adam

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.

I actually think they compliment each other pretty well with Langford as the home run hitter and dual threat lead back.

To me you can't grade without context. We were playing away, against arguably the best front-7 in football, and one of the best all-around defenses in football. Cutler took exactly what they gave him and exploited the weakness in their defense. Should he be penalized for his receivers making huge gains after the catch? No way. Also, how does Miller or Langford not score higher with their long plays alone. Those were huge game breaking plays against a defense that was one of the best against those very plays. As Jason said, PFF is complete garbage, and I really can't take them serious anymore. Their grades are purely subjective and have no statistical support or foundation. For me, you could easily isolate each player on every play and give them either a +/- grade, then add them all up based on the situation with some weights and have a better rating system than they use. Cutler had his worst game of the year according to PFF, and even though he wasn't slinging it deep to Alshon for 20-30 yard gains, I thought he was very efficient and played error free football. It might not have been his best passing game (due to Alshon being limited), but he did enough to give us a 37-13 win on the road. If that is a bad game, I hope he has more of those. The other odd anomaly is most of the media, local and national praised Cutler and said this was potentially his best game. That is what I saw. He wasn't flashy, but he took advantage of what STL gave him and it worked flawlessly. If not for a Mariani fumble, it might've been an even bigger blowout.

So here is a crazy one, what if a player jumps straight up for a ball and lands on two feet stationary with the ball held with two hands. At what point does it become a catch if he is not moving (making a football move or becoming a runner)? Is there a time limit? Since he is not making a 3rd step (he hasn't become a runner) and hasn't made a football move. When is the catch completed? Can a DB go over there 1-2 seconds later and knock the ball out? If he gets tackled 2 seconds later and the ball comes out when he is taken to the ground, is it incomplete? Shouldn't the play end when his knee or other body part touch the ground? To me there needs to be two rules for catches, contested and uncontested. If you catch the ball and there is no defender in contact with you, and you get two feet down and catch the ball, it is immediately a catch. If you are in the end zone, the play ends and it is a TD. If the player gets stripped in the field of play after this point, it is a fumble. For contested catches, if a defender is in contact with the receiver, then they must get two feet inbounds with a 3rd step or body part touching (in or out of bounds) to the complete the catch. If the ball gets stripped before the 3rd step, then it is incomplete. In the same sense, if you make an contested catch, have two feet on the ground, then go to the ground and your elbow hits the ground, you are down. If the ball comes out, the ground can't cause a fumble, so it shouldn't cause an incompletion either.

I wouldn't mind locking them both up for a couple of years. Gronk and Hernandez were a pretty crazy TE duo. Miller and Bennett are different enough that both could have roles in this offense. That would take TE off the "needs" list for a few years while we pile up in other need areas.

We basically have to go 6-1 in our last 7 to have a chance with tie breakers. We also need either MIN or GB to beat each other twice. A split would be the worst for us since that would almost assure both of them a 10 win season. So if we don't pass either of those two teams, they split and go 11-5 and 10-6, we will need to pass SEA and ATL. For ATL, even if they go 10-6 and win 4 games (IND, TB, JAX, NO) and lose 3 (CARx2, MIN), they would be 6-6 in the CONF and 2-3 in common games. If we go 6-1 but beat WAS, TB, SF, and MIN, we would be 4-1 in common games and own the higher tie breaker. For SEA, they have the easiest schedule and own the head to head tie breaker with us, so our only hope is they lose at least two games (PIT, MIN, or ARZ) and go no higher than 9-7. We still would need 10 wins and a 6-1 record in our last 7 to do that. CHI 4-5 (1-5 CONF w/6 to play in CONF) Denver - L/W @ Green Bay - L/W San Francisco - W Washington - W @ Minnesota - L/W @ Tampa Bay - W Detroit - W Worst Case 8-8, best case 10-6 DIV MIN 7-2 (3-0 DIV/4-1 CONF) Green Bay - L/W @ Atlanta - W Seattle - L/W @ Arizona - L Chicago - L/W NY Giants - W @ Green Bay - L Worst Case - 9-7 / 11-5 WC GB 6-3 (1-1 DIV/4-2 CONF) @ Minnesota - L/W Chicago - L/W @ Detroit - W Dallas - L/W @ Oakland - L/W @ Arizona - L Minnesota - W Worst Case - 8-8 / 11-5 WC ATL 6-3 (4-3 CONF w/5 to play in CONF) Indianapolis - L/W Minnesota - L @ Tampa Bay - L/W @ Carolina - L @ Jacksonville - W Carolina - L New Orleans - W Worst Case - 8-8 / 10-6 SEA 4-5 (4-4 CONF, beat us H2H) San Francisco - W Pittsburgh - L/W @ Minnesota - L/W @ Baltimore - W Cleveland - W St. Louis - W @ Arizona - L Worst case 8-8, best case 10-6 An ATL and GB loss this week, with a win by us would be huge. The interesting part is Minnesota is the one team that plays us, GB, ATL, and SEA. So their games are going to have the biggest impact on the playoffs going forward. That Week 17 game of MIN at GB might decide the division and potential WC team.

So my question is, if Butler stripped the ball out and then caught it himself inbounds, would that have been ruled an INT? Same for Tate's, if Fuller just pulled the ball to the ground, would that have been just an incompletion? For us, it seems like they didn't want to give us the INT, but would've given us the incompletion. One of the most subjective calls in all of sports.

If we were strapped for cap space, I think it would be something to consider. However, given our cap space, we may actually be hard pressed to get to the cap floor (even though it is for a multi-year period).

Cutler got a grade of -1.7 for the STL game, lmao.

After Week 10: Jay Cutler now 206 yards from 30,000 in his career and 4 TDs from 200. - 2,564 completions (38th, 12 from 37th and Phil Simms) - 29,794 yards (44th, 23 from 43rd and Joe Ferguson) - 196 TD (T-41st, 1 from 40th and Ken Anderson) Robbie Gould - 1,155 Points (41st, 9 pts from 40th and Neil Rackers) - 263 FG Made (38th, 1 from 35/36/37th and Lou Groza/Neil Rackers/Stephen Gostowski) - 366 XP Made (50th, 1 from 49th and Fuad Reveiz) Alshon Jeffery (Bears All-time Receiving Numbers): - 234 receptions (13th, 4 from 12th and Dick Gordon) - 3436 yards (12th, 88 from 11th and Brandon Marshall) - 22 TD (12th, 1 from 11th and Jim Keane) Martellus Bennett (Bears TE All-Time Receiving Numbers): - 203 receptions (3rd, 39 from 2nd and Desmond Clark) - 2074 yards (4th, 565 yards from 3rd and Desmond Clark) - 14 TD (T-4th, 4 from 3rd and Desmond Clark)

Yeah, he lost 14 yards on Kickoffs compared to touchbacks and the fumble that cost the team 3 points on the punt. All avoidable negative plays. Just like penalties, negative plays are hard to overcome in this league.

It looks like we are going to get Brock Osweiler on Sunday. He led the Broncos on some late garbage time scoring drives, but otherwise he didn't look that good against KC either (58% comp, 1 INT, 3 sacks). Hopefully our internal knowledge of his tendencies will allow us to put in a great game plan against them next week. This is a huge game for Fox and I hope all our player step up for him and show Elway he was dumb to let Fox and Gase go. They also may be without TJ Ward who may be suspended (since he was ejected in the KC game for punch Maclin).

Offense: 37/24 Rush to Pass ratio was huge. Cutler only had 5 incompletions and a couple were throw-aways. The two huge plays played right into the Rams aggressive play. 37 points against that defense, in STL, wow. Not much more you need to know. We also did that with Alshon getting 3/23 and Bennett getting 3/18. Our leading rushers were Langford and Carey and our leading receivers were Langford and Miller. We could've been a little better on 3rd downs, but besides for the late Carey fumble, we took care of the ball when we needed to. Cutler: 151.0 QB Rating, 0 INTs and 0 fumbles. As close to a perfect game as you are going to get against that defense. Cutler posted the highest QB Rating against the Rams this year, and he did this with only 6 receptions going to Jeffery and Bennett. He was caught congratulating the defense every time they came of the field (but that was rarely shown on TV because it is against the media's agenda). Oline: Hard to knock the line against the best D-Line in football, only allowing 2 sacks. Ducasse was clearly the weak point, and we need to get Grasu back so Slauson can slide back to Guard. That will be a huge upgrade. RBs: I really like this 1-2 punch of Langford and Carey. You can tell they have fresh/young legs. Both can break long runs if they get to the 2nd level. Langford is going to be special. In back to back weeks he has out-produced Gordon and Gurley (in their houses). Both have done extremely well in blitz pick-ups and I can only assume they will get better with more playing time. Is it crazy to think we don't miss Forte, who was accounting for 1/3 to 1/2 of the offense over the past few years? WRs: Jeffery must've been ailing from the groin injury as he was non-existent. Wilson was on the field, but largely a non-factor. They were decent in blocking though. Can't wait to see a healthy WR corps play for this team one day (Alshon/White/Royal). TEs: If Zach Miller stays healthy, we potentially have 2x top 5 TEs. Miller is the pass catching TE that can exploit the seams and Bennett is the beast who gets the dirty yards and doesn't go down on first contact. I am excited to see more 2 TE formations with these two going out into patterns. Defense: STL was not a very good offense, but Gurley and Austin have been explosive for them, and we largely kept them in check. The defense, minus McPhee, held Gurley to 45 yards rushing and their most targeted WR, Brian Quick, was targeted 7 times, and only caught 1 pass. Fangio worked his magic and you can tell the defense was in better position to make plays with SMC back in the lineup (I can't believe I am saying that). 3rd straight game where defense only allowed a single TD. Dline/LBs: The front 7 played extremely disciplined ball, with SMC (8 tackles and a forced fumble), Houston (sack), and Young (INT) leading the way. This group seems to be building confidence and will only be better with McPhee coming back. SMC really stood out making numerous open field tackles and he seemed to be around the ball on every play. I would like to see more pressure and sacks from this group, but it is hard to complain when the defense only allows 13 points. DBs: Porter and Fuller are starting to heat up, which is great to see. Both were visible defending passes and making tackles without extra yards. Foles has more incompletions (19) than completions (17). The Safeties were quiet, which speaks volumes about the front-7 and CB's. Special Teams: Gould made all 7 of his kicks and our coverage unit was decent. However, we need a change at returner. On the 2 KO's he took out of the end zone, we started at the 14 and the 12, so we had a net loss of 14 yards on two kicks. On punts, he had 9 yards on 3 kicks and a fumble. Luckily our defense held STL to a FG because a TD could've changed our entire game plan. I would rather have someone just take every KO as a touchback and fair catch every punt. We are losing valuable yards in special teams and if there is one thing that needs to change, it is our returner. Coaching: People forget we were playing on a short week, back to back away games, against two totally different teams (in terms of style of play). Yet Fox and Co. had the team ready to go. Gase called another brilliant game and Fangio has the defensive unit playing well above their talent level. Again my only gripe is the stubbornness on special teams. If we don't make a coaching change there, we need to look at a different returner at least. Fans: 2nd week in a row where we had a ton of fans in visiting stadiums, great to see, and hear the Let's Go Bears chants. A great win all around and after being 7.5 Dogs against STL, we are only 1.5 Dogs at home against Denver. That speaks volumes about how far we have come. Vegas is pretty good at setting lines, and they are basically saying this is a pick em' at a line under 3.

The Packers were not as good as their 6-0 start and not as bad as their last 0-3 run. They actually have a tough schedule and will be fighting to get 10 wins. They play at MIN, us at home, at DET (who just beat them), at home vs Dallas (with Romo back), at OAK, at ARZ, and then at home against MIN. At best I see them going 4-2, and could easily see them going 2-4. Their defense has been equally as bad as their offensive line and Rodgers is getting beat up. Nice to see.

Well if that wasn't a statement game, I don't know what one is. Cutler had a perfect passer rating most of the game, and didn't turn the ball over against a great defense, in STL no less. 22 QBs have more INTs than Cutler this year. He has 9 TDs to 2 INTs in his last 5 games, and 13-5 overall. His only QB Rating under 88.4 was 67.5 against GB in Week 1. We now get the Broncos in Chicago when they are really struggling. So we have as much of a shot against them as we did against STL.

LMAO, Willie Young with an INT in coverage!

Yep, and Carey looked strong in relief of Langford. Langford now outdueled Gordon and Gurley in back to back weeks.

Its the 4th Quarter, time for Houston to get a sack and Porter to have a pass breakup. Wow I am totally impressed with this defensive effort. We shutdown Gurley which no one had been able to do yet.

Lol at Fisher calling a fake punt that gives us 3 pts and makes it a 17 pt/3 score game.

Defense does it again, please no fake or fumble on punt return.