Chisoxfn

I think it is more teams want a leg up on recruiting trail and NIL, etc. Longer you wait the further you have catch up. But a fair change would be to kind of just institute a rule - only coaches that can be hired before end of the playoffs cycle are currently coaches who are NOT under contract.

If Trapillo is a legit top 10 LT it would be huge for the Bears in long run. I’m not saying anything one way or the other but last two weeks certainly give some hope of Trapillo on left side. Very helpful having Thuney over there to help the youth.

They never get old - that was one of funnest Bears games!!! So physical - defense played great. Oline - awesome! Bad conditions - no problem. Let’s keep on rolling!!! Let’s go Bears!!!

Let’s go!!! Not necessarily pretty in those conditions but oline and run game dominated and defense played its best game!

In all honesty - given Bulls inability to properly rebuild - AD without mortaging the whole farm would be interesting. He gets hurt - but if you manage his load - he is a really good fit for this team.

Seems like like adjusted and they are getting hammered now. Maybe Collin’s will help but good god - Patrick Williams. I don’t know what was worse - drafting him or resigning him?

Rams are legit - if Stafford stays healthy (which I think is the key to their season) - than they look like the best team in football. That defense is OUTSTANDING and Stafford / McVay have everything dialed up right on offense. Great receiving, good running game. Very strong unit.

This - Loveland looks legit and is getting better and better each week. I still don't love taking a TE that early - but this wasn't a draft with a stud LT or DE sitting there for the taking either. Kmet has also been playing really well as of late. But this also goes to Caleb I think starting to figure things out more as a passer too. Use of middle of the field is up - he's using TE's a lot more. Progress is nice and to your point - at this point - both Warren and Loveland look like they have a nice career trajectory in front of them.

I agree coaching matters - but Caleb is in year 2 - we have (to Poles credit too - cause I've ripped him) also seen pretty material contributions of late from this year(s) set of draft picks. Loveland, Burden, and Monagai have contributed more and more with each week and now we saw Trapillo play what looked to be a very solid game at LT (and against a good defensive front), which was nice to see. Turner is out for the year but 5 weeks in we were all up in arms over lack of contribution so want to at least acknowledge fact we have seen very positive momentum on that front - and hopefully that continues. We also have seen Caleb grow by leaps and bounds as an NFL QB this year. He is still flawed and leaving a lot out there - but from year 1 to year 2 - he has significantly cut his sack rate down, is now primarily working behind center (which he basically had never done in his career until this season), and is clearly starting to get through his progression(s) more timely. I'd also say while he has been accurate, his reads on those inaccurate balls have largely been the right ones - but he still doesn't have his feet and eyes totally aligned with those reads - which goes into timing and continued reps - but night and day progress and I think in year 3 we will see accuracy follow it (look at Josh Allen year 2 to year 3 as an example - not saying Caleb is Josh Allen). I think just this game alone - there were a number of balls where Caleb let it go and the receiver wasn't yet out of his break - that is a thing of beauty. The 2nd DJ Moore TD was an example - ball was halfway down the field when Moore looked up. Loveland's ball was perfect on that TD. There were misses too - but I look at the type of completion he is making now vs. a year ago. He's throwing guys open and anticipating where a guy should be - that is a big deal cause his pure talent is immense (doesn't matter if you can't learn to play the game - as we saw with Fields). But I've seen so many of these plays out of Caleb here the past few weeks - coincidentally it seems to coincide with him starting to trust his TE's more and use the middle of the field better. I fully expect he may have a game or two here where some of his young(er) habits and accuracy causes some issues...especially as he's about to go up against some elite defenses. But I also think these are very good learning opportunities for Caleb and the offense as a whole. I also don't think our wideouts are as used to the ball coming in hot - cause Caleb wasn't there last year and for those around Justin it just wasn't how he operated, so I'm wondering if some of the drops are partly related to getting more used to that and starting to align on the enhanced timing (which is better but also different). Little thing - but this offense has talent and is trending in right direction - but Caleb is still not there accuracy wise, wideouts are still not making some of the plays real good wideouts should make (and I expect Moore, Odunze and eventually Burden to be that)....and quite frankly they still have struggled to work the scramble drill right which I expect will come with more practice and awareness. Now taking all that in - this is a top 10 offense right now and that is despite our QB still working on his accuracy, our wideouts still making too many drops (and quite frankly not making enough of the tough plays), and the QB/Wideout scramble connection not yet dialed in (very few big plays have came from Caleb in scramble outside of when he takes off -this should over time become one of those situations where Caleb and the offense just punish teams on this scenarios). Now imagine when they start to get those things dialed in....which may not happen this year...but I certainly can squint and start to see the possibilities. I expect we'll have some rough weeks to come - but this is the start of something really fun. And on the defensive side - while this is a flawed defense, Dennis Allen is a professional DC and as they get healthier and work through more drafts - I'm confident in the defensive coaching staff(s) ability to get things right. It is pretty impressive what they have done with so little to work with given all of the various injuries.

Never gets old!!!

The defense is absurd though and they do the short game as good as anyone and Bears with the lbs all out are so soft there. Hoping for a good and exciting game and hopefully another Bears victory!!! Today was a fun one - they got on a roll on offense but still are leaving a lot out there on both sides.

Yes - he had made some plays this year but also got beat a lot. This was his best game of the year.

I agree - but Caleb is also making a lot of good reads. He doesn’t quite have his timing and footwork down but he had a number where he threw guys open. He also is still missing too many - but I really believe as he keeps getting more comfortable the footwork and timing will naturally improve and accuracy will take a big step forward….not sure if that will be this year or after another offseason but I am really excited about the ceiling if Caleb can just keep growing.

Honestly - it was a pretty refreshing interview but he also showed respect to Jerry and didn’t over step his bounds either. Very good public first impression from my end. Long time until he takes over but there is some hope in sight after years and years of this org being run down and completely not maintained.

It feels like they are circling the Eagles game...but I suppose they could be waiting to see how things go. Win on Sunday and I can see them almost waiting to Packers game - get them 100% right - and almost just give it your best against Eagles knowing probability isn't good. Lose to the Steelers and urgency goes up quite a bit. One week at a time.

Not sure what I watched. Amazing for 3 quarters - awful - than wow.

They went over Ohtani when he originally came over.

Caleb clearly wasn’t at his best today - but I think he had a few 20 plus yarders dropped. He missed a few big plays early - but Flores brought the heat and in the end Caleb didn’t make the costly turnover and did enough to win. Id say that was kind of a floor game from him against a very aggressive DC on the road. Herbert threw for under 100 vs the Jags. He still has growth but he started finding TEa and I think at some point he will figure out the deep ball accuracy (it wasn’t good today but it has been improved year over year and I think if he keeps working he still has a lot of room in terms of upside!!!

Defense might look quite a bit different in 1-2 weeks with JJ, Gordon and Edward’s back.

Wasn’t pretty - but road win in division - yes sir!!! Let’s go Bears!!!

Crazy - JJ listed as questionable. My vote is don't play him but maybe that is a great sign as to where he is.

Awesome news - lets not rush him - maybe its the Eagles game we get him back, but even if it is for right after Eagles game and he had time to get his body adjusted and we can get the real JJ back for the rest of the year that would be awesome.

They also had no Giddey and they clearly miss White too..

I had them at around 8 wins, maybe 9 - I probably at this point have them at 9 wins. Offense is picking up better than I thought, defense worse, but they certainly have benefited from a bad schedule, but you also see real progress (albeit plenty of flaws). Its why I was pretty adamant that trading assets this year would have been a mistake as well. With that said - if they make real progress and can fix some of their challenges and we see real player development (which I wouldn't bet against), I could see them hitting 10 (11 seems tough given the schedule and the defense). LT and pass rusher are very clear needs.

They are still just a mediocre football team - but they are also just a half season into Ben Johnson's tenure with a young QB who clearly still has a lot of room to grow. He still makes mistakes and misses at times, but you can see real progress, and of course real frustrations still exist. He played way better than the stats indicated, but he also had a few opportunities where he bailed his own self out. Even on that final TD run, he had Kmet immediately open for a nice gain and clearly had Zacheus open for what probably is a TD (presuming he caught it). Now in those conditions maybe he just figured, take the run which was clearly for there a solid gain in those conditions. But there were also a few where a better ball and they could have had a big play. But in fairness, beyond the drops - very rarely have we seen a Bears wideout or tight end make a play for his QB this year - I'm hoping that is to come. Loveland's catch in the 4th was pretty good - but nothing like we have seen regularly done against the Bears. With that said - I have so much confidence in seeing this team continue to develop and grow as the season goes and into next year. Defensively they are a flawed team, especially with the major injuries to core DB's. This was a flawed defense to start - those injuries combined with TJ Edwards are pretty tough to overcome. With that said - hopefully we see some growth and see a few players step up and they do end up getting back JJ and Gordon with enough time for them to play meaningful football and be meaningful contributors to the Bears this season (and they look like their high end selves).