BearFan PHX

so the line originally was Vikings by 3.5, and now its vikings by 1.5 or 1 - that means they needed to adjust the line to get more $ on the Vikings side. It means bettors are enamored with Ben Johnson and probably over confident in him? The opening line is closer to what Vegas THINKS will happen, and then the activity of the bettors adjusts it from there. Obviously too many people took Chicago and 3.5 points, so they dropped the line. So I guess Vegas saw the Bears as 3 point dogs, and the people disagreed.

good one. Let's hope swift can break those tackles so the LBers have to bite down and the crossing routes are open on playaction.

See, you dont know what BJ is thinking. No one here does. You could say something like "I dont see BJ doing ______" But as much as you want to keep every player, wht you dont understand is that when you trade players, you get NEW players and cap room. And you will love those players too. So would we just cut DJ Moore next year? of COURSE not for the reasons you said, but could we trade him? Sure!

ahahahahaha FU Packers!

if this was a current ranking, then youre 100% correct. I think instead this was ranking the odds that they will be MVP at the end of the year, so it's not based on what we have seen as much as what they think we might see this year?

OK so based on WAY too little information, Im gonna predict Bears 24 Vikings 19 or 20

totally agree, and LOL @ Burden approves

this is right in my opinion.

So here's some possibly interesting news. It's been like 2 weeks now that we've heard Trapilo is exclusively taking reps at RT. Going into the KC game. And the common wisdom was that Trapilo was now out of the running at LT. At the time I wondered if that was permanent, or something to motivate everyone as well as get him snaps at RT to be a swing tackle at least. And I said at the time that you give a guy snaps at LT too if you want to prepare him for swing tackle, so he would get at least that much action going forward? So today there is an article in the Trib of an interview by Sean Hammond with Poles. Now, I don't know when this interview occurred, so if it's been sitting in the can for 3 weeks, then there is nothing here. But that's a long time for an interview to go unpublished? So Im wondering if it happened since the KC game? The article says "As the season nears, Poles recently sat down with the Tribune to discuss the first training camp with Johnson as coach, the evolving relationship between Johnson and Williams and more." so that sounds like after camp closed to me, so after KC. In the interview Poles is asked abut the competition at LT. and Poles says: "you have Braxton, and you’re trying to evaluate a guy that’s coming back from a pretty significant injury. And then looking at last year’s tape as kind of the bar, can he get to that point and better? But he’s not quite there yet. He’s closing in on it. But then the person he’s competing with (Trapilo) is a person that’s never played in the league versus Kiran, who didn’t have his first year, coming from a smaller school (Amegadjie missed most of the 2024 offseason after an injury at Yale). And then Theo enters the conversation, who from a length standpoint may not have everything but from a foot speed and toughness (standpoint) has a lot of things that you like." So if that is current, that is VERY interesting. It says Trapilo is still right there, and needs more experience. And the description of Jones is just that he's still fighting to regain just where he was last year. All this to conclude: Maybe Trapilo is still on the radar at LT, and maybe we will see him after the bye, or earlier if Braxton is awful. Here's the whole interview: https://archive.is/41r0X#selection-2239.101-2255.138

with a good QB and no pass rush, teams can beat the bottom 1/2 of the league that way, but when you go against another good QB and its a shootout, then its a different story. But youre right, clawing into the top 5 is next year's window - probably - dont want to put a ceiling on a team Ive never seen yet! But yeah, if Caleb is a bust, then all else is moot. But I am not personally worried about that. I think he'll break 4,000 yards this season. As unsure as I am about some parts of this team, I am very bullish on the Caleb / Ben Johnson pairing and where it will lead Caleb as a QB. Cant wait to see it unveiled next week.

right. and with the line only being 1 or 1.5 this is anyones game

The Vegas line right now seems to be Vikings at home are favored 1 to 1.5 points. That means at a neutral site, we would be favored. Any time you're within 3 points, coaching could easily win or lose the game. Obviously coaching is always important, but within 1.5 points, it matters even more. I really need to see a pass rush. Please football gods.

Obviously the BIG question is Caleb. He's not the biggest weakness, it's just he's the QB so everything rests on him. The biggest questions in terms of weakness are LT, Pass Rush and HB - and that's the same list we had before the draft too. So that doesnt inspire a lot of confidence in Poles. The coaching staff on the other hand, I have a lot of confidence in. I'm looking forward to see how we scheme on Monday night. Can we win games with these weaknesses against good teams and divisional rivals? I hope so. I mean, I know there are things you can do to help a LT for example. And they can work, but they also limit your playbook, and of course I want to see Johnson able to call his full complement of plays, so it would be better if we had a real starter there. The same with the pass rush. Can Allen get pressure with this group? I cant wait to see.

I havent fought with anyone but you, the rest of us are all having a fine discussion. While I thank you for your advice on how I should talk, i will politely decline to follow it.

You keep making this point. What does it mean? Does it mean people talking sports shouldnt speak about decisions their team has made? It just sounds like you saying "shut up and love the team" and my direct answer to that is "no" I can praise Poles for some things and criticize him for others. I can make judgements about which players or GMs are good and which need replacing. I remember about 6 months ago you were arguing that there was no way Poles would get rid of Jenkins. "He just needs another chance" you said. Same with Leno years ago. And with Fields. And Eberflus. So, yeah. You just love anyone on the team. that's awesome for an 8 year old fan. Here in the real world, when men talk sports, they say good and bad things about their team - and the reason is they hope to fix or replace the bad players, coaches and GM so we get better.

we would have negotiated a contract that fit our situation. It would still be a ton of money, but as to which year it hits etc, that was negotiable. I figure we would have traded Jaylon Johnson which could have made one of the pciks a 2nd rounder, and it gets $20M off of our books. Plus JJ is going to want a new deal next year anyway, and we arent gonna pay what he wants.

Its OK to say Parsons is worth the price, and its Ok to say he isnt. Here are some things that are simply not true: 1) Parson's isnt that good - no hes great. 2) If we signed Parsons, we couldnt resign Caleb in a couple years - not true, the salary cap goes up every year, and one doesnt mean the other 3) you have to be one player away to make this move - no you do something like this when your QB is on their rookie deal, thats the advantage of having a QB on their rookie deal! 4) Our pass rush is fine - no it isnt

even still, he will be lining up against us twice a year and thats not a good thing.

Hopefully he is ready to take the job by the bye, so he gets good first team reps during the bye week.

totally agree. Edge is important as hell, and so is the player that stops the edge from being important: LT. And they are both important for the same reason! And we are hurting at both. Amen

no it's fair, youre right, hindsight IS 2020, but I was saying this at the time too - I was definitely pounding the table for Banks or Ersery. Im not making a final determination on Trapilo, hes a young talented player, I hope he ascends and replaces Jones. But Ersery is already killing it and I thought and think that he was the better player. Truth be told, I didnt even watch any film on Trapilo pre draft. I didnt know anything about him. And we havent even seen Turner at all, so i dont know what to think of him, hopefully he will be great. Just like I think Loveland and Burden are going to be great. I'm just saying we went into the draft with questions at LT, Edge and HB, and here were are right before opening day, with questions at LT, Edge and HB. I cant wait to see Johnson's offense in full force. We've been hungering for it for so long - but I fear we're going to see it not properly deployed because of pressure from the left side. And that is going to be SO frutrating. TO see WRs open everywhere and Caleb running for his life, and I can just hear the narratives already. "Hes still holding the ball too long, and scrambling too much" or "The Bears never protect their QBs, Williams will have the same outcome as Fields" and that is going to make me physically ill. Oh and to your last point, Maybe Im missing something but Dayo looks like an expensive bust out there. Yikes.

One Elite pass rusher has won the day many years though! The Eagles had depth, so they had a rotation, but the bigger point is that a real pass rush takes even the best QBs out of the game. I'm surprised this is even controversial at all. Edge rusher is the second most important, and highly paid, position on the field. Im sure we can agree on that?

Logic fails you. Did you hear me say the Packers are 100% locks for the superbowl? Youre so caught up in whos winning and losing that youre missing the point. A dominant pass rusher, which is a very important ingredient in winning superbowls, second only QB, was available. Not only did we not get him, but he went to a divisional rival. And not only did he go to a divisional rival, but we have no one to block him. He's some math you rpobably wont understand, but everyone else reading this thread will so Ill say it anyway: For your bet to even begin to make sense, we would have to both agree that Jordan love is a SB QB right? Because I said Edge is the second most important position. But go ahead, you keep telling yourself that we dont need an edge rusher, and the happy rainbow fairies are gonna make Braxton be really good. Do I think we can scheme around Braxton's weaknesses a bit? Sure sometimes. Do i think Dennis Allen can find ways to create pressure? Of course. DO I want to see the skill players look great out there - of course I do! We will win games this year. But LT and Pass rush are big problems. And it's OK to talk about that, even though it makes you scared and need to protect your player friends who's feelings are being hurt by my noticing that they are playing crap. This is just our discussion about Charles Leno all over again. Its OK to say there are problems on the team. Your participation trophy stuff is weird.

that doesnt even make sense - its just your typical "root for the guys you got and dont complain about it, theyll be good soon, just believe, just clap your hands together and together our rainbows will save the day" it's embarrassing. Save your cheerleader booster club nonsense for some other homers. Poles screwed up again. We get better by admitting our weaknesses not with your participation trophies.

we would have had Burden either way with pick #39. This was downgrading from Ersery to Trapilo to get Turner. If we had taken Trapilo while Ersery or Banks was still on the board, then id read that our guys saw something extra special in him, in which case Id give it more time. But we didnt, we got cute traded down and then took Trapilo. Now Im not saying Trapilo won't develop and be good, but what i am saying is Ersery is already looking GREAT to the point where his team is looking to trade the free agent they just signed who was going to start, but now wont because Ersery got the job already. So the question is, is Turner going to be worth going from Ersery to Trapilo. Im not trying to predict the future with Trapilo, Im saying that right now, we got too cute in the draft, and missed the solid players we need. It's like Loveland. Hes obviously a great player and we are lucky to have him. But is he better than if we'd taken a pass rusher like Mykel Williams? If Loveland isnt an impact league leading TE, then pick 10 was too high to take him. Im saying that I LOVE our new coaches. And I really like Burden and Loveland a lot. But Im not sure Poles is doing that great of a job. He took Williams, which I think will turn out to look very good. Of course every single GM in the league would have known to do that. Even most of us here understood that was a no brainer. So does that make Poles good? Then he got Ben Johnson. Also a huge feather in Poles cap. And again, an obvious no brainer decision. And Johnson chose us as much as anything, and that was because of Caleb. Again, huge score for Poles, but does it mean he is a good GM? Wouldn't any GM who needed a new coach have wanted Johnson? I think Poles traded down too much in the draft. We could have even had Loveland, Burden and Ersery! And then Skatebo. Again, not dissing Monangai - if he plays like he looked in camp, then that is indeed a good move by Poles. But we are severely limited at LT and Pass Rush. These are huge problems at premium positions. We knew them going into the draft, and here we are after the offseason, and they are still glaring issues. It's nice to have 5 (6?) real playmakers WR and TE. But if Johnson is such a schemer, maybe we could have had one fewer TE or WR and address LT and Edge for real. It's frustrating because this was easy to see the whole time. I kept saying it. Before the draft, during the draft and now. We basically tried to fix the LT and DE with reaches we bought from a single 2nd pick we traded down. That's trying too hard, and in the end you out-think yourself.