DABEARSDABOMB

I think a huge part is the oline play and the lack of a running game (to go with Burton being a shell of who he was last year and Miller being completely unreliable with his route-running, that he literally needs to be wide open for Mitch to be confident throwing him the ball). I literally think last year, teams respected Howard enough that they game planned the run a bit and didn't adjust against it until later in the year (and at that point, Howard had a couple good games). This year, with all of the tape and much more unproven running backs, the Bears are totally one-dimensional and when you combine that one-dimensionality with unimaginitive play calling, including 2 of what should be your top 3 weapons on offense being shells of who they can be (Burton - Injuries / Miller - Lack of Discipline / Impact Offseason Surgery & Injury had on his preperation) and it snowballs into something bad. The good part of this is, I think some of these things could be fixed. Miller can get better (if he has the right attitude...I do question whether he has the attitude to respect the details of the game) and Burton is a question-mark (as I don't know how bad his injury really is...however, a bye week should help). Oline was, Long was such a shell of his former self, that I can't see things getting worse there and if anything we see some improvement (Daniels & Whitehair both getting better adjusted and Leno can't keep being as penalized as he has been...just doesn't line up to his historical play at all and there isn't anything about his game that would project some huge regression).

I don't really think I saw a bunch of wideouts open with Daniel either. I think we have a pretty lousy receiving corps and scheme at this point, a bad oline, mediocre to poor QB play, and a poor rushing game (most likely due to the line and scheme). All in all a terrible offense. People overhyped them all off-season, but both the coaching staff and individual players need to step up and fast. The only optimism I have is Leno has never been flagged like he has recently and Daniels/Whitehair should get better as they adjust. On the WR / TE front, we can only hope that at somepoint Miller & Burton emerge as playmakers opposite Robinson (who has been the only good player on offense). I kind of like Wimms as well. Seperately, the coaches need to man up and get better. QB play also has to get better too. Daniels has severe limitations and we know Trubisky had struggled out of the gate as well (albeit...some of that is chalked up to all the items outlined above).

I heard a report that he wore the jersey on the sideline, so if that was the issue, it would seem odd to still wear the jersey.

It is interesting. I don't think this saga is over yet with Matt Nagy declining to confirm that Smith will play. Implies it is the coaching staff's decision vs. players. This could also be Matt Nagy putting some gamesmanship out there, but I doubt it (as it will force more questions). That said, I don't get why Bears would put Smith in front of the media yesterday, only to have the coach back track from it today.

The interesting part is he has been at Halas Hall everyday. I wonder if this is a real personal issue (LT health / family / friend, etc) and the Bears are essentially being there for him and making sure they provide a family environment and treat him right while he gets things situated (some of which includes the fact that being close to his teammates is something that can help him as he deals with whatever the situation is).

JD Dickerson is reporting that he is out indefinitely. I just hope whatever it is, Roquan can get himself in the right place.

Schefty reporting that some of the rumors out there regarding Roquan and a car accident are false. However, Schefty is reporting that Roquan was not himself at practice this week. Hope whatever Roquan is going with, he gets whatever help he needs / can get things back in order.

Tom Brady had 3 games with zero TD's in his 3rd season and 4 games with 1 TD. He also had 6 games where he threw as many picks as he had TD's. His single worst game that season, he went 14-29 with 0 TD and 1 INT with 134 YDS. That game was following up a game where he threw for 133 YDS. Said another way, in Tom Brady's 3rd season, he threw for less than 140 yards in 2 of 3 games that season (with 1 TD and 2 INTs). In Tom Brady's fourth season, he had a 0 TD and 4 INT opening week performance where he threw for 123 yards. What if people overreacted to Tom Brady and managed him on a day to day and week to week basis? Would he ever have even gotten a chance to become a GOAT. I am not saying that Trubisky is going to be the next Tom Brady and he very well could be the next Blake Bortles, but you got to give him time to prove it out. My gut says he's not much different than Mariotta, but I could be wrong and there are plenty of times where I see Mitch make special throws. Whether he actually has that it factor and the game slows down super crazy, I don't know, but he is who we have and we need to put everything into getting everything we can out of him.

I still go back to, it was one game. I saw a lot of very good QBs have lousy to bad games this past week.

I actually think the quote about they wanted Trubisky to throw was more related to the fact that they wanted to keep him in the pocket and beat him as a pocket passer and not let his legs and athleticism be what beat them. I think it came off as a total knock about him being a crappy passer and that they couldn't do anything else and was more to the fact that they know he can be dangerous but it is ability to create with his feet and other things that combined with his passing skills make him at least an average QB. You take away that aspect and you get rid of some of his fall-back options that can help counter the fact that he isn't yet a super quick decision maker, etc. I do agree with you that he wasn't nearly as bad as advertised and the game plan & poor blocking were terrible. He made some good throws where wideouts just couldn't quite get feet in bounds as well as that one throw to Mike Davis that could have been a TD (had he not got hit).

Fired up! Lets make this a magical year!!!

Kyle Long has supposedly looked very very good. Hopefully his body can hold up but I have read a lot of nice things about him. James Daniels has been snapping nicely (had his first bad snap yesterday). Outside of that, the Dline has been very disruptive...not sure if that is a knock against our oline or more of a testament for how strong the Defense is.

Consider me skeptical. The video was exciting, but if he was that good, the Raiders aren't trading him. That said, they do have a young kicker they also liked. Either way, no risk. If the Bears don't like him and they cut him, the Raiders get no one. Dude appears to have a huge leg. This is the first kicker I can actually get excited about since we had Gould. Technically, on paper, Parkey didn't look awful (he was good the year before with Miami). But this guy is young, under contract (and at an affordable clip) and would seem to have some upside.

Good move.

Definitely a much tougher schedule.

Hate losing him, but excited for him to have this opportunity. I wish him nothing but the best.

Shoot if you are San Juan I aught to just stop by (I'm not more then 30 minutes from there).

I'm hoping we stay healthy these next two games (and keep momentum rolling) but also that we can get Long back for Minny (just to get some rust off) with everyone ready to roll in the postseason.

Flipping awesome. Defense was nails (Mack and Floyd played stellar) and Trubisky was absolutely fantastic. Only real thing to knock was Cohen going out of bounds in the redzone and where the coaching staff got too cute on a couple 3rd and shorts and the fake punt. That said, it was fantastic to knock the Packers out of the playoffs and clinch the division. I hope Eddie Jackson's injury is minor and he'll be able to be 100% for the first playoff game. Playoffs peeps....we get to talk about playoffs!!! Don't stop now boys!!! This has been such a fan magical year....now lets make it even more magical

Sounds like he is out for the post-season.

Trubisky played terrible. He didn't have bad reads, but just awful throws. Only the pick at the end of the first half was a bad read...the rest of them were just horrific throws. No way around it, the Bears offense left chunks on the field and it was because of Mitch. I said it when I ripped Daniel, Mitch could have just as bad of a game, if not worse than Daniel did against the Giants...but it meant nothing. Daniel is not a starter...Trubisky could be an all pro. He might not be...but I know Daniel isn't...doesn't have the tools. Mitch has shown he's capable of it...albeit he has a lot of room to grow still (and he knows it as much as anyone). I said forever, Mitch's development is week to week and his next step forward (or major expectation) will come after a full off-season where the game can truly slow down another level (imo). I do hope he goes out this week and crushes the Packers though!

By the way, I still like Daniel as a backup. I've just long said he doesn't have the skillsets to be a long-term starter. He doesn't have the physical tools, he just doesn't. He's still a good backup QB to have and going 1-1 in 2 road games with a backup is admirable. Trubisky is going to have bad games too and he could have a game as bad as Daniel had on Sunday (easily)....but he has far more tools and it is why you invest the time in developing him further and do everything you can to maximize his potential (that is more a response to Alaska vs. you AZ).

Would be great....not just for the team but for Kyle Long.

I hope he keeps it up, would be great to see him develop into a beast. I think he has the chance to do so. He's also still extremely young so I think he has room to build out his frame more.

As an interesting cross-set, outside of Jackson, some of the Bears top defensive players were from smaller schools, most notably Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks. I don't quite know that your example above is all that stastically significant since a heck of a lot of the players I see listed were 1st round picks. The interesting scenario would be is there a higher percentage of later round picks who go on to become quality players who are drafted from bigger schools vs. smaller schools. Further more, I've been curious how much analytics teams look at over the course of recent draft history to see if certain body types / player attributes project better in later rounds (i.e., are you better to take a guy who looks like a great athlete who hasn't produced vs. a bigger name program guy who had great stats but his combine times weren't that good, etc). Going beyond that are there certain attributes that statistically are more significant (i.e, CB in a man scheme's shuttle type or something).