scs787

They still spent a 2nd round pick on him though. I wouldn't say it was apparent he wasn't able to sustain it early...I'm rewatching the game now (NFL networks NFL rewind, is a nice quick way to rewatch a game) and I'm at the half right now and he still has looked pretty sharp. Rewatched the INT for the first time and it was a tough break, had Suh not gotten a hand on it at the line of scrimmage, which I think is just tough luck(he quite literally wasn't even in the line of sight for Cutler), then he hits an open Bennett in the end zone. So that's tough luck on 3 TD throws from Jay, the tip ball at the line of scrimmage, and the 2 drops by Alshon. 3rd quarter he's still playing well IMO....I do think, in the face of pressure, that he rushed a pass or 2, but back them up with good throws. I don't think it became truly apparent until that last throw he made, at that point, Trestman made the move. Still don't know why Marshall slowed up on the play prior to his last throw. IMO that's another tough luck play. In the end, after rewatching the game, if those 4 plays I talked about go right Jay would be sitting around 300-350 yards with 4-5 TDs(Marshall might have taken that play to the house) with a 60% competition%

I seem to recall some people on this board liking Brock Osweiler, though he's only thrown 7 balls in his 2 years. He was a 2nd round pick. They are a game behind the Chiefs in both the division and overall in the AFC. They don't beat the Chiefs they probably don't get a bye in the playoffs. Not sure which direction you're going in those questions. I do agree that McCown probably should have been brought in sometime after the half. I do somewhat understand the reasoning behind leaving him in though since he was still making some good throws.

I've got nothing to back this up, but I think Paea is fine for a nose tackle. Those guys don't put up big numbers. They are replaying the game at 3 o clock on NFL network and I'm gonna take a look at the DL. I wanna see who's getting the double teams. Is it Julius Peppers, or is it Paea. My video on the computer isn't working but in AZs post in another thread he said that the guy was talking about Paea playing well.

Agreed with the overall statement. I thought Jay started of really good, and again, he made the throw to win them the game. It just so happens that those throws were dropped. What does everyone think of Manning playing on 2 bum ankles? I know Peyton is elite, but to me that's besides the point. To me, if a player is cleared medically to play, he should play.

I too understand what you mean, but Barr is putting up that production at OLB. It's merely speculation that he might be able to be a DE in the NFL. At this point he weighs less than SMC, and is only an inch taller. I think it's too risky of a pick, even if he were to somehow drop out of the top 10.

Haven't we seen enough of SMC to know not to go after those DE/OLB hybrids? I agree with the rest of the post though.

They still gave up 145 yards on the ground, just 14 less yards than the first game, and 16 more yards than the 129 the Bears are giving up on average for the year(31st in the league). They also didn't manage a single hit on Stafford. So the flaws are still there. Those things considered it's somewhat surprising they only gave up 21 points. They were able to keep Bush in check in the passing game though which is a plus. As is holding Stafford to 219 yards, but I thought Stafford was trying to force the ball to Johnson way to much, perhaps trying to get "payback" for keeping him to 44 yards in the first game. Johnson got 17 targets and caught just 6 balls...Bears have that mans number...outside the end zone anyway lol. And I agree with twig, can't really count that packer game...No Rodgers, no Jones, no Finley, no Cobb, no offense.

I disagree. I think it all starts up front for the defense. Resigning Melton and Collins alone will pay HUGE dividends for the defense. Moving Wootton back outside where he was coming into his own will as well. Then you draft a Safety early and boom as long as they stay healthy they're going to be a competent enough group to win the Bears games with that high powered offense. As far as Williams and Anderson go, the Bostic era is upon us, and Anderson, if they want him back, isn't going to be very expensive. Starting center like I said I believe what they should do is move Slaus over and play Brown there. Hot Tub has looked good every step of the way and he's had a year under Kromer. Tillman and Jennings I believe would both fit under the cap, but either way they need to draft a corner early as well. I believe Hayden can be brought back for the vet minimum coming off of injury so that puts you with Tillman/Jennings/Frey/Hayden/Draft pick....That's plenty deep, and I'm sure there are people I'm missing. Peppers has offered us virtually nothing this season, I've watched him closely and he's not even getting doubled that often. I believe Wootton/SMC/Bass/Washington and maybe a vet at the minimum would put us in a better situation on the ends. Earl Bennett and Micheal Bush have a grand total of 183 yards this year, that tells me they're both replaceable. Marquess Wilson looked good in preseason, and I think he could fill his role admirably. Bears can pick up a short yardage back of the scrap heaps that will produce just as much as Bush has. I still wanna see what Josh does against a good D before calling him Rich Gannon 2.0. He'll get that chance against the Ravens this week...But lets also face it. He's gonna be 35 years old next season, how is his body gonna hold up for 16+ games? He still has rarely been hit, how does he respond to that?

Really hoping they think about moving Slausson inside and going with Brown at OG. Here's a good resource for all the draft prospects. Not a lot of scouting reports up yet but you can always copy and paste the names in hopes of finding more about them. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2014/C

You don't think the Bears already had a plan financially? All of a sudden you think it's impossible to sign Jay at 16M when earlier in the year some were talking about 20M? I think it's all possible, and I'm sure they already have a plan in place. The way Phil was talking in his presser yesterday I'd be shocked if he's not at least tagged. Like Connor said, I would dump Peppers and get that 26M number up to 37M I can't imagine Melton making the 8M he made this year so lets call him 6M Slausson 4M, move him inside with Brown taking over at OG Not sure why you have Bowman listed, but I think he can be replaced in the draft. Tillman and Jennings lets call them 12M combined, but there's a chance one might not return. Garza is either not gonna make a lot of money or replaced by Slausson/Rookie. Wright, if he's on the team next year, hasn't earned more than say 2M? and that's realllly pushing it. The injuries at DT really help the bears out with Wooton, he wasn't able to show his worth out there. I think he gets 3M on a 1 year deal. Gould probably gets 3M, and I wouldn't be against them letting him go try to make 4M elsewhere. Collins can probably be brought back for a Mill as well. McCown MIGHT get 2M. He's been good so far, but he is what he is. If my calculations are correct, that's 3M left with the possibility that they don't resign Gould and one of Tillman/Jennings too add on another 9. Then you have potential cuts in guys like Bush and Earl Bennett who can give you another 2M. That gives you potentially some where between 4-15M to build depth. I just think there is no way Emery doesn't already have something worked out with Jay in the budget....What happens if McCown never played like he did? Then what?

Like you said, I'd try to sign him to a team friendly 2 or 3 year contract. If he doesn't? well then you obviously have more problems. Him and Briggs are real good buddies, I think if one stays so does the other.

I'd like to see the Bears go DT 1st round, then go with the best available secondary player in the 2nd. If its a corner, move Tillman to safety, if it's a safety leave em at corner and hope he stays healthy.

Absolutely. Not getting much pressure on the QB and now losing a starting corner spells disaster. Not sure how they're gonna stop anything run or pass.

Just heard the breaking news from Jeff Dickerson Cutler week to week with a high ankle sprain. Tillman out for the season (eligible for playoffs) with a tricep injury. McCown and Bowman, your tables are ready. The saga continues

I'm not sure if the injury was Trestmans call, it was the trainers...To start the game anyway. All I know is that Cutler made some bad passes, but he also made at least 3 passes that should have won them the game. The pass over the middle to Jeffery in the end zone was a thing of beauty that should have been caught. The one in the corner should have been caught as well. The 3rd one was iffy, that pass when Marshall was wide open Marshall slowed up and Jay, I thought put him in great position to catch the ball and rattle off a huge gain and quite possibly a TD. Now I ay it's iffy because I'm not sure if the stutter step was part of the route, but he had no one around him to put that stutter step on.

I think it's ~16 if I remember correctly. The average of the top 5 QB contracts from last year.

I can agree with this. Give Jay 1 more year and then see what the team looks like with a better/healthy defense. With a competent D they probably win that first Lions game and the Washington game. No way we should have lost those games after scoring 32/41.

The pick six wasn't a poorly thrown ball, it was a ball Jeffery could have had that was tipped....If I remember correctly there was also 1 or 2 balls dropped in the first quarter. Was trying to find the game on youtube but failed to do so.

What do you expect him to be? He's just 1.3% away from being in the top 5 in completion% and less than 3% away from the top 3. His QB rating is 10th in the league, and he's no longer holding onto the ball forever.

I'd say the Baltimore game, if he plays is a good measuring stick. Washington is one of the worst defenses in the league against the pass. I mean Ponder/Cassel completed 81% of their passes against them and I think we can all agree that they're no good. Green Bay is also in the lower half of the league against the pass and they were missing a few of their prime pass rushers. Not saying he hasn't looked impressive, he certainly has, but I still wanna see how he does against a good team.

We'll see. We haven't seen what a bad day for McCown has looked like just yet. I still believe the sample size is a bit too small. I would have liked to have seen McCown in this game the whole way just to see how he would have responded to the beating Jay was taking. As you responded to in the other thread, I am somewhat open to moving on to another QB next season but purely for financial reasons. Do I think Josh can lead us to a Super Bowl? No, I don't. Do I think he can lead us to the playoffs? Ya, maybe. I think he's more of an 8-8 type of guy...But if Trestman likes someone in the draft that they can get in the 2nd or 3rd round I wouldn't hate it. And I also think Jay did make the throws that should of won us that ball game. The 2 balls that Jeffery dropped were right where they should have been and Alshon simply dropped them. If he makes those 2 catches the talks here are totally different.

You said injured it not, that was the point I was disputing. I still think a healthy Jay Cutler is better than a healthy Josh McCown.

He didn't force any of the passes to Marshall so I don't think you can knock him for taking what they gave him. Same can be said about mobility, he didn't need to move, he was poised in the pocket.

3 of 4 for 61 yards and a TD on the opening drive.

Sure it is. Jay looked just as good in the first drive as Josh did in the final drive. Healthy Josh will obviously be better though. I wouldn't call the season over just yet. Carolina has a pretty rough schedule down the stretch. I think it depends on how long Rodgers will be out.