adam

or Tecmo Bowl.

Wow, ok that will work, Zach Miller has arrived.

2 huge plays, yeah, not good at all for our defense.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/...s-knee/related/

We have the edge in every offensive category except rushing yards per game. STL is horrible at 3rd Downs, which is our weakness on defense. This would be a great game to clean that up. On the defensive side, they have the edge in every category, though I was surprised at how close we were against the pass and in total yards. I would love to see Langford split out wide from the backfield to get some mismatches against LB's. He just outdueled Gordon, now let's do it to Gurley. Bears 20 - Rams 16

He has to take up a spot on the active roster to do so. Essentially they have to bring him back to the roster by the 24th, but then he is allowed to practice for 21 days before he has to be "activated" on the 53-man roster. I believe this is in place to prevent teams from circumventing the 53-man roster and practice squad rules by just putting players on PUP and IR to stash them. So I don't think he can practice unless he is on the roster or PS.

I know there hasn't been much reported about Kevin White lately, but after doing some digging, it looks like the team will have to do something with him by November 24th (12 days from now). At that point they will have 3 options: 1. place him on injured reserve (most likely) 2. release him (obviously not going to happen here) 3. bring him back to practice (then have up to 21 days before adding him to 53-man roster) So if White had a chance to play this year, he could come back as late as December 20th (at Minnesota), 4 months removed from surgery, and would be eligible to play as early as next week if activated (and in game shape, which is not likely). He was only jogging 2 weeks ago, and would have to ramp up to running, cutting, and jumping Basically, we will know in less than 2 weeks if White will play this year. My gut says it will ultimately come down to our record after the Broncos game, but I am leaning towards them shutting him down. While the reps are invaluable in a real game environment, I would hate to see him come back too early after all this time off.

What the hell:

Good point, never thought of it that way. If our subs are starting then we will inherently have some weaker players on Special Teams.

Yeah I saw that, it was on Wednesday, so he will have a few days to recover. It didn't sound like it was something that would keep him out on Sunday.

I thought this was a pretty good article about the age of QBs: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14084886...bs-dominate-nfl If this holds true, and just looking at Cutler's progress this year, it would make sense to keep him around for a few more years. He is in his 10th year, and based on these numbers a QB peaks at year 12 and continues to have very solid years through year 15/16. Now obviously you can say small sample size or the numbers are bogus after 10 years because only good QBs are left in the league at that point, but that is not always the case. To me, stabilizing the QB position seems like the first and most important step to making a sustained run at the playoffs. It also means not having to worry about throwing multiple draft picks at the position and allows the GM some freedom and predictability. I would stick with Cutler for the remainder of his contract, or at least through the next 3 years when the cap hit is favorable: 2016 $17,000,000 2017 $16,000,000 2018 $17,000,000 2019 $20,000,000 2020 $21,700,000 Right now he has the 8th highest cap hit for a QB this year, but drops to 15th next year and 16th in 2017. To me, those are some very favorable team numbers, especially considering other QBs will be getting new deals between now and then to surpass Cutler's deal. Take a look at the article and let me know what you think.

The only good thing is that both teams only had 1 sack in their last games, so there is a formula for success out there (both losses). Another interesting note for both teams, STL was 3-5 at home last year and are currently 3-1 (so they may be due for a bit of a correction). Denver was 4-4 on the road last year and are currently 4-1. Again, going off norms, they both seem to be trending higher than normal. Hopefully we hit them both at the right time. Temperature is projected to be mid-40's with some wind on the 22nd, and Manning is obviously not as good in the cold or wind (especially with his ducksnort passes).

Very cool. We get bats (for gifts) from the Louisville Slugger factory dipped in wax at Maker's all the time (they do it for free). I am going to take a Blackhawks puck there to get it dipped next month.

I live about 45 minutes from the Maker's Mark Distillery and have been on all the bourbon tours in the area. Really cool if you are ever in the Louisville area.

We have as much of a chance as any of the other 3-5 team (very slim). With a win against STL, we would be 4-5 with 5 winnable games remaining. A loss and we are out. If you take a step back and look at each game, we really haven't played that bad. We had a halftime lead against GB, were only down by 8 after giving up a KO return TD and Pick-6 against ARZ at half, were only down 6-0 in Seattle with Jimmy the Pickle at QB with a missed muffed punt that should've been our ball in FG range before half. We had the Tate TD/INT go against us vs Detroit and had a 7 point lead against MIN with 5 mins left.

Alaska, This is just not the case, I watched this play over and over from a bunch of different angles and went back and watched other games with similar throws. If Alshon turns towards the sideline, then that would lead the DB right into the path of the ball, he is supposed to turn towards the inside (which he has done for everyone of those passes) and face the QB so he can pick up the ball in the air. If he turns outside, he is blind to the ball until he completes over a 180 turn while the DB is facing the ball the entire time. Now that would be a horrible designed play. If Verrett doesn't hold and pull Alshon away, it is an easy catch with Verrett completely behind Alshon (boxed out) on the play. I will try to post some pics from other games on the same route (where he turns inside every time). The one thing I find disturbing is the zero defect environment Cutler has to operate in. QBs throw INTs and fumble when they are sacked, it happens (and it is not always their fault). Favre, Marino, Manning, Brady, Brees, Elway, Bledsoe, Eli, Big Ben, Rivers, Palmer, Romo, and Ryan all have multiple double digit INTs and turnover seasons. The only guy that doesn't have that many is Rodgers, where I think the comparisons come in for Bears fans. However, there is no way to compare these two realistically, Rodgers has been on the same team, with the same HC, in the same system since he came into the league, and also had the luxury to sit until he was 25 behind a future HoFer. Then you can look at the plethora of WRs and TEs he played with and it is not even funny. Also, another huge factor is that GB almost always plays with a lead (Cutler has attempted 2190 passes while trailing to Rodgers 1231). That makes their offense even more potent because you can't pin your ears back and just rush the QB. If you still want to compare, lets look at how clutch those two are, in 126 starts Cutler has 20 4th Quarter comebacks and 24 Game-winning drives. In 111 starts, Rodgers has 9 4QC and 13 GWD (and he has cable). Those are the highest pressure situations you can be in, and Cutler basically doubles Rodgers. How about playoffs? Cutler is 1-1 in the playoffs and Super Rodgers is only 6-5. Besides their Super Bowl year he is 2-5 in the playoffs in 5 other seasons. He has been 1 and done 3 times. Cutler at least won a game the year we made it into the playoffs. Also, between the two, Rodgers has the lowest passing yards in a complete game with more than 20 attempts with 77 yards against Denver two weeks ago. Rodgers also had a chance to win the game against Carolina to add to his clutch totals, and what did he do, threw an INT that ended the game (then threw a tantrum and threw down a Surface tablet that was intercepted).

Yeah and we have been on the short end a lot. To me it is hard to imagine every official on the field misses that hold when that is where the ball was going. How many times do we get calls away from the ball, but in this case they miss that much holding which is clearly visible from multiple angles.

Cutler already throwing to spot, Verrett with full hand of jersey Cutler with ball almost released, Verrett pulling on arm Ball is out, Verrett pulling Alshon away from ball as he stumbles forward Alshon now a good 2-3 steps from original spot and Verrett using leverage against Alshon to drive on ball Just another view showing it wasn't a horrible throw. Verrett clearly got away with one there.

If you look at the official, he is not even looking at them until the 2nd to last screen grab and misses all the contact.

Rich Campbell ‏@Rich_Campbell 9m9 minutes ago Bears rookie OT Tayo Fabuluje has been suspended 4 games by the NFL for violating the league's policy against performance-enhancing drugs. https://twitter.com/Rich_Campbell/status/664186000613097472

Yeah absolutely. However, at first glance, the pass looked errant, and way outside, but if you see it from the other angles, you can see Alshon was pulled off his spot and lost balance stumbling forward before trying to jump back and reach the pass. This would be similar to a receiver falling down on a route and the defender in perfect position to intercept. My problem with the play was that Verrett was not flagged for either holding or illegal contact. On the fumble, he just needs to learn how to pull it into his gut when it comes out.

Check out the pics I posted from the INT in the other thread. It was actually a good throw and Alshon was pulled off the spot by Verrett.

The first frame and last frame superimposed: If Alshon is not pulled off the spot and gets a clean stop, he is clearly in line to make the catch with ease. 2nd frame and last frame superimposed: To me this looks like a back shoulder throw that Verrett pulled Alshon away from and used his momentum to move him off his spot.

6 yards down the field and Verrett is all over AJ Verrett pulling at AJ's arm as he stops his route (right where ball will be thrown) Verrett still pulling at AJ's arm as Alshon's momentum carries him away from spot Alshon is now falling towards camera and losing his balance (as depicted by right arm way out) Verrett still all over Alshon pulling on jersey to get around him (ball is released) Momentum of pull moves Alshon away from ball path as Verrett moves in behind Ball is thrown right where Jeffery was when ball was released

Cutler is on a current run of solid play that is longer than any other time in his career. Everyone always talks to Cutler's inconsistency or the Good Jay Bad Jay, etc. Looking over his Game Logs, you can see that was indeed the case for most of his early career. However, it looks like we have entered a new era and the sample size is large enough to believe it will continue. Starting in the Arizona game, he now has 6 straight games with a QB Rating above 88, and even excluding the partial game, he has 5 straight games with a QB Rating of 88.4 or higher. Looking back at his Game Logs, the closest run was 6 games to start 2014 where he was 82.5 or higher. Before that stretch, he never had more than 3 straight games above 80. That is crazy. Grouping his games with 20 or more attempts and an 80 QB Rating or higher, this is how his career has played out: 2009 - 6/15, 40% 2010 - 9/14, 64% 2011 - 5/8, 62.5% 2012 - 8/14, 57% -------------------- 2013 - 7/10, 70% 2014 - 10/15, 66.6% 2015 - 5/6, 83.3% So since Week 1 of 2013, Cutler has had a QB Rating of 80 or higher in 71% of his games with 20 or more passes, up 16% from 2010-2012 of 55%. Also, his current rate this year of 83.3% is his best run yet. To further support this theory, look at his INTs (which are obviously tied to QB Rating). His longest consecutive games with 0 or 1 INTs with the Bears is 6 games in 2012 (he had 7 in Denver in 2008). If you count the ARZ game, that is 7, and even without it, he has now had 6 straight games with 1 or fewer INTs. One other indirect stat that is tied to wins is the Opponent's score in losses. From 2013 until today, in games that Cutler played in, the Bears have 20 losses, and 14 of them (70%) have occurred when the opponent's scored 30 or more. From 2010-2012, we had 13 losses and only 2 games where the opponent scored 30+ (15%). Again that is crazy. We basically had no chance in 70% of our losses. In the 6 games where we lost and the opponent's scored less than 30, 4 of those were decided by 3 points or less. To further the point about the defense, we have only lost one game since the start of 2011 where the opponents scored less than 20 and Cutler played the entire game. If you count total games, then two, last season's finale against Minnesota where we lost 13-9 and a 13-6 loss against Houston in 2012. You would have to go back to 2010 to find other games where we lost when we held the opponents under 20. I know everyone has mixed feelings about Cutler, but if the new Cutler is going to be the Cutler for the next few years, it would be hard to let him go and expect a rookie to jump right in and produce at the same level. I really believe that Gase and Fox have had a positive impact on Cutler. He is still going to have some bad games and ill-advised throws, but those seem like they will be few and farther between from now on. TLDR; Cutler now has a decent sample size to show improvement and consistency this season and his career is trending upwards, though it may be hard to see with how the entire team and defense have played.