I realize most of you guys have probably already left for the offseason, and I'm about to be right there with you until the draft, but given that we've had some time now to digest, I wanted to rant/reflect a bit on this season. 8-8 in record, and all told, that's still better than pre-Nagy. A very mediocre season, with no real signature wins over good teams, and some losses to real stinkers like the Chargers. Even the Saints we had the fortune to play against Bridgewater instead of Brees. When I look back at what went wrong, we can start with the defense, because they held their own. Despite all the injuries, ending up ranked 8th in DVOA is not bad at all. Hicks, Trevathan, Roquan, even Prince missed some time. They weren't generating the turnovers they did last year, but I dont' think you can rely on that anyway. They also seemingly had less sacks/pressure down the stretch. Overall, Pagano is a good coach and I think we can come through the offseason in good shape here. No, the problem in this team are all Offensive, and figuring out which piece is broken there is one we could argue about forever. I listened to the press conference from Nagy and Pace, and while I know the purpose of those is to blow smoke up our ass, I am worried they believe some of the bullshit they are spouting. "Mitch is our starting Quarterback". Pace said that and I had nightmares "Rex is out Quarterback" all over again. Is QB the biggest problem with the Offense? The more I've been thinking about it, the more I have to say yes. Mitch is a nice guy. He clearly works hard, studies, wants to be good....he just isn't. It's not clicking AND he doesn't have the "it" factor. I jumped off the bandwagon quickly this year, and I still feel he could be mediocre enough to win with. But really, it would have to be a "in spite of" rather than him winning games. Pace seems to think he just needs more time and he's progressing. I don't see the progression anymore. I see the same mistakes. Nagy wants to run his offense and Mitch needs to be better at reading defenses. If he doesn't have it by now, I'm not sure how he gets better. Reddit wants to blame the O-line, I can't do it. While they weren't good, Mitch is completely pocket unaware, and defenses know they can sell out because he's not accurate on the deep throws. It's the Kyle Orton syndrome, only Mitch ALSO misses the short stuff sometimes, inexplicably. Pace also said, "sometimes he makes the throws that make you think he has it" or something to that effect. Hoge said this means Pace is watching the game like we do, seeing that 1 throw out 5 that looks competent. I don't quite think so, I think he knows his future is tied to Mitch and is clinging desperately to him being good, so he'll hang on to that one throw. The Under Center podcast guys had a different take (great one, but only when it's Briggs/Brown/Forte/Kruetz), they said, "yeah, those throws look good, but if you're a franchise QB, you *should* be making those throws, we should expect it'. Honestly, it reminds me of Cutler. Everyone wet their pants and his big arm, he could drop a dime 60 yards downfield. But he couldn't put it together. I want to think I'm being hard on Mitch, but I don't think I am. My eye test, the eye test of all the "experts", it's not adding up. If he doesn't turn the corner, it's still possible but I am quite convinced it's not happening. I hope I'm wrong, wouldn't be the first time. Then we have Nagy. Someone on reddit said he's the new Chip Kelly. I would agree with that, except Chip Kelly actually had a good offense for a year before getting figured out. I think he's been a great motivator, and the team is behind him, he has the locker room. I do think this year could have been much worse with someone else. However, I am concerned about his square peg in a round hole, my system or the highway mentality. Good coaches can adapt to the personnel they have, while they continue to bring in pieces to round everything out. Running for a franchise low 7 times against the Saints, and then saying, "well, it wasn't working". Well guess what, passing wasn't working either "genius". Then he finally brings out the I formation after saying "I wasn't brought here to run the I formation" and lo and behold, it fucking works. Likely because of the extra blockers and how shitty the line is, but the fact is, it worked. A good coach would find a way to work that into his offense. Instead Nagy used it for a few drives throughout the rest of the season and then abandoned it. While I'm worried about him, I'm not completely done with him. But I do want to see him adjusting to his personnel. And of course, Pace. I am really, really torn here. He is much higher on Mitch, Floyd and Shaheen than I am. My concern is that his job is to blow smoke up our ass, so he's going to say things like "Shaheen just hasn't had a chance" - but I think he might actually believe that. Shaheen was benched for performance reasons this year. I feel like unless they stay completely still at the TE position, there's no way he's on the roster next year if Nagy has any say. Floyd was non-existent as a pass rusher when Hicks was out, with Mack on the opposite side. Obviously he traded up for Mitch. But he has found some gems, and made some good FA deals, so I don't know. We can look at the Offensive line and put it on Pace for not having a backup plan to Long, Massie and Leno regressions. I want to see how we handle this offseason before I actually remove the "might" from my avatar, but Mitch + Glennon was such a monumental gaffe that is now hurting the franchise, and the only thing worse than making a mistake, is doubling down on that mistake. Finally, the owners. Why? Because George McCaskey gets up there and of all things, turns around a question about the offense to talk about how the DEFENSE needs to generate more turnovers. Holy fucking hell. Yeah, they regressed, but if the PLAN for your organization is multiple takeaways a game, this is a recipe for disaster. Sweaty Teddy and McCaskey are an albatross around the neck of this organization. McCaskey mentioned he's letting Pace/Nagy do the football things because he's not a football guy. That was good. The problem will be if these are the wrong guys. We're not in a blow it all up phase. Pace/Nagy/Trubs are all here for at least another year. I just have a bad feeling about this. I don't think that's going to change no matter what they do in the offseason. Oh, and I had no idea they held that press conference, and then a few hours LATER canned the coaches. What a gutless, spineless, pussy fucking move from these jokers. At least have the balls to take the questions about you guys scapegoating. Fucking christ. See you gents around draft time.
Just read this too: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-the-possibility-of-a-2019-bears-type-season/ - pretty interesting parallels, I didn't realize Allen was so inconsistent, I only watched the Thanksgiving game.
Dammit varder, i only just avoided a rant on this last week. Oh well F it then, rant mode engaged. I finally got round to watching the end of year presser the other day. The Bears have had a LOT of clueless EOY pressers over the years, this was the most clueless pathetic one ive ever seen. For all the guff ive always maintained there's a lot you can glean from these(telegraphing Leno's extension just 1 example), and you can again here. Basically Pace's message was "this year we regressed. People all over the field played worse. But we're not gonna make any changes and the team will be better next year because they're going to be better next year." Thats fucking genius. Just start getting everyones fingers measured for rings right now! - INCREDIBLY, these fuckheads(Pace most of all) still have full belief in Trubisky! There will be no major competition this offseason. - No major moves on the OL. Because Pace signed off on too many bad contracts and now he's fucked. - Floyd will almost certainly be back, either at that joke 5th year option rate or some extension, both being horrible decisions. - And my presonal fav, TE not really a need/Sheheen may actually be back! Pace actually tried to talk up Sheheen in this presser. For that alone he should be committed. FUCK YOU Pace and your stupid voice, get the F off my team. Again basically, what happened was Pace and Nagy just signed their own death warrants. They are going to ride Trubisky all the way and that alone will do for them ultimately. But hearing what else they said about position groups they both clearly have no idea what they really have on this roster and certainly no idea how to fix it. That surprises me a little tbh, at least as far as Nagy goes. His scheme is garbage but i thought he had a bit more grasp on personnel. This team is circling the bowl once again. They have bad contracts they can't/won't move on from. They have 2 draft picks in like the first 130 spots. And worst of all it doesn't look like anyone from the HC up possesses working eyeballs. I can't imagine how this team gets to .500 next season. There's nothing to do but wait for 2021 when these clowns finally get swept away and the next court jesters come in. CHEERS!
Oh and how do you know when its January, other than your wife having the crazy notion of you joining her for a dry January to detox? Ted "Fuckface" Phillips comes crawling out from under his rock and onto the airwaves to provide cover for *insert name of GM/HC combo fail double act*. Parasite company stooge. F you Teddy you sweaty germ. I hope you develop leprosy. And Virginia, in the nicest way possible, JUST DIE!!!!
Vvarder, this thread could double as reflection on the past decade. The 2010s will go down as the most wasted decade in the history of the Chicago Bears. Two playoff appearances and only one playoff win, that's even worse than the 90s when the team was devoid of talent. But talent, particularly on defense, was not a problem for the 2010s Bears. Smarter-than-thou GMs and bad QBs ruined it all. Right now, even with the "gems" he's drafted and the good FA pickups like Hicks and A-Rob, Pace has completely failed in his job at GM. Any fan who continues to defend him and make excuses for him is either delusional or is on his payroll. It's not only that we've only had 1 winning seasons in the 5 that he's been here, a stretch that usually sees GMs fired all over the league. But in a QB driven league, Pace has actually taken what was a bad QB situation when he arrived and made it worse. His epitaph should read that he passed on Mahomes and Watson. Everything good and bad he has done outside of that has become irrelevant due to that catastrophic failure. Pace will be fired along with Nagy after 2020. I was pretty much over my anger from the season until I watched the fudgepeckers yet again get all the damn breaks yesterday en route to another NFC Championship. I will bet $100 to anyone here that the Packers miss the playoffs next year. They'll still sweep us but their luck against everyone else will be out.
Pace has SO FAR failed at finding a QB. There is no defending his decision’s at that position. It is the most important job for any GM. It is very possible that Pace has also failed at the second most important job for any GM and that is hiring the right coach. After winning COTY on the back of Fangios defense, Nagy’s regression was second only to Trubisky’s. Yes I think it was even worse than the O Line’s. So not only does Pace need to fix the QB position he needs to hope that Nagy is the right guy to fix the offense if Pace can land him a better QB. With the new hiring it’s obvious Nagy isn’t giving up any control of the offense. One can only hope they can bring life to the ground game and the rumors that the ousted coaches had control of that aspect are true. Gonna be an interesting offseason. Limited draft picks, limited cap space. Pace ain’t dead yet. Hope he has a rabbit left in his hat. Would beat the alternative.
Its a really bad myriad of Nagy's playcalling stubbornness, a garbage offensive line, and a quarterback who isn't an NFL starter. There. Simplified. So if I can temporarily talk y'all off a ledge, let me hit you with this: "Mike Glennon is our starting quarterback. I am very confident he can lead this team." Then Ryan Pace traded up for Mitch, leaving those of us prejudiced against mentally disabled giraffes masquerading as an NFL quarterback relieved. Before knowing what Mitch is now in January, 2020. My point is, Ryan Pace isn't showing his hand. One thing I'll credit him for, he's been consistent in that he never shown his hand has until he does and the move is made. I don't think the man's an idiot, he sees the holes and regressions. I think he's a gambler and aggressive, both of which have bit him in the ass and helped him in his tenure as GM, especially now with draft capital, so he's going to have to get really creative in FA and find another Akeim Hicks type gem or two. I'll save my anger for after the draft. Right now its 'smoke and mirrors' season. In order for that to happen, this team would have to implode Trestman style, and this year even with the frustrations in the Lockerroom, Nagy was lauded for "keeping the team together and engaged." I don't see that happening without a monumentally garbage season, and I think a 3rd place schedule (sad the bears need to count on that) with a couple of bounces and a few good moves (obviously there is no equation to make any team perfect), this team could be back in the playoffs. I don't give a shit about Bill Lazor hiring, but the Juan Castillo hire? Dude flipped Buffalo's atrocious run game and turned it into something. I want him to do that here, except the bears have only 1 RB on their roster in Monty. Nagy would have to be blatantly ignorant to screw that up. They have nobody playing RG right now, so some move will be made. I can see Cornelius Lucas being replaced as a swing/back up tackle. Leonard Floyd being back another season at 13.2 mil (or an extension as Ev suggests) is heinous and I expect a change. I think Shaheen is done. A bombed pick, Nagy benched him when he could stay on the field. Not many FA choices unless Vance McDonald or Hunter Henry (another dude who cant stay on the field) floats your boat. Draftwise? There will be options. Sadly, Trey Burton and his bad 1 year of guaranteed money left is stuck. I feel okay entrusting one of the 2nd rounders (assuming a TE is picked) to this new TE coach Clancy. Dude developed Julius THomas in Denver and Kyle Rudolph in Minny. I'm fine with that resume.
I don't think so. We could go 6-10 with no improvement from Trubs or changes from Nagy but the locker room could still be "together". But that would mean the 4 years invested in Trubs by Pace, which included the Nagy hiring, had failed. Lovie got fired for missing the playoffs 5 of 6 seasons. Pace would have the same result if we miss the playoffs in 2020. Pace will have to be held accountable for the Trubs pick at some point and after year 4 of Trubs rookie deal makes sense.
You goddamn poet. You're behind this guy though: That team is flat out garbage, and the fact that the Seahawks blew that game is fitting. I can't see them winning it all, but they only have two more games to play at most. That's what taking advantage of your breaks and getting a first round bye will do. Gotta get to the dance, then just win a few in a row against the best in the league. Any given sunday. I hate them way more than is reasonable. I am enjoying the playoffs quite a bit this year, despite the Bears not being in it, assuming the Packers have justice served on them this week or in two weeks, but hopefully this week. As I said, I know it's blowing smoke, or as you put it "smoke and mirrors". You're right, we'll see what happens, but my fears are that he believes what he says, and that the following will happen: 1. No QB competition - I think this is likely, smoke and mirrors or no, there's not a lot of options anyway. 2. We pick up Mitch's 5th year option - This is where we see if Pace believes what he says. If he really thinks Mitch is the answer, he will do this in March. 3. Floyd is signed to an extension - This is still pretty likely IMO, but draft/FA will tell the tale, there's not much behind him and he IS a Ryan Pace high pick. There are options here. 4. Adam Shaheen makes the roster - This would wipe the might right out of my avatar in a hurry. I completely believe this is him just not throwing a shitty player under the bus. 5. No OL moves - Ev brought this up, and they might believe that a new coach is the cure. I really can't believe even Pace is this stupid though. It's just a waiting game now for draft time.
I told myself I wasn't gonna watch the playoffs until Championship Sunday but then predictably I got sucked in during wild card weekend and last weekend. For the most part the games have been highly entertaining and high quality. I don't think he'll pick up the 5th year option but that doesn't correlate to Mitch being the unquestioned starter in 2020. Pace will let us all know how much faith he has in Mitch when he signs Chase's replacement. If it's Dalton, Teddy, even Mariotta, that might indicate a the possibility of a QB competition in camp. If it's a lower-tiered backup, then that will confirm what many of us suspect, that Mitch is indeed the guy for 2020.
I don’t know how or why Andy Dalton’s name got brought up as “competition” for Mitch, but this fucker is hot garbage personified. Dead last in passer rating last year, wildly inconsistent throughout his career, makes a statue look mobile, and will be 33 years old next season. Hard pass on Dalton.
I'll be pissed if Pace negligently thinks this team now needs no/minimal change to be successful when the season starts. I think he's smarter than that (amid failed gambles) and knows he has to make moves. I'm optimistic there because he re-negotiated Mack and Fuller, Long retired, and other moves are still to be made to give himself more cap room or rope to hang himself, however you want to look at it. There's an opening at QB. I expect competition even though Pace hasn't said it. One move has to be made as Chase Daniel is a free agent, and does not need to be a bear. The bears have until May 3rd to make the decision on Mitch's 5th year option., as that is the NFL mandated deadline. I can see them denying and if Mitch comes close the franchise tag. As you stated, now its a waiting game. Floyd better fucking not be signed to an extension over 2 years and 5 mil per year as the 3rd string edge rusher. There is absolutely nothing that says that big money needs to be spent on this bum. He's a product of the unit, not the reason the unit is successful and the bears need 2 pass rushers as Lynch is a FA. To me, FA is the place to strike. Dante Fowler, Shaq Barrett, Bud Dupree, Mario Addison, and Mychal Hendricks are FA's to be. The draft will have plenty. As I review tape, there are 3-4 collegiate TEs that should be around when the bears pick in the 2nd. The ND kid, Kmet and the Purdue kid, Hopkins are the two that interest me as they are predominantly U TEs, but both have played the Y TE. (U TE is the receiving threat and Y is the in-line blocker, F TE is the 'upback' or guy you can plug as a FB). After these two the Stanford kid, who's a Y TE first (unless he can figure out how to be Gronk-like, he's 6'7 250 lbs), then the Vandy kid who's a U/F type TE. If the Ped State kid, Freiermuth declares, he's the best TE in the draft. This new sexual assault/hazing scandal and lawsuit filed by a player under their coach after the Sandusky child pedophilia thing.......gives me hope if the NCAA comes down hard again on that shitty university, the kid leaves. Things are subject to change, but when the bears pick at 43 and Kmet is there, right now--he's my guy. And I hate ND--but with a strong run game and passing game with a joke at coach and QB, this kid was effective. Right, so I don't know how anyone can say "no OLine moves to be made" when the bears don't have a starting RG under contract. Ted Larson is an unrestricted FA and Coward is a restricted FA. Cornelius Lucas and TJ Clemmings both are unrestricted FAs too. The moves may not be the splashes we want, but with only 4 guys on the 53 man and some PS guys, "no moves" isn't an option. I could be wrong, but unless we see a terrible regression and inability to beat teams on a 3rd place schedule; I don't see heads rolling.
