Alaskan Grizzly

A couple thoughts in fact. First a few questions. If Gase goes how effective can Cutler remain? As Lemon pointed out a few weeks ago, Cutler has become a pretty good game manager. Which would be fine if we were looking at transitioning eventually to a new franchise QB. Secondly; how long does Jay have? He'll be on his 11th(?) season next year so we need to start thinking future. That being said no probably not 1st round. There are a lot of other concerns that should be addressed. Besides that I'm not hearing a lot about the QB prospects this year. Not enough to warrant a first round. What does Fales have to offer? They kept him around for some reason and when he did play he didn't look too shabby. The 'Mariotta for Cutler' trade ship has passed so that's not an option?

Besides that Jason, you lost focus of my point. Yours being that it was ok (my words) to lose late in the season to gain a few draft spots. I am not.

Nope. Absolutely not. Statistics cannot and will not justify losing 'on purpose'.

And really does moving up 5 spots in the draft make that big a deal? No. Can't convince me otherwise.

'There's a disturbance in the force'. I was actually going to say none of the turnovers today were totally the fault of Cutler. Although there were three and one of them was in the red zone I didn't see how he was to blame. That first one was total bad luck. He threw it high and away so that hopefully the WR got it but if not it would have gone out of bounds. Instead the coverage had the hand and interceptor in the right place at the right time.

One thing is certain, I'd like to see Mariani back as the slot receiver. Say goodbye to Royal.

Have to say that does make some sense. I like it.

I thought the same thing a few weeks ago and looked him up on YouTube. Played pretty well in Arizona for a few years. Real similar to Miller in that he's a journeyman TE with pretty good hands. Sounds like he has some injury issues too.

That's what many here suspected. Especially with the departure of BM. What's he going to do when Brandon retires, IF, let's say, he were traded to New York? BM has said the Jets will be his last team of course he didn't say how much longer he had. It's too bad that Jeffery can't try and find anothe mentor among some of the other players. Seems like Royal might be a good one to tag onto. It's even more unfortunate that a guy with as much talent as Jeffery has can turn it off and on as easy as that.

Oddly enough I agree with you. But given the improvement (however slight) Id like to see what else Gase and Cutler can do together.

If he (Gase) goes I could see Indy. Didn't McCoy once work for Fox in Denver? *edit: answered my own question. Yes he did. And worked with him in Carolina as well. Intriguing.

I didn't realize that Fox had as much power within the organization as the article paints it. It almost seems Chip Kelly-ish.

That's it... Seasons over. ? If I recall correctly; Williams had a pretty decent pre-season and early season(?). Would've liked to see him play a little more this year. Oh well, hopefully he'll make a lasting enough impression this weekend.

An argument could be made that Jay came to a team with a "stable" coaching staff and a "great" (if not consistently top tier) defense. Although his first year they went 7-9 his second year found them 11-5, 1st in the NFC North and despite his infamous "performance" in the NFC Championship game still managed to lose by only 7 points. The next season found them going 8-8 followed by another winning season of 10-6. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough to make the playoffs (seems so long ago) and that was the last year under Lovie. Until then, things were rather stable in overall coaching terms and there's almost no question about how dominant the defense was. (There were 12 pro bowlers from the defense during that same span). Not sure others couldn't "improve" given the staff currently in place. Obviously Jay has improved (if not slightly and ... Finally). So if they (coaches) can work this miracle surely they could with others of similar abilities. As I've said before the test will be whether Cutler can maintain his improvement.

Jason, its a simple bare bones way of thinking. You're trying too hard to use stats, history and personal feeling to say that in theory our team would be better off losing to gain one or two spots in the draft. Where I'm telling you I don't care what's at stake, you play to win...every week. Playoff contender or no. The point I made with NE is that they have somehow managed to win despite not having the overall pick every year. A simple microcosm of that point would be the year they played without Brady when Cassel looked like the 'second coming'. They still managed to string together a winning season. Another and similar point could be a carryover of our 'discussion' about the importance of having 1st round talent across the board on the O-line. Where Dallas, with almost every player on the line is a 1st rounder is barely a .500 team versus Carolina who has 1 and they are 14-1. Draft position really does not make that much difference. Especially if you are trying to justify winning or losing. Talent is talent.

Only because its an easy excuse for you to bow out. Which doesn't surprise me frankly.

Only real problem with your lack of understanding why a "..fan wants to win.." and Jason's philosophy is that its a 'loser's mentality'. Don't want it, don't care for it...and as Mongo's alluded to it's complete BS. The Patriots have proven year after year that you can virtually draft anywhere and still find talent. Detroit, on the other hand, can prove to repeatedly get first round draft picks and figure out a way to consistently lose. If only we could all be in the locker room this coming Sunday. John Fox to the team: "Ok guys. I want to play good today. Doesn't matter how well you do because I'll still be proud of this season and how we did. In fact if you don't win, that's fine too. That will help us get a better draft pick which will make us a better team next year. So either way, you guys are winners!!" Go team go...or not!!!!

Totally ignoring part of the title to this post and recognizing who so far has impressed within the Bears organization (instead of limiting it to just players). I think Ryan Pace should be considered for the title. Considering he's a rookie in this category and of his six picks in the draft, four ended up starting this year. And he assembled a pretty solid coaching staff in Fox, Gase and Fangio. I'd say the team is in pretty capable hands. At least for the time being. As far as the most disappointing (and sticking within the ranks of non-players) I'd go with Jeff Rodgers...hands down.

Sadly his mediocrity is similar to Cutler's 'vast improvement' if measured on the same scale. Consistently over the years we haven't seen much in the way of consistently good play...until this year. And even then it's at a 'game manager' level. Apparently that memo wasn't sent to Brady, Russell Wilson and Alex Smith (who lost a huge piece of their offense when Charles was lost).

He's kept me relatively quiet because he's done as Lemon suggested and successfully managed games. Moreso than he's done in the past. And last I checked the Packers are already in the playoffs (?) and again contending for the NFC North title. I suppose that doesn't qualify for doing 'more with less'(?)

All excellent points IMO. Especially intriguing is your point about Cutler. As you know I've not been a fan of his as of late. But your point on him makes perfect sense. I've struggled with wanting to like him these last few years but seen too much of his carelessness and unwillingness to clean it up that I more or less convinced what we saw, in his past, was the best we'd ever get. This year, yes he improved. But to what end? He cut down on his mistakes and "managed" the games better as the season wore on. But you know what? I think we may have already had the player Cutler has become in Kyle Orton back when we made the trade. He was a pretty darn good game manager too. In fact that was his MO. It's unfortunate that a player with Cutlers ability took this long to become that consistent. I can only hope that he improves upon it next year rather than maintain or slip. I fear if Gase goes we may have seen the best we'll get from Cutler. Another point you made was about Gould. And considering what Adam wrote in another thread labeled "our wins and losses". Isn't it ironic that just a few weeks ago (and some missed bery "routine" kicks) we went from playoff contention to totally out of it? Yet yesterday Robbie hit everything anywhere from 20 yards to 50 yards with relative ease.

Sorry...couldn't resist. I second your thought.

Yes the GB victory was one season in and of itself and I'll take it despite how the rest of it went(is going). Thanks Cracker! Please everyone have a safe and most excellent holiday season!

Of this group Wilkerson is really the only 'legitimate' prized FA. Beyond that I'd focus on a player like the 'other' Marshall and secure him for ILB. We need someone good and a veteran to solidify that middle. Jenkins, I think, is serviceable and at least worthy of one more year.

Unfortunately I think having Brandon leave did more bad than good with AJ. Jeffery seems to have had his best years when Brandon was around to help motivate him. Not sure that Alshon is the type of guy to do things on his own without being properly led.