Alaskan Grizzly

Wouldn’t it be ironic if this game came down to the kickers; where the Bears are currently in a bit of a slump with their kicker where Minnesota has notoriously struggled the last few years...with more than one kicker?

Rather than quote all that you did with the comparative stats on Watson, Mahomes and Trubisky I'll emphasize context. We need to remember that of the three QB's used in the comparisons, Trubisky has the most starts. Which can skew the numbers you used. Since being drafted last year Trubisky has 21 starts (10 wins 11 losses), Watson has 16 starts (9-6) and Mahomes has 11 starts (10-1). So stats like passing yards, rushing yards and attempts could be explained by the fact that he simply has had more time on the field to accomplish these things. But...stats like completions and completion percentages, although third in this group, is still above 60% which is a good thing. I agree with what some others here observed in the last game. The 'eye test' is telling me that Mitch is getting more comfortable in the offense. I saw a few times where he was either looking off the safety to one side or simply going through his progressions and appeared to be comfortable in doing it. I didn't see the 'happy feet' as we had seen in games past. Minnesota we know has a pretty respectable defense so I'm hoping all the positive growth we saw in this game doesn't regress because of the pressure we know the Vikings can produce. I think to counter them and give Mitch a better chance we really need to see more use out of Howard. Still baffled why he isn't getting more use.

Love the hurry up offense.... even more so when they score! Offense looked really solid just then. Nice job guys!

Go Bears!!!

The stat line and rankings on Trubiksy across all forms of media are all over the map. Some have him 22nd overall, some have him in the top 10 QBs under the age of 25, some have him ranked right near Eli Manning and others I’m sure rank him the overall #1 QB currently in the NFL out of North Carolina. (Ok so I made that last one up). The thing of it is, sure he’s making some improvements but I’m not sure they’re as obvious as some of us are hoping or claiming. One thing we know he’s improving is rushing. And yes that, by itself, is helping our offense. However that’s a finite skill set because as some here have pointed out if you go down with a knee injury like say a Deshaun Watson what have you got to fall back on? Yes Trub is making incremental improvement in some of the other skills needed to make a good QB. There is plenty he still needs to learn and accomplish, by himself, before he’s recognized across forms of stats as a solid top 10 overall QB. Troy Aikman was recently talking about how Marcus Mariota although a highly sought after QB still has yet to piece together a consistent winning record. He said Mariota will occasionally put together a great win like he did a few nights ago on Monday night but usually he just leaves us wanting. I see Trubiksy somewhere in between Mariota and last year’s Goff. The question is after some time in this system will he make the leap like Goff did or stagnate like Mariota has been?

And you know the more I think of it; it’s probably because of the 11 day / three game schedule that could catch up to them. And they are traveling to a Detroit for that third game. Just seems like a lot stacked against them.

My feeling for this game is similar to most everyone else. The offense will do enough to score once maybe twice but the D will kick into gear and end up winning the game. After its all said and done though, I get this funny feeling in this next 11 days the Bears will have a 2-1 record to show for it. For some reason I feel like the second Detroit game (on Thanksgiving) won't play to the Bears favor. The Power rankings currently have the Bears at 10 and the Vikings at 8 so I'm not sure how well the Bears will do that Sunday night but feel because they'll be home it'll play in their favor. So far all the home games the Bears have played haven't looked all that bad, including the loss to NE.

Trubisky’s tendency to overthrow comes back to haunt him. INT to Buffalo. D is looking solid. Roquan building on his tackle total. And add a sack by Isaiah Irving.

Apparently for the next 6-8 weeks. Eligible to be back in time for season finale I hear. Will this be Kyle’s last year as a Bear? https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-kyle-long-injured-reserve-20181103-story.html

Yeah the moves from out of our division is interesting especially in Green Bay. Wasn’t sure Dix would be one that GB would be willing to part with. However he wasn’t as as great as I once thought. I do remember a few times seeing Howard meet him at or near the goal line only to have Dix lose the meet. Fowler to the Rams means they are all in this year and I think they may just do that. And Tate to Philly? Interesting indeed. Looking forward to the upcoming games against Detroit.

Poor Peterman. Started as a backup to the rookie; who was eventually injured, then replaced by a third stringer who only a week before was doing something with fantasy golf or something rather. A little behind the scenes on Peterman; after transferring from Tennesee his Junior year he became a starter for Pittsburgh after two games of that season. He stayed the starter through the reminder of his senior year. Of note one of Pittsburgh’s wins that year was against the Clemson Tigers; their only loss. Peterman ended up passing for 5,142 yards with 47 TDs and 15 INTs as the starter. His current passer rating is something like 31%. The short of it is, the Bears can’t go to sleep on the kid as sad a story as he may seem.

So I keep getting notifications of trades happening around the league. The most recent being Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix has left GB and gone to Washington. As Ty Montgomery also left for Baltimore. Seems things are heating up on that front. Saw a rumor a few days back that Leonard Floyd has been on a few teams’ radars. One being GB. And of course we know Jordan Howard has been rumor fodder in the past. All that being said, could we potentially see one or two of our players leave for ‘greener pastures’? If so...who? https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2018/10/29/matt-nagy-bears-will-listen-to-trade-offers/

Speaking of...

Gosh there’s got to be a way to get White involved. The point Nagy makes does make sense but overall you have to believe White is a better WR than Bellamy. Right?

I think Mongos onto something. I was thinking the same thing. Benjamin looked good going for some of those 50-50 balls and Anderson didn’t look all that stressed considering he’s been out of football for the last decade or so. The Bears D has a way of making washed up QBs look legit (see Osweiller). Their D is pretty solid and could make things difficult up front. This isn’t a game the team can take for granted.

Looking like Kyles done for the year.

Nah. That last drive was one of the best I’ve seen this year. Yes to include Trubiksy and his nice pressure plays (that second gain to Miller being the nicest). But Howard went 4-34 and a TD in that series. He’s still valuable. Just need better blocking up front.

I’m going to call that White will be the one to watch today and quite literally could have a career day...if he starts.

Both Mack and Robinson are out for today’s game. Sad about Mack but will it be Whites time to shine? http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25101752/bears-wr-allen-robinson-likely-vs-jets-khalil-mack-late-decision

That was part of the review too. Trubisky not recognizing what the defense was showing pre-snap especially within the front seven. In one instance he failed to notice an LB showing blitz on his right and should have slid Howard over to cover but instead went with the snap and dangerously tossed the ball over the rusher and in the general direction of the receiver. Sure time will help all this but we still see careless throws, like Lemon said, to the mid and long range passes. Which often are affected by his mid-reads.

I thought Floyd’s herald was that he was more a speed pass rusher ala Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil or even Khalil Mack. Aside from Mack the other guys listed most times just used pure speed to blow past blockers. Why would he need to engage an OT or TE, unless he were to cover the latter in pass coverage? Which is another element of his game...or so I thought . With his lanky height and lean frame you’d think he should be able to run circles around most edge blockers, broken hand or not.

There was this video some kid put together of Trubiskys reads during the Miami game. Was going to share it because actually it’s a pretty good analysis but it’s hard to watch because of his choice in background music. Anyhow, yes some of the reads are good but others are questionable. Remember that game where everyone thought Trub missed a wide open Burton(?) streaking across the back of the end zone? Some of the reads in this highlight film were eerily similar. But yes his reads are sometimes good too. And some of those tend to be a tad high most times.

For those still tracking a quick note of comparisons; Trubisky vs Watson and like opponents. NE: Trub 333yds 2 TD 2 INTs / Wat 176 yds 1TD 1 INT MIA: Trub 316yds 3 TD 1 INT / Wat 239 5 TD 0 INT I’m with you. Eye test says it all.

On the one hand being the second tackler on the team should amount to something. I’d say that by itself isn’t horrible, considering you have players like Mack and Trevathan already in place. To put it into some perspective I took the liberty of seeing how other highly rated college ILbs Leighton Vender Each and Tremaine Edmunds are doing and here’s where they stack up. (Also consider the Bears have had their bye where it appears Dallas and Buffalo have not). Edmunds: Tkls-54 Ast-15 Sack-1 VanderEsch: Tkls-54 Ast-12 Sack-0 Smith: Tkls-36 Ast-11 Sack-2 So really he’s only 18 tkls off the pace from the other two but leading in Sacks so I guess it’s how you look at it. His hype was more on the sideline to sideline coverage and occasional QB spy. In the NE game especially going in I was personally concerned about the short/middle coverage which is right where Smith should’ve roamed. Of course to be fair they also had Floyd and Mack dropping back off the edge in coverage too and well, Brady still managed to pass there. Nevertheless I’m going to go with the advice of many others here and give it time. As he approaches year three; like Floyd is and White has surpassed, I’ll be more critical of his production.

Obviously stats being what they are, I'd be curious how skewed those numbers would be if you removed the TB and/or Seattle games where not only did the offense score well but the D was more effective. The last two games the D has not been what it was the first previous three weeks. If you are able to score 30-40 points AND keep the ball out the opposition's hands you should be able to win. That is unless you play against someone like Rogers or Brady. Being able to effectively run the ball repeatedly lessens that likelihood (giving the opp the ball). Again, keep in mind I am of the opinion not only are they not letting Jordan catch the ball regularly they aren't running the ball 'to his style'. Knock John Fox and his style of coaching but he (or his offensive coord) was able to effectively use the inside/outside zone blocking scheme to Jordan's benefit. Nagy and Helfrich are deploying a more power run style that doesn't seem to work for Howard. In this current environment he looks more like Forte in his later years where he would run into the pile and stop. Ultimately, to answer your question, I don't care if we statistically end up with the #1 TOP as long as we are effectively passing the ball AND running the ball and getting sensible clock management out of the deal. And the defense is being able to play to their potential.