Alaskan Grizzly

Funny you ask, was just thinking about this on my drive into work. What sparked that was a show I was listening to on ESPN speculating about how Tua was going to eventually turn out for Miami. This after Miami won over New Orleans last night while riding a 7 game winning streak. The question was whether Tua was the long term answer for Miami and how he was shaking out compared to his draft mates in Cincy (Burrow) and LAC (Herbert). If you ask me it seems a bit premature to predict how well Tua will play long term in only his 2nd year while dealing with the injuries he's had. And if the Dolphins have won 7 straight because of his play then the answer seems obvious. Anyhow.... Back sometime after the draft was over I was a bit skeptical about the Bears choosing Justin. I didn't see him as having 'it' and other than a feeling I couldn't really explain it. He proved himself to be a QB similar to others I hoped the Bears would've picked before him (Watson with his two NCAA championship appearances for Clemson and Dak Prescott for what he did while at Mississippi State). Once he came to the Bears and displayed his football IQ and work ethic I warmed to him pretty quick. Still in the back of my mind I was curious why Urban Meyer (with the first overall pick available to him) didn't go with Justin rather than Lawrence. I get that Lawrence was ranked higher than Fields but with Urban only a few years removed from Ohio State it seemed fitting he'd want a QB more familiar with his system to help him embark on his NFL HC duty. All that being said, I get the concern about the lowly stats and wonder sometimes what it is he's doing when he makes some of the mistakes he's made. But I have to remind myself this is his first year in the NFL and mistakes happen, especially for rookie QBs. Add to that he doesn't have the coach or really the supporting players he needs to make that leap. You have to consider that Andy and Nick have had ALOT of experience to include playoff and Super Bowl games and still have made some mistakes while in Chicago. Give Justin some more time and a better HC and he'll impress a lot more people than just us. PS: I'll reiterate another 'hot take' I had earlier this year in that Kellen Mond and Justin will be fighting for NFC North supremacy in the years to come.

Ever the Mustipher apologist I agree an upgrade would solidify the line. Not sure a draft pick or FA acquisition would be the better route. For what it’s worth, Whitehairs had better luck at Center than has Daniels to include playing there all of 2017 and making the Pro Bowl in 2018. For whatever it’s worth, Kreutz doesn’t seem to think neither he or Daniels is a fit there. But I dunno. If possible I’d like to see the Bears retain Peters for another year as an insurance policy and as a great mentor to both Borom and Jenkins.

At the end of the day how does it affect the team going forward? Is there really any harm in him coaching until the end of the season? As we’ve seen the last few weeks the team is still playing inspired football despite knowing Nagys got one foot out the door. Besides that, most of the better candidates are still (or will be) coaching into the playoffs. With this new rule I noticed a team with a prospective HC candidate on its staff has to give consent to interview. I could see some wanting to exercise that to avoid distracting the team as they prepare for the post-season.

“ Bah Humbug”.

Jimmy Graham doing what he do. Or at least he used to do. Catching TDs in the redzone. Followed up by a remarkable 2 pt conversion by D. Byrd.

With this play Quinn now 1/2 sack behind Bears single season sack leader Richard Dent (Quinn started with 16 going into todays game). Great work Robert! IMG_2005.MOV

Jenkins started out at LT not sure why he’s not any longer. Former 1st round pick (for the Seahawks) Ifedi looking pretty porous out at RT. Just gave up a sack and has been CHASING his primary blocking responsibility around the field ala Charles Leno.

Poor Whitehair.

“Bears football” conditions? Yet I predict 15 rush to 35 pass plays called. Hopefully Foles will alter that a bit.

Dalton has what is described as a “gnarly” injury to his left (non-throwing) hand. No need to wear down Fields this late in a lost season. Not to worry though; Va Tech graduate (and Herbert teammate) QB Ryan Willis was signed as the #4 shortly after Dalton got hurt. For what it’s worth, I think Foles will do well (provided he doesn’t get clobbered) as he doesn’t believe in Nagys system. I suspect he’ll call a lot of audibles.

Hindsight being what it is, I wish Amos was still with us. He’s “that” guy.

Hot take (from the pages of Stugotz). If that one game is any indication, Graham will be a better CB than Johnson.

The question I keep seeing repeated is ‘where has CB Graham been all season behind players like Burns and Vildor’? I can’t help but bring up once again, if Desai is so good at what he does and given his background as a defensive back coach why he didn’t recognize it sooner? Was last night a one hit wonder? His college tape looked promising. I hope what he showed us last night was a sample of his base ability .

The whole defense plays more inspired when he’s on the field…they certainly did last night. The entire secondary were primarily PS guys and they looked like starters last night…even Vildor.

There is definitely a tale of two weeks for sure. Last week (against GB) he was incredible then last night reverted to what looked like day one preseason. These are in fact huge keys to his success. I’m surprised for as much as he’s been banged around he hasn’t gotten hurt more. At some point that definitely needs to be cleaned up, he can’t keep doing that. and the turnovers…oy vey. All season he’s been fumbling the ball due to the way he carries the ball. After 2-3 times you’d think he’d work on that a little more. His receivers actually catching the ball would help (Cole Kmet - looking at you). And Jimmy G!! WTF?!? I call for you to be used in the red zone. You finally get a chance and drop the ball in your one ‘sure thing’ opportunity. Im still excited to see how he develops for next year.

Fu#k the refs. FWIW despite the total mess the team is in, they are playing balls out. Just like the Lions have been. Good on them. If they lose it’s not because they didn’t try.

CB Graham is a keeper. As are Quinn and Grant Sr.

Agree with Pix, this isn’t the place to talk about COVID in this manner. There’s too much flawed information out there to make a substantive stance with regards to the NFL.

To add to your ‘everyone has COVID’ string, CB Johnson and Safety Gipson out meaning all secondary starters are out tomorrow. Yay.

If we could see some evidence of passion for the game top to bottom that would be nice. Watching Detroit take it to Arizona reminds me how crappy a team you can be and still play like you give a damn. And spare me the ‘trap game’ BS. AZ has everything to play for. Detroit has been playing balls out most of the season, they’ve just not been able to get it all together…yet.

Looks like they’ll keep Jenkins where he is/was most recently.

With Burns potentially out will Vildor get the nod or will we get to see Graham? I hope it’s Graham, just to see what the team has in him. Of course there’s also the recently added Dee Virgin who I know nothing about.

In other, other news…Urban is gone from JAX.

In other news, COVID protocols are causing some issues among teams. Many positive tests over the last couple days. I heard on some ESPN show that some teams may have to postpone/resched their games and some, like the Browns, have as many as 9 players (to include Mayfield today) that tested positive this week. The Bills’ Josh Allen will be “limited” for the team’s walkthrough practice this week due to a lower leg injury he suffered last week. Meaning it could be Trubiksy time in Buffalo for week 15. I’ll be interested to see how that goes.

I imagine this would go under the week 15 Game Thread. But for your consideration. Possible Borom and Jenkins will swap positions this week.