Chisoxfn

I'm going to let this year play out - as this defense still has a nice window - but you are right - depending on what happens, the Bears could face some really difficult choices. We also don't know what the FA / Trade market might look like on the QB front either - at I still go back to - this team is a good QB away from still having a pretty nice window - although they could do some "Patriots" type moves where they trade some guys on the older end while still getting value (kind of extending the window a bit - which is probably what I would do regardless of how the season plays out). That said - enough about next year - we are a week in and I'm still excited about this year!!!

It is also why Mooney is really intriguing - small sample size - but he was the only Bears wideout with above league average separation last week - and it was well above league average. His explosiveness is real - whether he can learn all the intricacies that are necessary - we will see. I really think the lack of playmakers the Bears have at WR / TE has a real impact in the clubs inability to make big time plays (when you can't separate - you just aren't going to see as many pick time plays nor are you going to see as high of execution on the stretch plays). And separation has nothing to do with whether Mitch is making the right read or not - since it is agnostic of where the ball goes (at least I assume it is). Good news is - I think Mooney & Kmet will help with that and Graham (even as a shell of his former self helps over the turds the Bears had last year). Robinson is a pro - so even with mediocre separation he'll be valuable - but Miller I think might be one of the x-factors. He takes his game next level and if the ground game can consistently be solid (not great - solid) than I think we'll see things start to open up.

The hard part is - he is a professional wideout - but he also isn't as explosive as others. THe Bears wideouts in general were pretty piss poor this past week at creating seperation and that is a consistent trend from last season. Robinson is just able to do everything right fundamentally that he can get away with less seperation. Somewhere though - there is a disconnect between what the two sides see from a value perspective. I get a feeling if they can't agree soon (where Bears get to use cap space they have now) - they are going to have a harder time agreeing in the off-season (but maybe with cap going down or something due to COVID it actually doesn't bite the Bears as bad as it usually does). I'd still say there is a chance something gets done in next 2 weeks. Problem is - if the Bears don't make playoffs this year - I don't know how much Robinson helps you if the team needs to hit the reset button on QB and everything else.

Yeah - I don't disagree with what the others have said - call it what you want, but every since he got hurt late in the playoff year and than again last year (after 1st few games) - he just hasn't been an impact player and they are paying him to be one. I can't just ignore fact that he's injured - since they are paying him to make an impact. I absolutely think he could come on and beast - I just want to see it and see it consistently - afterall that is what they are paying him to do.

That is a fair point - I also think Mitch should have had 1-2 int's in that 1st half too.

Since Pagano came in - the defense has just been soft. Its one game, but if Mack continues to dissapear - Bears are really going to regret that deal and Gruden will have actually been right. If the season goes in shambles (way too early to say at this point and I expect this team to be solid at worse) - I would dangle Mack for picks (you won't get what you gave...but there is absolutely going to be a team or two who would look to acquire him and rekindle his magic - cause the raw tools are still there). But it is one game - hopefully we see everyone take a step forward against the Giants!

I think he's going to be on a short leash for a while - that said - I won't come to any conclusion from 1 game. Mitch was lousy for 3 quarters and wasn't good enough and was really really good for a quarter. If I was an optimist, I'd say 1st 3 quarters were timing and working through kinks (no preseason, etc) and maybe things started coming together in 4th quarter and we saw a preview of what to expect in the future. If I was a pessimist - I'd say he was what he has been for 3 quarters and than he beat up a banged up secondary in the 4th quarter with a team schematically shifting from zone to man (zone has always troubled Mitch) and so you pretty much have to ignore his 4th quarter. I think everything in the "optimist & pessimist" section has a lot of truth in it - I'd also say that even a pessimist would have to agree that the one thing you can't argue is that Mitch didn't wilt in the 4th quarter, despite the bad game - which I do believe to be a real positive. Good QB's find ways to help there team, even when the unit is struggling, etc. In the 4th quarter - he overcame his own noise and threw some great balls. The run game was also much improved - that said - some of the play calling still shows Nagy struggles setting his own identity. This team could run the ball well - but in a few 3rd and short situations - they went cute and didn't convert (toss sweeps to Patterson vs. pounding it with Mongtomery - who was getting 5YPG)...QB sneak by Mitch early in the game that came short, etc. I feel like this offense is best if they establish and pound the running game - use that as your bread and butter and deploy tricks and gadgets and action to just keep teams on their toes (not the other way around - I don't think your bread and butter can be the "gadgets"). Nagy also was horrific at clock management at end of 2nd quarter - literally put Detroit in position to get that TD and than Detroit goes right back with that momentum at start of 3rd quarter - total game changer. Bottom Line - I think Nagy has the persona to run the show and be a good head coach - but he does some head scratching things that might just be due to his inexperience as a playcaller, etc - which I think can diminish some of his strengths. Also - Defense needs to find a way to consistently generate pass rush; Stafford had ALL DAY...literally all day. But always better to clean stuff up following a win vs. a loss and with no preseason action at all - no matter what I think it takes a few weeks until we know who and what any team is. Plus the dynamic of no fans / quiet stadiums is going to be really interesting - mutes home field advantage but also likely in general favors offenses as I presume it is easier for offenses to communicate and probably makes it harder for dlineman to create havoc from general miscommunication of oline.

Bears d looks like more of the same. Weak pressure / no pressure. That flat out won’t work again. Pagano will be packing his bags mid season if he can’t figure a way to get that pass rush going. I do think Lions are a solid team - but Bears needed Mitchs best quarter in two years to win and it was against back up dbs and with the Lions missing their top wideout. That said - credit to Mitch for some money throws in that 4th quarter and for not giving up. How about a game like that 4th quarter. Like a 4 passing, 1 rushing td game next week - please!!!

Is there an element to what makes him so good at framing also makes him miss more baseballs (i.e., he tries to move so little so that he can be so subtle from a "framing" perspective that it actually causes a bit more passed balls because he's not able to be as agile on more wild pitches and/or when there is a cross-up between pitcher & catcher?

I think it will come down to injuries and how the oline holds up. If injuries are manageable and aren't to like a critical difference maker on the D and the oline plays solid - I think we are talking about a 10-11 win team. I expect the offense to be better - doesn't take much to be honest. Having real TE's will be huge and Mitch is going to be better than last year and Foles is also better than Mitch was last year. I'm not saying either will be good or great...but better than the play the team got last year.

Congrats Dane on hopefully your first of many many victories!

I also get the construct around - you are going to be careful what you share with the public vs. not. Every president strategically keeps certain things from the public - and there is certainly places for where you draw the line. You wouldn't want the whole country rioting out of sheer of mass panic (i.e., Trump shouldn't have just got out and said - I've seen this thing - its terrible - we are all going to die) but the opposite is just as bad as it created the divide we are all dealing with. Those actions made everything political and there was never any need to do so - he needed to be honest and sincere about the difficulties we were facing but also share a plan and solution to ease the populations minds, etc. Funny part is - if he listened to the experts and got out in front of this and lead through this - he would be easily getting re-elected. Instead....well...nothing more to be said.

I actually thought the same thing - when I read his responses I thought - huh, he actually gets this - I wish he would actually speak this way to the public.

I got got!

FAKE TWEET - IGNORE ME

Uh oh - Is Boylen the new Sox manager?

You would think people would realize in baseball, even the good teams are going to lose a lot of games, and they are going to have losses that are ugly like this one. It happens - you move on and know that in the long run of the season, the talent prevails and this team has that (its why they have the record they do).

Technically he also hit a HR - so without that different story too. Sometimes it is not your not. Chalk it up and move on. Win the next one.

I don't mind the loss. Losses happen - especially in baseball. But seriously - why does Cordero pitch so much, let alone in this high leverage of a situation. Please Rodon and Lopez - please come back and kick butt out of the pen. This team could seriously use that type of awesomeness.

I wouldn't compare Burdi & Covey's stuff. Covey had okay stuff - Burdi has electric stuff. 1k/9 innings but he gets into these funks where he throws some meatballs - hence the 4HR in 11 innings. We are also talking 11 innings and a guy coming back from some pretty serious injuries - command should be expected to be an issue (given how little he pitched). As I said - hopefully he has a good plan for how to keep working on repeating those mechanics. Burdi has thrown some pitches that just dance - like absurd. He just isn't consistent - if teams can sit on his heater - they'll hit him, period. If he's throwing strikes and mixing his pitches - he's unhittable (with the stuff). Whether he can figure it out - I don't know, but I think if he can maintain his health, he can figure out the rest to at least be good (because his stuff is that good).

I agree - he does fill a big void with Goldman out. I just didn't know how much at this point is more based upon his reputation vs. any actual play. But either way - it is the right type of move to make (since the loss of Goldman is huge and while Nichols and others will get a shot - good to have someone like Snacks to help with that because shutting down the run game is huge to enable our pass rush and create the turnovers that will be needed for this team to truly be good). Short fields will help the offense, etc.

You might be right on the Allen Robinson front - I don't know how all of the recent extensions will impact where the Bears stand on Robinson. I like Robinson a ton but I never think you win by paying your wide outs top dollar (you win by having a really good QB who makes his wideouts better and a team needs to be able to find new weapons pretty regularly). That said - with where the Bears are, I don't see how you don't sign Allen - especially since they have so much unused cap space this year so even if you spend more money than you'd like - your actual cost (in terms of future years - can be more manegable if you leverage the cap). On Harrison - is he even any good?

The stuff is there - which is the good part - the repeatability is a challenge. Hopefully he can keep working right now down in Schaumburg and get himself ready. If it is sooner - awesome, if it isn't until next year, fine.

We definitely had a good contingent at those Angel series.

Jimmy Fucking Buckets!!!! Boy was I right about him!!!