AZ54

The curse of expectations. Last year I was happy when we won the close games like that. We were winning anyway we could win. This year...that game sucked. Yet we have a defense that actually played very well, maybe better than the Bucs defense. How many years has it been since our defense (and offense) were good enough to overcome a 5 turnover game? How many teams in the NFL can do that?

Considering there are no other stars sitting on the bench.

Nashon Wright is star?

I don't know if it's so much calling the plays as it is getting his players to execute the plays properly. 4min mark...

That much talent and hype all through high school and into college. Then all that money at such a young age in college. It's an explosive combination and you don't know if it will be controlled or not. His parents get a lot of credit for guiding him through that time. Then enter Ben Johnson and for the first time I think he ran into a football mind who really knew more about the game than he did. Say what you want about good college coaches but that game is not nearly as hard as the NFL. Caleb surprised me and accepted the challenge. I really like what I see now on the field and I still don't think he's at his peak. There are throws he makes like the simple WR screen to Raymond for the 40yd gain against Seattle that good athletes like Trubisky and Fields could never make. Especially Fields with his slow release. Then what he's doing at the intermediate level of the field is just tearing apart defenses. There will be a 50pt game in the near future.

I've seen quite a few Eagles games and Riq Woolen is not a very disciplined DB. He's very handsy, often called for contact after 5 yards pulling on jerseys. Considering his elite speed I don't understand why he feels he has to grab players instead of just turning and running with them. I definitely think he's a guy Al Harris could help but we're talking about a mid-season trade where there is little practice time to hone techniques. I've seen Mike Sainristil mentioned too. He's on the bench for the Commanders. He might be a good depth piece to add and less costly than someone that is a starter. Except he's small and not likely a good boundary CB which is what we need.

I find it hard to gauge what Tampa is as a team. I keep seeing all the talk of how great their defense is, and how elite their running game is. Not having seen any of their games I spent a little bit of time watching some highlights/condensed versions of their games: Pitt, Dal, GB. Their RBs are ok but they are not anything to be nervous about in the way you think about Bijan or McCaffrey. Bucky is quick in his cuts not elite, but can be run down. Expect him to make Jaylon miss a tackle or two. Gainwell is barely above Roschon levels of elusiveness. Their Oline is good and similar but opposite to ours in that they are more left-handed running behind Wirfs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Simmons on that side on early downs and moving to the other side on passing downs. Their run blocking is good but again I'm watching highlights of games. What caught my attention is what I didn't see...very few explosive runs. That seems to indicate a lot of carries to offset the backup QB. Mayfield being back may open up the passing game which in turn might make them more explosive on runs. Overall my sense is that we can contain the run if we're just disciplined in our gaps and sound in setting the edge. Their pass protection didn't look great in any game with pressure on almost every highlight throw. Their defense looks good overall but to my eyes is not on the level of what I'd seen from Seattle in their games before we played them on MNF. Tampa can get pressure, even with 4, so that's a risk we must contain. They seem to be the most vulnerable on the edges and there were quite a few highlights of explosive runs against their front, or just big plays on screens/dumpoffs. In the second half of each game their opponents started hitting chunk passing plays in the intermediate range. I feel like that's where Ben and Caleb feast on defenses. I don't think it will be an easy game but I also think we are the better team both on offense and defense (only now with Simmons).

I was left speechless after the game last night. The first thought going through my mind was "that's what good teams do". We controlled the game. There were some mistakes, it got close, and we just said nah, ain't gonna happen like that. Never was that more apparent than when we got a delay of game penalty at the goal line late in the game. Ben stayed with the run play and Swift punched it right into the endzone. We've been on the receiving end of too many of those games, except this wasn't being done to a bad team it was done to the best defense on their home field. Caleb has not hit his ceiling. There are still plays to be made, easy ones. When he gets there, and he will, everyone will know. I was very glad to see his quickness and burst coming back. After the bye he should be back to where he's comfortable sprinting again. Jefe Simmons is easily worth two first round picks. I don't even see how that can be debated.

Do they have a CB we could swap for Bagent?

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2026/11/01/bears-tyson-bagent-ravens-nfl-trade-deadline-rumors/92557623007/ I can't see them offering anything more than a Day 3 pick. However, I could see Poles swapping picks. Maybe get a 3rd and give a 5th, not sure that would equate to a 4th Rd pick. It's risky with Caleb still gimpy. Maybe if the long rest this week helped Caleb heal up they'll be more inclined.

I agree, and was trying to post this earlier before my job got in my way. There is still a lot of noise about Mack returning to the Bears. I didn’t view him as a worthwhile centerpiece to get our D over the top but adding him to a front anchored by Jeffrey Simmons is different. Reportedly Mack wants out of LA and a shot at a Superbowl…don’t know if that’s true of just media speculation. It would make sense for an elite vet in what might be his last season. I’m surprised to see him, at age 35, still handling starter amount of snaps but maybe I shouldn’t be. If this trade were to happen I don’t know how we fit him in under the salary cap so it seems like we might be sending them a player. I don’t see anyone they’d want but I would absolutely trade Sweat for Mack. Since I”m already troling around the AI search: "Khalil Mack played 68% of the Los Angeles Chargers defensive snaps in the 2026 season. This figure represents his snap participation through the first six games of that season, during which he recorded 11 solo tackles and 3 sacks."

I read or saw somewhere that Tenn used Simmons on 90% of defensive snaps. If that’s correct it’s an insane amount of work. I figure this week his snap count will be much lower just because he’s learning the defense but long term DA needs to keep him more in the 70% range. From Brave AI search: "Jeffery Simmons played 86.6% (or 86.7%) of the Tennessee Titans defensive snaps through his first seven games of the 2026 season. This workload is part of a consistent trend, as he has played at least 80% of available defensive snaps in every season since 2020."

Feels like there is a little smoke and mirrors going on with this Seattle team. I watched them play against KC last week but KC just looked bad. There were plenty of open receivers but Mahomes just looked real bad for some reason. They aren’t a bad team. With all their rotational coverages Ben mentioned their rules during his press conference. Much of that you can decipher from film study but I can see where Ben spent some time talking with the former leader of their secondary Coby Bryant. Can we get a couple big plays by using their rules against them? Running against their front will be tough so I think this a game where the pass game has to open up the run.

No I think we need a couple players but none of them are on offense. That is set, for now. Of the two we need on defense one of them was a Pro Bowl caliber DT. We just went beyond that and got an All Pro Hall of Fame caliber DT in his prime. With that we no longer need an elite edge rusher. We still need good DEs who can contain the pocket and provide run support, and catch a QB who has to move off his spot, but we’ve got plenty of them. Everyone knows the Rams had Aaron Donald as their premiere pass rusher on their Superbowl team but who were the DEs? Simmons is better than an elite pass rusher like MIcah Parsons because he's also elite against the run. It is fair to assume we’d likely use next year’s 1st Rd pick on a DT. We just did that. Then we pulled forward the skill and experience it takes a player years to learn by using our next 1st Rd pick and now get to see the benefits a season earlier. We need another blue chip player in the defensive backfield…and we’ve got him stashed on IR returning soon. Like any team there will be needs over the next two seasons but they can be addressed with the picks we have. Adding CBs, OG to replace Thuney, DT and DE depth can all be done with day 2 picks, or some vet FA pickups. We will be a destination place for good vets who want a shot at a ring and are willilng to play on a below market salary.

I posted that in this thread last night

Now we have some fun with our upcoming opponent..and a decent breakdown of just a few plays.

So you want Quenton Nelson to protect your QB and help your run game? Here’s the antidote and this is from a game on 18 October. Credit to the Football Scout because he’s not just showing the highlight plays he reviews many plays that never hit the stat sheet.

For the last two years I’ve wanted the Bears to trade for Simmons, among others. Last year he got into his contract year and it was going to be expensive as in two 1st Rd picks and then we’d have to sign him to a huge contract. Poles says I have a plan…. we’ll let Tenn pay him the big bonus then swoop in during middle of their bad season and give them two 1st Rd picks for Simmons. They’ll be happy to have them needing to rebuild and we’ll get our man for our playoff run without paying the bonus money, and have cap flexibility in future years on his contract if we need it. George Halas smiles from above.

I remember when we added Peppers and thought wow that was expensive. Then after he played a few games for us and I watched film I realized how much he controlled his side of the field. Literally. It made everyone else’s job on defense easier Then we traded for Mack and it was expensive too. I watched the film and realized how much he controlled his side of the field. The only problem with the Mack trade is that we didn’t have the offense we thought we had. This time we know we have the QB and the rest of the offense. Simmons can absolutely control his part of the field. This is a DT who commands a double team and can still win the play. Plus you can’t really double him briefly and then go up to block a LB as we like to do. So that right there means a free LB on every running play. Then there is pass rush because you have to double him t there too. That opens a gap in the interior for a blitz. Effectively where we used to need to rush 6 to get a free gap we can now get that with 5. Which puts one more player into coverage.

Things I’ve never seen in my life https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-qb-rankings-index-week-8-2026-nfl-season

He’s a stud. Grady is a good player, used to be very good, but he’s always been more hustle than physical talent. the only reason Simmons isn’t more of a household name is because of the team he’s on. He is the kind of centerpiece you build a defense around.

Braxton is the most logical trade IMO. We don’t need 3 LTs. The IR issue doesn’t help. I think he’s only earning 5m so perhaps frees up 2m.

I watched Seattle and KC tonight. Their run defense is very good but they gave plenty of opportunities for open receivers. Mahomes just looked really bad and missed quite a few open receivers. When they did catch the ball it was often low or behind them. We will need to be better. Darnold is still the same and gets nervous under pressure. He will make bad throws. Jaxson is insane and can’t be stopped. Their Australian punter is better than ours.

There’s a lot of noise that Poles is making calls. It does appear we’re going to do something before the deadline. Most of the rumors are centered on Mack returning. There is also a fair amount of smoke around DeForest Buckner.