adam

You both are correct in a way. The draft position, based on odds does give you a better chance to pick a better player but I would say the difference between players decreases as you pick later (bigger difference between 4 and 9 than 14 and 19). The other thing to consider in this game is next year's schedule, a win and we are 3rd (playing 3rd place teams STL and NO) or a loss and we are last (playing SF and TB). Just something else to consider. On the flip side, we don't want to have a losing mentality regardless of when we play. Teams like Cleveland, Jacksonville, Detroit, Tennessee, etc who constantly lose almost get accustomed to losing, so there is no real incentive to get better. You should hate to lose more than you like to win. A 7-9 season and 2 win improvement would be great considering our schedule. So as a team, you go into this game like any other, to win. However, it is not a must win, as you can see by how may guys are hitting IR (Goldman just hit it).

If he lands in the NFL, I wouldn't be surprised if it is in Tennessee with Mariota. Here is a rundown on what he did to the Eagles: Traded away: Nick Foles and LeSean McCoy Traded for Sam Bradford and Kiko Alonso Signed via Free Agency: DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell, Darren Sproles, and Ryan Mathews Released veterans: DeSean Jackson, Trent Cole, Cary Williams, Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans Allowed Maclin to leave via free agency http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14462075...adelphia-eagles Bears relation.......Gase may be a candidate for the job.

Alaska, what is the common denominator with all those players and teams? A stable coaching staff and a great defense. Brady and Bill forever with a top 10 defense every year and Gronk, Edelman, Welker and Moss to throw to. Wilson hasn't had the top flight WR's but Tate wasn't bad, Baldwin has been on fire, and they had Graham for a good portion of the year. For them, again it is a great defense, a running game, and opportunistic QB in the same system with the same coach. Smith? 3 years with Reid and they finally put it together with a dominant defense and guys like Maclin and Kelce to throw to. This year Cutler has had a below average defense, the first year in another system with new coach, a revolving O-Line and starting lineup every week and yet he has improved. I can't see any of those QB's you mentioned or Rodgers doing much better given the circumstances.

I agree, Pace has impressed, and Rodgers and the Special Teams has been a disaster. Now to his defense, he gets to use the bottom of the 53-man, and he saw a pretty good carousel of players to make into a unit.

We are now tied for the toughest SoS with 49ers, which means we lose the tie breaker and would pick lowest among teams with the same record. Updated after Monday Night Football: 1. Tennessee Titans (3-12) - (@IND) ~ 3-13 2. Cleveland Browns (3-12) - (PIT) ~ 3-13 3. San Diego Chargers (4-11) - (@DEN) ~ 4-12 4. Dallas Cowboys (4-11) - (WAS) ~ 4-12 5. San Francisco 49ers (4-11) - (STL) ~ 4-12 ----------------------------------------- 6. Miami Dolphins (5-10) - .453 (NE) ~ 5-11 7. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10) - .467 (@HOU) ~ 5-11 8. Baltimore Ravens (5-10) - .489 (@CIN) ~ 5-11 ----------------------------------------- 9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-9) - .453 (@CAR) ~ 6-10 10. New York Giants (6-9) - .496 (PHI) ~ 6-10 11. New Orleans Saints (6-9) - .507 (@ATL) ~ 6-10 12. Philadelphia Eagles (6-9) - .520 (NYG) ~ 7-9 13. Detroit Lions (6-9) - .531 (@CHI) ~ 7-9 14. Chicago Bears (6-9) - .556 (DET) ~ 6-10 (Proj: 12th w/ loss, proj 16th w/ win) ----------------------------------------- 15. Buffalo Bills (7-8) - .498 (NYJ) ~ 7-9 16. Oakland Raiders (7-8) - .502 (@KC) ~ 7-9 17. Indianapolis Colts (7-8) - .516 (TEN) ~ 8-8 18. St. Louis Rams (7-8) - .542 (@SF) ~ 8-8

Yeah, this team in its current construct will easily go 8-8 to 9-7 with that schedule, so if we can continue to improve and fill holes, 10-11 wins is not out of the question.

Rodgers has been mediocre at best and it is amazing he has not received more flak in the media. After their 6-0 start, the Packers are 4-5 (and really should be 3-6 if not for that ridiculous game against Detroit). In the 4 wins, they beat OAK, DAL, DET, and MIN. In the last 9 games he has a 56% completion pct, and is only averaging 226 yard/game and 5.8 Y/A. He has also been sacked 30 times in those 9 games. Rodgers has clearly showed what happens when you lose or don't have a true #1 WR, a bad O-Line, no running game, and sketchy play-calling. Cutler has dealt with a combination of those and more over his Bears career. He has had a revolving carousel at OC, HC, and has also had some brutally bad defenses.

Interesting to note that the Bears have 9 losses, with 7 coming against playoff teams, and 6 with teams projected to have 10 or more wins. We did not lose to a single non-playoff team in regulation (losing to DET and SF in OT). 6 of our losses were within one score or less (8 pts). Of our 6 wins, only one was by more than 5 pts (scary). So just as easily as we could've been 12-3, we could've been 1-14. It is nice to know our schedule will be heavily in our favor next season: Schedule

After Week 16: Jay Cutler (just passed 31k Passing yards and 200 TDs) - 2,684 completions (31st, 49 from 30th and Steve McNair) - 31,163 yards (41st, 141 from 40th and Steve McNair) - 202 TD (38th, 1 from 37th and Jim Everett) - 1,192 Rushing Yards (4th for Bears QBs All-time, 93 from Jim McMahon) - 15 straight games with 0-1 INTs (dating back to 2014) Matt Forte - 8,526 rushing yards (39th, 71 from 38th and Jim Taylor, 6th among active RBs) - 12,608 yds from scrimmage (52nd, 6 from 51st and Thomas Jones, 7 from 50th and Ricky Williams) - 4,082 receiving yards (2nd among Active RBs, 54 yards from 1st and Sproles) - 484 receptions (1st among Active RBs) Robbie Gould - 1,199 Points (40th, 9 pts from 39th and Kevin Butler) - 274 FG Made (34th, 1 from 33rd and Stephen Gostkowski) - 377 XP Made (T-46th, 9 from 45th and Lou Michaels) Alshon Jeffery (Bears All-time Receiving Numbers): - 252 receptions (10th, 8 from 9th and Matt Suhey) - 3,728 yards (8th, 167 from 7th and Marty Booker) - 24 TD (11th, 1 from 10th and Bill McColl/Marty Booker) Shea McClellin (Bears All-Time Defense) - 98 Tackles (57th, 5 from 56th and Jon Bostic - he should pass Jon Bostic this season) - 7.5 Sacks (42nd, 0.5 from T-40th and Bryan Cox/Jay Ratliff) Willie Young - 16.5 Sacks (T-21st, 2 from 20th and Al Harris) Kyle Fuller - 6 INT (T-75th, 1 from T-67th and Mike Singletary/Danieal Manning)

No, we lose to all of them, only SF and DAL have a comparable SoS, we would pick last out of those 4. We are now locked out of the top 8 for sure. So right now it looks like this: 9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-9) - .478 (@CAR) ~ 6-10 10. New Orleans Saints (6-9) - .513 (@ATL) ~ 6-10 11. Philadelphia Eagles (6-9) - .513 (NYG) ~ 7-9 12. Detroit Lions (6-9) - .531 (@CHI) ~ 7-9 13. Chicago Bears (6-9) - .540 (DET) ~ 6-10 (Proj: 12th) 14. New York Giants (6-8) - .496 (@MIN, PHI) ~ 6-10 ----------------------------------------- 15. Indianapolis Colts (7-8) - .504 (TEN) ~ 8-8 16. Oakland Raiders (7-8) - .504 (@KC) ~ 7-9 17. Buffalo Bills (7-8) - .518 (NYJ) ~ 7-9 18. St. Louis Rams (7-8) - .531 (@SF) ~ 8-8 A loss and we are locked in at 12 (regardless of who wins between NYG/PHI), this also assumes TB and NO losses. The worst scenario is a win where we would fall to 16th (assuming STL and IND win finales). So now it looks like 12 or 16 depending on win or loss.

Game ball goes to Jones-Quartey; what a game for the rookie. A goal-line INT, a forced fumble, and 2 passes defended. If not for some ridiculousness on some broken plays, this game would not have been this close. TB got 43 and 50 yard TD plays and another catch for 46. I have mixed feelings about the win, hurts draft position (by 3-4) but nice to get a win and beat last year's win total. Cutler with another solid game without a turnover and with very little passing options outside of Miller. Royal dropped a easy TD pass which would've given Cutler 2 on the day. He still finished with a 100.1 QB Rating. The Bears dominated TOP, Langford had 83 yards on 19 carries and besides for not finishing drives (4 FGs), the offense did enough to win. Langford/Carey duo may be enough if Forte wants too much money (if he is even offered anything). The defense actually stuffed the run and Martin only had 49 yards on 17 carries. Besides for discipline on some broken plays, and a couple of bad angles (Amos/Porter), the defense played solid even after some injuries.

Gore got 3 year 12 million with 6.5 in guarantees. I wouldn't be against something like that with the 3rd year really being an option year with little to no dead money.

After early games (Week 16), due to win, we drop to 13th. 1. Tennessee Titans (3-12) - .489 (@IND) ~ 3-13 2. Cleveland Browns (3-12) - .535 (PIT) ~ 3-13 ----------------------------------------- 3. San Diego Chargers (4-11) - .522 (@DEN) ~ 4-12 4. Dallas Cowboys (4-11) - .540 (WAS) ~ 4-12 5. San Francisco 49ers (4-11) - .549 (STL) ~ 4-12 ----------------------------------------- 6. Miami Dolphins (5-10) - .471 (NE) ~ 5-11 7. Baltimore Ravens (5-10) - .518 (@CIN) ~ 5-11 8. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9) - .462 (@NO, @HOU) ~ 5-11 9. New Orleans Saints (5-9) - .513 (JAX, @ATL) ~ 6-10 ----------------------------------------- 10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-9) - .478 (@CAR) ~ 6-10 11. Philadelphia Eagles (6-9) - .513 (NYG) ~ 7-9 12. Detroit Lions (6-9) - .531 (@CHI) ~ 7-9 13. Chicago Bears (6-9) - .540 (DET) ~ 6-10 (Proj: 12th) 14. New York Giants (6-8) - .496 (@MIN, PHI) ~ 6-10 15. St. Louis Rams (6-8) - .531 (@SEA, @SF) ~ 7-9 ----------------------------------------- 16. Indianapolis Colts (7-8) - .504 (TEN) ~ 8-8 17. Oakland Raiders (7-8) - .504 (@KC) ~ 7-9 18. Buffalo Bills (7-8) - .518 (NYJ) ~ 7-9

Bears score in the red zone? A play fake and pass? What? Carey with 2 TD's.

After a 3 and out, Anderson nails Martin and he coughs it up again.

Jones-Quartey having a game, now with a goal-line pick.

Typical Bears, broken play, Winston hits Sims who goes 50 yards because Porter takes a bad angle and goes for the pick (and misses).

Yep, seems like they can do that all game if they want to. Also with 95 rushing yards and over 20 mins TOP.

Eddie Royal drops an easy TD, Bears settle for a FG.

Wow, another great play by Jones-Quartey, and then Goldman with a sack on 3rd down.

Harold Jones-Quartey with a huge hit on Martin who fumbles. Something we have missed all year. Now Bears running the ball down their throats, drive ends in a FG.

Wow a huge penalty negates an INT, then Bears drive easily down field and Carey scores behind the O-Line which got some great push.

Woo hoo Bad News Bears on Special Teams, a blocked punt, and Bucs score on next play. LaRoy Reynolds (LB) literally did an olé on the guy who blocked the punt. He literally let him go then turned around like "should I have blocked him".

Defense actually looks....respectable. Refs not calling any holding against TB.

You're disappointed in Kyle Fuller? Please elaborate. He has actually turned into a decent Corner. For me, I was most impressed with Adrian Amos. With Mundy hurt, then Rolle hurt, he was thrust into the starting lineup and has played way above a rookie 5th round pick. Porter and Deonte Thompson are my honorable mentions. Disappointed in the most? That one is tough, I would have to say based on expectations, Bennett. With all the WR injuries, he was supposed to step up and never did. Honorable mention: SMC, Jeffery, and Gould.