adam

I was talking to a friend about this the other day, but I think it take a few more variables, something like: (talent x effort x scheme & coaching + teammates) = performance which can be weighted with (length of time in same scheme or under same coaches) So you can be extremely talented but lack effort and you won't be very good. You can have a lot of talent and have good effort, but are in the wrong scheme and you will be inconsistent. You could have everything, but be on bad team. For Cutler, for the first time, it seems like everything is in place. The previous inconsistencies and erratic performances were due to his attempt to overcompensate with his own talent, which could only be increased so much to overcome deficiencies in other areas (bad teammates, bad O-Line, horrible defense, brutal coaches, etc).

Detroit got conservative, but GB got gifted another game from the officials.

That loss would've been huge for us. I can't believe some of the calls or non calls against GB. Sickening to think we would have been only one game back with a win on Sunday.

Rodgers throws a pick and Lions score on next play. Sweet justice.

Lions up 10-0 in the 1st quarter against GB.

Here is what he said about shaking out the leg: I would say this is fairly normal and something that will go away with more use.

Yeah makes sense, Gould had a bunch of misses that were uncharacteristic of him, and he had a duck snort XP that almost missed as well. Supposedly, the long snapper is supposed to snap the ball in a way where it is only rotates a certain amount (like one turn) and it is much harder to catch and get laces out if ball is spinning more.

Kevin White doing individual drills: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...lls-at-practice

Using DVOA, Cutler is 6th in the league, behind: Dalton, Palmer, Brady, Big Ben, and Carr. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb

and 22 QB's have more INTs than him as well.

Also, take into consideration that we have played the toughest or 2nd toughest schedule to date (KC). The only bad teams we beat (SD and STL), we beat on the road.

7 point favorites, at home, coming off a huge emotional win. We need a win to keep our slim playoff hopes alive and get back to .500. I am going to go out on a limb and say: Bears 24 - 49ers 13

Week 13: MIN 8-3 vs SEA 6-5 With Minnesota's remaining schedule, SEA winning may be the best option going forward as they seemed destined for a run anyway. If MIN wins, then we can get past SEA by winning out and having them lose to at least ARZ. GB 7-4 at DET 4-7 Detroit already beat them in GB, and another win at home would be huge for us. This game will depend on which GB team shows up and which Stafford shows up. ATL 6-5 at TB 5-6 A TB win would help us get even with ATL, which at this point is probably the best result. DAL 3-8 at WAS 5-6 Obviously, a DAL win would be huge, but unlikely. NYJ 6-5 at NYG 5-6 A Jets win would put us up a game on the Giants. Now none of this will matter unless we take care of business, at home, against a upward trending SF team.

I don't know if any of those guys will be available when we pick at #31.

Nope, that is TalkBears2, the free league. You almost beat me a few weeks ago when Big Ben came back from injury and had a monster game.

After this week, we locked in all 6 playoff teams with one regular season week left. PapaBear, in 1st, at 10-2 is guaranteed a bye and is only playing for seeding this week (a win or The Bunny loss locks in #1 seed) The Bunny, in 2nd, at 9-3 can finish as high as 1st (with a win and PB loss) or 3rd (with a loss and Nopper win). Nopper, in 3rd, at 9-3 can finish as high as 2nd and no lower than 3rd. My Deflated Balls, in 4th, at 7-5 is locked in at 4th or 5th, and regardless will play Domination Inc in the first round of the playoffs. Domination Inc, in 5th, at 7-5 is also locked in at 4th or 5th, and will play My Deflated Balls in the first round of the playoffs. Cali Bears, in 6th, at 6-6 is locked into 6th place (due to pts for) and will face either Nopper or The Bunny. Game of the Week, with biggest playoff implications: My Deflated Balls (7-5/4th) vs Nopper (9-3/3rd)

With the remaining schedules, I actually see Minnesota fading and us potentially tying them with a win in 3 weeks. They play SEA, ARZ, then us. We play SF, WAS, then MIN. We could come out of that week both at 8-6 with 2 to play. They finish with NYG and GB, we finish with TB and DET. That seems like the most realistic outcome. GB and SEA both have easier schedules and both will have 10 or more wins. ATL seems like they will finish 8-8. Right now I can only see us making it if we win out. We are moving right up many of the advanced metric websites: 15th - http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/sagarin/ MIN - 10, DET - 18, WAS - 23, TB - 27, SF - 29 According to the Sagarin ratings, we have had the toughest schedule and have played 7 games against top 10 teams (more than any other team in the league - and we are 1 win from .500). 17th - http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/stats/2015/13/Overall/ MIN - 9, TB - 15, WAS - 18, DET - 28, SF - 31 19th - http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2015-nfl-predictions/ MIN - 9, DET - 16, WAS - 22, SF - 23, TB - 25 Besides MIN, we are better than every other team on our schedule, and I think we are better than MIN as well. Win out or bust.

Some great quotes out of McPhee after the win:

We need to get better up front. We still are one of the worst rushing defenses in the league, and also don't generate much of a pass rush. I would say 2 in the front 7 out of the first 3 picks.

He is on his 5th or 6th team, 3rd this year and his averaging 3.4 yards per carry. I am not going to dismiss him, but we are not worrying about where he is on the field. Obviously we really don't care who we line up against and just need to get better against the run overall. Sort of off topic, crazy that we almost beat the same Denver team that just beat an undefeated NE team.

The 49ers lost. They played better, but I can't see a team with Draughn as their starting RB doing much damage. Their defense played really good, especially against the run, and Gabbert had over 300 yards passing, but I still think we are clearly a better team and should beat them handily at home.

Yeah, I can't believe how much the refs aided that victory. They got 3-4 huge game changing calls go their way. Wildcard: 5 - Packers (7-4/5-3) 6 - Seahawks (6-5/5-4) In the hunt: 7 - Falcons (6-5/4-4) 8 - Buccaneers (5-6/4-3) 9 - Giants (5-6/4-5) 10 - Bears (5-6/2-5) Week 13: GB 7-4 at DET 4-7 MIN 8-3 vs SEA 6-5 ATL 6-5 at TB 5-6 NYJ 6-5 at NYG 5-6

Interestingly, we cut Weems and he now has over 600 return yards for ATL with multiple punt and kick returns of over 40 yards.

Good - CIN leading big over STL - HOU leading big over NO - MIN leading ATL - IND leading TB Bad - NYG leading WAS Later - PIT over SEA

Here is what I said in another thread: 1. MIN gets ATL, SEA, ARZ, CHI, NYG, and GB. Of all the teams, they have the toughest path to the playoffs (5 teams at .500 or better + us). They could lose all 6, but more than likely will win at least 2, which would put them at 9-7. If they went 1-5, we could sneak in at 9-7. For us the best scenario would be for them to beat ATL, then lose 5 straight. 2. GB has a fairly easier schedule, with DET, DAL, OAK, ARZ, and MIN left. At 7-4, they would have to lose 3 for them to get to 9-7. It ultimately depends on what team shows up, but it seems like they will win at least 2 and finish no worse than 9-7. DET and OAK beating them would be huge for us. 3. SEA has PIT, MIN, BAL, CLE, STL, and ARZ left. At 5-5, they are 2 losses from 9-7 and potentially 6-6 in the conference as well. They own the head to head against us, so we would have to beat them by record. With 6 games left, I would love to see them go 3-3. 4. ATL seems destined for 9-7 or 8-8 and probably 6-6 in the conference. We could potentially be tied with them at 9-7 and 6-6 in conference if we went 4-1 down the stretch. We should win the common games tie breaker if we could beat TB and WAS. So if tied, I think we would have the tie breaker against them. 5. TB seems locked in for 8-8 or 7-9 with games left against IND, ATL, NO, STL, CHI, CAR. We need to beat them to get the head to head tie breaker and common game tie breaker from ATL. So to me it looks like 9-7 won't cut it, but it does look like 10-6 would be enough to get in as one of the Wild Cards. There is a very small chance at the Division at 10-6, but it would require us to win out (possible), MIN to go no better than 2-4 (very possible) and for GB to go 2-3 (unlikely but possible).