Week Something - CHI at SEA, Seahawks by 50

[adam]

Foles starting, no Fields, Ifedi in, Borom out. Nagy doesn't care, so why should we?

What is absolutely mind-boggling is the Bears still have a chance to finish with the worst record in the NFL. After a 3-2 start, they are 1-8 in their last 9 games. Their only win was a 16-14 nail-biter on Thanksgiving against Detroit. JAX will prevent that from happening, but man it is close. JAX and NYJ face off this week. The loser basically gets the first pick.

At 2-11-1, if DET wins 2 of their last 3, they could finish 4-12-1 and if the Bears lose out, 4-13. That would be hilarious at this point.

Detroit plays ATL, then SEA, then GB (who will be resting starters). I more easily see the Lions winning 2 of 3 vs the Bears winning a single game.

Without Fields playing, I guess I will be watching to see how Graham does with Johnson. They will be facing Metcalf and Lockett and Wilson, in Seattle.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

“Bears football” conditions?  Yet I predict 15 rush to 35 pass plays called.  Hopefully Foles will alter that a bit. 
 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Poor Whitehair. 
 

 

[AZ54]

9 hours ago, adam said:

Foles starting, no Fields, Ifedi in, Borom out. Nagy doesn't care, so why should we?

What is absolutely mind-boggling is the Bears still have a chance to finish with the worst record in the NFL. After a 3-2 start, they are 1-8 in their last 9 games. Their only win was a 16-14 nail-biter on Thanksgiving against Detroit. JAX will prevent that from happening, but man it is close. JAX and NYJ face off this week. The loser basically gets the first pick.

At 2-11-1, if DET wins 2 of their last 3, they could finish 4-12-1 and if the Bears lose out, 4-13. That would be hilarious at this point.

Detroit plays ATL, then SEA, then GB (who will be resting starters). I more easily see the Lions winning 2 of 3 vs the Bears winning a single game.

Without Fields playing, I guess I will be watching to see how Graham does with Johnson. They will be facing Metcalf and Lockett and Wilson, in Seattle.

 

Is Jenkins playing?  I don't have the game broadcast and nfl.com isn't working either.  Took me 20min to figure out why Fields isn't playing.  

[AZ54]

7 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Is Jenkins playing?  I don't have the game broadcast and nfl.com isn't working either.  Took me 20min to figure out why Fields isn't playing.  

On Montgomery's TD highlight Borom is playing LT so there isn't much reason to watch this game.    

[Alaskan Grizzly]

18 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

On Montgomery's TD highlight Borom is playing LT so there isn't much reason to watch this game.    

Jenkins started out at LT not sure why he’s not any longer.  
 

Former 1st round pick (for the Seahawks) Ifedi looking pretty porous out at RT.  Just gave up a sack and has been CHASING his primary blocking responsibility around the field ala Charles Leno.  

[adam]

Jenkins left with a shoulder injury.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

With this play Quinn now 1/2 sack behind Bears single season sack leader Richard Dent (Quinn started with 16 going into todays game).  Great work Robert! 
 

 

 

IMG_2005.MOV

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Jimmy Graham doing what he do.  Or at least he used to do.  Catching TDs in the redzone.  Followed up by a remarkable 2 pt conversion by D. Byrd. 

[adam]

I don't even care about the outcome, but a win has to feel good for the guys. It has been a long season, especially the last two months, so to go into Seattle, under those weather conditions and pull out a win was actually pretty impressive. Even with some of the mind-boggling play calling, they overcame Nagy, the weather, and the Seahawks. 

What Quinn is doing, without Mack and Hicks is beyond impressive. He also had another TFL. 1 more sack and he sets the franchise record, and he can do it in 16 games, so there is no asterisk. 

Roquan got 7 more solo tackles and 2 TFLs. I still can't believe he didn't make the Pro Bowl. He is the only LB in the NFL with 80+ solo tackles, multiple sacks and TFLs, an INT AND a TD. 

Eddie Jackson didn't have a PD, but made 6 tackles, so that was nice. However, nothing about his play or presence makes me think he is worth even half of what he is earning. On one play, he comes up to cover a WR, then immediately gives him 5 yards of space while the ball is being thrown to him, to then make the tackle. Very bizarre coverage. 

Vildor is still absolutely terrible and should not be playing. Graham made one mistake but had another PD and Burns had 2. Graham has only played in two games, if this is the worst he is going to be, Johnson and him are the two starting CBs next year. Big whiff on the coaching staff not to see his potential.

Overall, the defense played pretty good outside of 3-4 plays. Two long Penny runs, and the TDs to Metcalf and Everett. No Mack, no Hicks, no Johnson, no Goldman, no Edwards, so not bad considering the players on the field. 

On offense, Foles did just enough to win the game. The best thing he did outside of the game winning drive was not turning the ball over. 

Byrd and Graham tied for best catches, Byrd's a 2pt conversion and Graham's box out TD catch.

Dazz Newsome caught his first NFL pass.

Kmet has now caught at least 3 passes in 9 out of the last 10 games. Unfortunately, the Bears are 2-8 over that same span. He now has 53-539 yds on the season, tied for 10th in receptions for TEs in the NFL. 

Monty couldn't get much going on the ground, 21-45 and a TD, but did catch 7-61. He now has over 700 rushing yards and almost 300 receiving yards on the season. So even though he won't break 1K in rushing, he will in all-purpose yards next week (needs 10 yards), and that is with several missed games.

Mooney has been fairly quiet the last few weeks, had 5 more catches, now has 62 on the season for 860 yards. He will need 140 yards (70 per game) the next two weeks to break 1K in receiving yards. 

What is so disappointing is the Bears will probably win their next 2, Giants and Vikings to end the season at 7-10. Even though Nagy is responsible for most of the losses, the refs owe the Bears 2 games, which would put them at 9-8. If they didn't crap the bed against Minnesota, they would be a 10 win team, which is hard to fathom. A 9 win team is going to be the 7th seed. It is crazy how such a chaotic season could come down to 3-4 plays/calls. 

[Stinger226]

As much as it doesnt matter, I always feel better when the Bears win. Had some positives in the game. 

[jason]

3 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

As much as it doesnt matter, I always feel better when the Bears win. Had some positives in the game. 

But it kind of does matter, doesn't it? We all want the Bears to win every game, but we're also smart enough to know this win hurts the team in terms of draft position...which is something this teams seems to do far too often in meaningless games. Then someone is bound to say the late season wins build confidence, harmony, cohesion, etc., except it never actually appears to be true the following season for the Bears.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

29 minutes ago, jason said:

But it kind of does matter, doesn't it? We all want the Bears to win every game, but we're also smart enough to know this win hurts the team in terms of draft position...which is something this teams seems to do far too often in meaningless games. Then someone is bound to say the late season wins build confidence, harmony, cohesion, etc., except it never actually appears to be true the following season for the Bears.

“ Bah Humbug”. 

[Connorbear]

1 hour ago, jason said:

But it kind of does matter, doesn't it? We all want the Bears to win every game, but we're also smart enough to know this win hurts the team in terms of draft position...which is something this teams seems to do far too often in meaningless games. Then someone is bound to say the late season wins build confidence, harmony, cohesion, etc., except it never actually appears to be true the following season for the Bears.

Agreed. However, players and coaches play to win. We can't change that. 

Peace

[BearFan2000]

3 hours ago, jason said:

But it kind of does matter, doesn't it? We all want the Bears to win every game, but we're also smart enough to know this win hurts the team in terms of draft position...which is something this teams seems to do far too often in meaningless games. Then someone is bound to say the late season wins build confidence, harmony, cohesion, etc., except it never actually appears to be true the following season for the Bears.

The thought of draft position was in the back of my mind watching the game (and frankly has been on my mind for awhile now).  When we won I did think about us winning a meaningless game that likely will hurt draft position, but, at the end of the day we'll draft where we draft.  We want to see a culture of winning in Chicago, for the guys who will still be on the team next year under the new regime wins do help.  There are guys out there still fighting despite all the negatives swirling around the team those guys are showing they have value to either stick around with the team or auditioning for their next stop in their careers.  I don't want to get too caught up in draft position and at my core I don't like tanking for position as it's not the mentality you want to have.  Doesn't mean I won't keep an eye our potential draft position but it's not going to make me root for a loss.  

One thing to keep in mind is wherever we do draft, it won't be Pace making the picks, I just hope that whoever is can turn our draft capitol situation around and draft better so we don't have to have so many bad contracts and overspend to fill holes created by bad drafting.  That said I do think Pace has improved over the years in the draft and has done well finding some gems mid draft and later.  But we need to get out of this cycle of giving away early draft capitol and constantly borrowing from the future to patch the present.

[AZ54]

5 hours ago, jason said:

But it kind of does matter, doesn't it? We all want the Bears to win every game, but we're also smart enough to know this win hurts the team in terms of draft position...which is something this teams seems to do far too often in meaningless games. Then someone is bound to say the late season wins build confidence, harmony, cohesion, etc., except it never actually appears to be true the following season for the Bears.

I don't agree.  Winning matters.   I want to know for which players it matters too and these are the times where players true character shows.   That's why I loved the inspired effort by the defense in the Vikings game.  If the team or coaches started tanking for draft slot then what kind of effort would we see from Thomas Graham? 

I wasn't able to watch yesterday's game but give me Darnell Mooney fighting for 10 extra yards instead of just getting the first down and then protecting himself in the middle of the field.   Give me Byrd elevating in traffic for a 2pt conversion at the end of the game.  Give me Quinn on a record setting sack pace despite having a depleted Dline for the second half of the season.  Give me Roquan Smith all over the field making tackles, even as he battles a nagging injury.  We can argue about talent for next year (Byrd and others) but part of the calculus in any player evaluation is if winning matters to them.  In these meaningless games we get to discern that.   That's why there is nobody here (that I know of) asking for ARob to come back.  He's made it clear he is not for winning, just focused on a new contract.  

It's not that I don't understand the benefits of draft position but IMO there is a greater benefit to having the right players in the locker room with a winning mindset and work ethic both on and off the field.  There will always be the obvious athletic traits needed to play in the NFL but you do well when you can find this winning trait in draftees.  That's how players like Hunter Renfrow and Darnell Mooney become legit NFL WRs above their draft status.      

[Mongo3451]

55 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

It's not that I don't understand the benefits of draft position but IMO there is a greater benefit to having the right players in the locker room with a winning mindset and work ethic both on and off the field.  There will always be the obvious athletic traits needed to play in the NFL but you do well when you can find this winning trait in draftees.  That's how players like Hunter Renfrow and Darnell Mooney become legit NFL WRs above their draft status. 

Of the many things I thought when saw game, draft position was the last thing on my mind.  Going by the draft value chart alone, us not having a first round pick eliminates most of the numerical value of the chart, so who cares if we draft 5th or 7th in the second round? 

What I payed attention to was what you made mention of, as in "who wants to be here?".  On top of that, who is our future?  On OL, Ifedi and Daniels were both auditioning for contracts and failed miserably.  Eddie Jackson doesn't want to play for anyone.  I was really pleased with the defensive effort, other than Jackson refusing to hit anyone.  On another OL note, I'm thinking Borom may be a better prospect at LT than Jenkins.  Jenkins has the makings of an average LT and an all pro RT, while Borom has the makings of being average at the former and a little above average at the latter.  I'll be interested in what the new regime thinks.

[killakrzydav]

Winning is everything.

[AZ54]

3 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

Of the many things I thought when saw game, draft position was the last thing on my mind.  Going by the draft value chart alone, us not having a first round pick eliminates most of the numerical value of the chart, so who cares if we draft 5th or 7th in the second round? 

What I payed attention to was what you made mention of, as in "who wants to be here?".  On top of that, who is our future?  On OL, Ifedi and Daniels were both auditioning for contracts and failed miserably.  Eddie Jackson doesn't want to play for anyone.  I was really pleased with the defensive effort, other than Jackson refusing to hit anyone.  On another OL note, I'm thinking Borom may be a better prospect at LT than Jenkins.  Jenkins has the makings of an average LT and an all pro RT, while Borom has the makings of being average at the former and a little above average at the latter.  I'll be interested in what the new regime thinks.

The LT/RT is the situation is much more fluid these days with teams moving pass rushers to either side, or even keeping their best pass rusher on the left side to attack the (usually less agile) RT.  Both of our young OTs have already shown starter traits so that's great, just need consistency which should come with experience.  I agree, coaches should put them in whatever slot gets us the best output on the field.  

[ASHKUM BEAR]

I think it will take a good pre-season to know more about Jenkins.  I hope his injury is not too bad because I'd like to see him get as much action as possible the remaining games.  Either way, I think we have great bookends in the making.  As for C, I wish Daniel's could make the transition because he may grade decent at G, he was supposed to be a potential all-pro C.  Get a good RG in the draft and the line could go from below average to above. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 hour ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

As for C, I wish Daniel's could make the transition because he may grade decent at G, he was supposed to be a potential all-pro C.  Get a good RG in the draft and the line could go from below average to above. 

Ever the Mustipher apologist I agree an upgrade would solidify the line.  Not sure a draft pick or FA acquisition would be the better route.  
 

For what it’s worth, Whitehairs had better luck at Center than has Daniels to include playing there all of 2017 and making the Pro Bowl in 2018.  For whatever it’s worth, Kreutz doesn’t seem to think neither he or Daniels is a fit there.  But I dunno.  
 

If possible I’d like to see the Bears retain Peters for another year as an insurance policy and as a great mentor to both Borom and Jenkins. 

[Mongo3451]

9 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Ever the Mustipher apologist I agree an upgrade would solidify the line.  Not sure a draft pick or FA acquisition would be the better route.

I'm going to help with the Mustipher apology.  He plays for Nagy and that will hinder any offensive players development.  In sports, gambling, work and women, you have the ability to get into a groove and find more frequent success.  Nagy is what you call a cooler.  His version of cooler is the fact that he changes things up way too much.  Whether it's Monty averaging 6 yards a carry, so we decide to pass the rest of the game.  Or the run game is going well and we refuse to run play action.  Let alone not using your TE's in a consistent manner.  Nagy has been accused of making things more complicated than need be, that includes line sets.  I'm very much looking forward to a coach that allows the team to grown into themselves vs them trying to fit into a system that doesn't suit the experience and talent of the personnel.