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QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 03:16 PM) I actually have not heard of complaints that direct. The ones I've heard are directed more at Jay - get him out of his initial read and he's cooked. Or, be patient and he'll eventually make a mistake. I have not heard that our play calling is too simple and easy to beat. And frankly I don't buy it. Trestman's offense has put up big numbers. Franchise record breaking numbers, even later into the year last year when defenses had time to work on it. Perhaps this is a part of the problem, but definitely not ALL of the problem. It was Tremond Williams who made the comment, IIRC. I think right now there is blame to be placed everywhere. Bears job for this season and during the bye week is to figure out a way to fix it / make it better and /or demonstrate that they are capable of such.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) I don't buy this completely because there have been some FANTASTIC play designs this year that have gone for easy touchdowns. Play calling has been an issue here and there, but execution is far and away the biggest problem. Jay getting rattled and refusing to check other options is part of that. When you hear guys like Gannon and Young saying it's about the QB, not the system, I tend to believe them. They had success with it. Why can't Jay? Are you going to ignore the fact that opposing defenses have talked about the simplicity of our scheme and the fact that we do a very poor job of running multiple plays out of certain lineups. Obviously take it for what it is worth cause it is coming from the opposition but still alarming nonetheless.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 01:52 PM) I just get a feeling like old journeyman QBs like Griese/Palmer/Hasselbeck would just kill it in this offense. It doesn't fit Jay though. At what point do we start talking about Gary Crowton and the fact that his offense had no staying power. I wouldn't be shocked if part of our problems is that Trestman's offense just isn't complex enough to throw modern day d coordinators off of their game. The NFL continues to evolve and for sustained success you need to evolve with it. Of course i could also point to a lot of different little things that we fail to do and that goes on the players for their lack of delivering on the finer points as well as the coaches.

As a Bear fan, the best thing that could happen (outside of all phases being solved miraculously and us winning the superbowl) is that the offense turns things around. It has the paper talent and if that were to happen, at least you aren't talking about as much dead cap space and a team that can maybe be fixed. If the offense continues to fail we are talking outright disaster and a full scale rebuild while having some pretty good dead cap space (most notably Cutler).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 01:24 PM) He also didn't turn the ball over as much (1 INT) and the team averaged 100 yards more of offense during his starts than they have the 11 games and 4-7 record since. Even with a couple of stellar performances. I think Cutler is far more talented, and there is a good chance had the Bears stuck with McCown, he may have reverted to his old self as well. But it is amazing how far this offense has fallen. I don't buy the we would have been better with McCown argument but in hindsight we would have because that contract doesn't debilitate you going forward (if McCown doesn't pan out) like the Cutler one does.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) Made his image more important? Because he called some guys out? Because he does a show in New York on his off days? Jay does a radio show, is that a bad thing (btw, did he show up today?) I don't get why his image all of a sudden changed because he was pissed off at yet another terrible loss. At least he said something. At least he showed some emotion. The coach and the QB of this team look like they give two s***s about losing and being embarrassed every week. Did you see what happened late in the game? I am more concerned about what bad habits Cutler has and if I think that Marshall is a crutch for Jay then I have to get rid of that crutch. If there is any way I can save value and win with Jay that is what I would try to do as a GM because it is much more feasible then having dead cap space go to Jay and I have to invest a draft pick in a QB and hope it pans out.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 12:50 PM) Bigger meltdown... 2013 White Sox or 2014 Bears. Discuss. No discussion. 2013 Sox were bad. No one expected them to win a series or be real contenders. The Bears had expectations and were paper contenders.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 12:31 PM) I would personally run you out of town if you did this as hypothetical GM. This is insanity right here. Get rid of one of the best WR's in the league to prove a point to the QB? Get rid of Marshall and Jay will favor Jeffrey. Get rid of Jeffrey and he'll favor someone else. The problem isn't the WR's, it's the QB refusing (or unable) to make a proper secondary read. Marshall hasn't played like one of the best wideouts. At some point, you have to make changes. Harder to get rid of the QB then the wideout but the wideout has made his image around the league more important then spending extra time with the team during the season. He should have ditched his Tuesday appearances once we started losing and when he was dealing with his injuries. I like B and I like the fact that he's cleaned his image up but bottom line, we need to make wholesale changes.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 11:28 AM) Bears first half possessions: 6 plays, 2 yards, punt 6 plays, 15 yards, punt 3 plays, 5 yards, punt 5 plays, 77 yards, TD 3 plays, -3 yards, punt 1 play, -5 yards, fumble 3 plays, 20 yards, interception That's 7 drives that produced 4 punts, 2 turnovers, and one touchdown. 27 plays, 111 yards, 4.1 yards per play. The Jets are currently last in the league at 4.7 yards per play. On the six non-TD drives, they ran 22 plays for a whopping 34 yards. This offense sucks and that's problem #1 You should probably exclude the last drive from the equation but point is still valid. At the point of the last two drives we were completely out of it and the 2nd turnover was on a hail mary so those count less. My problem was more the first five drives, which resulted in 1 touchdown and minimal yards, some of which were driven by penalties IIRC.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) Again, I think you're overreacting a bit, but you are right, hard to argue with some of your criticisms. One thing I read and heard in a few places was the Patriots believed if they took Jay's first read away, he would panic and drop his eyes down to the rush. That seems to be true of Jay at times. Rarely do you see him go through his progressions and scan the field. It also seems to be an indication of our offense since it appeared that some player quotes have indicated that the Bears offense is very well based on preread snaps and little true progressions and Bears O has been very vanilla, allowing opposing defenses to really know what is coming and the results would be indicators of that.

The fact that some of you are trying to put us to 3-4 is just insane and delusional. The only decent players we have between the Dline / LB corps are interior dlinemen (Ratliff and our two rooks) + Willie Young on the edge. Our LB's are all bad, yet you want to move to a scheme that means we need 4 guys that play the position we are the worst in? Are you kidding me? We have a nice interior rotation and even a solid end in Willie Young (and Houston, while the injury was stupid hasn't been near as bad as his lack of stat totals would indicate). What we need is speed and good football players. I haven't even touched on safety because we can't even think about upgrading any other position until we see LB cleaned up. Personally I want to see Marshall traded by the deadline tomorrow. Lets see if Jay can change his habits when his favorite target isn't there. I realize we are thin at wideout but bottom line, I think that is the way if I'm the GM to try and wake up the offense and send a message right at Cutler. How can he stare his favorite guy down if he isn't on the roster. It will also give us a good shot to evaluate Wilson. I know that financially it probably isn't doable but we could probably get a 4th or 5th rounder for Marshall.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 11:06 AM) Long, Fuller, Jeffrey Again, technically that is 2 probowlers as Fuller has not yet made a probowl.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 11:06 AM) ' They don't have the personnel to run a 34 front. They just don't. They just drafted Sutton. They signed Young and Allen. They don't fit. Greene doesn't fit. Bostic could probably play ILB in a 34 front but it wouldn't be his best spot. They also don't have CB/S that are good in man coverage. You have to play man coverage if you are going to a 3-4. Just doesn't make sense. The fact that you are even talking about Greene is laughable. He is not good. Most of the guys in our LB corps are not good.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 11:01 AM) Disagree. I'm not ready to let Jim Harbaugh choose the players too. He could coach my team but having full control is too much power. Phil Emery has drafted a Pro Bowler in each of his 3 drafts so far. Technically Fuller is not a probowler and I'd argue this looks like his first good draft. The other two drafts were bad. Yes we got Jeffrey and Long but beyond there is a lot of nothing (i'll even give credit for Mills, although he is not a very good football player). Bottom line, right now we have had very little true productivity out of our last two drafts outside of two individual players. Bostic is still not very good and injury prone and Greene is bad. This years draft, right now, looks like it could be good as I believe in our young DT's we drafted and clearly think Fuller has a chance (although I'm not anointing anything halfway through a season). Maybe Bostic / Greene turn things around and Wilson gets healthy and shows himself off and I think otherwise but to say Emery has had good drafts is just not true. This off-season we also gave big money to Jared Allen and Houston, both of whom have been major disappointments. I would also say we ignored the LB spot, which is probably the worst or one of the worst units in the league as well. Bottom line, I'm not sold.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 10:18 AM) This loser has a 98.5 QBR. We are in the back half of the league in PPG. I am Cutlers biggest fanboy but at some point, fingers need to be pointed his direction as well. I've made plenty of excuses but at some point, if you really are that good, you rise past it and still win. I said many times there are more games left in the season but next weeks GB game is a turning point, off of a bye week.

For those wanting to defend Tucker, This is from Biggs trib article, 10 thoughts, which is usually one of my favorite reads. I really like Herring and I said all off-season that our LB corps were total stinkers and was a huge position of need. I'd say it is the weakest position on the entire roster. Herring would seem to agree. I bolded one part for added emphasis. With a LB corps as bad as ours, its hard to be able to cover the middle of the field, which is where it would appear, we are routinely torched.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) Not going to happen. Jim Harbaugh will want full control and Emery isn't going to give that up. Also, I'd be shocked if Harbaugh's wife agreed to move back to the midwest. And as I said, that sounds like a problem for Emery. If that is the case, see you later and hand the full reigns to Harbaugh.

Congrats. It really is going to be weird not seeing #14 in a White Sox uniform next year.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 07:39 AM) The pace of The Walking Dead is so much better this season. Been an awesome start to the season. Extremely interested to see what happens next week and to see who Daryl has brought back.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 06:16 AM) I think you might be selling USC a little bit short, they are such a hard time to figure out. Wins @ AZ & vs. Stanford, but then they were manhandled by a not good Boston College team. Then they had ASU and Utah beat for 57 minutes, but completely choked those away. They have the talent to hang with ND, but I don't think the coaching is there right now. Not only have the players not bought into the new head coach yet, I don't think Sarakisian believes in himself yet either. I agree, especially since the game is at the Coliseum and those fans will be pumped up. USC is not elite but they are a good team and on the road that will be a very tough game.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 07:56 AM) I totally get what you're saying, but I do want to stress that benching Cutler and trying a "young QB" is a recipe for 2 years of losing, even if they pull off a high enough draft pick to find their ideal QB this year. It may not show up on the offense but it'll show up somewhere, depth/injuries, weakness on the defensive starters, etc. You're getting a smaller version of that this year based on having Cutler's payroll on the roster AND having $10 million in dead space from finishing Peppers. Teams that lose that large of a fraction of their cap are just doomed. At this point, the way I see it, you either have a young QB and have cap room to spend it on other spots or you don't. In this case, we would have a young QB but not near the cap room because our old QB is still getting paid. The problem I have is, if I don't think Jay is the QB, then I either start finding that QB now or I wait another 2 years while trying to somehow build a team around Jay and therefor don't get started on the QB hunt until 3 years from now (technically after 2 more full seasons). At that point, I could have swung an missed on one QB and be on to my 2nd QB (knowing the Bears it might be the 4th or 5th). I'm a big Jay apologist and one of his bigger fans. I am not saying this is all his fault but the reality is this culture and what has happened here hasn't worked and if it continues, we need to look elsewhere. It is why franchising Jay probably made the most sense this past off-season as in hindsight (20/20) we would be in a far superior position. I still think you can win with Jay as your QB but it is more a kin to being able to win with Orton or Dilfer or other guys than it is to win because of Jay. That means we need to invest in our defense, play good special teams, control the time of possession, etc. If it were me, I'm going all in for Harbaugh. I know people don't like him but the guy has a winning track record and brings a winning personality to the fire and he will not stand losing. I prefer not to have a coach that is a GM but at this point, I'd rather try it if that is what it took for Harbaugh then not. If Jim wants Jay then fine but I let that decision rest in new blood.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 07:48 AM) You cannot stick an $18 million QB on the bench and expect to win in this league without a miracle. That's just too high a fraction of your cap room to overcome getting nothing out of it. Margin for error is thin but you also can't continue to let your lockeroom be stuck with this loser. You just can't. You have to hope you can find a cheap, good young QB through the draft and make way. No one said it would be easy but we better start moving forward vs. staying stagnant and pathetic. They have the rest of the season to convince me otherwise.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 26, 2014 -> 02:09 PM) I don't know, the former NFLers in Jiggetts, Miller, Buffone and OB, thought the scheme for Gronk was awful. In fact, Buffone said TE have been killing the Bears all season, and they don't seem to be mixing it up to try and change it. I am just relaying what they said. I am certainly not a football technician. Yeah. I can say we have personell issues, which we do at LB, but that doesn't ignore the fact that we continue to get outcoached. We are even getting crushed at Trestman's specialty which is why he has to be a fall guy too. All three phases...below average, two of which are as far as I'm concerned, bottom 5 in this league.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 26, 2014 -> 12:06 PM) You can start to see he may become a problem. He is a problem. Cutler and Marshall are freaking losers. Nuff said. I can't believe I was duped by it. Get them away from this franchise and fast. I don't want them tainting Jeffrey who we appear to have forgotten is a very good player. I can't even speak about how pathetic of shape this franchise is in.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 26, 2014 -> 11:31 AM) The bummer is that Trestman will lose his job before Cutler. I think Trestman et al. should feel some heat, but if I were the coach I'd feel pissed that I couldn't change my most important position to save my career. His job is in Cutler's hands and those are some uncertain hands. He could but he apparently was on board with the long extension. I am sorry but Jay should not be a Bear next year.