Bearstalk

We knew what this season was going to be. Within that thought there were varied growth and win expectations from the Bearstalk family and media experts. This will be the single biggest off-season the Bears or maybe any other team has ever had. Do we know of any team has had the number one pick, an emerging QB and 120 mil to spend? Do you expect playoffs, winning record or vast improvement? What gives Poles and Eberflus the thumbs up?

Since we're near the season end, lots of social media talking about the mistakes Poles made this season. Drafting V Jones - 3rd round wasted pick. Paying to much for Claypool. 34th pick. Botched the Ogunjobi grab Failed to get Ryan Bates as a restricted FA. Did I miss anything? Fans have expectations that a GM makes all A+ moves and never makes a mistake. The best in the league screw up a lot, but they do is make enough good moves that makes them winners. First I think he hired good coaches that teach, probably doesn't look good with a season ending 9 game losing streak. The next few years will show it. Secondly he created great c…

This team sucks in multiple areas, but has enough talent to surprise opponents. Several games were close. A few breaks here or there and this team is easily around .500. However, being around .500 every year is eventually what got Lovie fired. Nobody wants that again. So, the team needs to pull off a Herschel Walker trade IMO. But how much is too much? On the PFF Draft Simulator, I got the following: #2 for Detroit's #4, #18, #49 (2nd) #4 for Pittsburgh's #13, #33 (2nd), and a 2024 RD2 pick #13 for NYJet's #17, #48 (2nd) That's two 1st round picks and a whopping four 2nd round picks, not to mention the extra pick in 2024. This is t…

With Cole Kmet still only 23 yrs old, I took a look back at how the current top TEs looked before they turned 24 and I was pretty shocked. Right now, Kmet has 33 more receptions than the next best TE before the age of 24 and he needs only 68 more yards to pass Pitts (on IR) for the most yards by an (active) TE before the age of 24. If he gets 2 TDs, he would also tie Njoku for the TD lead with 9. Did you know Kmet was this productive at that young of an age? If he averages the same number of receptions and yardage he had last year (60-612) from 2023 until he was 34 (Kelce is 33), he would be in the top 5 for receptions by a TE (all-time). With that projected yar…

There's an outside chance the Bears get the first pick but, they need help from the Texans. Not happening. So with the 2nd pick What you are doing?

With Peterman starting and half the team on IR, this is probably going to be an ugly game. It may also be the last game for Montgomery in a Bears uniform. That is also probably the case with half the players on the roster. I expect some big turnover this offseason as most of the 1-yr contracts didn't impress. Viqueens 38-13 Peterman with 3 INTs, and we will probably see some Boyle.

I caught a Tweet this morning that said Virginia McCaskey turns 100 today. Apparently she is the first NFL owner ever to do that. Happy birthday Virginia.

Julian Edelman was a solid NFL player but, does he deserve a NFL documentary before Hester?

It's the right thing to do. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/hip-injury-cited-as-reason-justin-fields-will-miss-final-game

https://www.audacy.com/670thescore/sports/chicago-bears/report-equanimeous-st-brown-bears-reach-1-year-extension

The playoffs are upon us. Congrats to all the teams that made it to the 2nd season. The bracket is set, 1 and 2 are on byes, 4 plays 5, 3 plays 6. 1 - Fields of Dreams 4 - PapaBear --------------------- 5 - The Mad Lithuanians---------- 3 - Nips&Tips--------------------- 6 - SAVAGEw/LOOSEMORALS!--- 2 - Nopper In other news, I need to know how we want to address absent managers. We had a manager not update their lineup basically all season, including thru byes and IR, which gave some other teams some free wins and impacted the playoff positions. Since this is a pay league, I want to ensure everything is as fair as possible. Any suggestions …

The Bears lost 31-30 the last time they played. Fields had over 300 yards of total offense and 4 TDs. Fields should pass Michael Vick's single season rushing total in this game (28 yards), but needs a big game to have a chance to pass Lamar's record in Week 18. Still funny to see him 7th in the NFL in rushing considering he missed a game. With Herbert now in his 2nd week back, he should look better, but it will be interesting to see if Claypool plays. The Bears defense will have their hands full, Detroit is good rushing and passing. I feel like this will be another high scoring affair, but the Bears will not have enough to hang with Detroit (sounds c…

I feel like comparing anyone to Mahomes is not fair, especially Fields. I don't think he will ever get to that level. However, I still think he can be a top 10 QB with top 5 upside with a higher floor than most other QBs due to his escapability. I don't think he is going to be a perennial 300yd passer, which will keep the national media narrative going. I don't know what the obsession is with Fields. He was the 4th QB drafted and not even in the top 10. The spotlight should be on Lawrence, Wilson, and Lance. Case 1 - Lamar Jackson has started (and had 10 attempts) in 49 games in his career. In 24 of those games (basically half), he failed to throw for 200 pass…

Based on the preseason predictions, these were the most under and over achieving teams this year with 1 week left: 1. DEN 11-6 > 4-12 (-7) 2. LAR 11-6 > 5-11 (-6) 3. IND 9-8 > 4-11-1 (-4.5) 4. TB 12-5 > 8-8 (-4) 5. ARZ 8-9 > 4-12 (-4) 1. PHI 9-8 > 13-3 (+4) 2. NYG 6-11 > 9-6-1 (+3.5) 3T. JAX 5-12 > 8-8 (+3) 3T. MIN 9-8 > 12-4 (+3) 3T. ATL 3-14 > 6-10 (+3) 3T. SEA 5-12 > 8-8 (+3) DEN and LAR are by far the farthest off their projections. IND was a lot worse than expected. PHI and NYG both surprised. Of the positive teams, only PHI and JAX had a decent point differential. NYG was +0, MIN -19, ATL -34, and SEA…

Our greatest conversation for a long time has been how do we get better. We've been having it for 15 years and running. I'd like to take a slightly different approach and ask, what is best for 2024? We already know what the needs are, but where should the sense of urgency be applied for 2024? The reason I'm choosing this year is because I don't think we'll be ready next year. So for this off-season, I'm identifying our top draft need as WR. Is it the weakest unit on the team? No, but it's close. WR's generally take time to transition to the NFL unless they have elite traits, so drafting one now with those traits will be nasty in year two. There is also go…

Watching the Year-End College games, I cannot help but list my takes. First, the College system for games tied at end of regulation is awesome. BOTH teams have a chance to win in overtime, not just the team who is lucky enough to win a coin toss and get a TD, leaving the loser of the coin toss frustrated. Why in the hell doesn't the NFL wake up and make changes? Second, Colleges are basically the NFL's minor league system. Our developmental league. So why in the hell do they have different rules? Wouldn't it make sense for these college players to be acclimated to the rules they are going to be asked to play by if drafted? (Example 1: In college football, there …

I hope he is better at Cougar hunting than he is at QBing because he looks terrible. That game last night was one of the worst performances I have seen from a #2 pick that I can recall. This is also coming after a 300-yd game against DET last week and he also had 355 yards against NE a few weeks ago. His QBR last night was 5.2. Only Kyle Allen and Matt Ryan had worse QBR games with as many passing attempts this season. What is absolutely wild is his completion percentage (among other things). He was 50% last night, 51.4% against DET and only 40.9% against NE. He had a 55.6% last year and some how is worse this year with 54.5%. It is not even like he is throwing…

It is going to be COLD on Saturday. Wind Chill temps between -10 and -15 at game time. Brutal conditions. The ground is going to be like concrete. Huge injury risk. I feel like this is going to be a ground and pound game with very little passing. Probably lower scoring than the line is at. I am thinking 16-14 or something ugly like that.

We will be adding in the draft and FAgency. What moves does Poles make that will give us a winning season next yr. We cant fill every spot so we figure 9 new starters. Lets say we get the 2nd pick, 56, 65, and 101. These are picks that probably will give us starters from day one. Anything in the rest of the draft will just be gravy if they end up starting. With 135 mil, in cap space, I think he makes 2 big signings, and 3 midland signings. For sake of argument we resign Monty to a 3 yr 19mil deal. I am using OTCs valuation numbers + That have Monty at 5 mil value We resign Morrow at 3/24, OTC valuation at 8 mil We bring back Armon Watts, Josh B…

Velus Jones is not going to be anything. I would not be surprised if he was cut in the offseason. At his age, they touted this maturity and work ethic. The dude is a WR that can't catch and fumbles, which is 50% of his job. It doesn't matter how fast he is if he can't catch or when he does, fumbles. The Gordon that was drafted finally showed up. He was all over the place, INT, fumble recovery, and some great tackling. This is the guy everyone expected. I hope he finishes the season like this. I have been mixed on the coaching staff, but what they are doing with this roster is quite impressive. From last year, the defense lost Mack, Hicks, Quinn, Smith, and Ja…