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I think Gardner could well stick around next year as a safety for us.

I don't believe Gardner has ever been a CB. He's played Safety and NB, but not corner. Gordon played outside corner in college, but never in the pro's. I didn't notice it in real-time, but I did here on the Hoge and Jahns podcast they mentioned how Allen was using Gardner some as a safety, along with Byard, and having Brisker in the box as an extra DB. It's another unique wrinkle that I think we'll see more of when Gordon comes back. You might see more Dime coverage, too, although that would really hurt the Bears already porous run defense. Whatever the case, you can't keep him off the field as long as he continues to play this way. I would really love to see them sign Asante Samuel Jr this week to give us even more reinforcements.

For clarity, I meant in regards to Caleb as QB1. Yesterday was the first time the Bears unquestionably won because of the quarterback, in my opinion. You could argue last week too, although I thought that game was just as much about the run game as the QB play. I do agree that his decision making still leaves some to be desired. I don't have as much of a problem with him choosing to use his legs vs throwing the ball, because throwing it introduces more variables into the equation in ways that just running for the first down (if you know you can get it) don't. Particularly in a game where his receivers were dropping everything, I was fine with those decisions. I didn't care for the deep TD attempt to DJ Moore on a 3rd (or was it a 4th down play?) when he had Burden wide open for the easy first down underneath. Those are the ones where he needs to be smarter and not be as aggressive when you are in those critical do or die downs, and the priority has to be ensuring you move the chains.

Weather is going to play a factor down the stretch. The Bears have 4 home games left, one in GB and one in PHI. So 6 potentially cold weather games.

I remember when Brian Daboll was making the rounds as the new hot OC ready to make his mark as an HC. He was considered the can't-miss candidate after gaining huge accolades for his work as Buffalo's OC. I was wishing the Bears would hire him.

It would be so funny if the Kafka led Giants beat the Packers next week in NY.

Yeah, he looks healthy. It would be amazing if they could sign Asante Samuel Jr.

Montez Sweat is back. Has 5.5 sacks, 2 FFs, 4 PDs, 8 TFL, 9 QB hits. 26 pressures so far this year. Should be able to reach double digit sacks.

You're right. I always remember him leaving a man he's covering wide open, usually resulting in a 1st down, big play, or TD. I tend to forget his positive contributions. My bad.

Bears are wrecking coaching staffs around the league, Daboll the last victim:

This week Williams was the 3rd highest graded QB at 81.1. Only Goff and Stafford were higher. Last week Williams was the highest graded QB at 90.8. He is now 9th in the NFL on the season at 77.0.

PFF Grades - TOP 5 BOTTOM 2 Jackson - 87.7 Williams - 81.1 Burden - 78.9 Odunze - 73.6 Dalman - 72.2 Moore - 46.8 Zaccheaus - 34.2 (more like Zacche-ASS) Billings - 75.8 Brisker - 74.8 Williams - 74.5 Wright - 71.4 Byard - 67.7 Jarrett - 41.0 Sewell - 40.6 (they really missed Edwards in this one)

As much as I agree with NahShon Wright giving up some big plays, he has also made some big plays. 3 ints, game saving fumble recovery. 8 PDs and a pick six.

He overall is getting better. He's been lucky on a few dropped INTs.

I agree with your assessment of the remaining schedule. I think we beat GB here and lose in GB. Playing in SF will tell a lot about how good we are. They will still be in the playoff hunt. 10-7 record as it plays out now.

I agree that we need to give DJ time to heal. He's a tough guy and will want to play through his injuries, but we need to force him to sit. Burden is ready to become a starter; however, not because of Zac's performance in the past game, when he dropped 3 of 4 targets. Zacc has been a fantastic player for us in the first half of the season, but he had a terrible game. He will bounce back. Burden needs to be put into the starting lineup simply because he is super talented, and paired with Rome, will be our future pairing for Caleb. We definitely need to find a replacement for Wright. He is a weak link in our secondary.

I think they probably let CJ stay at NB and move Gordon to CB to maybe keep him healthier. DA said he looked forward to moving Gordon all over the field at the beginning of the season. Also with CJ only playing two games, maybe you get the most out of him instead of moving him. 15 tackles, 3 sacks and one FF is pretty impressive being so new to a new team for two games. DJ Moore has been durable over his career and he plays with injuries. Doubt he would want to sit.

The Bears offense is now 3rd in the NFL in Yards Per Game. The last time they were 3rd or higher was in 1977 when the league had only 28 teams lol. So technically you would have to go all the way back to 1956 to find an offense that produced this many yards compared to the rest of the NFL. The last time the Bears had a top 10 offense for both Pts and Yds with a defense that was top 10 in takeaways was 2006.

Was watching a recap on You Tube and a few questions came up. 1). Moore injured his shoulder in yesterday’s game . This after injuring his groin a few games back and another before that? Should it be time to let him rest maybe a game or two (similar to what they did with Swift)? Let Burden come in as #3 and once Moore is nearer 100, kick Zaccheus to #4 or lower. 2). With the Bears defensive backfield struggling and once Gordon returns, would it be good to have him play NB and push CJ to one of the corner spots (maybe where Wright is)? The podcast suggested Gordon go to corner but I don’t know that he’s got any experience there. Pretty sure Gardner has. 🤷🏻‍♂️

6-3 now. Revenge game against MIN. PIT looked terrible and I don't think that changes much in 2 weeks. Teamwise, MIN and PIT are both comparable to CIN, DAL, and WAS. MIN's defense is obviously better, but their offense is worse. GB and SF are similar, slightly better than MIN and PIT, but not by much. DET and PHI are the cream of the crop, but PHI is not really playing dominant ball right now. They are 2-2 in their last 4. Interesting that CHI and DET are both 1-3 (all their losses) when they allow 27 or more points on defense. Most teams are but when all your losses are like that, it normally means your offense is scoring points, which checks out. Here is the remaining schedule. If they can get to 8-4 going into the GB game, I really like our chances. 11 @ Minnesota Vikings - WIN (7-3) 12 Pittsburgh Steelers - WIN (8-3) 13 @ Philadelphia Eagles - LOSS (8-4) 14 @ Green Bay Packers - TOSS UP 15 Cleveland Browns - WIN 16 Green Bay Packers - TOSS UP 17 @ San Francisco 49ers - TOSS UP 18 Detroit Lions - LOSS Still feels like 10-11 wins is the most likely outcome. The crazy piece to all of this is the Division is very much in play. The Week 18 DET game may decide the division. GB's schedule gets tough after next week, they have MIN, @DET, CHI, @DEN, @CHI, BAL, then @MIN. 7 straight tough opponents, 4 on the road, no back to back home games.

MIN is interesting, as the season is wearing on, they are slowly getting worse across the board. Now 12th in Total Defense, and 18th in Scoring Defense. 22nd against the Run, and 9th against the Pass. The Bears offense is now 3rd in Total Offense, 2nd in Rushing, 11th in Passing, 7th in Scoring. MIN on offense is 21st in scoring, 24th in Total Offense, 22nd in Passing, 24th in Rushing. The problem for the Bears is Special Teams and Defense. Defense is 28th in scoring, 27th in Total Defense, 26th against the Pass, 24th against the Run. So based on the congunkulator, the most logical outcome is Bears 23-20. Last week it projected an 8 pt win, and if Wright catches that INT, it is a 7-pt win, so I am rolling with it. Bears OFF +0.03 x Vikes DEF -0.07 / -0.04 x 62.3 plays= (-2.49 DIFF) 26.6 Bears O x 23.7 Vikes D + DIFF = 22.66 (23 pts) Vikes OFF -0.14 x Bears DEF -0.03 / -0.085 x 58.5 plays= (-4.97 DIFF) 22.3 Vikes O x 27.4 Bears D + DIFF = 19.88 (20 pts)

Penix is like an afterthought for the 2024 draft class. Last year it was Daniels, Williams, Nix. This year it is Maye, Williams, Nix.

There are 3 QBs tied for the league lead in 4th Quarter Comebacks and Game Winning Drives with 4. Mayfield, Nix, and Williams. Baker and Caleb have the same record at 6-3, yet Baker is an MVP candidate. So odd.

Hopefully the sack narrative for Williams is gone. Here are just the 2023 and 2024 QBs with a higher sack rate than Caleb Williams for their careers: Levis - 11.04% Maye - 9.96% Howell - 9.60% Young - 9.08% Daniels - 8.99% There are 29 QBs this season with a higher sack rate than Williams. Can the media finally move on from this narrative?

6-3, going 4-4 the rest of the way is 10-7. Assuming they can beat CLE due to how bad CLE's offense is, they have to go 3-4 against MIN, GB, GB, DET, PIT, SF, and PHI. Just say they split with GB and beat MIN, then they need to go 1-3 against DET, PIT, SF, and PHI. I could see them beating PIT and SF and losing to DET and PHI.