adam

I am good with keeping him because an injury to Swift and you are using Roschon and Homer, and I don't think anyone wants more Homer.

He won't make enough on the free market to figure into the comp pick formula, so the thought process is to see if you can get ANYTHING in terms of draft capital for him that could help you in future years. Basically Herbert's value ends this season. If you can get even a late round pick for him, his value extends beyond the contract. The Patriots and Niners have been doing it multiple ways for years. They either acquire a one-year rental with a low pick and get back a higher one from the comp picks or trade away their guys before the contract runs out to ensure they get something for him. The bottom feeders, including the Bears for quite awhile, do the exact opposite. They end up with too many boat anchors, players that have a negative effect on the roster after they leave. That is either with dead cap or by the loss of a future draft pick that was used to trade for them. The Bears felt the Mack trade from the Raiders up until last year. Like the Claypool trade, that will actually be felt on the roster thru 2026 (the last year of the rookie deal from the 2023 draft).

JAX and LAR won the week before the Bears game. LAR beat SF. JAX beat IND. I don't think it is a but because in previous seasons the Bears would lose a few of these games. Most of the teams that make the playoffs, especially the WC Teams are normally teams that were 8-2 vs non-playoff teams and 2-5 against playoff teams. That is how you get to only 9 or 10 wins. The teams winning 12+ are the ones with winning records against playoff teams.

and just think of that with an improved O-Line?

Most grading sites show that the Bears have a better O-Line than the Jags. Using PFF, both Jones and Wright are rated higher than Robinson right now. So I don't know how much of an upgrade he would be and he is on the last year of his deal, so he might end up as a rental. So there is some chess that can be played. If you trade for him and give away a mid to late round pick and he signs elsewhere in the offseason, you might get back a comp pick that is better. Robinson has a huge cap hit bigger than the Bears available cap, so there would have to be a lot of massaging going on to fit him under the cap.

Thanks, I like the easter egg hunts. There are so many different stats out there, and some have pretty big impacts on the game, but are not always talked about. I like to find them and see if any correlate to wins, etc. Some do, some don't, but it is interesting to dig.

So I guess Poles has to determine if fresh legs are more important than whatever he would get in a trade for Herbert. I am glad I don't have to make that decision.

Here is CBS showing Bears at #6: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/standings/playoffrace/ Here is Fox Sports Playoff picture, Bears at #6: https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/nfl-playoff-schedule-bracket Yahoo Sports has the Bears at #6: https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/standings/ but NFL.com has them at #8: https://www.nfl.com/standings/playoff-picture

I am going off of Conf Record because that is the only visible tie breaker. The Bears are 2-0 in the Conf, TB is 4-1, and GB is 2-2. Since there are multiple teams tied, I do believe the Bears lose out right now due to common games against GB, but I can't find a tiebreaker where TB would pass the Bears because they have no common games yet and the Bears have the better conference record. So 6th seed straight up with conference record, might slip to 7th seed due to common games, but I don't see the tie breaker that would allow TB to jump the Bears.

Which means they had a ton of penalties between Week 1 and 5.

Did you know that the Bears are the 3rd highest penalized team thru 6 weeks? 47 penalties, the most in the NFL is Dallas with 49. The Bears have to clean that up. DET has the 2nd least at 26. The league average is 37. On the flip side, the Bears have the least missed tackles in the NFL, at 22. The next closest is PIT with 24. LVR has 62 missed tackles, wow. For the Commanders game, one perspective to consider. The Bears have 13 takeaways, tied for 2nd with MIN (GB is 1st with 17). The Commanders only have 4 and a league low 1 INT. That is a huge advantage. The Commanders have only kicked 27.3% of their punts inside the 20, the Bears have kicked 38.5% inside the 20, so the Bears should have a net advantage in the field position game when punting.

HOU at GB and DET at MIN. If HOU and MIN both win, GB would be 4-3 and DET would be 4-2, sliding the Bears up to 2nd place in the Division lol. Both games should be super close. I wonder how DET will to without Hutchinson, he was playing at a DPOY level before breaking his leg. That is hard to replace with a backup Edge. They should be a lesser team for the rest of the season at least on the defensive side of the ball. HOU's defense allows a league low 53.3% comp % against and only 163 yards passing per game (4th). They are 13th against the run. GB is 2nd in rushing HOU and MIN should be favored, and should win unless the officials get involved or there is a catastrophic turnover.

With usage, I still think Herbert is on the block. He has had 6 snaps in the last 3 weeks total. Scott, who is even farther down the depth chart than Herbert, has 8 snaps in the last 3 weeks. Velus has not had an offensive snap since Week 1. Herbert does have 64 snaps on ST, but that is really it for him. Scott doesn't even play on Special Teams. So Carter sort of replaces both Scott and Velus. I guess they can keep Herbert around for kickoffs, but thats about it. Those 3, and now Davis, have to be "available". Davis is now a $10M backup Guard, while Herbert, Scott, and Velus are just eating up roster spots. There are 2 more games before the trading deadline. I am assuming Poles would only be a buyer if they win the next two and are sitting at 6-2 and a game with NE coming up. Anyone they bring in could technically miss that game to get up to speed for the GB game the following week. I think Poles would be open to moving Davis, Herbert, Scott, or Velus regardless of record at the deadline as losing these guys would have minimal effect on the team for the remainder of the season.

I wonder what positions are easier to adapt to after a trade? I would have to assume DT is the easiest as you basically just need to know your gap and whether you are pass rushing or run defending. The secondary seems tough because you have so many different assignments based on the coverage. Then for WRs, you have the option routes. So if they add anyone, it might be depth on the DLine, DT or Edge. O-Line is possible too, especially depth-wise. What's crazy is, what is the weakest spot on the roster as a starter? Edge 2 right? For O-Line, Center or RG? Those 3 probably tied for the worst. Outside of that though, does this team even have a weakness? WRs, LBs and RBs are stacked, secondary looked strong even with a few backups in. TEs seem ok, thought Everett has been underwhelming and Lewis is really on the roster for leadership.

Daniels, who has won multiple rookie and offense player of the week honors, getting MVP consideration and supposedly already a lock for OROY: 1,404 yds passing, 6 passing TDs against the 20th Pressure Rate and the 16th Deep%. Williams has 1,317 yds, 9 TD against the 5th highest Pressure Rate and who is 3rd in Deep%.

Tomlin said in the press conference that Fields has done "a good job" but to win in the league, you have to be great. Even though they are 4-2, with how that defense has been playing, they could easily be undefeated. Their two losses are by 3 pts each.

Week 7 Power Rankings ESPN: #16 NFL.com: #13 Yahoo: #14 33rd Team: 13th PFF: 12th For the first time in a long time, these feel about right. I can see a case for us to be as high as 12th or as low as 16th. It just feels weird to be in the top half of the league in all power rankings. It is crazy to think we had to endure a 5-21 run to get to 9-5 in the last 14 (10-7 in last 17). If the arrow stays at the same rate, the Bears should consistently win 2 of 3 for the remainder of the season.

and the passing chart with 70% of his passes to the right. They have also cut the field in half for him.

Here are two of the plays, Etienne's fumble that was overturned as incomplete, and Olave's that was allowed to be returned for a TD. They don't have the All-22 for the Saints game up yet, so it is harder to see, but the first defender actually knocks the ball out before the 2nd defender hits Olave. I just don't understand how Etienne somehow didn't make a football move, yet he was facing Lawrence when he caught the ball, turned 180 and a 3rd step right when Edmunds hits the ball. However, the ball doesn't shoot out immediately, it actually slides out as he is falling down. On Olave's it actually comes out quicker. I honestly believe they got both calls wrong. Olave's should've been an incomplete and Etienne's should've been a fumble, just based on the player movements and how long they actually possessed the ball before fumbling. Untitled video (18).mp4

They technically only left a few hours later than they have in the past few years. They normally leave on Thursday and arrive on Friday for London games. I don't think that was the issue. They are just a poorly coached team. Bigsby had been dominating and they still gave Etienne and Johnson carries over him. They had 8 penalties for 43 yards compared to the Bears had 2 for 10 and 1 of the penalties was on the opening kickoff.

Due to the Hutchinson injury, I am sure Detroit is looking for an Edge. The Bears need to get someone like Maxx Crosby or Trey Hendrickson because it would put the defense over the top, but also to prevent the Lions from adding them. Some other options are Chase Young (NO - reunite with Sweat), Josh Allen (JAX-the Bears just saw him firsthand), or Brian Burns (who Poles wanted in the CAR trade initially). With the PIT pick coming, they can safely give up a 4th-6th knowing they would get one from PIT.

According to PFF, these are the lowest guys with the worst grades according to PFF (with 50+ snaps): Cowart, DL - 47.9 with 60 snaps Booker, Edge - 53.1 with 89 snaps Williams, DL - 57.7 with 109 snaps Everett, TE - 46.0 with 149 snaps Lewis, TE - 50.4 with 89 snaps Carter, WR - 53.4 with 124 snaps Davis, OG - 53.6 with 142 snaps By snap count: TE - 238 snaps below 51.0 DL - 169 snaps below 58.0 OG - 142 snaps below 54.0 WR - 124 snaps below 54.0 Surprisingly, backup TE is the biggest need based on snap count. Then DT, then OG. Honestly, I could see the Bears picking up a DT, Edge, OG, or WR. I don't think they will fix TE even though the backup options are underperforming.

Wilson is still a decent passer, and even his worst passing performance is an above average day for Fields. It's the escapability and intangibles where Fields shines. However, if Wilson can improve their passing game, that is going to be a net positive for the team. The current offense is not sustainable and if not for some terrible opponents, they would be lucky to have 1 or 2 wins. In their first 3 wins, they held opponents to 10 and under. They are 0-2 when the opponent scores 17 pts or more. That team is not QB dependent.

<insert eyeballs> he had the 2nd most snaps for a DT, duo with Payne. Now the Commanders have to use Phidarian Mathis or rookie Newton (who has looked terrible). Both of guys are playing below replacement level players, so this is a huge loss for the WAS defense.

CAR is currently 4th, but tied with 3 other teams at 1-5. So they would pick 3rd in the 2nd round, currently pick #35. The Bears are currently pick #24 as WC2, 6th Seed. In the 2nd, that is pick #56. So if the season ended today, the Bears would have the 24th, 35th, and 56th pick in the 2025 draft. Obviously things can change, but I don't foresee the Bears getting a pick lower than 18, so pick 50 in the 2nd seems like the lowest there. I can't see CAR breaking out of the bottom 5, so that 2nd rounder is going to be great for the Bears. Fill the trenches.