Alaskan Grizzly

Saw a story pop up on NFL.com from an analyst on Thursday night football suggested Chicago should make a trade for current Charger back Melvin Gordon. He made a compelling point about Gordon’s versatility (think similar to Forte and maybe older version of Montgomery). This guy seems to be alone in his thoughts on Gordon becoming a Bear (at least for now). In looking for some corroborating stories it appears there was some similar talk last July/August. Would it make sense financially to get a player like this? I could see the need solely at the position. If the Bears were intent on getting a new RB I’d personally like to see them go for a player like Kenyon Drake currently with the Dolphins. He seems to me more like a Jordan Howard type player, better at between the tackles. And if memory serves can catch too. He’s had two +100 total yard games in recent history with 198 versus NE and another 140 against Denver. I’m mostly a fan due to his being a former ‘Bama RB similar to Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry.

In case anyone was curious, Titans QB Mariota was benched in favor of back-up (and former Miami starter) Ryan Tanehill yesterday. Many will say it was a lateral move and many would be right. But for me the interesting part is how similar Mariota and Trubisky are to one another. Not just by the 'eye test' but also statistically. Mariota started his career in 2015 (after being drafted in the first round that year and second overall....hmmmm). Overall his percentage completion rate (because I know we've used that as a measure in the past) is 62.2%. In 2015 he threw for 2818 yards with 19 TDs and 10 INTS. 2016 - 3426 yards with 26 TDs and 9 INTs. 2017 - 3232 yards with 13 TDs and 15 INTs. Last year was his highest rated completion rate at 68.9% with 2528 yards with 11 TDs and 8 INTs. This year he has been able to throw for 1179 yards with 7TDs and 2 INTs (and a career low 59.1% completion rate). Trubisky (also drafted second overall in the first round) stared his career in 2017. His overall completion rate is 63.7%. In 2017 he threw for 2193 yards with 7 TDs and 7 INTs. Last year he threw for 3223 yards with 24 TDs and 12 INTs (and his highest completion rate of 66.6%). And so far this year he has thrown for 588 yards (for a so-far completion rate of 65.1) with 3 TDs and 2 INTs. I'm sure the argument will be made that they had different receiving, different running, different offensive schemes maybe even better oline coverage in one instance and not the other but when you go back to the simple 'eye test' it seems to be A LOT of parallels can be drawn between Mariota and Trubisky.

So I really think it boils down to how well our offense performs against their defense. And looking at things on paper, its possible the Bears could win. The Saints defense is currently ranked 10th overall (to the Bears 2nd). They have (Saints)10/(Bears) 17 sacks, 4/4 forced fumbles (even), 2/4 interceptions, 2/1 defensive TDs, they allow 23 to the Bears 11.3 pts per game, 295/265 yards passing and 112.5/61.5 yards rushing per game. I think that last stat is the most telling. The Bears (so far) have been able to stifle most running games and should be able to with Kamara possibly limited (although we have to remember RB Latavius Murray isn't all that horrible himself). The fact they give up 112.5 yards rushing per game tells me that the Bears need to be 'coming off the bus' ready to run. I'm hoping with the recent/potential changes on the oline with Montgomery having some time to think about what lies ahead, they'll be dominant in that regard. I think it'll come down to running the ball ultimately. And I'm thinking whether it be Trubisky or Daniel at QB we'll see a lot of 'game manager' type plays with short and intermediate passes sprinkled in. Their pass defense, although not prolific, still has CB's Apple and Lattimore who aren't necessarily slouches. And MLB Kiko Alonso can be a force to reckon with … if he ate his Wheaties that morning. I'm thinking a low-scoring game and somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-7 or similar to your prediction.

Hopefully the team is still in the hunt by then.

Well look who’s back. ? Positive spin to this particular bit of news is that Bars was brought up from the PS. So it’s possible we’ll see both he and Coward starting on the Oline which could be an improvement (?)

Add Akiem Hicks to the IR (no real surprise but a disappointment). But looks like they elevated Bars from the PS. https://mobile.twitter.com/BearsPR/status/1184159739493658624?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet

Sorry, was in a rush posting this morning as I left to go to work. Anyhow if you didn’t see it there were not one but two ‘ghost’ hands to the face calls against Detroit at two crucial times of the game last night. The first negated a sack on third down and essentially allowed GB to score bringing them within two points. The second one allowed GB to extend their drive (and eat clock) where eventually their kicker was able to score the winning FG at the very end of the game. Whats more (and to Booger McFarlands analysis) not only were they not hands to the face they were against the same guy, Trey Flowers, both times. And historically in his career he had never been called on that ... ever... until the two times last night. Another attempt at the link here:

Good observations DBDB and agree wholeheartedly about most of what you said. I think the team is lacking in the run game and that is having a domino effect on everything else; or is it the olines ineptitude or Trubiksy inability to not be a ‘one read’ QB or Nagy making bad adjustments during game time? Whatever the case may be this weekends game will set the tempo how things progress from here. Will both the D and O come out ready to play or will one side dominate while the other still tries to figure out what ‘200 level offense’ means? They’re at home so you know the fans will be there. Just hope the team shows up ready to go. Mans speaking of national media and bad officiating Adam, did you see last night’s game? You’d no doubt lose sleep if you were a Detroit fan. There was a post somewhere that showed the officials as the game ball recipients. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers really owe them one. They literally gave them then win. Here, I’ll let Booger explain:

Were you able to find a site that shows this? I was looking for this information a week or so ago and couldn’t find anything. All I could find was references to last years oline performance.

You said it right there. Sanders and Howard are splitting carries hence why Sanders’ numbers are less than Montgomery’s. Who is Montgomery splitting time with? He’s essentially it and has those numbers. If he had a running back of Howard’s caliber on the team I’d bet his would be much better.

Hmm... someone who agrees with Jason? How rare. Lol. Yeah I know he always preached the idea of picking your oline in the 1st and 2nd rounds, where I always thought that should be where you get your skill players. Then Trubisky gets picked not only in the first round but the team trades up to do it and...well there goes my theory.

I anticipated more pushback on this idea so I watched some highlight film on him. Have to say he’s not overly impressive at the center position. (I’ll be the first to tell you I don’t normally watch oline play so my analysis probably isn’t worth anything) but he seems to have an issue with the quick transition from the ‘hike’ of the ball to blocking. I noticed a few times he literally got pushed back into the QB during those times. Where when he did pulling plays or what looked like zone blocking he looked pretty good. Not sure how well he’d do in straight line power blocking (like we need more of) but on screens and probably pass plays I get the sense that he’d hold up pretty well. FWIW I looked at video on Daniels and Whitehair from college and really couldn’t see a HUGE difference in play between those guys and Mustipher.

Agreed. Want to say I’ve seen him targeted three (?) times, twice in the last game. Of those 3 he caught two (for decent gains) and the other literally bounced off his hands. I’d still like to see Horstead elevated especially if Burton continues to struggle. They seem to be similar style players with the edge going to Horstead on athleticism...right now. While looking at the current list of PS members, I found there’s another Notre Dame alum OL (and teammate of Bars’) in the name of Sam Mustipher. He wasn’t invited to the Combine because his “measurables” aren’t overly impressive. But he was a finalist for the Rimington award in 2018 and seems like a solid player. He’s currently listed at Center but wonder how he would do as an interior lineman if the need arose?

You’ll probably drive yourself crazy trying to legitimize the outcome of that game. I’m sure there are a few New Orleans fans still sitting in the looney bin trying to sort out last years’ infamous non-call. But yeah, the fact that Mack suddenly wasn’t able to do anything should be enough evidence something wasn’t right. For what’s it worth I didn’t like the unsportsmanlike call on the slamming of Bear’s QB Daniel as much as I didn’t like the call on KPLs ‘running into the kicker’. But sometimes I wonder if the refs try to make up for their mistakes by ‘offsetting’ penalties later on. Frankly and generally speaking though, this year has been about the worst I’ve seen in officiating. In just about every snap of the ball there is a yellow flag thrown for something . And in a lot of cases the refs stand around talking about the call as if they don’t know they should have done it. And in as many cases they seem to be missing stuff they shouldn’t be, as you pointed out. It’s all getting pretty ridiculous. It’s enough to where I’m beginning to lose interest in watching.

The ‘on again / off again’ relationship with Sowell continues. He’s baaaackk. But more interestingly is that Bray was cut as result. Should we take that to mean Trubiksy will be ready for the week six? Not sure what I think about that. https://www.chicagobears.com/news/roster-moves-bears-ink-sowell-waive-bray

All well said. There’s enough time in this bye week to do some of this. Burton hasn’t been the same since his groin injury/surgery. I still swear Shaheen is made of paper...but not just any paper...tissue paper. And Miller...man what a tool he’s starting to become. I’ll say it again; time for us to see more of Wims and Ridley ... that is after they get the oline in order.

Their paths crossed while at Notre Dame. Bars was a highly regarded prospect until a knee injury early last season. If anything he’ll probably still need some time to recoup from that.

We need Jason to add some thoughts on the oline production. This was his niche. Although he would’ve tried to convince me that all the guys should’ve been 1st round picks not just Kyle. But then maybe his point shows validity?

In another post I brought up the Biggs article and not only did they do that for Bars but also the TE Horstead who I believe had the opportunity to join another team’s 53.

Since it’ll be a few days until we see the Bears play again...how about this? Parkey set to sign with Titans after Santos let go. Wasn’t that nearly the same route the Bears took last year? https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2019/10/07/cody-parkey-cairo-santos-kicker-tennessee-titans/3903660002/

Speaking of; found an interesting article from Brad Biggs (below, and can’t remember if we do or don’t like him). Anyhow, #s 6 and 7 on his list talk about Bars (and his choice NOT to play for the Patriots) and TE Jesper Horstead (also choosing the Bears PS over being on another teams 53). They both refer to the positive Bears culture for why they are staying and that it exudes good vibes. Maybe it is time to bring in some newer guys to see how they do in their relative positions? Coward looked good in his relief duty a few weeks back. It can’t get much worse right? https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-cb-chicago-bears-oakland-raiders-10-thoughts-brad-biggs-20191007-7rnfxuxvm5ee7bwzhyop7ejipi-story.html

Long story short, was reading around and someone pointed out this was about where the Bears were this time last year (~3-2 around the bye and after losing to the Dolphins). Anyhow, I don’t think yesterday is an indication of how well this team can play. I think they’re more along the line of how they played against the Vikings the week before and will again, especially the D. The bears offense put up 21 answered points yesterday; that’s unheard of for the Bears normally. I think the team is too talented, the coaches too smart to let this get out of hand. I’m chalking up the near loss to Denver and the near win last night to bad conditions (high altitude and intercontinental travel) and poor planning coming up with the play we saw. They were saying early in yesterdays game that Gruden was 0-2 in London games because he arrived a day or two before the game. This time he switched it up and came over the Monday before. And considering they had all that time to adjust and our team didn’t, I wouldn’t think yesterday’s game really was all that bad. It certainly was entertaining.

Saw the same thing and was just amazed how out of position he was. He came out relatively strong with the first two tackles he had but after that faded quickly.

I wasn’t convinced the weak link was the oline until today’s game. Trubiksy is Trubisky and Daniel looked good in last weeks game. But he is a pocket passer and was getting close to being hit a lot more than he did last week. Mostly because the pocket was collapsing around him. Today’s game the only time he was really able to throw was when he rolled out (which plays more into zone blocking than not). Still not sure how special a player Montgomery is. Yes he keeps his feet but gets minimal gain when he does. The stutter stepping and spinning will only get you so far. But today he was attacking the lane better and still was meeting somoeone about 2-3 yards into the run. They need to focus more on the traditional straight line blocking (back to basics) and power block on every down.

I’m down.