Bearstalk

From today's press conference it's clear Eberflus was not happy with the pass coverage last week (nobody was). Some of that is players not executing as per assignments or game plan. Some is the lack of pass rush. He was pretty clear today that we have to do a better job of mixing it up to get pressure. I'm expecting Sanborn and Morrow to play better this week. I just watched the Miami game again focusing on a few plays and during the course of the game you could see the run reads and filling the gaps improve. For his part Sanborn asked Morrow what to do on seemingly every play, which is ok, they are standing next to each other but doesn't bode well for kno…

Wow, that was impressive. Should've been a win. Refs suck. Even with a slow start, he is on pace for over 1275 yards rushing, and is averaging 102 yards a game in his last 4 (once they started actually running). So if he kept up a pace somewhere in between, he would be over 1300 yards for the year. If he kept up the same pace for the remainder of the year, he would break Lamar Jackson's single season rushing record. That is insane. DET, ATL, NYJ, and GB up next.

With all the trade talk taking over the week we are at Fri with no game thread for this Sun against Miami as of yet. Health-wise we are getting better. Whitehair is not only returning to the 53 but is on track to start. Jenkins struggled with some back issues earlier in the week but has had 2 full practices and is off the injury report. Borom is off concussion protocol but might not start. My guess is Reiff played well enough to keep Borom as backup since he's had just one practice. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/bears-cody-whitehair-larry-borom-good-to-go Stopping the Fins WRs is going to be a problem and with us relying more on backups at LB an…

I've had an idea circling through my brain for a couple of years now, but really haven't had the balls to let it out until now. As we know, the NFL is ever evolving. It's current evolution is quarterback centric. It shows with wins and loses and also at the bank. Through this evolution, I'm seeing something new. The run game. What if The Chicago Bears focus all of their offensive resources to assemble a running attack that no defense is equipped to stop? We already see the Eagles, Titans, Ravens, Browns, Falcons and Bears grinding teams down and winning the 4th quarter. What if we take it a step further? There's an entire scrap pile of talented player…

I hadn't picked up on this but Eberflus intentionally called a timeout late in the Cowboys game to get Eiselen on the field.

Bears turn around and trade a 2nd round pick for WR Chase Claypool! Bears to get Chase Claypool in trade with Steelers Good move, IMO. Chase has caught 32 passes for 311 yards and a touchdown for the Steelers this season despite having an unstable QB room. He will be a great addition to help Fields. Here is a quote from WindyCityGridiron.com:

Good fit for him and good draft picks in exchange. Reportedly a 2nd and 5th. Good move by our GM. I

The Cowboys are technically the toughest opponent the Bears will have faced to date. They are 3rd in DVOA, have the #18 offense and #2 defense. So another huge challenge for Fields and the offense. It looks like the Cowboys will be without Elliott, but have Prescott back. I never liked this matchup and it still looks pretty bad. The line is heavily in the the Cowboys favor. It will depend on which teams show up. If the Bears team that played the Pats shows up, the Bears can actually win this game, but if any other team shows up, it could be a long day against that defense. I figure this one will be a little bit lower scoring. Dallas only scored 24 against the …

What if we beat Dallas with the same dominance that we beat NE? So what changes ? We will be in the running for a playoff berth in a less than stellar NFC. 6 0f the next 9 games are at home. Buffalo and Philly are almost sure loses but the rest of the schedule is winnable. We have a ton of young players, are they starting to jell and play better. The answer is YES. A weak spot is our D line. In the last 3 games they are holding teams to 105 yards rushing a game. Down from the pervious average of 185. Our DBs are starting to take over games. With the ability to stop the run and get more TOs that is putting us in the position to win every game. Getsy is star…

We saw some good things Monday night with our offense dominating in yards, points and TOP. When Ryan Poles told the coaching staff that it was time to access what we do best, I believe the time was right. While the outcome is something we've been looking for, it's not the model for our future success. Current success dictates that we use Justin as a weapon on the ground. While running QB's might win an MVP, none have won the Super Bowl. While Justin can have success being Lamar or Cam, his ultimate success would be Steve Young or Josh Allen. I simply don't think it's sustainable. Also, as much as I love a good run game with a back like Henry, they ain't going a…

There is no way this should happen. The franchise pick deserves much better defending him. https://www.totalprosports.com/nfl/bears-sam-mustipher-confused-justin-fields-mnf/?fbclid=IwAR2NxLlxiVwbdiDrX8fwaeg47E1T7G6ZJ5LS7SlB0zjl4qT02rTIg65wfdQ

The Bears are 3-4, beat SF and NE, and were in every game. ESPN has them at #28: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34830163/nfl-week-8-power-rankings-1-32-poll-2022-season-stats DEN, NO, CLE, JAX, LVR, IND, WAS, ARZ, ATL and NE are all ahead of the Bears. These things are such a joke.

Chicago Bears Mobile: Poles talks Bears-Patriots on pregame radio show https://www.chicagobears.com/news/poles-talks-bears-patriots-on-pregame-radio-show-justin-fields-trade-deadline Read the article first, then replay the game in your mind. I couldn't love this impromptu interview anymore. It's almost like he's telling you what's about to happen three hours before the game. This leadership crew gets it!

GB is 3-4 lol. This has been a great season for the Packers losing and looking like crap. Now a loss to Washington. I wonder if Rodgers will get any crap? He had 146 yds passing before the garage time prevent defense allowed 50 yds passing. His 2 TDs were to a RB, so technically going into the last drive he had 93 passing yds to WRs and TEs and ended with 141 yds passing to non-RBs. He had 4 more passing yards than Fields, but Fields had 88 rushing yards to his 0. Where is the media outrage? GB's last 5 games, 3 straight losses, a 3 pt win against NE, and a 2 pt win against TB.

This one could be another stinker. NE is actually the top defense the Bears will have faced yet. Then next week, the Bears get a better defense to play against in DAL. So Fields may be out or injured by Week 9 unless they fix this O-Line and protection. The Bears are known for making unknown QBs look good, so I expect a 300-yd, 2 TD game from Bailey Zappe while Fields stays on average for 190 yds passing on 15-24 passing, 1 TD, 1 INT, 5 sacks, 1 fumble, 55 rushing yards. The Patriots have a QB controversy. So far, Zappe has looked better than Jones, 4-1 TD-INT to 2-5 TD-INT for Jones. The big thing for Zappe is he is prone to fumbles with 3 already in onl…

Here we go: Of the teams listed I'd say the Cardinals, Rams, and Bengals are most likely. Klingsbury has to start thinking about job security. Rams and Bengals will want to try to return to playoff glory. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/rating-best-potential-robert-quinn-trade-partners

Funny how other QBs, especially young ones can have a low volume game, but it is only a big deal with Fields does it: Zach Wilson 1st Half: 6-12, 28 yds passing, 2 sacks Trevor Lawrence 1st Half: 7-8, 45 yds passing, 4 sacks Kenny Pickett 1st Half: 11-16, 68 yds, 1 TD, 1 sack

After the TNF clown show, the Bears are currently picking 6th. Due to the SoS, pretty much any 2-3 team will hop in front of the Bears with a loss this weekend (10 teams), and no 1-4 team that wins will drop past the Bears. With 3 games that have 2-3 teams playing against each other, this week's current draft pick slot range will be 9th-13th with the potential to have as many as 9 teams tied at 2-4. Interestingly enough, the 14 teams with a winning record are the 14 current playoff teams, and the best non-WC team is IND at 2-2-1. So it seems that the league playoff picture is taking shape pretty early this year. If I am Poles, not only am I shopping pret…

2-15 is a real possibility. Underdogs in every remaining game. Then what? Would that change your outlook on Poles, Flus, Getsy, Fields? For me it would. I know they are not all equal, but man, 2 wins and what could be 14 straight losses to end the season? I doubt that happens, they will probably luck into a win or two and go 3-14 or 4-13, but 5 wins is really a success now, which is disappointing given the start. The craziest part is this team is literally 3-4 plays away from 5-1. Then if you go the other way, they could also easily be 0-6. So I have mixed feelings. I just have a feeling (after 6 games) that Poles is not it. Velus pick was bad and l…

Now that we all know, let's fix it. The great rebuild is what we thought it would be. Painful. While I'm good with the pain, I'm not good with how it's being dispensed. I get the feeling that Poles and Eberflus are using this season to evaluate Fields instead of develop him. That being said, they are probably trying to see what he's good and bad at, so they can put the appropriate talent around him to succeed. What I want them to do is gameplan around what he does best for him to succeed. It's a subtle difference that can have a happy medium. This off season is going to be a monster and Poles has to be licking his chops. Don't doubt for a second that Field…