jason

Cutler play-It was a slam, but the momentum of the play was headed that way. There is interpretation involved with whether it was the momentum of swinging him around or an actual pick up and solely a slam. Sometimes when a tackle is made, a defender ends up behind, pulling backwards, and needs to pull upward. That, in and of itself, is not a foul. Rodgers-The last call live looked like a facemask. Turns out no fingers got inside the mask. Pure missed call. Shit happens.

Essentially that's it, but I think getting into the dance by a slim margin just to get dumped by the hottest chick doesn't help a lot for the confidence. Especially when very minor improvements are from year to year, and the hot chick is very likely to dump you the next few years for the same reasons. Setbacks hurt. Michael Jordan didn't even make his HS basketball team at first. If he had, he might have had false confidence and not worked as hard. He has said so himself. Losing now builds character in ways winning does not, and it has the added benefit of better draft position.

It went back several games because I thought, along with others, this team was not very good. That they over-achieved only masked the issue. Even if they lucked out and made it into a WC game, they would lose in the playoffs. That is a 100% certainty. What then? A team that still has the same holes but a worse pick. Essentially the team is a boat with a hole in the front. Just because you luck out, and there is a huge wave, and all the water rushes to the back, doesn't mean the hole disappeared. And it doesn't mean the boat won't take on water in future fishing "seasons."

1. Cutler was tucking the ball and the momentum if the defender was bringing him the way of the slam. It is difficult to determine live whether extra oomph is added to a tackle like that, or if it is just the defender spinning and swinging a runner to the ground. Otherwise there is a flag on every single tackle where momentum carries a player off the ground, and it is not a form tackle. 2. The Brady foul, although incorrect, is a facemask call. There is virtually zero interpretation there. Get a finger inside the facemask, chinstrap, mouthpiece, inside part of the helmet and twist/turn...that is a foul. It just so happens that on this call, there was no finger inside; it just really looked like it. Rodgers' head turned. In real-time it definitely looked like a facemask foul. The first was an interpretation issue. The second is just simply a missed call.

It would be very exciting to see him play at the end of this year. Especially if he looks super fast and gets s TD on his stat-sheet for 2015.

By the way, I do not believe I ever said "lose games on purpose." I just said they are meaningless wins, like the Lovie wins a few times at the end of the season. They get the team a W, but sacrifice the draft position. I would argue the draft position is more beneficial than any "winning experience" a 7-9ish team gets. Be as confident as they would like to be, the team with the biggest, fastest horses wins most of the time. And that has been statistically shown on numerous occasions to be obtained more often near the top of the draft.

No, it is relavent since a good team wins yesterday's games. A good team destroys the Niners from yesterday. An average or subpar team plays inconsistently, losing when they should win. What yesterday, and some other games show, is this team has fight. Heart. And they are well coached. But it also shows a severe lack of talent, something that cant be overcome when mistakes are made. And THAT is the point. To hover at .500 or so, and play above their level is self-defeating. I agree about the concept of making good picks and coaching them well, but your examples are poor. It has been provennumerous times that drafting earlier is statistically significant and advantageous. Overachieving lessns our chances statistically.

Guessing we'll be somewhere around 10th with a 6-10 record. Shouldn't deviate much from that. Having said that, it's time to start thinking about the draft. Here's my first go at a mock. 1. , DE, Ole Miss - Great fit for the D. Has all the measurables. Crazy speed, explosion, quick-twitch. He could be a nightmare pass-rusher for the Bears. 2. , ILB, Arizona - The Bears need a tackling-machine in the middle. Conveniently, Scooby can run sideline to sideline as well as rush the passer, and he has a great nose for the ball. He'd be a versatile player for Fangio. 3. , FS, Clemson - Add him to my man-crush list. Huge, rangy, great instincts, great pedigree. His total package allows the Bears to send more at the opposing QB. 4. Tyler Johnstone, OT, Oregon - The Bears still need OL help. Put him at RT, move Long back in at RG, and let him learn from the all-pro. Probably still need a LT, but I don't like many where the Bears would have to get them. 5. , WR, North Carolina - This is partly because he's a pesky Wes Welker type, but mostly because he's a dynamic, fearless returner. Cut Mariani, immediately insert Switzer in as punt and kick returner, and whatever spot on the depth chart at WR Mariani was keeping warm. 6. Noah Spence, OLB, Eastern Kentucky - I don't care about character concerns. Dude looks like a stud. Let him get his head straight in the NFL. Could be a monster on ST with the right motivation. 6. Nick Kwiatkoski, ILB, West Virginia - This guy is going to be a steal late. He's one of those guys who just knows how to play football. A leader. He'd also be a killer on ST. 6. - I saw this highlight and knew I liked him. That's pretty athletic for a TE. 7. Derek Watt, FB, Wisconsin - Yeah, yeah, a Fullback. Why? Well, first of all, I think the Bears need one. He'd help the run game, and he's a great blocker overall. Secondly, he's got good hands - could be a good outlet. Third, he was a stud LB in HS and that translates well to ST play (notice a trend?). And, maybe, just maybe he'd be a bargaining chip for future FA considerations with his brother, JJ Watt.

Redskins - Seems like this should be a gimme win, but that was before seeing the SF game. Probably still a win. Vikings - They've been playing better, but who the hell knows? Probably a loss. Bucs - They'll probably have trouble with Winston for some reason. Loss. Lions - Somehow this team always gives the Bears fits. Loss. 6-10, which puts us somewhere around the top ten. Smells like Robert Nkemdiche territory.

LOL! I literally laughed because I knew the punchline before it was made. Good one. Games like this make me completely uncertain about the 2016 draft. I have no clue which way the team should go. I could literally be happy with ILB, OLB, DE, FS, SS, LT, or RT in the first round.

That's basically what I would like. But the more they use him for returns, the less value I see in him.

And this thread is especially poignant after such a brutal outcome. Other than the GB win, which is 100% worthwhile, the other wins aren't really great wins for the future of this team.

This thread needs to be brought to top until it happens. He sucked ass again today. Bad decisions, poor vision, no speed. He's horrible. And now, apparently, he's gutless. That one where he just stepped out of bounds was pathetic. He should have immediately darted to the wide side to search for yards and blocks.

Agreed. Feels like typical Bears. Felt like the stomach-punch was coming the entire game.

The problem is, you have no sort of common sense when it comes to Jay issues. No middle ground. No objectivity. Want to know a bad throw by Jay? The one where he overthrew a wide open Alshon for the long bomb, sure-fire TD. That was huge. That, I believe, would have taken the wind out of the Niners' sails. But he overthrew it. Another one is the deep slant in the 4th where he overthrew Bellamy. Sorry, but that screen pass was not his fault. It's a trust route. He gets the ball, turns and throws. There isn't anything complicated to the route. He doesn't turn, look for the DB, then decide to throw it. If he hesitates to look for the DB, it's not a successful play. That play lives and dies with the blocks from the two WRs who do not get the ball. Bellamy didn't get a finger on Ward. It was Bellamy's fault.

There's virtually no read on that play. It's drop back, throw. As a QB it's the first read, an immediate read, and an immediate throw. The WR screen doesn't work unless it's immediate. Ward made a great play, but Bellamy blew that play.

That's a MUCH better analogy. And exactly what Bryant was talking about.

How was that a stupid throw? It's the definition of safe throw. Bellamy missed his responsibility. He was slow out off the line, and slow with his cut. The Niner player had a great break on the pass, but Bellamy absolutely has to get a body on that guy.

Yeah, except that has virtually zero bearing on the topic of discussion. The Bear Bryant video is him talking about taking lesser guys who try their maximum and beating guys who are more talented yet don't give their full effort, which is directly related to the OL and QB performances on the Bears this year.

Kind of replying in general... The OL is the key to the offense. I've always said it, and it will always be true. It doesn't matter what QB or skill players you have if the OL sucks. That is fact. For the Bears, their hasn't been a huge influx of talent. I've never said a line full of 1st rounders was necessary, but since every coach and front office the Bears have had in the last 20 years has either coached it poorly, drafted it poorly, or both, it's something I felt was necessary. I still feel like the OL has to be drafted early and often to improve the team. Regarding Cutler, it's said up above, but he's had to move around a lot this year. He's done a great job with that because I suspect he understands, trusts, knows the offense better. Speaking of that... The coaching all around - except ST - has been undeniably improved. With great coaching, low round picks look like high round picks. I believe that's what's happening. I'm reminded of the great Bear Bryant speech below:

DING DING DING!!! It doesn't take a genius to see this. Too bad our previous regime didn't. Comfortable Cutler = Better Cutler Rushed and beat up Cutler = Bad Mechanics/Decisions Cutler Fix the OL, and Cutler improves, the runners improve, the offense improves. Shocker. There is a reason my signature line says what it does.

Yeah, I was looking at several mocks, and it seems that there are concerns about Nkemdiche. I was thinking that might cause him to drop to the middle of the first. Maybe not.

You know how many points the Bears won by?

Make no mistake, I'd love some OL help. I think we need both tackles, to be quite honest. Move Long back inside to where he's the best in the NFL. Between Slaussen, Grassu, and Long, that's a solid middle. But OT needs help. The talent in the first at our position of defensive needs, however, seem perfectly suited. And I'm really a strong believer in Fangio. I think he's done so much with average D talent that if given elite talent he makes the Bears a true title contender. Ideally, I'd like to see the Bears go: 1. DE/OLB/ILB 2. DE/OLB/ILB 3. OT 4. OT/QB 5. If 4th Rd OT, pick QB. If 4th Rd QB, pick OT. 6-7. BPA

I wouldn't be so fast to dismiss Draughn. He looked VERY fast on a few runs. If their OL can open holes, he could bust off a long run. The Bears are better overall, but Draughn is dangerous.