adam

We need a better WR coach then, as it seems like none of the WRs really improved this year. Mooney got worse? Claypool hasn't improved. That entire room seems like it is underperforming.

That is the other drawback of a harder schedule, you get penalized for it. There has to be a better way to determine that. It should be head to head, then other tie breakers. SoS is out of your control. If you play all the playoff teams and got 3-14 and another team plays the same teams but one different one with one less win, they are deemed worse than you and get a better pick. That team could've also lost all its game by 1 point, yet you got blew out by 30 every game.

Claypool out. Man that trade keeps looking worse and worse. I really hope Poles and Claypool prove people wrong, but the #33 pick looks a lot better than Claypool does right now. I am very surprised that the line has stayed at -9. I guess it is because they barely beat Indy 17-16 a few weeks ago. Indy had a 6 pt lead with 2 mins remaining and lost by 1. Philly needed a 14 pt 4th quarter to win.

The Bears really got the shaft in terms of SoS this year. The NFC North in general got both East divisions which don't have a team with a losing record. So that is 8 games against winning teams, then the Bears have 2x MIN and played SF. So 11 games against winning teams, and 4 of the non-winning games are against GB and DET. That leaves ATL and HOU as the last two games. I still can't believe the Bears lost to ATL. After the next two weeks, the Bears will have played the top 4 teams in terms of DVOA, PHI, BUF, SF, and DAL. Talk about bad luck. At least the Bears get the NFC South next year. That is the only division without a team with a winning record. They also get the AFC West which has 3 teams in the bottom 10 in DVOA (LAC, LVR, and DEN). I know things change year to year, but this at least looks like a somewhat easier schedule compared to this year's.

Actually Apple backed out. It is now between Amazon (Prime) and Google (YouTube TV).

Yeah we need to have dominant lines in the trenches. We essentially need new starters at all positions on the defensive side and we definitely need a better Center and RT on the offense. That should be the priority this offseason. With the weak WR FA class, I would draft one or maybe look for a trade from a team in need of cap savings. The Saints (+54M), Bucs (+39M), and Titans (+14M) are all way over the cap for 2023. For the Saints, Michael Thomas has the biggest cap hit at $28M. I could even see a trade where they give the Bears a higher draft pick with Thomas for a lesser pick just to take on his contract, which effectively is a 2-yr deal with 2 void years. If they designated it as a post-June 1st trade, they could save $16M in 2023. He has been hit hard with random injuries, but when healthy, he is a dominant WR. For the Bucs, Evans, Godwin, or Gage could be available. Both Godwin and Gage would save them about $8M each. For the Titans, Robert Woods would save them $12M on their cap. Do any of those guys interest you?

There is still a lot of parity in the league and I don't think teams purposely tank. The issue is when losing seeps into the culture, or bad habits that contribute to losing become the norm. That is when it is bad. I don't think the Bears are in that situation.

It would be so Detroit if they did. Goff is about as average as they come. He is just like most other non-franchise QBs, and is completely dependent on the team/players around him. When LA had a terrible defense, he was 0-7 as a starter. When their defense became elite, he started winning. Now with Detroit. He was 3-10-1 last year, and now 6-7 and they are ready to anoint him as their future QB. It is pretty funny to see.

Even with the projected team they were supposed to have, I don't think they were going to beat PHI or BUF. However, MIN and DET are both winnable games. I would not be surprised if they win 2 of their last 4. If they win out, that would be pretty epic considering both teams are the current 1-seeds in each conference. Wins like that would be well worth the drop in draft positioning.

I don't think anyone suspected that the Rams pick would be a top 5 pick in the Stafford trade. I am sure when they were figuring it would be in the mid-20s as a projected playoff team. So Detroit got SUPER lucky for that one. Otherwise, they would have a decent team with several picks, but Goff as their QB. Now they have the luxury of getting a young QB with the Rams pick, while keeping Goff on the roster until that young QB is ready. The Bears have their QB, and that is ultimately the best position to be in, so unless you are getting basically a sure fire Pro Bowler in the top 5, you definitely would love to trade down and get some additional picks to upgrade the entire roster.

Might as well see what these practice squad guys can do. Same for our edge guys, we need someone that can get pressures.

Just think if the refs called a fair game? They would be at least 5-8 if not 6-7 at this point without any other changes to performance. I still don't think they can beat Philly, but BUF, MIN, and DET are all winnable games. Did anyone else notice how well Josh Blackwell played against GB? I would rather have him starting along side Johnson, then Gordon in the slot. With Brisker back and DHC filling the centerfielder role, the secondary is not that bad.

Whatever it is, they have had the lead in pretty much every game. The Minnesota game is going to be interesting. The Vikings will have nothing to play for at that point with the division wrapped up, but no chance at the bye. So they might as well treat it like a bye and rest every starter.

That would be terrible. They would end up with a mid-teens pick. I am sure Pittsburgh would be pissed too.

You had a nice 6-1 run in the middle of the season.

If the tradeoff was: one of Carter or Anderson vs two of T'Vondre Sweat, Peter Skoronski, Jaelyn Duncan, or Isaiah Foskey To me, it is hard not to like two top options, especially if you can get one of each OL and DL/DE.

Roster Composition is an interesting thing. I don't think using the NFL-average is a good way to look at it because that includes some terribly constructed teams. I think it is best to model off some really good teams and see what they are doing. Take Philly. Here is their current roster breakdown: Drafted by Eagles: 29 By round: 7-1st, 5-2nd, 3-3rd, 5-4th, 1-5th, 6-6th, 2-7th Drafted by other teams: 18 UDFAs: 12 More than half the roster came from other teams, FA/trade, or UDFA. More than half the drafted roster was drafted in the first 3 rounds. Only 1 Philly draft pick in the top 9 (Lane Johnson #4). Other 6 first rounders between picks 10-22. 7 of the 18 players drafted by other teams were drafted in the first 2 rounds. 3 of their drafted vets have been with team for 10+ years (Cox, Graham, Kelce). Pace really made this challenging with so many 1st round trades. Basically Trubisky, then nothing (due to Mack) until Fields. Fields is now the only Bears drafted player from the 1st round. The Bears only have 22 players drafted by the Bears and 17 UDFAs. I feel like this team is still two years away from being where Philly is now, which would make sense as it would be Poles in Year 3.

The playoffs are upon us. Congrats to all the teams that made it to the 2nd season. The bracket is set, 1 and 2 are on byes, 4 plays 5, 3 plays 6. 1 - Fields of Dreams 4 - PapaBear --------------------- 5 - The Mad Lithuanians---------- 3 - Nips&Tips--------------------- 6 - SAVAGEw/LOOSEMORALS!--- 2 - Nopper In other news, I need to know how we want to address absent managers. We had a manager not update their lineup basically all season, including thru byes and IR, which gave some other teams some free wins and impacted the playoff positions. Since this is a pay league, I want to ensure everything is as fair as possible. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

It was more like a 5 minute span. 16 plays in 3 drives. It was a crazy spurt, but outside of those drives, he has been one of the worst QBs in the league. Before that game, he only had 1 game with 2 TDs, and 10 games with 1 or 0 TDs. He is 27th in QBR, only Mac Jones, Mills, Wentz, and Mayfield have been worse.

Yeah, I like that as well. You don't get first round grades or picks if you didn't have potential. I think Leatherwood and Harry will stick.

Wilson has been terrible. Any QB would be an upgrade.

CAR and JAX both won bumping them up to 5 wins, so that basically makes it a 5 team race for pick #2. DEN almost beat KC and still plays ARZ and LAR. ARZ plays NE tonight, then DEN. LAR still plays DEN and SEA (who lost to CAR). NO still plays ATL, CLE, and CAR. So all these teams have winnable games. The Bears have PHI, BUF, DET, and MIN, 3X 10 win teams and DET who has won 5 of 6. The Bears can play good and still lose all 4. 2. DEN 3-10 ARZ @LAR @KC LAC 3. CHI 3-10 PHI BUF @DET MIN ----------------------------------------------- 4. LAR 4-9 @GB DEN @LAC @SEA 5. NO 4-9 ATL @CLE @PHI CAR 6. ARZ 4-8 NE @DEN TB @ATL @SF I still think DEN wins one more somewhere. LAR with Mayfield may actually win a few. NO has played well and lost and should've beaten TB. ARZ is hard to gauge, but they should win at least one more. Regardless, the Bears seem locked in between picks 2 and 3.

We get to see one of the MVP favorites in Hurts, who looks a lot like Fields in terms of performance. Philly just put up 48, 35, and 40 against NYG, TEN, and GB, so this does not bode well for our defense. I figure they will try to slow them down and make them run while the Bears run 60% of the time. Depending on player health, I figure this will be a closer game than expected, but the Bears still lose by 10. I am figuring 30-20 right now.

Can't it be both? Jones was a 5th round pick that might be a starting LT while Sanborn is a UDFA who may be a starting ILB. Any time you can lock down a starter role with a 5th and beyond is nice. I would say he hit with Brisker, Jones, Sanborn and Gill but right now it seems like he whiffed on Gordon and Jones pretty hard. There were so many other starting options at both of those picks. I really don't know what he was thinking. I think he got a little too cute. He even drafted Gordon above Brisker.

That is possible, but play calling still leaves things to be desired. I still see very little if any quick slants and easy passes.