal, but I can't see him getting anything like even what Conner or Fournette got (3yr, $21M). What do you think he is worth? Do you think the Bears give him that contract? I say they don't and let him walk. I figure he gets a deal like one of those RBs between $5-7M per year for a few years. Two other RBs drafted near him, Singletary and Henderson are both UFAs too and both have a higher snap count than Monty does. Barkley, Sanders, Jacobs, Mostert, Wilson, Hunt, Pollard, Robinson, Gordon, Penny, Foreman, and Drake are also FA's. A crazy deep class for RBs.

After losing to the Lions, Bears now 3-7 and drafting 6th, but are tied with 3 other teams at 3-7. So right now only LVR at 2-6 and HOU at 1-7-1 have a worse record. That loss is the difference between drafting 6th and 13th.

Now two weeks in a row. Last week the offense outscored the Miami offense, but still lost. Today, the defense allowed less than the Lions defense and they still lost. It is amazing how impactful officials can be when games are so close.

By a guy with 85 receiving yards on the season, got 44 there.

Not that it matters, but the officials have really decided this game. Watch the Raymond 20 yard catch on first down, Blackson is held for at least 4-5 seconds right up the middle, not called.

Welp

Crazy if this is decided by a Santos missed XP.

Another game with some of the worst officiating I have ever seen. This is getting absolutely ridiculous. They are either betting on these games or something else is going on. You can't possibly call penalties on the Bears and miss the same exact thing on the Lions. 14+ point swing on penalties alone, now a tie game.

Yep, momentum is a tangible thing. That is why it is so hard to play against the refs, because they kill momentum. The defense shows up again, and the Bears strike quick with a 50 yarder from Fields to Kmet. Kmet now with 5 TDs on the season, he had 2 TDs in his entire career thru Week 7 of this year. Since Week 8 thru today, he has 5!

Great response after the half, defense forces a 3 and out, then the offense drives right down and scores a TD on a pass from Fields to Kmet. I really liked that play design, it really highlights how hard it is to guard Fields when he has the ball in his hands. The defenders bit on the QB run and Kmet did a great fake block and slipped right passed the defender for an easy score.

I am fine with Jackson in 2023, I think the decision will come in 2024. I guess it will depend on where the team is after 2023. If the Bears are doing really well and are a playoff team in 2023, then you probably keep Jackson around for a SB run. If the team is still a year or two away, then you probably move on from him after 2023.

10-10 at half. If not for Fields scrambling, Bears are probably being shutout. Jenkins was a late scratch and the OLine is a revolving door in the first half. Goff pretty much had all day to pass and the Bears apparently don't believe they need to cover St. Brown who already has 6 receptions. No other receiver in the game has more than 1. Some ticky tack calls on the Bears early on that has killed 2 drives. Yet somehow miss penalties on the Lions:

Just seeing this thread, man we have endured some bad QB play. It is about time we get to see how the other side feels right?

I know everyone has been hyped about Fields over the last few weeks, but Eddie Jackson needs some love. He leads the NFL in takeaways with 6 (4 INTs and 2 FFs), 3 players have 5, and 2 have 4. So outside of those 5 players, Jackson has double the amount of takeaways than every other player in the league this year. The most takeaways he had in one year was 8 (2018), INTs was 6 (2018), and FF was 3 (2020). So he has a great shot to break all his personal records with 8 games remaining.

This would be a nice haul, lol: Da'Ron Payne, DT (solid DT) Jamel Dean, CB (2 INTs, 5 PD) Orlando Brown, LT (good, consistent LT) Ethan Pocic, C (highly rated Center) Bobby Okereke, LB (8th in tackles, Flus connection) JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR (13th in yards, T-11th in reception for WRs) Getting even 2-3 of these guys would be huge. Fields emergence will attract some FAs.

Interior Linemen Top 10, all under 30, UFAs, with over 75% snap count: 1. Ben Powers LG Ravens 2. Ethan Pocic C Browns 3. Dalton Risner LG Broncos 4. Garrett Bradbury C Vikings 5. Will Hernandez RG Cardinals 6. Dennis Daley RG Titans 7. Scott Quessenberry C Texans 8. Evan Brown C Lions 9. Elijah Wilkinson LG Falcons 10. Alex Bars LG Raiders A couple of former Bears making the list. I am shocked that Bars has been able to play that much. I would target Pocic for sure.