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I feel like winning the division comes down to getting our running game going. Minnesota will likely play us the same way they did the first game maybe with some tweaks. To beat them we must be able to run the ball or all that LOS stuff plays into their hands. To win the LOS I think we need to see Logan Jones on the field since he's stronger, quicker, and faster. Bradbury is getting beat too often and inside pressure is not good for either running game nor passing. I've seen some videos of pundits saying we should stick with the veteran because he makes the right calls. Jones is 25 and was coached well at Iowa and now has half a season to learn. In his limited snaps he played well enough to see the future and I think his skillset fits better with the blocking schemes we were doing last year with Dalman that gave us more creativity in the running game. While I understand not wanting to throw him out there against the top defenses in the NFL, especially Seattle on the road, things are different going forward. I don't look at it like what is the best option on the next game or two rather what gives us the best chance to win games in the playoffs. That answer IMO is Jones if we can get him some good game experience before the playoffs. RIght now is the perfect start going against NO and if we don't do it now then it's not likely we will anytime afterward. I also don't think the sky will fall down if we reverted back to Bradbury if Jones struggles.

I would love for them to stay in city in a new state of the art facility!

Week 10 - What to Watch MIN @ GB (MIN/GB - Division + Wild Card + Upcoming Opponents) Biggest game of the week for the Bears. GB favored by 3 at home. Cousins back for MIN. I am leaning towards wanting MIN to win, since GB still has Parsons coming back so they need to stack some losses before that occurs. NE @ DET (DET - Division + Wild Card + Upcoming Opponent) Detroit only favored by 2.5 but Pats defense looked terrible last week against GB. SF @ DAL (SF - Conference Bye, DAL - Wild Card) SF favored on the road by 4.5. A DAL win would be massive for the potential #1 seed. CAR @ NO (Wild Card + Next Opponent) NO is the next opponent, and the winner could be the South Division Winner. SEA @ LVR (SEA - Wild Card) With Cousins going to MIN, hard to see LVR winning this one. LAR @ ARZ (LAR - Wild Card) LAR is hit hard with injuries, but ARZ is also thin and injured (Wilson out for season).

Simmons = force multiplier

The analytics I've heard so far backup the trade value. I don't have the details so allow me to paraphrase (and don't quote me). Clay Harbor has been on the air saying that our blitz rate dropped from over 40% to 22%. Meanwhile our pressure rate remained the same at 38%. Jaylon Johnson had a QBR against of 120 or 130...as Clay put it, he gave every QB we faced their best game. In the last two games he's down to ~40-50. Yards per pass was ~13 now down to about 4. That's not just pressure on the QBs it's also giving Jaylon help with more bodies in coverage. It just goes on and on... Booker and Sweat have about the same amount of pressures/sacks each in the last two games as they had in the first 7 games.

Simmons may be the best non-QB on the team, instant All-Pro in the prime of his career. Still wild that we got him.

Speaking as a non-resident, it was years I’d been to Chicago until the recent game here a few months ago. And man it’s nice with the stadium along the waterfront and all the surrounding amenities (museums, navy pier, downtown access etc). From first blush on this new proposal I like it for the relative similarity in locale. Although I like the Arlington Heights location only because it keeps them sorta in Chicago, this is ‘more better’. But again I’m speaking not as a resident and don’t know all the intricacies of politics etc involved.

This interaction is goofy to decipher, but has some mental gymnastics. It may have unlocked Montez Sweat on a play to play basis. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19g31XU2ms/

I don't think the Bears want to play in another public owned stadium as this mentions. It is sad they cannot build their own on the lakefront, such a wonderful location for them.

Heavy.com had an article describing a new stadium proposal, one I love the sound of, and I would think the Bears' ownership would jump all over it. A $10 billion proposal includes a 75,000-seat domed stadium engineered for the Bears but also allowing use for concerts, the Final Four, the Super Bowl, etc. Has the commercial and entertainment districts surrounding it. Includes a developer offer to buy back the property the Bears own in Arlington Heights. The best part is it would remain within Chicago City Limits! Details: Bears Bronzeville Stadium Proposal Unveils $10B Plan With Arlington Heights Twist

Simmons mic'd up... double teamed, and once was triple teamed yet still making plays. He picks up details like Akeem Hicks used to do when he calls out the OG who is going to pull.

Yep, thought the same tjhing when I saw it. It's rare man who can do that stuff to a 300lb Olinemen.

Well said AZ. Next year's cap is showing 20 mil over without figuring the 5th year options on Caleb/Odunze. The Bears will work on extensions first to help lower the cap on Jonah Jackson/Thuney/Kmet, but will have to cut a valuable player or two to keep this train chugging . The thought of FAs is not existent right now without changing major chemistry.

Extended thoughts on the lack of another trade. As stated by many here.... Simmons changes the calculus. It's already more evident in the significant drop in blitzes we've seen in the last two games. That allows more coverage and as we did against Seattle and JSN we can bracket a WR if we want to and keep him in check. We can do that against two WRs if we want. When we get Bryant back the ability to rotate and mix coverages over the top goes way up. I think that's definitely part of the thinking. We have a LB in Bush who can cover RBs or TEs. TJ Edwards is good in coverage for a short area but that's enough with consistent early pressure. Our NB in Gordon is pretty good as well. Essentially this means if/when we want to do more bracket coverage on a WR (or two) we have the ability to go single man on man against the other offensive threats. There were no good CBs available. Even if there were, did we have the cap space for them, or were we giving up a valuable day 2 pick? I don't think we should give up a 2nd or 3rd Rd pick after we lost our next two 1st Rd picks (not complaining). Those pieces are needed for restocking but also cap control. If Overthecap is correct we have just $2mil in cap space right now. I know we could do some magic and make room if needed. Why do that for someone like Woolen who is just not better than our current CBs so he'd be a depth piece. I never understood the chatter about Nashon Wright...we've seen all his poor coverage skills and don't need more of that. I can't say he's any better than the DBs on our practice squad but I can say that the coaches know. Do we need a DE? Booker and Sweat have looked much better with Simmons. Dayo is going to return and was productive before his injury and that should only go up with Simmons around him. Turner is still learning how to play DE, and we're getting good pass rush production out of Hardy too. Again I didn't see any game changers out there other than Mack and it seems he wasn't available. DT depth is more of a concern for me. Where I see production coming out of DEs 3, 4, and 5 on the depth chart, I don't see that at DT. Van den Berg has not been very productive with almost no flashes. Nor has Gallimore. With the loss of Street we could use a good depth piece in this rotation. It might be that the Bears are strongly considering the ex-Titan Jordan Elliot and they wanted to save the cap space for him. Handle run downs better get more 3rd and long situations. That gets you a piece who can give Jarrett and Simmons some more snaps off the field. When Simmons was off the field against Seattle they averaged something like 13yd/play. When he was on the field it a little over 3yds/play. I haven't seen the stats from the Tampa game but it felt similar on the few plays Simmons took off.

Boy howdy has he ever. You’re right in that he’s been a huge factor in other players getting better. I cant think of a time I’ve ever seen Sweat smile let alone more than once. The front 7 for sure have improved based on Simmons addition. I agree completely that once Bryant returns AND he’s able to make up for a lot of lost time, he’ll be key to the back end and be a great pairing with Thienamen The corners still remain a mystery. I’m not convinced Muhammad is the solution. He’s had a couple good games but hasn’t made a full season against tough competition down the stretch. I think what we saw from Jaylon against the Bucs is his peak performance and that will probably all we’ll get from him going forward. And Stevenson…well he’s about as hot and cold as a broken hot water heater. For me, I’d feel better with one more solid and proven CB but otherwise im good.

This mock fell favorably for the Bears, bye week fun. A good press man CB , a high effort technician at edge, and a quick 3T for pass downs. RB that played w Caleb at USC and is a hybrid WR/RB. Another LB with speed and coverage skills. There were some IOL and TEs available with the 6th but went RB since most of this year the Bears been thin. This draft will give the Bears options with Jaylon, Sweat, Jarrett and Dayo who will be considered as cap cuts

Kinda like the Reggie White "humpf" move...

After watching these clips I feel like Simmons counts as 2 blue chips.

Me too

The clock expired and Poles sat on his hands, Bravo! CB- Malik Muhammed will be back. He will be opposite of Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon at NB and Tyrique Stevenson primary back up. This is light years better than last year. JJ showed improvement and hopefully takes that game and continues. S Coby Bryant should be back in a month too which frees Bam Cam Lewis as rotational depth as well. DE/pass rush - Sweat took Dayos meme and is now "motivated". Booker asked for opportunity and it is showing. Turner returned and is showing a flash? But he should start growing with experience. Dayo is returning and was one of the Bears better rushers before injury. This all revolves around DT Jeffrey Simmons and his presence in the middle. Jarrett and Lynch seem to be showing up. Bears worked out DT Jordan Elliott who may push Van Den Berg to PS in time if signed. Heck even Bush is showing what he can do with the addition of Simmons. So I am happy the Bears stood still and can use the remaining draft to help re-tool after the season and hard decisions will have to be made.

Gotta say, Poles got it right by not picking Jalen Carter. Carter got his contract and quit, while Wright is living up to his.

Precisely!

Low key concerned that our playoff matchup might end up being against TB at TB in the 1st round. I would rather play the Giants or any other team in the NFC South except the Bucs. Their defense is very good and Baker will probably be healthier the next time they play. A lot can change between now and then, but I would be surprised if the Bucs didn't win their division. The Panthers have fallen apart, the Falcons have a QB problem and just traded one of their best defensive players, and the Saints are not great on either side of the ball.

Really, the entire NFC South has been a bit of a roller coaster this season. It seems to be one step forward and one step backward, with the teams doing more damage to each other than anyone else. Just look at some of the divisional matchups: Panthers 34, Falcons 3 (Week 2); Falcons 45, Saints 24 (Week 4); Falcons 0, Bucs 16 (Week 8); and Panthers 13, Bucs 43. Outside of Carolina's opening-week loss to Chicago (37-59), the NFC South hasn't exactly been piling up losses with huge score differentials against the rest of the league. In fact, the Panthers beat Detroit 32-26 in Detroit, lost to Green Bay by just eight points in Green Bay, and the Saints beat Baltimore on the road while Lamar Jackson was still playing. Even Tampa Bay, the team the Bears just beat by three, lost to Green Bay while at Lambeau by only three in Week 4. All things considered, I'd say at least half or most of the NFC South is only a game or two away from being above .500. It's a strange division, but maybe not nearly as bad as people think. They're just beating each other up every week. The game started out as a blowout (almost comical like you said) then the Bears settled in for a perfectly defined "trap game" by getting really lackadaisical, at least on the offense side of the ball. I saw on the socials someone commented that Tom Brady threw at least one 4 interception game in six different seasons and still managed to win the Super Bowl in three of those seasons.