Chisoxfn

I'm not ready to call a winner in the Watson vs. Trubisky debate. They are both 2 seasons in and I think both have shown enough that can make either fan base excited (i.e., if Watson was on the Bears, I'd probably be just as jazzed as having Trubisky). The exception to this is Mahomes who is just insane. The sad part is, we have a coach who could have developed Mahomes (Nagy) or at least I believe we do. Its a moot point though but either way, I have enjoyed how Mitch has grown this season, but he still has a long ways to go to be a top QB. He's shown flashes which indicate he could be there, but that doesn't mean he ends up getting there. This off-season and next season will be huge...hopefully the arrow is pointing up and we see big time growth out of him next year (to point where we can be talking about a pro-bowl). Bears don't have a ton of cap space, but they'll have to figure out what they'll do at nickel DB spot, safety (Amos - solid & durable), and RT. Plus they probably are taking a running back. I don't know if they take a wideout or not, but I could see it. Development of existing players will be key (as will obviously durability) and hopefully they can draft efficiently (since they won't have any top picks).

Wow. Thibs is going to end up somewhere just as a coach and do good. But wow. Writing had been on the wall for a while...it was clear Taylor and Thibs didn't see eye to eye. Never would have guessed Fred would have the Minny job and/or the UCLA job out there for him. Technically I think he'd be a stellar hire by UCLA, however, the fact that it is on the west coast might hurt. I think Hoiberg would do a fantastic job for the Bruins though.

Yes he would.

By the way, I do want to say it. Thank you Bears. It didn’t end the way I wanted but it sure was a fun season and that’s all I can ask for!

But the way, I usually ignore the media narrative but didn’t collinsworth give Mitch a ton of credit. Literally the big knock Chris has had was related to how Mitch struggles of his early reads aren’t there. I think that is why I’m confident because I’ve seen Mitch grow and when he’s in rhythm he’s damn good and with more experience and more comfort wii Nagy we will see Mitch more in rhythm!!!

They made a lot of one on one plays. Sure tackling etc. Later in the game they got beat a bit more, but they played well. Would have been interesting to see if they could have exploited the down field ball earlier though.

Robinson isn’t an elite 1, but he’s a good to solid number one and with the bears running an attack that spreads the ball around that should work. They need their other wideouts to be more dynamic. Gabriel had like three good games but otherwise was pedestrian. They’ll need Miller to take a step forward and hopefully Wims can too. Means Cohen and Gabriel can be the gadget speed guys. Burton is solid and who knows with Shaheen. He’s big and can block and I’ll say he can catch. Not sure if he can get open enough but hopefully.

Yes...I though at one point they would make Foles pay for those floated balls but they didn’t. Feel like Jackson gets one of those but who knows?

I agree earlier in the season Howard looked slow but I think part of that was they were calling run plays designed for shifty backs with him. He’s have to move laterally and then vertically a lot on the runs for him and they just weren’t the right calls for Howard. They seemed to correct that late in the season too though. If he isn’t traded I hope Nagy and Howard get on the same page cause I know Howard is going to come back with a chip on his shoulder heading into that contract year.

Not having Burton I think hurt. He hasn’t been as strong in the 2nd half but defenses have to focus on him vs Shaheen and he is a nice safety net and could have helped them convert some 3rd downs or even convert one of those field goals into a td. Also there were a few balls down the field where I was wishing Jackson was there. Balls that hung up longer then you’d want. No idea If Jackson would have made a play or not as Bush didn’t have any big gaffes. He’s just such a playmaker when healthy. Mack is going to go hamm when he gets back in postseason. Floyd is really damn good. Same with Hicks. Fuller too. Akemura is a pass interference machine though. Not sure if him getting a little older and slower is causing it or not but he had what felt like a lot of PIs called on him later in the season.

I think it was him trying to protect Mitch. We tried to play a conservative defensive game and rely on our strength. I totally get it, by the Eagles are a veteran playoff tested team and it’s a dangerous game when you play that style cause a bad bounce or two can be all the difference (especially when you are the better team). Hindsight is 20/20 though cause that style worked well against Minny and Packers.

I was so puzzled. This whole season I literally felt like Nagy was fucking with Howard. It’s as if he has no idea how to get a running back like Howard on a role. He was rarely used right by Nagy. One of Nagys few weaknesses imo. He’s smart though and will learn and maybe Howard just isn’t the right back for Matt. Cohen sure as shit isn’t either. He can’t be a primary ball carrier. Thankfully Nagy is smart and can figure out ways to be creative in getting him touches. Next year will be tougher and they’ll need to get better, but at least Mitch didn’t shit the bed. He played some damn good football when it mattered most. Wish him and Miller could have connected for a TD on that final 3rd down. From a clock management perspective, Nagy stunk tonight. Didn’t use his time outs early enough on that last Eagle drive (gave up 15 or 20 seconds) and then using that last time out vs spiking it was bad. That said a 42 yarder or whatever it was was a chip shot.

I don’t either. I don’t think they were going to win a Super Bowl this year, but they certainly had the talent to do so. Whether they would or wouldn’t, no idea, but they could play with anyone.

I agree and I’m excited to see this offense in year two. It was nice to see Robinson look like the guy we paid him to be, but this offseason will be more about Mitch’s development as well as everyone else in the offense getting more comfortable. Hopefully miller, wins and shaheen can take big steps forward. i thought the Bears not relying more on Howard early hurt them. They kept using Mizell randomly and unfortunately Cohen has too many negative plays. They need to trade Howard or figure out how to use him. He was much better the final five or six games of the season too and I thought he played well today (other then he could have broke that one for a td but I think they scored anyway on that drive).

Eagles converted way too many 3rd downs and we played too tight early plus of course Parkey. Damn...fun year...let’s do it again next year but finish with the Lombardi trophy!

Agreed. He was played very well in second half.

If this is the Sox plan...contend in 2021 then I don’t see how they are going to keep Manny and / or Harper happy. I flat out think they need to be looking to move some prospects for cost controlled quality pitchers if they are ready. Whether now or in season. You don’t hand 300 million dollar contracts with visions of contending in a number of years. Then again I’m probably the least optimistic person of anyone right now as it relates to how this team is currently positioned. Jiminez and Yoan actually becoming studs would quickly change some of that dynamic but I won’t count things before they hatch.

Would anyone really be shocked if the Sox had one of the worst starting rotations in baseball? I mean they had the 2nd worst starting pitching ERA in baseball a year ago. Really the only favorable rotational stat for the Sox was that they had the 8th highest QS% ratio in all of baseball, which could theoretically be a reason for optimism as it would point to the fact that consistency is key and that as the players mature they will actually improve. If I were a betting man, I certainly wouldn't be predicting the Sox to even have a league average starting pitching staff (at this point) and would likely bet that they would be in the bottom 3rd. Lopez & Rodon are solid to good. I don't think they are worse than that and maybe they can be better (i'm ignoring injuries). The whole rest of the current staff, I literally have zero expectation for. Giolito was so bad I couldn't possibility put money on him being great. Nova is a back of the rotation guy with marginal upside at best and Covey was awful last year (outside of limited spurts) so I really couldn't project anything better. It is why if the Sox spend all this money on Harper/Machado, I'm curious to see if they will start to trade some guys to bolster the rotation.

Who goes next? Parker or Rolo? I hope Blakeney isn't far behind. No more Payne and Holliday is good. I don't have anything against Holiday but I look forward to getting more minutes to Hutch (for developmental purposes). Plus Holidays takes too many shots away from Lavine / Dunn / WCJ. He actually is a solid 3&D guy.

Brooks will also be traded. Presume for pretty much nothing, but who knows, maybe another 2nd?

Sir - Why don't you make a thread with that info and we can pin it seperately and you can just update it accordingly? I like the suggestion. Kind of the one-stop place to check for immediate updates vs. the main thread where all of the discussion can happen.

Young teams stink for a long time. I said it a long time ago, tanking won't be fun and it isn't easy, but I still believe they are collecting assets, but I'm less optimstic with Lauri not looking as good (not changing my long-term view on him yet and look forward to a larger sample size). I still actually kind of like Boylen too and have zero issue with his move with Wendell. I'm not going to rehash the whole blow it up arguments either, they went for a rebuild and it takes time. Young teams lose...period. There really aren't many exceptions to that in NBA history. Hell, look at OKC with Durant. They won 43 games in Durant's 1st two yeas (and that included a second year with Westbrook). I won't even talk about Philly. The Golden State Warriors (yes that dynasty with Curry) won 29, 26, 36, and 23 during Curry's 1st 4 seasons. I won't even get into Philly and the "process" and how long that took.

He’s a dodgers beat reporter. He’s reputable and on the radio regularly.

This. The reason they pay massive money for these TV deals is for exclusive rights in their prime market.

For the Sox sake, I really hope the Cubs deal goes down exactly like the Dodgers and hopefully than the Sox can capitalize with an exciting team which fans can watch (since still 3 years later...most of LA can not watch the Dodgers).