adam

and I am sure Johnson will go more on 4th downs than the previous Bears coaches, maybe not to the level of Campbell, but I am sure he will go more than Flus/Waldron/Getsy ever did.

I was thinking JAX, new HC/Playcaller, bad division. CIN has to play BAL and PIT 4 times a year. I think it will come down to their defense. They are going to score 20+ every game.

I know I numbered them, but that was more for a count than a ranking.

Yeah he didn't need elite production in sacks to have a top 10 defense: 2023 Carl Granderson 8.5 Demario Davis 6.5 2022 Cameron Jordan 8.5 Kaden Elliss 7.0

What would be cool is if DA is content staying as one of the premier DCs (like Fangio) instead of trying HC again. Some people don't realize that NO was his 2nd stint as a HC. He was the Raiders HC from 2012-2014. Interestingly enough, he was fired in season both times and never finished his 3rd season with either team. However, people may also not know how good he has been as a DC. From 2017-2023 between his time as a DC and HC, his defense was top 10 in scoring 5 out of 7 years and 13th and 14th the other 2 years, and 5 years out of 7 in the top 10 in Takeaways. To put that into perspective, Fangio, in all his years as a DC and HC, never had a 7 year stretch where his defense finished in the top 14 in scoring defense or had 5 out of 7 years in the top 10 in Takeaways. I honestly think a lot of people are underestimating how good this defense can be.

It's just another illustration on how bad the franchise has been in the passing game. He didn't really do much in Philly, but that would've been enough to make him the best WR in franchise history.

Looking around the league, this year looks like it is going to be extremely competitive. I would say there are 20 competitive teams (w/ the Bears being one of them) that all have a shot at the playoffs. Then out of those 20, I would say 7 have a realistic shot at the Super Bowl. 1. PHI 2. KC 3. BAL 4. DET 5. BUF 6. LAR 7. LAC ------------- 8. TB (lost OC to JAX, easier division) 9. HOU (Easy division but) 10. WAS (was last year a fluke?) 11. DEN (was last year a fluke?) 12. GB (No secondary) 13. CIN (will they have a defense?) 14. PIT (which Rodgers will show up?) 15. SEA (Darnold vs Geno) 16. SF (Purdy without Deebo) 17. DAL (Can Dak rebound?) 18. MIN (depends on McCarthy) 19. ATL (depends on Penix, easier division)

Yeah, JSN warned us during his CHGO interview. That was a red flag then and still is today for Waldron. Now it seems like every position group is finally being coached right. I still find it wild that Eric Bieniemy is the RB Coach, Randle El the WR Coach, and Al Harris is the DB coach all the while having Dennis Allen as the DC and Ben Johnson as the HC/Play Caller. It doesn't feel real. We have been so beaten down by always getting the wrong HC, or a bad OC, etc, etc.

Goff had 3,700 passing yards to WRs and TEs, and his group was St. Brown, Williams, LaPorta, Patrick, Raymond, and Wright, so your 3,550 to WR/TEs checks out. I was a little extra optimistic and had him throwing for 4K to WR/TEs and about 450 to everyone else. My thinking was the top 6 pass catchers are so good, that there is almost no point to target anyone else. However, I am probably downplaying a guy like Zaccheaus, who has had 500 receiving yards in 2 out of the last 3 seasons. So that would also contribute into that 4K to WR/TEs.

I have seen some updated projections with Moore and Odunze both hitting 1K receiving yards. I think this has a great shot at happening.

Flus went on a Podcast recently and answered some questions related to this story. People seem to be crossing streams. Caleb never said he wasn't coach, or that they never watched film together. I still think this is a non-story that the media tried to make a thing in support of the book coming out. However, Cowherd did have a good nugget of info that I forgot about, that Flus was 0-18 on the road on Sundays as a HC. I double checked and he is correct. Flus had a win on MNF in 22 as his only road win, then doubled that to 2 road wins in 2023, but one was on TNF and the other MNF. Then he had zero road wins last year, and the Bears actually got a Sunday road win in Week 18 in GB, but Flus was long gone when that happened lol.

Stroud and the Texans underwhelmed last year. They were 10-7 in the worst division in football. Outside of the division, they were 5-6. They relied solely on their defense to win games.

Yeah, it's one thing to have a 70-yd scoring drive, but TDs, that's wild, and like you said, without a mobile QB.

Bagent also said Johnson would be the best position coach for every position. He was also spot on about Flus, he said he was a great defensive coach but didn't do much with the offense or specific position groups. For me, I am truly optimistic for the first time since 2018. That was the last time things felt like they were coming together from all sides, and then that went into high gear with the Mack trade.

Here is more on the Ben Johnson effect, 70+ Yard TD drives, DET had 46, CHI had 17, literally 1st and last. Even if the Bears just jump to the middle of the pack, that would be almost double from last year.