DABEARSDABOMB

Mooney had a weird quote saying if Fields is hurt it sure doesn't look like it. That might be more of just him implying Fields is looking more like himself or maybe the Bears are being extra protective and want to position Fields to really play following GB game (where he has a shot to finish the season on a nice run).

I agree - that is why I kind of said certain positions are what you need to tackle - you still have to follow relative draft board, free agency and trade and figure out best way to go get those items. If a great safety is there and the wideouts aren't good - you draft the safety and find another way to get the wideout.

I am prioritizing the offense - so yeah, I could argue safety is a bigger hole than Center, but you know what, the center protects the biggest investment on this team (Fields) so that makes center more important. Similarly - I feel the same way about wideout and the value it will have on Fields. I also think safety is a position you can change via free agency and other spots too. And Mustipher is not good. I Liked him last year and maybe he will grow as season goes on, but his physical limitations are becoming obvious. He's a good depth/back-up guy, not strong enough to be a quality starting center.

One more point - but as everyone on here knows - I think if Fields proves to be good - this franchise is on the way up and big time and is much closer to being a pretty good football team vs. a terrible team. But I do think there are some very clear needs that have to be addressed: - Center (prefer via draft, but type of position you can affordably fill in FA - not sure the candidates out there) - Wideout - EARLY DRAFT PICK - Mooney has an elite skillset (NOT AN ELITE WIDEOUT but he has speed in spades and is good with a true plus skill that is actually useable). He is the only one under contract that is worth anything. Even Robinson - as good and productive as he is, his skill is his skill...pure talent and seperation skills are limited and Bears CLEARLY need a massive upgrade at this position to help wideouts. In an ideal world - Arob and Fields would show a connection (my guess is neither play this week and than we have them both back starting next week - would be massive if they can show real chemistry and growth). In a perfect world - Arob/Fields show that growth and you get Arob and extension, have Mooney continue his upward path and DRAFT another receiver with upside (ideally you have an extra 1st or 2nd from a Mack trade that can be deployed here - so high investment). You also SIGN a slot type of guy too (no more of these sign random dudes with speed and call them wideouts - get me guys who can get open and play football). - DB - EARLY DRAFT PICK - We clearly need to find another good CB. I suppose they could go FA route here, but I feel like big money FA DB's are risky propositions. Plus I want more money invested on the offense as to surround our young QB with as much as possible to succeed. I would actually be okay if they picked up a young DB and went back and grabbed Fuller (who I think would be available at a much cheaper rate and probably hungry and sometimes guys just fit in better in different places). But this is a clear area of need that has to be addressed and my gut says with a 2nd rounder (I am hoping we can acquire at a minimum a 2nd rounder in a trade - so one can be WR and the other DB). - LB - We need to upgrade our speed next to Roquan. I think this is something that could be filled via a combination of mid-range FA signing + mid round draft picks. Playing next to Roquan should make any other LB better and Ogletree has been fine, but reality is Ogletree/Trevathan both are way past their primes and these are not expensive positions and they should be able to upgrade. They also need to PAY ROQUAN. - Safety - Ugly position, probably have to see if you can sign a mid-range type guy to make things better and i don't know cap situation with Ejax. They may be stuck one more year with Ejax, hope you can find a mid-range guy. If somehow you trade Mack for a 1st & 2nd - than things get interesting. At that point - I'd prioritize taking a CB, Safety, and WR (in no particular order). Note: I AM IGNORING TACKLE AND GUARD. I want to see what Borom / Jenkins can do plus I will live with Whitehair/Daniels in the interior. That means extending Daniels. Center is the weak link and than if Borom/Jenkins don't work, that becomes a critical area of need via FA / Draft in '23 (the good news being if you have moved at least Mack, between him being off the books, having a rookie contract QB, having all of your draft picks, plus quite a few other aging vets gone - they will have MASSIVE cap space in 23 to upgrade line and fill other parts).

I see ZERO scenario where they win this game. Quite frankly - no need to start Fields or Robinson here. Focus on getting them both at 100% in a week and than see how they can finish the season from that point forward. I'd actually probably just treat this as a mini-bye week and not rush Hicks or Roquan either. I will caveat - if Hopkins/Murray don't play, than I think it gets a bit more intriguing as it makes the game more "winnable" and technically a win here would be huge at restoring playoff hopes (which I don't really care about but if you are Nagy you probably do).

I think the worse case scenario is they do nothing in the front office and Pace stays pat. It means he'll be under a lot of win now pressure and may be way too short-sited. To me they either promote him and bring up Champ, extend him (least favorite option - but it at least gives him the security to manage in the long), or you can him and just start fresh. I am fine with scenario 1 (promote and leverage Champ) or scenario 3 (new guy). The one thing I like about scenario 1 - it might be the best path to get the right segregation with a football president established so even if Pace isn't the guy I would pick - it sets the precident for the future. A big example I would have is: if a GM is on a super hot seat, would they take the short term pain to move Mack and/or Quinn for assets (while knowing it limits '22 cap flexibility). The plus is it gives the front office more assets to deploy on the offensive side of the football - helping set the foundation for Fields and his development + it creates a TON of long term cap flexibility (23/24/25). But I would say in the near term - it certainly doesn't make the team more likely to be a playoff team. I want a GM who can make a decision that effectively balances impact on 22 vs. impact on 22-25 type of horizon. I can live with a HC that is on a shorter tenure, but with GM's, they have to have security to, otherwise they have way too much power to completely mess up a franchise.

One other point - I think you are right - if they are going to get rid of Pace - than they may actually wait on removing Nagy until the end of the season, unless they are looking at switching the dynamics and hiring the coach first and letting the coach have more say in who the GM / front man will be. I still think Pace will be back and I kind of buy into the rationale of him moving up a level and them promoting from within (Champ Kelly - who is pretty darn well respected in league circles).

People get crazy - maybe he just got awful advice and took a bad report. And sometimes someone super respected goes off the deep end at some point. What he wasn't is a pulitzer prize winning SPORTS reporter. HE was a non sports journalist wading into sports...and he got burned.

I am with you 100%. I think it was a bad scoop, a bad rumor from somewhere, I don't know, but I don't believe the Bears had any intention of letting go of Nagy or had formally made that decision. Maybe in there mind George was like - if we get routed by Detroit on Turkey day that is it - but that is very different than the report and I could at least plausbily understand that. But I expect Nagy will be here through Week 15 - at that point, either he has literally won out or Fields is on a huge hot streak and we are going - nope, keep him, or they are in same place as today and he is probably gone at that point so they can officially get a head start. Bears have literally zero history of axing guys sooner and I also will say - I don't like Nagy as a HC, but the guy handled a really bad situation WITH A TON of class this past week.

I don't think that a report going out a day early changes the ownership's plans. I think there was zero truth to the rumor and the Bears just bungled it. If there was truth - they would have just went out and made the announcement the next day and actually accelerated the move. Once you have decided to let someone go, they aren't going to go, oh wait, I'm not going to do it now that a report leaked - you just accelerate it and get done.

So he was one of the biggest reasons i ripped Pace last year. This year he has been spectacular and it turns out that whole drop foot/injury he had was real. His bend is elite and he has a special ability to get to QB and is playing good on the run. Dude is dominant and dare I say it, presuming he stays healthy this year, if Bears wanted to he would be a dynamic trade asset or just a really good player opposite Mack in next years D (yes Quinn is old - but pass rushers, especially guys with that bend, have an ability to have pretty long and effective careers).

The Stafford dael was a gross overpay at the time and still is. Rams have mortgaged everything. Best thing that could happen is McVay depends out and comes to Chicago with a fresh restart

I actually think 4-2 might work, presuming both wins are against Minnesota. The Steelers, Niners, and Ravens games were just brutal losses - they should have won all 3 (quite frankly) but at a minimum 2 of those 3 games. We would actually be 50/50 at this point. That said - I am focused on development right now, most notably Fields but really want to see Borom, Jenkins, Mooney, Johnson, Kmet, Gipson and the other young guys development as those players arrows pointing up and showing real growth is way more important to the franchise being closer to the promise land than a true rebuilding mode. If in that path they make it interesting from a playoff perspective - great, but development is most important and I do want to temper my expectations given how many injuries the D has had.

I tend to agree with you. I think Matt Nagy will get another shot and be successful in future, having grown from his experience as previous HC and some more OC type of work. I think highly of Nagy's ability to be more of a CEO - but he didn't have enough experience leading/play calling and doing some of those other things and I think he'll learn from that. But there are many plus(es) I tie to Nagy too, even how professionally he handled such a tough week and being put in a situation no HC should be (in terms of that press conference where he had to deny the report that he was gone - really so strange). I like Frazier - as long as he has some good ties to some offensive minds. I kind of like going with a more defensive coach who can be a CEO and really entrust the offense to a good coaching staff. The reason being - I think new HC's who also handle all the offense just have a TON to be asked of. There is only one Sean McVay. I like Daboll from Bills a ton - but I wonder - how much can he truly learn to be the CEO and do that job while trying to build up and develop a rookie QB. If he does - he needs a super savvy/experienced DC.

I get it - but I don't like it. I still think Fields would have benefited from a bit more time on the bench - but I get how Dalton's injury forced the timeline to accelerate and I also get the point that McCaskey wants to see some of Fields, but its a long season and they could have accomplished that in a different manner. That said - I think FIelds has the right mentality to manage through lumps / early struggles and game action is still most critical to development.

Jones can read D's. He has special accuracy and throws guys open. I've seen enough to know Mac is going to be good - whether he'll be very good/elite, no idea, but he's got a high floor and its why I liked him a ton coming out of the draft. I also really liked Fields. Mac was the surer thing, from a downside perspective, Fields has ability to be elite if he can learn to process D quickly and clean up some of those items that quite frankly will be learning efforts given what he was asked, or more notably, wasn't asked to do at Ohio State (OSU was a 1/2 read offense - but Fields ran it much better/with more complexity than others). I've also seen Fields shown an ability to get through progressions better than Mitch did at early stages of his career. So that gives me optimism.

Stats are heavily impacted by 2 horrific games though and quite frankly - rookie QB's largely are meh, especially early. How do they trend, those things matter a lot, and what is going on between the room.

Justin has flashed special athleticism at times and an ability to throw the ball into tight windows down field. That said - he holds onto it way too long and for him to take things next level things have to speed up and he has to be able to decision faster. I don't think we can come to that conclusion this year - as he needs to go through these lumps, learn, have an off-season and than we see how he emerges after next year at handling those. The good news is - his elite athleticism means he never has to be amazing in his ability to read the D to be great, he just has to be okay. If he is better - great. Haskin's issue was more I think how he put in the work and other items, or more how he didn't do any of those things. I think people forget that there was some optimism about Haskins early in his career - before his off the field/work ethic issues really got in the way and made things worse. Haskins also struggled from fact that OSU requires no real reading of the D - but he didn't have the elite athleticism to buy time, nor did he show the character, leadership, work ethic that gave Washington the hope that he could grow into those things. Fields doesn't have anywhere near those issues - other than, like most rookies (not named Matt Jones), it takes time to show whether you can/can't process the speed of the game. Worse part for Fields is the offense often times asks Fields to dissect an entire Field vs. making the reads more rookie QB friendly.

Wishing everyone a great thanksgiving and Bearfan - hope your dad continues to have a stronger recovery and congrats for the soon to be addition to your family!

100% - it seems like this is true and Bears just had an awful leak. Nagy even said they haven't spoken so it seems like something is going to go down shortly and the only part wrong with the source was that the team quietly informed him it was it.

Bears handling this really poorly - no one got in front of this and Tabor/Nagy ended up on the hot seat. Fact that no one in org has denied this other than the HC is just poor. Either go out and say what it is or get out and deny it so the HC & ST coordinator don't have to.

Report on Nag

As always - well said and I agree with most everything. I don't agree Dazz will be a guy at wideout - but i do agree with your point, which is let him get his shot. Same with Rodney Adams, give them reps. See if you have anything. At this point, not a lot of downside. Byrd isn't doing jack. On Horstead - we see eye to eye. Whenever he is in, he makes plays and clearly should be used more than Graham at this point.

I don't get why they would have him coach Thursday if it is true.

Mark Konkol - who evidently is a old school reporter is indicating Nagy will coach his final game against the Lions. Will be fired after the game regardless of outcome. I can't believe this is true and if it is the case - you just do it (short week or not)...but if true, only the Bears could botch relieving its head coach this poorly.