Lucky Luciano

that appears to be a bad idea at this point. so far there is no immunity to this virus according to some reports and doctors. people can catch this virus multiple times. to top this off the actual damage this virus is doing to teenagers and young people, including small children, 'can' have severe consequences in their future. it can lead into another disease for small children (can't remember which it is off hand), school age kids risk possible brain damage and so on. right now it is just an unknown what the long term consequences could be. in grown adults it could cause damage to internal organs, blood clots and so on. as we sit now this virus is rampant and unchecked. we probably need to take the financial hit and shut down again considering we squandered the initial warnings and money used to help people through this by the idiocy of most of our federal, state, and local governments and their agencies. europe has gotten this virus reasonably under control and are able to safely open up with restrictions. we are not even close. we need to leave this to the disease control professionals and doctors and stop listening to moronic politicians trying to get elected.

lol, i agree. i have been commenting on this watching the games for some time. our runners don't seem to be able to figure this out and as you said it's simple sand lot football smarts. go figure.

i agree, especially in today's nfl. even prior to the huge amount of expansion teams added to the nfl, the position of quarterback was lacking for high quality players. with that said it still is a travesty that the owners and the league have not addressed this problem. with an either or rule you have put way to much power into the hands of referee's and opened up the sport to the gambling faction and organized crime. add to this, you have less ability to judge a ref's work and hold him accountable if he is just plain bad at his job.

i agree this happens and that is one of the downfalls in any sport. that said, there were/are review boards (i believe) that would review referee's. if there were obvious mishandling of officiating they could be demoted or just plain let go. this has been the case since the beginning of the sport. but, with the rules or lack of rules on holding or pass interference they have basically made it impossible to grade a ref on these calls as the calls are legitimate either way he calls them.

this is exactly the problem with the nfl officiating. the way some rules read the refs are correct either way they make the call. this takes the win/loss out of the players hands and puts it into the refs which leads to an easy ground floor for corruption or just plain stupidity. every single play could/should be called for holding on multiple players on the offensive line. from the 80's or possibly the 90's on back there were clear cut holding parameters. now it takes a major wrestling move take down or a near jersey removal to draw the non subjective flag. the refs can flag a team at any time they choose thus dictating the flow and scoring of the game. i have seen this many times and they will usually have makeup calls or evening out of penalties later in the game for the opposing team. usually by that time the outcome of the game has been decided or at the least given one team a tremendous advantage.

in this instance, hicks and trevathan were both out for the game from the start. i believe, if i remember correctly, both smith and prince were out by the 3rd qtr. and the defense was still solid. so in my opinion the need for a soft prevent was not met especially at a point it was implemented in the game. i do agree that if not going for the int it changes the game time-wise. this emphasizes the problem with mistakes in this type of defense that is implemented too early or with a small enough score that comebacks are possible.

i have to respectfully disagree. it is not a question of being hard to watch or fun, it is a matter of winning or losing. we put ourselves in a position to lose this game by playing soft with enough time left to make it a possibility. 17 points with 9 minutes left in a game is not enough points to start going into a slow down or prevent offense or defense mode. we have not only seen this happen in the nfl but experienced it a number of times in chicago. all this does is make it easier for an opponent to get into scoring position in the least amount of time and close that point gap. any team with an even average qb then has that chance to not only gain confidence and momentum but put your defense at a disadvantage by keeping them on the field longer. a team with an elite qb/receiver is an even worse scenario. add to this fact, if you make a mistake and turn the ball over or lose an onside kick it compounds the disadvantage. the only time this soft prevent defense should even be considered is if you have an injury to a key player or you are 3+ scores ahead with less than three minutes left to play. one more point on this, if your opponent has bridged that point gap you have made it MUCH harder for your team to return to an attack mode mind set if need be. finally: i am no fan of playing soft zone defense as a standard practice. it keeps your defense on the field longer throughout a game and even worse, by doing so, keeps your OFFENSE off the field and limits your ability to score points.

my take on this: DEFENSE - we are going into a prevent defensive scheme when we have a lead of more than one score from the middle of the 4th quarter on. it is clear as day we are giving up a very soft zone very much similar to what lovie ran in his tenure. our db's are giving up more ground than the first down marker making for easy receptions that move the chains down the field quickly to put your opponent in scoring position. this makes for the type of points scored that we saw at the end of this game. a prevent defense does nothing but prevent wins. OFFENSE - in the middle to last 9 minutes of the 4th, nagi started to run an extremely conservative offense. it was supposed to eat up the clock. in my opinion it does the opposite. again, like the defense, this is a recipe for disaster in many games especially if your opponent has a proficient passing attack.

trubisky looks serviceable to me at this time. he looks like he could *possibly take a step forward as an good to good + qb in the future. it is hard to really judge his talent or improvement behind this offensive line and the amount of drops this receiving corp has displayed. 1. he has no running game. the rb's are getting hit nearly at the handoff 1-2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. no qb i know of can operate an offense with only one dimension of the game for any sustained positive results. 2. this line can't even hold the line of scrimmage on passing plays. they are getting pushed back into the pocket (where it appears he is being taught or forced to operate from) or actually pushed into the qb and the ends are coming in as a pincer move to make the tackles or hurry or disrupt the play. 3. this smacks almost as badly as cutler running for his life at the snap. he has lost confidence that this OL will protect him. that alone will cause serious growth problems and his ability to see the whole field and wait for the open receiver. 4. the consistency of this receiving corp and the amount of drops are disgustingly bad. throw in either the receivers don't know or quit on the routes or trub doesn't. this not only upsets the drive but puts the qb in a forced to throw situation, negates long gains due to YAC or just longer routes which stretches the defense. 5. penalties: it's like a merry go round of penalties. which lineman will have one or more penalties per drive. these are drive stoppers. 6. quite frankly he is injured at this time. you can see him limping during the game that says the hip problem is real. he also has the non throwing arm injury that will ultimately cause some problems with his game. 7. the play calling and coaching staff are not doing him any favors either. * trubisky has many things to fix even to become that average qb over time. it all depends on his mental capacity to read defenses and see the whole field QUICKLY as apposed to locking in on one receiver and forcing the ball in. he may never do this but with the supporting cast he has it will take longer to evaluate. he has shown pretty good accuracy on the shorter throws up to 10 yds. he has the arm strength and quickness. his biggest problem (see above also) so far is touch on anything over that mark. that HAS to be fixed if he is to succeed. is he an elite qb? at this time certainly not and probably not in his future although that 'could' change with a good supporting cast and a few more years of experience. that said, there should be a serious, honest qb competition in his future. finally, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater quite yet but keep a tight rein on him as standard practice. if it doesn't improve with better line play then cut your losses.

i think that post was sarcasm in it's finest moment.

this is an instance where statistics are misleading. 1. the difference between ryan's attack defense and tobin's read and react defense was very noticeable and not for the better. tobin inherited arguably the best defense in the history of the nfl and changed the way they ran their scheme for no apparent reason other than he just wasn't smart enough to step into ryan's shoes. the defensive line was intact with HOF quality players who were extremely aggressive off the LOS. to have them play in a 'read and react' first scheme was nearly criminal. they also lost wilbur marshal an excellent LB (thanks mikey) and replaced him i believe with r. rivera. not even a close comparison. 2. this point is also critical.... they lost discipline as a unit. the ryan headmaster/taskmaster replaced by tobin was like letting the inmates run the asylum. it was very noticeable throughout the season.

i never watched any games with him in it. just from the highlights on espn this is what i thought to myself (never having heard his quotes about payton) is that he reminded me of payton's running style. it's the balance that really made me sit up straight. after taking a hit or moving through traffic the balance he displayed was very paytonistic. whether it was too much to give up to get him remains to be seen. if he turns out fantastic it will seem like a steal.

agree. NO favio.

i have said this since preseason... this guy is a liability and one of the weakest points on our entire special teams squad. i don't care how much we owe him in guaranteed salary. CUT HIM. if you have to go for 4th down and whatever because you can't trust a field goal kicker to make extra points or reasonably long field goals that is an offensive detriment.

one other item i forgot to mention. this offseason we NEED a good kicker as a top priority. parkey (or butter) just is not reliable. the miss last night could have cost us big time. it would have put us up by 4 points if the rams had scored late.

out in the 2nd half with a foot injury. hopefully this is a minor injury. callahan is one of the most improved players this season and really anchors our defensive backfield when on the field. this guy is a keeper.

agree, trubinsky is a work in progress. i believe he only gets better with another year under his belt. what i am seeing so far: the good: this guy can throw lasers on target in the short range. great zip on the ball, great accuracy in that range, great mobility, great ability to throw on the run and put some heat on it. his mental clock is pretty dammed good. he can feel the heat coming and doesn't just stand there like some big dumb buffalo. even though i scream in outrage at every dumb INT he throws i cool back down and see this guy can be something special in our future. the bad: his worst detriment is 'touch' at this point in his career. the long and intermediate balls need to be worked on for accuracy and i believe they will come together in time once he becomes more comfortable with this offense AND his receivers. he still needs work on his receiver progressions but that too is getting better. that to me is about it. one thing does bother me. it is a good/bad thing that makes me nervous every time i see him play. i really do NOT want to see him running so much. it's great he is picking up these first downs but eventually he is going to get seriously injured if he doesn't temper this aspect of the game.

just to clear the air... i am a huge nagy fan at this time. so, did i ever say we fire fangio or nagy? the answer is no. but that does NOT give either of them a free pass for stupid or bad coaching! it needs to be stated and improvement needs to happen over time. NOBODY gets a free pass in this league from constructive criticism and if it IS replaced by total blind faith we will end up eventually in the same sinking boat we have been in forever. as far as daniels.... i don't care how many starts he has had or hasn't had. he is NOT a starting qb in the nfl any more than johnathan quinn was. at the best he is a working coach designated as a 3rd string qb who if we are relying on this guy for more than short time game filler we are done for the season anyway. he doesn't think quick enough, he has no arm, he has no feel for pressure, he has no escapabillity and most of all he is INACCURATE!! this is not some practice squad walk on unfamiliar with the nfl. this guy has been in the league for years (just like quinn). there is a very good reason why he has had only two starts before coming to chicago.

i agree with you we are ahead of expectations with this franchise and realistically it should take another two years to compete for winning a sb. but... those were bonehead calls and plays in any kind of season. fangio needs to step up on this. the soft zones even in this game were glaring but i still say two blown coverages for td's is not acceptable. nagy has exceeded expectations but that was a completely bad decision on that timeout. i still stand by my estimation of daniels. he is definitatly not starter quality. sub for a play or two? ok. nothing more. if we are going to throw that kind of mess out there i would rather see bray fail than watch daniels again. 3rd stringer for daniels or cut him.

every aspect of this game was BAD except, for a change, the special teams. almost EVERY point the giants scored was from a mistake by the bears. i was a bit concerned with daniels after last week, he looked bad. this week? he could have fit in perfectly with any of the horrible qb's we have had over the last 30 + years. this guy has absolutely no business being in the nfl. no possible way he starts any games the rest of the season. put in HIS backup, it couldn't be much worse. i also have to disagree about the timeout before the half. we GAVE the giants 3 points and gave them momentum going into the locker room. it was an incredibly stupid call. first if nagy was going to try and get the ball back (which was stupid with that amount of time left on the clock and our offense as stagnant as it was) why in god's name did he let those seconds tick off the clock before calling it? even IF the bears stop them there is absolutely no time left to generate any offense to get into position for a field goal. all it did was created a remote window for the giants to score. and that is exactly what happened - it was a lose/lose situation for chicago. no timeout and the giants run the clock out. next... what in the hell kind of coverage was fangio calling? not once but TWICE we give up uncontested touchdowns due to blown coverages. there is no excuse for that to happen twice in one game. we win and we are in the drivers seat in our division. we literally gave this game away.

double post

in my opinion, callahan is one of the most improved players on defense this season. i would offer him a good contract to stay. he's worth it.

TOTALLY DISAGREE.... may they suck for the next 2 CENTURIES.