adam

If we sign Callahan, then I doubt we draft a CB early. Fuller is signed thru 2021 and Prince is signed thru 2020. They both have Dead Money over $10M in 2019. So I doubt they cut either of them. So I can't see us drafting a CB early if we are going to pay all 3 of those guys. I can see another 5th-UDFA as a possible option to groom under them. Callahan is a must. He is arguably our best CB. Safety is definitely a need. If we don't re-sign Amos, we will need a starter, and we are fairly thin back there. OLB is a need, and I am not sold on the team picking up Floyd's 5th year option. OT is definitely a need. Massie isn't very good and I doubt we pay him as we want to get younger there. Even with Coward, I can see us going OT early. With Long's injury history, it wouldn't hurt to go OG as well. So I would say S and OT are the top priorities, with OLB right behind. Then OG the last of the four need areas.

Long is out 6-8 weeks, so he has a chance to come back Week 17 or for the playoffs. If we can beat NYJ without Robinson and Mack, and they are not 100%, then we need to rest them in Buffalo.

So GB moves Montgomery and Clinton-Dix, and DET moves Tate. Those moves clearly help us in the Division as all those guys seemed to gash us regularly. Fowler to the Rams is crazy, how can they afford all those dudes on Defense? Eagles get Tate, which is a great fit for them. Thomas to Houston to replace Fuller. Hopkins and Thomas with Watson throwing to them is going to be fun to watch. With that defense, they are a sleeper pick in the AFC.

Here ya go: https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-kevin-white-josh-bellamy-20181026-story.html

Right now, with current records, we only have one game vs a prospective playoff team (LAR), and 3 games against potential playoff teams (GB and MIN x2). If we split the division and go 3-2 the rest of the way, beat the teams with 2 or less wins (BUF, SF, NYG) and lose to LAR, that's 6-3 the rest of the way without too much stretching. Week 9 at BUF (2-5) - Bills are coming off a MNF game and a short week. They have scored 81 pts on the season in 7 games. We should and need to dominate this game. I would consider resting Mack and Robinson again if they are not 100%. 5-3. Week 10 vs DET (3-4) - Lions games are always determined by which team or Stafford shows up. Are they the team that beat NE and GB or the team that lost to the Jets and SF? Lions will be coming off a road game against the Vikings. At home, playing a dome team, this needs to be a win. 6-3. Week 11 vs MIN (4-3-1) - This one will be tough. Minnesota will be coming off their bye. I am going to say this one is a loss for that reason alone. 6-4. Week 12 at DET (3-4) - Same as last DET game, which team will we be playing. I say we split with the Lions. So 6-5. Week 13 at NYG (1-7) - Wow the Giants are bad, and I assume they will be mailing it in for the #1 pick at this time. 7-5. Week 14 vs LAR (8-0) - I don't see the Rams going undefeated and they looked beatable against GB this week. 3 of their last 4 wins have been by 3 pts or less. I don't see us winning the way we are playing right now, but if we play to our potential, and the Rams lose a game or two before we play. This game may have more playoff implications than they do right now. I will go with the Rams right now, 7-6. Week 15 vs GB (3-3-1) - GB is not as good as the media makes them out to be. They beat us on a fluke, and have only beat BUF and SF. Between now and Week 15, they play at NE, MIA, at SEA, at MIN, ARZ, and ATL. At best I see 7-5-1, but realistically 6-6-1 or 5-7-1. Either way, we will be close enough in the standings that this will essentially be a playoff game and a great payback for Week 1. Bears win. 8-6. Week 16 at SF (1-7) - If we can't win against this team with playoffs on the line, then we don't deserve to go. 9-6. Week 17 at MIN (4-3-1) - This will be another playoff game, and will more than likely decide the Division. I could see the Vikes coming in at 9-5-1 at best. Since I have us splitting, then this one is a win. We go 10-6 and Vikes are 9-6-1. Vikes remaining (DET, @CHI, GB, @NE, @SEA, MIA, DET, CHI) 5-3 (9-6-1 at best), 6 games vs teams .500 or better. Worst team to play, DET at 3-4 twice. Packers remaining (@NE, MIA, @SEA, @MIN, ARZ, ATL, @CHI, @NYJ, DET) 6-3 (9-6-1 best), 5 games vs teams .500 or better. Worst teams to play: ARZ, NYJ, ATL, and DET.

Also, a nice win when you consider Robinson and Mack did not play. Sucks to see Long go down. We are now thin on the O-Line with Kush out. However, if Kush comes back, then we will be ok next week. Next up, Buffalo.

Ball game, 24-10. Bears win a game they should've won. Glad to see them close it out on offense and defense. With a Detroit loss, Bears now 3rd in the Division. Could end up in first by the end of the day.

Yeah, it didn't look good and sounded worse. Hopefully just a high ankle sprain and a couple of weeks, but I fear he is done for the year.

I would like to think my negative comments will these guys to play better. Yeah, run blocking has been off for most of the year.

Good response by the offense after Jackson's bone-headed penalty extended the Jets' drive which led to a TD. Now we need a stop to end this game.

Outside of the Cohen screen, there is not much to get excited about. 7-3 at half.

Bears getting burned on 3rd downs right now. Do great on first and second and let up an easy play on 3rd. Eventually, that is going to catch up to you.

Unless Howard does something explosive, I am starting to think he is not going to be that valuable going forward. On some of his runs, a simple cut-back and he would have a huge gain, but he misses it and gets 2 yards. Really odd, he is also not running as hard as I remember him running. Breaking very few tackles.

Oh look an NFL kicker. Bears up 7-3, good bend but don't break drive on the defense.

BOOM! Great screen, I like the playcalling, all the quick hitters to the outside, then the screen on the blitz. 7-0 Da Bears!

Yeah, come on, there are all these random guys making 50+ yarders, and we can't get a kicker to hit an average kick to save our lives.

Yeah, it is frustrating, I do the same thing, but I am cussing up a storm when he does that. It is literally a drive killer. The odds of him breaking a long one off without a penalty is so low that it makes no sense to even attempt a return. The chance of a block in the back or holding is much higher than anything else. So take a knee, take the ball at the 25 and be happy with that. Who knows, those few extra yards could make the difference between a 51 yard FG and a 47 yard FG later in the drive.

Daniels Time:

In a way, the spotlight has been off of Smith, which is probably better for him. Especially with the Mack trade. I would just like to see week to week improvement. If it doesn't show on the stat line, at least let it show up on the tape.

Floyd's is very springy, and doesn't have a quick turn, so it is odd that they ask him to drop into cover and cover an RB man-on-man. If he can get pressure, it changes the entire game because the offense can't commit to both sides of the line. If they do, with max protect, we should have the coverage to stop it. The issue lately is they have been stacking Mack's side making Floyd beat them and he hasn't.

Just the fact that he doesn't tell Cunningham to take a knee if the ball is in the end zone is enough for me. Here were Cunningham's 4x returns (3 were downable) from Sunday: 1Q - 1-yd deep, returns 18 yards to the 17 (-8) 3Q - 4-yds deep, returns 31 yards to the 27 (+2) (+15 yard NE penalty) - only worthy return 3Q - 1 yd line, returns 24 yards to the 25 4Q - 3-yds deep, returns 19 yards to the 16 (-9) So 3 kicks into the end zone, and on those kicks, we lost a net of 15 yards total compared to if we just downed it and took it at the 25. The issue with the two bad kicks was the first one was our first drive after NE scored, and the last one was in the 4th quarter when we were trying to mount a comeback. Cunningham is averaging 22 yards a return and only has two returns longer than 25 yards (out of 7). On his only other return longer than 25 (28 against TB), he caught it 5 yards deep and only got it out to the 25. So out of 7 returns, Cunningham has got past the 25 once (to the 27).

Yeah, for the most part, it looks like he is not comfortable or is not acting intuitively. I really hope he pans out because we can't afford to have another high draft pick wasted on a bust. White is already there, Floyd is getting there, and now Smith, who doesn't seem to be living up to his billing. On the flip side, Bilal Nichols continues to make impact plays. I would love to see him get more PT, and I am wondering when Daniels will start seeing regular reps.

Everyone has talked about how bad the team as looked with Mack hobbled by the ankle the last two games. However, we were a good defense without him last year, and Floyd was a big part of it. This year Floyd looks more like a UDFA than a first round pick. His numbers have actually gotten worse every year and he has never played more than 12 games per season. I know there is still some time, but if he continues to play like this, I don't see them picking up his 5th year option.

He was the biggest story during the preseason, and is almost the forgotten defender 6 games in. He is 2nd on the team in tackles, but I haven't seen him put a complete, dominant game together yet. He was supposed to be the ball hawk tackling machine, yet there have only been a couple of standout plays to date. What do you think the issue is? Lack of reps in preseason, Fangio?

Trubisky is now 10th in QBR and 13th in QB Rating. He is also 2nd amongst QB's in Rushing Yards (behind Cam). In his last 3 games, he is averaging 334 yards per game, 62.6% Comp, and has 11 TDs and 3 INTs. He is the first Bears QB (ever) to throw for 300+ yards in 3 or more consecutive games. He just needs to clean up some stuff and hit the open guys when they give him a chance. I would love to see less over throws or crazy throws into triple coverage. Based on his last 3 games, the stats are there, but to me, he still hasn't passed the eye test.