adam

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).

The Redskins and Rams are both 4-6. I agree with outcomes, we need MIN, IND, PIT, NYG, and HOU to win. We would be in great shape after this week with a home game against SF next weekend.

I would assume it was either for his coverage on punts, or he was not getting the ball to O'Donnell correctly, which was causing some bad Gould kicks (ie. laces in wrong spot).

Wow, Porter is balling:

According to over the cap we have about $58mil before re-signing anyone. (http://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space) That does not include the potential savings if we ditch Rolle ($3.0 cap savings) and potentially others (Bushrod - $4.3 cap savings, $4.4 dead money; Bennett - $5.185 cap savings, $1.125 dead money; Young - $2.5 cap savings, 666k dead money; Houston - $4.02 cap savings, $2.97 dead money). Houston, Young, Bennett, and Bushrod all seem like trade candidates if we were trying to get more cap space (if Bennett wants more money, if Houston/Young don't want to play in a 3-4). Going off AB's estimate, we would have at least $18mil after re-signing those players, and potentially somewhere in the 20's if Rolle was released. That would easily be enough for the rookie pool, 2 impact FA's and a couple more vet minimum guys.

Interesting numbers: Pre Bye 2-4 (.532 SOS) 120-179 (20.0-29.8 ppg) Post Bye 3-2 (.549 SOS) 111-85 (22.2-17.0 ppg) The offense has slightly improved, but the defense has been like night and day and against tougher competition no less. Those numbers also include return scores. The defense is averaging only 1.2 TDs allowed a game since the bye (not counting return TDs).

Right now we have MIN and GB ahead of us in the division and ATL, SEA and TB ahead of us in the Wild Card. Based on schedules going forward, it seems like ATL and MIN have the hardest paths. Week 12: ATL 6-4 vs MIN 7-3 TB 5-5 at IND SEA 5-5 vs PIT Week 13: GB 7-4 at DET MIN 7-3 vs SEA 5-5 ATL 6-4 at TB 5-5 Most realistic: MIN beats ATL, then loses to SEA, moving to 8-4 GB beats DET, moving to 8-4 ATL loses to MIN, then beats TB, moving to 7-5 SEA loses to PIT, then beats MIN, moving to 6-6 TB loses to both IND and ATL, and drops to 5-7 1. MIN gets ATL, SEA, ARZ, CHI, NYG, and GB. Of all the teams, they have the toughest path to the playoffs with us having the worst record at 5-6. 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).

Yeah, stfu McFatass. I am so sick of that guy, I hope they fine him. Did he even watch any of the game, every call was against the Bears and we still won. He is just butt hurt for losing and being 1-4 since the Dikta Curse.

I agree, but you make your own luck. Any of those coaches could've went somewhere else just as easy as coming here. Also, even with our first round pick out, we still have had 4 rookies starting games (Goldman, Amos, Langford, and Grasu) and at least play serviceable. Amos has started every game, Goldman has started 8 and played in all 11, Langford has started 2 and played in all 11, and Grasu has started and played in 4 games. Grasu has been the weakest of the bunch, but I am sure he will get better with more playing time. If White comes back and can become a legit #2, then that will be 5 contributors from a draft within one year. That is pretty good.

No prob, I just like tracking stuff like that as the guys move up the lists.

I agree, and if you consider the losses Cutler played in, we were extremely competitive or had a chance to win those as well. On Pace, it is hard to solely give credit to the coaching staff as the players have to at least be coachable. Also, regardless of coaching, you have to have some talent to play in the NFL, so I would say Pace is part of the success and the cultural change throughout the organization. We have won 5 games, matching last year's total with 5 games remaining. It is hard to see us not going at least 8-8, if not pushing for a playoff spot with 9-10 wins.

After Week 12: Jay Cutler (surpassed 30k passing yards in Week 11, 3 TDs from 200 in career) - 2,601 completions (36th, 53 from 35th and Ken Anderson) - 30,259 yards (42nd, 538 from 41st and Norm Snead) - 197 TD (T-40th, 2 from 39th and Phil Simms) - 1,155 Rushing Yards (4th for Bears QBs All-time, 129 from Jim McMahon) Matt Forte - 8,296 rushing yards (40th, 178 from 39th and Willis McGahee, 6th among active RBs) - 12,251 yds from scrimmage (55th, 35 from 54th and Jimmy Smith, 9th among active players) - 3,955 receiving yards (45 from 4k) - 469 receptions (2nd among Active RBs, 1 from 1st and Reggie Bush) Robbie Gould - 1,169 Points (40th, 39 pts from 39th and Kevin Butler) - 267 FG Made (33rd, 5 from 32nd and Pete Stoyanovich, 7th among active Kickers) - 368 XP Made (49th, 1 from 49th and Fuad Reveiz) Alshon Jeffery (Bears All-time Receiving Numbers): - 241 receptions (12th, 1 from 11th and Desmond Clark) - 3,526 yards (11th, 24 from 10th and Dick Gordon) - 22 TD (12th, 1 from 11th and Jim Keane) Martellus Bennett (Bears TE All-Time Receiving Numbers): - 205 receptions (3rd, 37 from 2nd and Desmond Clark) - 2,100 yards (4th, 539 yards from 3rd and Desmond Clark) - 14 TD (T-4th, 4 from 3rd and Desmond Clark) Marc Mariani (Bears Returners - All-Time) - 29 Punt Returns (29th, 2 from 28th and Billy Martin) - 169 Punt Return Yards (32nd, 3 from 31st and Billy Stone) - 35 Kickoff Returns (T-25th, 2 from 24th and Willie Gault) - 881 Kickoff Return Yards (24th, 4 from 23rd and Willie Gault)

It seems like older DC's have stayed in those positions longer than OC's. Dick LeBeau has been one forever, and no one has ever really thought of him as anything other than a DC. So fopefully Vic hangs around. For Gase, I think it will come down to what is available. The Bears just need to pay Gase and Fangio so there is less incentive to leave.