Alaskan Grizzly

Why...in retrospect and at the time it happened I still haven’t seen why the Bears got rid of Howard. Between Davis and he, Howard is the better back. Between he and Montgomery, he’s definitely a change of pace back and will almost unquestionably get the short yardage needed. I don’t feel the 3rd and longs would have been quite as long. And before you say ‘but the stats’, remember that Wentz is a heck of a lot different QB than Trubisky. He’s getting passes downfield (and scoring TDs) where Trubisky is not.

Funny you ask. Just watched a good analytical video of some of the progress and areas still in need of improvement.

Hey Bill (and others). I hear what you're saying and like you have suffered through too many disappointing years to believe this is the year...until I'm proven otherwise. But in order to be a true Bears fan you 1) have to stay on the bandwagon even when the wheels appear to be ready to fall off 2) be a pessimist and 3) have eternal faith in your team. With this, you are not alone. Similar to what NYC said, this is essentially a 'prove it or lost it' year for Trubisky, but I wouldn't think that holds true as much with Nagy...and here's why. Besides all the maladies I illustrated with the other teams above you have a TON of prima-donna, 'me-first' players on other teams that are dismantling the integrity of the league and in some cases, ruining the teams they are on or were on. Look no further and you'll see Antonio Brown and his ridiculous shenanigans, or Jalen Ramsey and his wanting off his one year removed playoff team, or Minkha Fitzpatrick jumping the sinking ship that is the Miami Dolphins, or Zeke Elliott pouting in Cabo (or wherever the hell it was) before he got is $90 million payoff, or Melvin Gordon essentially doing the same...but with no results...yet. From the coach's perspective, look no further than last week and you'll see Nagy learned his lesson from the week one loss where he tried to be too cute and instead changed the script and pace to match more where his players were for week two. They still looked shaky in some cases but I got the idea improvement was being made, if only incrementally. Then from the team's perspective, take a look at all the young 'up and coming' players within the Bears. To include some high caliber superstars and solid character veterans among them and you'll find not a one thinking about themselves first. I think it safe to say that Nagy and to some extent Pace have to take the credit for that. The team isn't outwardly expressing their dissatisfaction or frustration and focusing on "stacking the wins" and working towards that common goal. I think Adam is right that as the team progresses they will meet the challenge accordingly and surprise a lot of us, even those of us who are more pessimistic than others.

I’m putting a positive spin on how most of us feel about our offense at the moment with this; Eli Manning was benched for rookie Daniel Jones, Drew Brees is out six weeks after surgery on his throwing thumb, Roethlisberger is out the remainder of the season after surgery on his throwing elbow, Nick Foles is out indefinitely after breaking his non-throwing clavicle/collarbone and the Jets were down to their third seat QB after their starter was lost to mono for several weeks and their #1 backup to an injury last night. And Miami is a plain hot mess. So things could be much worse. On the lighter side; Pinero is ranked number one (and only) when kicking FGs beyond 50 yards. He’s one of only five who are perfect overall on the young season. O’Donnell is 5th in the league net punting yards (and apparently improved each year in the league - according to the link below). R. Smith is taking the lead in tackles and the defense hasn’t lost a step...according to this: https://www.chicagobears.com/news/where-the-bears-rank-statistically-after-week-2 *EDIT: almost forgot. If you look at the link, take a look at the videos. Top one shows who the fastest player was last week. Hint: he’s on the Bears and he’s not a young player....

Was thinking the same, but still need to see how he does in the swirling winds of the winter months. Crazy to think he’s scored more than the offense has at this point.

Lol!!! If after the first playoff game and instead of ‘double-doinking’ he carries the team into the next round...maybe then.

They had them under those shades for part of the game. Maybe sucking down 02 during that time(?). But psychologically don’t want to give too much away either and let them see you pant. Mack looked gassed for sure at the end of the game. In context, to see them fight to very end was pretty impressive. Considering this was an early season game where they aren’t quite in their groove and don’t have a lot of games under their belts. Had this game been later in the season (like week 10 or 11) I’d bet the Bears would’ve looked a lot better. Packers and Vikings both play against the Broncs too but both of their games are at their respective ‘homes’. I see Denver splitting their games with them; win against GB (next week) and loss to the Vikes.

I want to say this was the first home opener for Denver in a lonnnnnngggg time. They flashed that stat earlier in the game. Think they had the winningest home opener streak in the NFL...until today.

Gotta hand it to Trubiksy. He was clutch up to the last minute. Looked a lot better this game than last. And how about that PINERO?!?!??

Montgomery with his first NFL TD (and the first for the Bears this year). Love the ‘3 downs and a cloud of dust’ type play.

That last play by Trub was PERFECT. No panic throw to the covered receiver on the right then try to chuck it to Burton. Got a first down on penalty because his coverage was facing the wrong way . Nicely done Mitchell!!!

Hey what the??? Did Bolles swap teams?

Can’t say as I blame him. Having to draw Mack and Floyd. Keep it up Bolles!! Then Leno gets an ‘illegal hands to the face’. Ugh.

I’m loving the Broncs LT Bolles; he’s gotten 3-4 holding calls already. My sister who lives in Denver is losing her mind. Lol

We saw it and Trubisky overthrew Gabriel for a large gain (and had Montgomery(?)) underneath. But yes...better progress.

PINERO for MVP!!!

Shaheen catches and fights for a first down. Well I’ll be? Anyone else think he’s out for the rest of the game?

‘Rex’ ... I saw what you did there...lol

Watching the GB / Minn game. The Vikings came out slow but are making up for some of their own self-inflicted mistakes and playing more solid as the game wears on. I have no question the Bears D is better than Minnesota’s but they’re getting better at blunting Rodgers later in the game. And watching Cousins is like watching what you expect from an NFL QB in a situation like they’re in. Not many mistakes or panic driven decisions. It’s almost like he’s a better QB than what Chicago has. I know that can’t be, especially given he’s not a “Franchise QB picked in the first round”.

I’m sorry guys but this is starting to sound a lot like the Cutler-excusim of past. I have a hard time biting off on the idea that Nagy is the largest piece of the non-fitting puzzle. Yes he should have had his starters play more in the preseason (this year and last) and perhaps his play calling should have been more run centric but the operator in this is the key piece to execution. What about the talk of all the audibles Trubiksy was allowed and chose throughout the game? Was he deciding to pass when he should have been calling a running play? Maybe Nagy got overconfident in his QBs abilities and allowed him too much latitude to make those calls? It’s pretty apparent not just in last weeks game but in games from before that Trubisky struggles in reading the field and even making the right call (the majority of the time) during RPO plays. That right there should be the easiest for him to adapt to AND play to his skillset, yet he struggles with that. I think today will go along way towards what we'll see going forward. I suspect there will be a reset with Trubiksy not being able do as many line adjustments and a more run-balanced game. His passes will need to be short and mid range to be effective and I’ll bet the gadget plays will be minimal. I’m fairly confident Nagy will adjust his game to the better; will Trubisky?

Hard to read sarcasm through words but for a minute I thought you lost your ever lovin mind. Thank goodness you’re still among the sane.

GAWD NO...

Another video to view. If you so choose.

From the ChicagoBears.com piece “The Pick is In”. Same as last week, Golic siding with the Chicago beat writers (except for the traitor Rick Morrisey) ugh- Here’s to hoping they are all .500 after this weekend. (and Morrisey goes 0-2). https://www.chicagobears.com/news/the-pick-is-in-bears-at-broncos

Bears need to have a more balanced offense, plain and simple. More running, less passing. Keep Mitch’s passing options simple. Defensively I’m not too awful worried. It seems everyone is stepping up and now Mack isn’t as obvious on the team because of it. I’m still concerned about Fangio’s knowledge of the Bears and his ability to put together a formidable defense. He’s still got some pretty stout pieces in Denver (Wolfe, Chubb and Miller along the line and Harris and Callahan in the backfield among them). I said it before but I still think how goes Flacco, so goes Denver. Bears eek out a win: 10-7 or 14-10.