Chisoxfn

Packers get every call. It’s a fact of life.

I liked Booger McFarland. He spoke the truth about those crap calls. Doesn’t happen very often, imo.

They had the same line last year and couldn't run block for Howard either. Run blocking has been poor last year and this year. The major "if" is that last years oline (sans Daniels) was essentially the same oline that was pretty darn good at run blocking under John Fox and Adam Gase's scheme. Some of me thinks, some of the line issues are really related to scheme and prioritization on the run. I say that because Long is the only guy who "physically" has degraded and Daniels has all of the talent in the world at center. I absolutely don't believe the Bears blocking issues are "talent" issues, however, they might be crap scheme and lack of commitment to the run issues (combined with poor fundamental play by certain players this year (see Leno). Again, I'm excluding Long from this since he clearly had significant issues.

If I am the Bears, regardless of how Trubisky does, I probably bring in a guy on a one year deal that is serviceable. With this D, you need a better contingent plan than Chase Daniel and you need to be prepared for the risk that Trubisky doesn't pan out. Mariotta & Carr are two guys that clearly could be out there, along with Matt Ryan. Mariotta was someone the Bears brass liked previously (not sure whether Nagy did). HE clearly has struggled in the pro's. That said, he's never been surrounded with strong offensive coaches/schemes. The Titans (and injuries) have turned him into more of a pocket passer than he should be. Than again, the Bears (or other teams defensive schemes) have done the same to Mitch this year as well. I do think Nagy probably has had his own challenges from having a guy like Smith as his QB for so long. Very very savy vet who could handle any defensive scheme is a huge difference from a young QB (in this era). I honestly think people drastically underestimate how long it takes for a QB to be "savy" at reads and how much you need to use scheme and simplicity early in a QB's career. I think Matt wants to go heavy heavy and the reality is, it takes YEAR(S) to get there. Even Mahomes, you've seen him more limited when teams hold him to the pocket (not that there are many cases of that) and make him truly dissect a d.

If I were the Bears, I would look at drafting a QB early again, mainly because I believe you could strategize an approach where you focus on defense and leverage young, cheap QB's for the next few years (unless you have a truly transcendent QB). I really think the new model is...win with a solid young QB on the cheap or win with a truly great QB who is paid at that level. IF you get caught in between (which is what a ton of teams do...see Stafford, Goff (potentially), Ryan, etc), you end up not ever being able to field a good enough team around that above average, but not elite QB. Heck, even the elite QB's can have a hard time overcoming the cap implications.

I don't think you can upgrade QB during the season. Too much complications with system changes, etc. I also am not ready to jump to any conclusions based upon 3 games (one of which was pretty good - the Vikings game). Plus, Trubisky played against all good defenses this year (with exception of the Redskins game and in that game, he did exactly what he needed to). The Bears offense has issues though and the fastest way to correct it is for Trubisky to take a step or two forward vs. the step back he took to start the year. The big question mark is how limited will he be coming back from his injury. I'm curious how he will be able to run and whether his mechanics will be impacted by the left shoulder injury.

I think those are conversations you have in the off-season. I don't think you have that conversation now.

Zaidi and Kapler worked together pretty closely with the Dodgers.

Their offense through the first 3 quarters (sans the first few minuets which were a turnover fest) was the best I've seen the Bulls have in a few years. The ball movement was crisp, great drives, lots of open looks and just complete unselfish basketball. 4th quarter I'll ignore because it had too much Felicio (who is a horrid horrid basketball player).

Roberts is probably going to be available. If I were sox I would see if they could get Jensen on the cheap. I’d bet he bounces back and is great again and if I am sox I won’t a lights out pen.

Yeah I want him. Love the fact that he can flat out hit and is a good defender. Why not put him in right.

At the time I recall people thinking Buehler had a low ceiling. I always wondered after I saw him, how that was possible. I still don’t get those people here who says Fulmer has good stuff. If he does, I have never seen it at the MLB level. Bad command and mediocre stuff is a recipe for disaster (and that is what he had been).

And Lonzo Balls improved form. I still think if Ball stays healthy, he turns into an elite player.

If I were Nagy, I would have Gruden on my list of coaches to hire as a potential OC. My bet is this is Helfrichs last year. I’ll be he goes back to college for a head coaching job.

Anthony Miller / Burton (skill position) and Kyle Long & Charles Leno are probably the biggest x-factors not named Trubisky for this offense. To stick away from the Mitch debate, I'll outline some reasons why I could see certain of these players taking steps forward (post bye week) while others may not. The good news, since I'm an optimist, is I don't think I'm being a total homer in saying, a couple of these key players should absolutely get better and if a few of them to, that in an of itself, will make the offense much better. Skill Position: Miller & Burton Miller needs to play consistent and get his head right and show that he is ready to take next steps forward. After being injured for a good chunk of training camp, the bye week should provide him with the necessary time to get fully assimilated back into the offense (similar for Burton who has been slow to rebound from his groin injury). I am more optimistic for Miller because he has high potential vs. Burton, who still looks very slow and a shadow of the player he was, that said, I think the bye can help both of them significantly. On top of that, they'll get back Gabriel, who has his own limitations, but his speed alone should help add more dimensionality to the offense. Oline: Long & Leno The oline has struggled greatly this season. While I can knock Daniels, I am going to stay silent here, because I truly believe in his talent and with his youth, he should get better and a bye week can help him spend a bit more time on the basics and increased nuances of center (vs. guard, where he played last year). Kyle Long has been flat out atrocious this season, a shell of his former self. I think the Bears are going to have to be real honest in their assessment of Kyle, both physically as well as his actual abilities, and make a decision during the bye week as to whether he can continue to be their starter. I don't see high odds in him regaining his old form this year (unless there are other physical imitations I'm not aware of, it seems like all his past injuries are catching up with him, which is a bummer). On Leno's front, he has taken a major step back this year. Combination of bad blocking + stupid penalties. Leno is still young and I don't see any reason why he would have taken such a step back, which makes me think, this is more of a technique confidence thing, and with a bye week, we could see him rebound to his usual solid level of play. Leno isn't a star, but he's been consistently better than the player we've seen this season. Him taking a step back to that level of normalcy, would be a huge improvement for the oline. LT this line has some solid young pieces (Whitehair, Daniels, and Leno) and I think it could take steps forward, but the run blocking has been atrocious since Nagy took over and while I think Leno can make progress and Daniel will get better (with time), I can't help but wonder, are there aspects of the Bears ground struggles that go beyond just the line. I don't think there is a part of the Bears who isn't more on the hot-seat (from a needing a lot to fix), than everything associated with the Bears absymal rushing attack (most notably HC / OC / Oline). I don't believe this is a RB issue at this point. Wildcards: Javon Wimms & Shaheen's Development

I absolutely love basketball, so I can't wait. That said, this team obviously has a major ceiling and I don't think White is so good that he is going to be crazy exciting to watch (especially early on). I am excited to see what Lauri & Lavine do in a full season with Otto as well as to see what year 2 brings in Wendell Carter. I think we should see this team take steps forward (and if they don't by the end of the year, there are going to be a lot of reasons to be concerned). Steps forward means new challenges as the team on paper doesn't have the talent which can take them to the highest levels, which means the front office is going to need to find creative ways to move forward and improve. First things first...the team on paper needs to show potential, upside, and win more games though.

Bye week is coming at the right time.

Good post. And this is still a good team. Move on to the next one.

The bright side is they clearly were not ready out of the gate. The downside is...they weren’t ready out of the gate.

Miller is a headcase. I said it a ton..everyone around here annoited him before he should. Dude runs weak routes and thinks he is way better than he is. Unfortunate cause he actually has skill but if he keeps this up, he will never live up to it.

The interesting part is he has been at Halas Hall everyday. I wonder if this is a real personal issue (LT health / family / friend, etc) and the Bears are essentially being there for him and making sure they provide a family environment and treat him right while he gets things situated (some of which includes the fact that being close to his teammates is something that can help him as he deals with whatever the situation is).

Lol - I don't get it, but I have to imagine this is a pretty good sign that they think he'll be able to get back on the field sooner vs. later. That said, will be interesting to see how much it limits his mobility, etc. I would have to imagine it is going to hurt anytime he gets hit, etc.

Probably best case answer. Surprised he is going to travel with the team. I presumed they wouldn't risk travel and would just keep him home for rehab.

You worry about drugs, depression, etc? It seems like there is no good outcome of this, other than hopefully whatever the issue is has been identified before he went too deep and that he can get the necessary help.

"Not acting like himself".