adam

Also, to throw a little caution to the wind. Teams have 2 options at this point, either shutdown and IR for remainder of season or moved to a 21 day practice window before having to add him to the 53-man roster or put on IR. Since there is no harm in the 21 day window, most teams will do that just so he is able to participate in walk-throughs, etc. More than likely it is only for the experience and he still won't play and will be shutdown on day 21. Now on the other hand, if he starts to ramp up practice reps, then there is a good chance he does play this year. My dream that will be crushed was having Alshon, Forte, Royal, and White all back for the Packers game and we blow them out on Favre day.

To me this could be due to the Flacco injury or due to the loss essentially knocking us out of playoff contention. Either way, it is a good move. Jimmy the Pickle was horrible in relief and made Caleb Haney look like an All-Pro. Funny that this also comes after the article about Clausen being the worst backup QB in the NFL.

It was current SOS and record, and we do play an easier schedule going forward, so if anything, we would be lower, not higher in the draft order.

I think you play for a playoff spot until you are mathematically eliminated. If we lose to GB, we are out of it, and winning games would not help our draft position, though it might help the team's outlook going into the offseason. What I would do is go all out against GB, and if you win, you keep going all out until you lose again. Once you lose that 7th game, you give young guys longer looks and more reps, and even shut down guys with lingering injuries. Use the last couple of games as auditions for some of the younger guys and even put in some new schemes or plays that you wanted to look at. Our last 3 losses have been by a total of 8 pts and 3 of our last 4 wins were by a total of 6 pts. That is 6 games decided by a total of 14 pts. We could easily be 1-9 as much as 7-3. So the way things are playing out, 7-9 or 6-10 seem like the most likely outcomes.

Looks like we are now in the 12th slot (but I will have to check the updated SOS once this week is complete). We are now 1 game from the 4th pick. 1. TEN 2-8 (.507 SOS) 2. SD: 2-8 (.510 SOS) 3. CLE: 2-8 (.514 SOS) --------------------------- 4. BAL 3-7 (.507 SOS) 5. DET: 3-7 (.531 SOS) 6. SF 3-7 (.534 SOS) 7. DAL 3-7 (.558 SOS) --------------------------- 8. JAX 4-6 (.483 SOS) 9. MIA 4-6 (.483 SOS) 10. OAK 4-6 (.483 SOS) 11. STL 4-6 (.503 SOS) 12. CHI 4-6 (.507 SOS) 13. NO 4-6 (.517 SOS) 14. WAS 4-6 (.517 SOS) 15. PHI 4-6 (.524 SOS) ---------------------------- 16. NYJ 5-5 (.479 SOS) 17. SEA 5-5 (.490 SOS) 18. KC 5-5 (.497 SOS) 19. TB 5-5 (.503 SOS) 20. HOU 5-5 (.527 SOS)

On that 2-pt conversion, Cutler switched it from a pass to a run and Bennett didn't block Ward (who made uncontested tackle): It looks like if Bennett makes that block, Langford makes it in.

The defense only allowed 17 points, so I don't know how much more they could do. They definitely could've played better, but only allowing 17 pts when you are -2 in turnovers is actually really good. The offense had nothing, the WR's were never really open except for the long play to Wilson. Cutler was under pressure on almost every drop back. He would literally get to his back leg and have to step around a rusher. The first interception was bad, but it wasn't a pick-6 and actually didn't lead to any points. The offensive line still needs some work, the RB's were getting hit at the line on every run, rarely ever even a small hole to run through. Cutler would've been better with a little bit of a run game to make the play action work. That just wasn't there.

I don't know, it is not like Osweiler is a rookie, the dude is 25. Denver's defense is a top 5 unit and their offense had a better O-Line and weapons than we had on the field today. They were 7-0 until 2 recent losses and arguably the best team in the league playing the worst QB in the league for 9 games. We had something like our 10th different starting defense this year and I want to say 5th O-Line group, which is not including Forte, Alshon, or Royal. This actually had blow out written all over it and we almost stole one.

Yeah, and if we kick a FG earlier in the game on 4th and goal, that would have been a GW TD. Denver the clearly more talented team, and it still came down to a 2pt conversion to decide the game.

Damn, Cutler leads the team down for the TD on some crazy plays, all on him. Then like we have cable, we run a draw and get no gain on the 2pt conversion. I would not have taken the ball out of Cutler's hands on that play. Terrible play call.

This game has been crazy, we are somehow going to get the ball back with just under 2 mins remaining and 2 TOs after they got the ball with 2:30 left. This will be the offense's 3rd chance to tie this game.

What is crazy is if you didn't watch the game, you are going to say Cutler sucked, but he has been on the run all game with no running game and Wilson and Bellamy as the top 2 receivers.

Wow, and that sums up this game, Cutler gets hit from behind and the ball is intercepted by a lineman. Unbelievable.

Offense was really limited today against this defense with Alshon and Forte. Bennett again non-existent. Defense got shredded on the ground which made it easier for Osweiler in the passing game. 10 for 137 to TEs.

Damn Cutler drives team all the way for tying score and we stall after getting a 1st and goal. Cutler had a couple of opportunities to run and probably should have. The way the defense is playing, it is probably the ball game and the season right there.

Its gonna be tough without Alshon, but he was basically a non-factor last game. As long as the defense can pressure Osweiler, we have a chance. It looks like they are saving everyone for the GB game, which is understandable. If there was one game we can't lose out of the next two, it is the GB game.

Denver favored by a point; our offense seems to have the advantage and their defense has the edge. Very similar to the Rams game, except we are at home. No Ware for Denver, so that will help our offense, and Osweiler in at QB. He is probably better than Manning at this point, but he is error-prone and if we can get some pressure, I feel like we will have the edge. As many have mentioned, we need a win to have any realistic chance at the playoffs. We are also 1-3 at home, something we need to improve on. Bears 27 - Broncos 16

Ball security is a fundamental and definitely something you can work on. This is surprising: Tyler Lockett - 24.2 KO AVG, 7.8 PR AVG Marc Mariani - 24.7 KO AVG, 7.2 PR AVG To me that is crazy considering Lockett has returned both a KO and punt for TDs.

With everyone, including myself, complaining about Mariani, would you kick the tires on someone like Jeremy Ross? He was averaging 29 yards a return on kickoffs and over 10 on punts. Now obvsiouly he has a problem, otherwise he wouldn't get cut. He fumbles, he had 2 fumbles in the last 3 games. To me you can correct fumbling with practice, but you can't correct Mariani. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown...-154300279.html

Yeah that loss sucked but Barber didn't fumble when we were up 10-0, he fumbled in OT. Tebow just led a normal drive after a punt and scored a TD. They tried an onside kick and failed, we got the ball near midfield, then had 3 runs where Barber ran out on 2nd down. After the punt Denver got the ball back at their 20 (thanks Podlesh) and Tebow got them to our 41 and Prater hit a 59 yarder. In OT, Barber fumbled on the Denver side of the field and the defense allowed Denver to get Prater close enough for a 51 yarder to win.

I actually wanted us to draft Jones, but I believe he had some knee problems that limited his performance and production so far. If he could overcome those, he would be a decent flexible backup on the line.

7 games remaining, 4 at home, 3 away. vs DEN (7-2) - Getting Denver at the right time? Seems winnable to me @ GB (6-3) - short week hurts the most on this game, but still winnable as we are better since Week 1 and they are playing worse vs SF (3-6) - should be a winnable game at home against a bad team vs WAS (4-5) - Redskins have looked better but they don't play very good on the road @ MIN (7-2) - We match up pretty good against them and should've won at home, winnable game @ TB (4-5) - Lovie Bowl, they are sort of like the Redskins, and another winnable game vs DET (2-7) - At home, and potentially playing for a playoff spot and they will have nothing to play for According to some advanced stats, none of the remaining teams we face are in the top 10 of the league: http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/stats/2015/11/Overall/ GB 11th DEN 13th MIN 14th WAS 18th TB 19th SF 30th DET 32nd We are currently 21st, but considering our recent play we have been trending from 30th over the past few weeks.

After Week 10, we are now drafting 16th, but one win or loss could shift us to 9th or 19th. We are now closer to making the playoffs than picking in the top 8. 1. CLE: 2-8 (.514 SOS) 2. TEN 2-7 (.507 SOS) 3. BAL 2-7 (.507 SOS) 4. SD: 2-7 (.510 SOS) 5. DAL 2-7 (.558 SOS) 6. DET: 2-7 (.531 SOS) 7. JAX 3-6 (.483 SOS) 8. SF 3-6 (.534 SOS) 9. NO 4-6 (.517 SOS) 10. MIA 4-5 (.483 SOS) 11. OAK 4-5 (.483 SOS) 12. SEA 4-5 (.490 SOS) 13. KC 4-5 (.497 SOS) 14. STL 4-5 (.503 SOS) 15. TB 4-5 (.503 SOS) 16. CHI 4-5 (.507 SOS) 17. WAS 4-5 (.517 SOS) 18. PHI 4-5 (.524 SOS) 19. HOU 4-5 (.527 SOS)

It would also be wise to re-sign Jenkins, Acho, and Porter to keep them around for a few more years. We have more than enough to do that, extend Alshon and Kyle, as well as make a couple of FA acquisitions.

If we beat Denver on Sunday, we will have played against some tougher defenses than GB's and won. If Langford and Miller continue to play at this level and we get Alshon and Royal back fully healthy, we could potentially line up Alshon, Royal, Bennett, Miller, and Langford on every play. That would be a matchup nightmare for any team.