We all hate this team. We all hate the McCaskey family. We hate John Fox and most his assistant coaches. We hate most things to do with this team. That's a given. But....there are some positives to look at. And this thread is a fucking positive only thread.....so drink some spiked eggnog and let's talk about the good stuff. 1. Mitch Trubisky - We've seen some bad out of the young man. More than the average Bears fan would likely want to admit. But this past Sunday he was very good. And he's athletic. And he's got an arm. He's got size....he's obviously got some leadership ability. He hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of his potential...considering how few games he's actually played in at the college and pro level. And he makes the Bears eventual coaching opening attractive to every available candidate. Very good stuff. 2. Jordan Howard. Misused and abused by a stagnant offense most of the year...he now has back to back 1000 yard seasons and is 4th in rushing yards after finishing 2nd last year. Not too shabby. Not a good pass catcher by any means....but he's a very good runner between the tackles and along with Tarik Cohen forms a formidable backfield. 3. Tarik Cohen. Fast...elusive...tough....dynamite. Imagine what a real OC could do with this guy. This is what a legit weapon looks like. 4. Adam Shaheen. Pure raw talent. Gronk like size and athletic ability. Just needs to learn how to football and seems to be doing that with each additional snap he gets. Hopefully he busts his ass in the offseason and is ready to beast next season. 5. Rejuvenating the junk pile.....Kyle Fuller and Adrian Amos. One was an oft-injured bust of a corner and the other was a flash in the pan that completely nose dived in his sophomore season. Both completely turned their careers around this season. Before his injury Amos was play rock solid safety and while he's had some bad moments...Fuller has turned in a really good season to date. 6. Eddie Jackson. Mike Brown like turnover moments for this young man this season. Has been caught out of position more than he should but the good moments give you hope for the future. 7. A new HC and staff are coming soon. Positive...even if it's Ryan Pace doing the selection. 8. Pace and the draft. To date, by my count, he has more hits than misses. At least...it seems that way right now with the results we've seen combined with the potential. 9. Virginia has to die soon. Right? She's 184. No one lives forever. 10. The Packers suck. And they really suck without Rodgers.
Thanks for the thread BWW. I’ve been missing the daily banter around here since the GB letdown and even before frankly. I remember the good ole days when I couldn’t keep up with all the threads and posts. I was actually going to start a thread today about Wolf's Top Ten Thoughts from the Bunglers game so what follows is what I’d wrote originally before reading this. Finally a win! A dominate win. Trubisky, Shaheen, Cohen and Eddie Jackson really shined. Shaheen showed athleticism and an ability to catch the ball away from his body that I haven’t really seen previously. That catch in the end zone; I had to watch over and over from the highlight reel. (). It was textbook. Body positioned so it was his to catch (or drop) but no way the defender could make a play on it without serious PI. But the DB didn’t have the body size to even pull that off. On one particular run play he was the road grader down the sideline for Cohen running as fast as Cohen while pushing the linebacker backwards at the same time. What a beast. If he can show that consistently, he should become an above-average tight end. And Cohen flat out killed it! Don't forget Eddie Jackson! He forced two turnovers, one being a stripped fumble on one of the best receivers in the NFL Jordan Howard, damn that was some strong inspired running! Is it just me or does it seem Nick Kwiatkoski plays at a significantly higher lever when Trevathan is along side. Yep, Bears played a (5 defensive starters out for the Bunglers) wounded and demoralized team but Bears are injury/wounded too. And had every reason to be demoralized coming in 3 and 9 and on the road. Trubisky really, really needed a game like this. I hope it carries through to build on the rest of the season. Hard to believe he’s only played what, 16 games since HS. Shutting down Kyle Long for the season and playing a healthy Tom Compton was the right call. The full week of practice with the starting OL gave him an edge for the game instead of unexpectedly having to come in off the bench. Except for that penalty that negated Cohen’s touchdown on a block he didn’t even have to make. I was surprised Inman wasn’t targeted more but apparently spent his day with blocking assignments in the run game. That’s an unselfish team player and been a bright spot since acquired. But Wright was the hot hand so they kept going to him till it doesn’t work I guess. If Bears pay Wheaton 12 MM next year we’re guaranteed two catches for the season right? O'Donnell could have gone to lunch for the game. We need more games like that. Say what you want, but with Floyd going down Lamarr Houston’s availability came at just the right time. Knows Fangio’s system and had his second sack in two games. Fox said last week the 4th quarter of the season was about evaluation for the foundational players for next year. So did he take the handcuffs off Logains? Will that carry over to Saturday in Detroit? We haven’t won there in what seems like an eternity.
Some more positives: 11. We still have the best uniforms in the game. We look damn good at home with the navy jerseys and white pants, and we look just as nice on the road with the white jerseys and navy pants. 12. Cameron Meredith will be back next year and hopefully won't have to be the #1. 13. We will be picking in the top 10, possible options to trade down for a shit ton of picks for a QB desperate team. 14. While all of Pace's free agent signings in 2017 have been busts, his first four draft picks continue to show promise and progress and dominated in the win against the Bengals. 15. We still have a lot of cap space. 16. There's only 3 games left in the Jon Fox era. Happy to say I was wrong about this a month ago, I've since changed my mind that he is a goner. 17. Mike Glennon won't be Trubs backup next year. Sanchez or even Josh McCown would be ideal. Yes, bring back McCown! 18. Erin Rodgers is another year older with more wear and tear. He can't last forever. That team will be bottom feeders for years once he's gone. 19. The Lions are still a bunch of bitches and losers. Even if they make the playoffs it's a guaranteed first round exit. 20. We have the most Hall of Famers in the NFL and Devin Hester (who just officially retired) will soon add one more Bear to Canton.
My positives: 1) Trubisky. Its all about this kid. Has a couple off weeks, turns in a hell of an improvement week. I hope he gets chances against Detroit. To play to win. 2) Jordan Howard & Tarik Cohen. These two aren't a bad start in terms of offensive playmakers. Now we need WRs and Shaheen to become additional playmakers to diversify this offense, and to do that "compete for the playoffs" thing those winning teams tend to do. Howard should get his due with Elliot suspended. He's not the better back, but isn't a second class back. 3) The defense itself. Fixing and making proper additions will take at least another year or two. They need playmakers who can get after the quarterback. Desperately. Because I only count Leonard Floyd at the moment, when his own teammate isn't running into him. Akeim Hicks and Goldman hold 2/3 of that 5 tech - NT- 5 Tech down. Mitch Unrein is a good soldier, but I think needs to be depth at this point. 4) Leonard Floyd (before he got hurt). Teams respect him now and during the season; he was doubled and game planned against. And before he fell victim to friendly fire from Kyle Fuller, he was figuring it out. He was beating doubles, and chips from TEs or RBs. Its critical Pace gets another edge to put across from him, as well as 2 others because well--I wont talk about Pernell McPhee; this is a positive thread. Those who compared him to Aldon Smith, I see it more now. He needs help. 5) Kyle Fuller, I was impressed by at times this year. I loved him in the Baltimore game. And last week. I hated him against New Orleans and the Brett Hundley led embarrassing loss green bay. Teams go after him because they rightfully question his ability to make plays in the open field. He's a tease, so I'm hesitant to really want to see him long-term extended. He's just been so damn inconsistent years prior, that you want to see him kept in regards to depth and draft retention--but not to see stupid money go his way and to see him well--have more Brett Hundley kind of games. 6) I'm really positive about the special teams overhaul that better fucking happen. 7) John Fox wont be here next year.
The positive for me is this feels a lot like the end of the Rick Renteria years with the Cubs. It feels like the end of the Dennis Savard years with the Hawks. Now, those teams had a large core of young players ready to break out. We have a QB we all hope can be that "core". The good thing is in the NFL, that's exactly what you need. Now we need to hire the Joe Quennville / Joe Maddon of the NFL to bring our QB along. Now, we do have some pieces around that young QB: Hicks, Goldman, Trevethan, Whitehair, Floyd, Cohen, Shaheen, Howard, etc... I would also add that (in complete agreement with BWW) Fuller, and Amos are two young pieces to what may actually be a strength of this team. The secondary. With Prince, McMannis, Eddie, LeBlanc, that is now looking like a solid core. But if we're going to put this thing together and do what the Hawks and Cubs were able to do, we need to do 5 things this ofseason: 1) Improve our OLB position (first rounder). While bulking up our ILB depth. 2) Get Trubisky some weapons to throw to. (2nd round and FA) 3) Hire a proven HC who can actually lead this team. 4) KEEP FANGIO 5) Fix the right side of the Oline. I hope fixing the line includes Long being healthy and us upgrading/replacing Massie
Positives. Got it. Fuckin’ Freeman. Is he coming back? If so - monster. Freak speed, hits like a train, recognizes and closes as fast as any ILB we’ve seen here. And it’s a nice short list. Floyd will be back. As will Willie Young. Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard in the same backfield, with a good OC will make DC’s have nightmares. I love Kendall Wright in the slot. I hated Kwiatkowski, now I love him. He’s getting really good. Awesome plug and play guy in the right down and distance. Great two down linebacker. Eddie Jackson. I said it a while ago, he reminds me of the great Ed Reed. With the right pressure up front, he can be similar. He’s always around the ball, and that’s what you want in a free. Haven’t seen that since the Mike Brown days. Aikem Hicks. Beast. And a hell of a leader and an awesome person. One for Pace. Prince. There’s a reason these QB’s are picking on Fuller. Let’s keep him around. Shaheen. Haven’t looked at his blocking, but that’s not why he was drafted. Every time he catches a pass, it’s seemed to work out. Mitchell Trubisky. He could be the shit. And I mean THE shit. Every time the dinosaur takes the reigns off, he does something good. He can throw on the run with accuracy, he can scramble, run the read, toss a sweet deep ball, and has the arm to deliver a 20 yard out from the far hash.
I'm double dipping on edge. Early and mid rounds. Acho and McPhee should not be on this roster next year, and you know Ev and I are Bumarr's biggest fans. And while we reminisce on the better memories of Willie Young being perpetually underrated and underappreciated; I don't know if he can be counted on in the future edge rotation. Going on 33 and coming off a torn pectoral muscle? I'm a fan, but call me skeptical. And teams early this season gameplanned for Floyd. The pass rush needs another element or two (I could also stand to upgrade Unrein at 5 tech too), a ton of 1st round guys in the draft thread to look at, though I may have another OT spec to add to the list. Which brings me back to: Bernstein/Goff show on am 670 played a presser snippet to rain on your parade yesterday afternoon. He was asked by reporters yesterday about if he's happy here and if he wants to "see this through" if Pace leaves the door open to him at defensive coordinator. He has apparently been told he wont be considered for the HC job. His half-hearted answer did not leave me with any confidence that Fangio is a part of this team or defense's future. That, and this guy can go to whichever level he wants, pro or college and get paid. I think first chance he can get a one-way ticket out of Chicago, that will be the end of him as a bear. He doesn't want to be here, and its hard to blame him. He has to work for an idiot who still is the head coach. And some pundits seem to think keeping him negatively affects the HC search. I don't know if his likely replacement sees a performing square peg in a round hole (Willie Young) as an asset this unit needs in the future.
Yea. I heard a few talk shows note that he's out of here. Sadly, the Bears D currently ranks 11 in overall yards, and 14th in points allowed. That's with half their starters on the shelf. Quintin Demps SS (IR) Leonard Floyd OLB (IR) Jerrell Freeman ILB (Susp.) Isaiah Irving OLB (IR) Willie Young OLB (IR) Mitch Unrein DE (IR) Also, McPhee has played only about a third of the snaps and Amos has been out for several weeks now. To be a near top 10 unit in this league with a depleted staff says a lot about the coaching.
If I am not mistaken Fangio’s contract runs out after this season. Making him a FA. If his issues with the Bears stem from Fox he will be gone and who ever is tagged as the next HC will have a fare shot at retaining him.
I look at the game played yesterday between NE and Pitts and wonder how far away are the Bears from being that good ????????????????? Now majority of the league can ask the same statement but I only care about one team in particular. I see them being so far , far away at the moment ... the play calling alone is night and day , for example when have the Bears ever throwing it 6 or 7 times in a row to open up the game ???? nope they have to run it now matter what , you can guarantee there will be a run in the first 3 plays regardless of the down and distance. Can anyone remember the last time they played 2 good games in a row since Fox has been here ? just more fuel why he should be let go while walking off the field on the last game . Positives : 1 - Mitch looks good for a rookie , get him all the support he needs in coaching and build a receiver core and unless he gets hurt the sky could be the limit . 2 - Def has gotten better , easy to see that but I believe strong safety is still a issue , a OLB on other side of Floyd would be nice . 3 - Howard is still good , can't catch a cold but whatever ... Cohen has been good but let's not forget he Pace could have taken the rookie at NO now who's a stud . 4 - Wright looks like a solid slot receiver moving forward . 5 - Fuller stepped up his game , not 100 % he has to be resigned , hope they look at all options available ... could he be that contract year progression ? or is he gooing to get paid then revert back to what he has done for the previous year. 6 - Prince has been good , what do you do with him ? he get's hurt crossing the street until this year ,so that'a a tough one. 7 - Maybe just maybe the big kid can be the TE of the future , time will tell. Positively 100% they need a new HC and OC and ST ... hope the can keep Vic , hope they at least interview Toub and he brings in the right OC .
