DABEARSDABOMB

4 out of 7 years his offenses have been top 10 in yards. 3 out of 7 years his offenses were top 5 in yards. That is with RGIII and Matt Schaub at QB. I'd say that is pretty good.

One thing I'll give Kyle credit is he didn't exactly have a lot of talent to work with and if I look at the offensive rankings and consider who his QB was, I'm largely impressed with the general performance of his offenses. He is widely regarded as being an extremely bright offensive mind and I do in general really like the Shanny style offense (Shanny (Sr. / Jr.) and Kubiak). Heavy emphasis on the running game, bootlegs, play action, etc. I think the general perception against Kyle if you are a Bear fan is I think everyone hears Shanny and thinks we are catering to Jay. However, when you take a step back and consider his accolades and the general views of him around the league (including fact that he was considered for a HC job this year), he would be a pretty big upgrade over most of the offensive guys we have had during the past 10 years.

Kyle Shannahan 2014 = Cleveland 2013 - 2010 = Washington 2008 - 2009 = Houston Pts 2014 27 (Hoyer) 2013 23 (Griffin) 2012 4 (Griffin) 2011 26 (Grossman) 2010 25 (McNabb) 2009 10 (Schaub) 2008 17 (Schaub) Yds 2014 23 (Hoyer) 2013 9 (Griffin) 2012 5 (Griffin) 2011 16 (Grossman) 2010 18 (McNabb) 2009 4 (Schaub) 2008 3 (Schaub)

Rankings (Not near as good as I remembered): 2014 = Bills (DC) 2009 - 2013 = Lions (HC) 2002 - 2008 = Titans (DC) PTS 2014 4 2013 15 2012 27 2011 23 2010 19 2009 32 2008 2 2007 8 2006 31 2005 29 2004 30 2003 13 2002 11 YDs 2014 4 2013 13 2012 23 2011 8 2010 17 2009 31 2008 1 2007 16 2006 26 2005 29 2004 27 2003 4 2002 11

I think Thursday is the deadline.

Everyone knows he's the most talented QB at OSU (from an NFL perspective), however, it doesn't mean that talent overcomes the production that they got out of the 1st two QB's. Mel Kiper has said if he had done this over a full year, you are talking about a guy that potentially is the top QB selected (ahead of Winston / Mariotta). The tools on this kid are extremely rare and impressive. No idea if he has football IQ but it was impressive how he continued to look downfield when he scrambled and made some big-time throws. I think you keep Jay for a year or two while Jones is groomed and it is a perfect scenario. If it works, great, if not, you have time and can and should be competitive with Jay (as you focus on building up your defensive talent and improving the oline).

He'd have to sit out a year, which would put him even further behind the 8 ball and basically mean he'll have one year of eligibility (I think he has already used up his RS).

At this point, if something goes wrong, it would appear that Maronne or Austin would be the Bears choices. I don't think there is a chance in hell Quinn takes our job over the Atlanta or Denver jobs. It would seem to me that at this point, we better damn well like John Fox and be willing to spend the bucks.

Also...Chicago media is dropping the ball. How the heck did no one know Maronne was interviewing until after the fact.

I wonder if Maronne ends up being our OC (after Fox gets hired). Otherwise he'll just be on the sidelines. Looks very unlikely that he is going to get a job (unless he ends up in Atlanta). Raiders haven't been on his radar and now with the Niners hiring Gase, Jets hiring Bowles, and the Bronco's focused on Kubiak, there really are zero places for Maronne to go. I think Fox as the HC with Maronne as the OC and someone like Schwartz as the DC would be amazing.

Fox is interviewing today. Bears interviewed Austin and Marrone yesterday.

Evidently John Fox was pushing the Bronco's to run more (which we saw during the 2nd half of the season) and it upset Gase / Elway / Manning. However, it was that running that impressed me about the team because they weren't going to beat anybody the way Peyton was playing down the stretch.

So Jay Glazer and John Fox are extremely good friends and beyond Glazer basically saying everyone is all in on this, there are now reports that Fox leaked to Chicago during the bye week (specifically Chicago) that he was interested in the job. No idea if that was true (or if he leaked that to other teams with openings around the league). Could very well be that he told Ernie, hey, don't forget me. I would love to come to Chicago (with the right fit) knowing that Ernie, who he respects a lot, was at least involved in the process. I think tomorrow Bears will get Fox and we will all be happy!

@RapSheet: The #Cowboys and DC Rod Marinelli have reached an agreement on a contract for him to stay, source said. Big one for Dallas.

I think he quit but I also think it was coming either way. I think some of it had to do with him being the runner up to Emery.

Ruskell left the organization.

Per Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers. We each have a different source in bears, and told them all in on Fox. Looks like the Bears are going after John Fox hard

The moves that are going to come out from this should ease anyone who was concerned about us not being serious about changing our ways. Whether it works...who knows, but Pace is going to have his opportunity to put his spin on this thing and build this organization.

Fox's winning percentage took a huge hit from one year in Carolina (his last year)...where Delhomme imploded due to injuries (major surgeries, etc). He also had another year where they won 7 games despite starting 4 different QB's (again due to injuries...a list that included Delhomme, Testaverde, David Carr, and Matt Moore). In his 1st year he had Rodney Peete. Bottom line, I can't say that his teams really underachieved and in most instances I'd say they overachieved vs. the general talent perception (with exception to the last two years and one year you expected the superbowl and this year had similar expectations but Manning obviously struggled and hard to put that entirely on the coach..especially given his track record for struggling in big games with other top coaches too).

You have to remember, I largely liked Lovie. I never disagreed that it was time for a new voice but I liked him. Only thing I can really fault him for is getting too much say in roster decisions. Had it not been for that, I think we'd have won a superbowl. Lovie can coach but he certainly can't scout.

I would hope that isn't the case. I want the right GM being hired and than let him bring in whomever he thinks is the right coach. Don't hire the GM purely because he has an in on a particular coach. The GM is going to be critical in this entire thing and I hope Pace is still in this organization 25 years from now (and he'll have hired multiple successful coaches during his tenure).

I can't get over how great of a candidate John Fox is. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good and the perfect candidate fell in our lap. While he hasn't won a superbowl, he was a field goal away from winning the superbowl with Jake freakin Delhomme. He won a division with Tim Tebow (and a playoff game for that part). Dude is a fantastic candidate and fit (outside of hiring someone like Cowher) and in my humble opinion is the best coach without a superbowl in the modern era (along with Schottenheimer and Levy).

He didn't win the game. Our inability to hold onto the football as well as our inability to stop the run is what won the game for the Colts. Peyton Manning did nothing to help the cause and won a sham Superbowl MVP award that should have went to their RB's.

Jay Glazer is extremely confident Fox will be next head coach of the Bears. Sees no reason why it won't happen. Note, this is purely his speculation.

Not sure if that report is accurate or not cause I've seen other things saying we haven't yet. Hell if I know. Seems like with Pace in charge, none of the media has connections so no one really knows. Probably more likely a national guy would know something than a local guy.