Week 13 - Bears (6-5) at Minnesota (2-8-1) - 12:00 PM, FOX

[cubbyvirus00]

FG% increases by 1.6% for every yard between a 52 and a 27 yarder.

 

At the very least you run the ball one more time. Also Trestman called a TO which effectively iced his own kicker.

 

All sorts of boneheaded coaching decisions in this game. What a mess.

[cubbyvirus00]

None of this matters if Cassel didn't play. He's better than Ponder. We would have won in regulation if Ponder had continued.

 

The great Matt Cassel.

 

The great Kellen Clemons

 

How depressing.

[Guest]

FG% increases by 1.6% for every yard between a 52 and a 27 yarder.

 

At the very least you run the ball one more time. Also Trestman called a TO which effectively iced his own kicker.

 

All sorts of boneheaded coaching decisions in this game. What a mess.

 

Ok, this is nonsense.

[Splendid Splinter]

I'd look to pick up speed WR to stick in the slot in the 2nd or 3rd but i'd be looking defense pretty much everywhere else.

 

Maybe an OL somewhere later but the defense really needs the attention...the offense is so solid and I don't see a ton of places to add (TE depth, as raw noted, and a 3rd WR...and you're always looking to develop OL).

While I understand wanting a speedy slot guy I think 2nd or 3rd round would be a pretty big waste in resources on that unless the guy is just a clear BPA. The Johnny Knoxes and Eddie Royals of the world go in the 4-5 round and while they will never be number ones can be really effective with a Brandon Marshall taking away attention (not to mention a second Brandon Marshall). FA scrap heap could probably find a guy to fill that role too. Hopefully like Royal and Knox a guy like that will be a kick returner too so that we can cut ties with Hester.

 

 

Like who in the FA would you target??? http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/wide-receiver/

 

The WR is gonna have to come from the draft IMO and it wouldn't shock me if Bears went with someone like Marqise Lee or even a TE in the 1st. Although I think they need to go DL or possibly CB/S and somehow get De'Anthony Thomas in the 2nd. Getting Thomas means that you can let Hester go and cut Bush at the same time then put him in the Sproles/Vereen role.

[rawaction]

I'd look to pick up speed WR to stick in the slot in the 2nd or 3rd but i'd be looking defense pretty much everywhere else.

 

Maybe an OL somewhere later but the defense really needs the attention...the offense is so solid and I don't see a ton of places to add (TE depth, as raw noted, and a 3rd WR...and you're always looking to develop OL).

While I understand wanting a speedy slot guy I think 2nd or 3rd round would be a pretty big waste in resources on that unless the guy is just a clear BPA. The Johnny Knoxes and Eddie Royals of the world go in the 4-5 round and while they will never be number ones can be really effective with a Brandon Marshall taking away attention (not to mention a second Brandon Marshall). FA scrap heap could probably find a guy to fill that role too. Hopefully like Royal and Knox a guy like that will be a kick returner too so that we can cut ties with Hester.

 

 

Like who in the FA would you target??? http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/wide-receiver/

 

The WR is gonna have to come from the draft IMO and it wouldn't shock me if Bears went with someone like Marqise Lee or even a TE in the 1st. Although I think they need to go DL or possibly CB/S and somehow get De'Anthony Thomas in the 2nd. Getting Thomas means that you can let Hester go and cut Bush at the same time then put him in the Sproles/Vereen role.

 

Yeah, you'll have to draft a speedy WR, but I agree that it's not necessary, especially early. The Bears have been just fine without a blazer. You're talking about the 5th option in the passing game. At least at TE, you could get a guy that could block at times and create more matchup problems vs. a base defense. Obviously if a speedy WR falls into your laps early, you take him, but I don't see that as a priority.

 

Oh and DeAnthony Thomas is not very good. I'll scream if the Bears take him in the 2nd. He's a 3rd day pick to me, though I will admit I've seen plenty of places having him as a top 60 pick. Sproles and Vereen are significantly bigger than Thomas though. And you'd be getting him touches at the expense of Forte, not in addition to him in that role.

[UMFan83]

FG% increases by 1.6% for every yard between a 52 and a 27 yarder.

 

At the very least you run the ball one more time. Also Trestman called a TO which effectively iced his own kicker.

 

All sorts of boneheaded coaching decisions in this game. What a mess.

 

Ok, this is nonsense.

 

And also wasn't it Minnesota who called the TO?

[Guest]

I'd look to pick up speed WR to stick in the slot in the 2nd or 3rd but i'd be looking defense pretty much everywhere else.

 

Maybe an OL somewhere later but the defense really needs the attention...the offense is so solid and I don't see a ton of places to add (TE depth, as raw noted, and a 3rd WR...and you're always looking to develop OL).

While I understand wanting a speedy slot guy I think 2nd or 3rd round would be a pretty big waste in resources on that unless the guy is just a clear BPA. The Johnny Knoxes and Eddie Royals of the world go in the 4-5 round and while they will never be number ones can be really effective with a Brandon Marshall taking away attention (not to mention a second Brandon Marshall). FA scrap heap could probably find a guy to fill that role too. Hopefully like Royal and Knox a guy like that will be a kick returner too so that we can cut ties with Hester.

 

 

Like who in the FA would you target??? http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/wide-receiver/

 

The WR is gonna have to come from the draft IMO and it wouldn't shock me if Bears went with someone like Marqise Lee or even a TE in the 1st. Although I think they need to go DL or possibly CB/S and somehow get De'Anthony Thomas in the 2nd. Getting Thomas means that you can let Hester go and cut Bush at the same time then put him in the Sproles/Vereen role.

 

Yeah, you'll have to draft a speedy WR, but I agree that it's not necessary, especially early. The Bears have been just fine without a blazer. You're talking about the 5th option in the passing game. At least at TE, you could get a guy that could block at times and create more matchup problems vs. a base defense. Obviously if a speedy WR falls into your laps early, you take him, but I don't see that as a priority.

 

Oh and DeAnthony Thomas is not very good. I'll scream if the Bears take him in the 2nd. He's a 3rd day pick to me, though I will admit I've seen plenty of places having him as a top 60 pick. Sproles and Vereen are significantly bigger than Thomas though. And you'd be getting him touches at the expense of Forte, not in addition to him in that role.

 

DAT is going to be over drafted in the first round.

[Banedon]

The Bears season

 

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2013/11/race.gif

[rawaction]

FG% increases by 1.6% for every yard between a 52 and a 27 yarder.

 

At the very least you run the ball one more time. Also Trestman called a TO which effectively iced his own kicker.

 

All sorts of boneheaded coaching decisions in this game. What a mess.

 

Ok, this is nonsense.

 

And also wasn't it Minnesota who called the TO?

 

Both teams did. Back-to-back.

[WrigleyField 22]

Also, while maybe not quite the classic burner, the Bears have the youngest player in the NFL with 4.5 40 and 6.65 3 cone speed. He may very well be our slot guy for next year. A rookie would be just as if not more risky and untested.

 

Plus the fact that we have done okay without that role being filled, like rawaction said. Its just not something I see having an eye towards that early next draft.

[mul21]

 

Like who in the FA would you target??? http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/wide-receiver/

 

The WR is gonna have to come from the draft IMO and it wouldn't shock me if Bears went with someone like Marqise Lee or even a TE in the 1st. Although I think they need to go DL or possibly CB/S and somehow get De'Anthony Thomas in the 2nd. Getting Thomas means that you can let Hester go and cut Bush at the same time then put him in the Sproles/Vereen role.

 

Yeah, you'll have to draft a speedy WR, but I agree that it's not necessary, especially early. The Bears have been just fine without a blazer. You're talking about the 5th option in the passing game. At least at TE, you could get a guy that could block at times and create more matchup problems vs. a base defense. Obviously if a speedy WR falls into your laps early, you take him, but I don't see that as a priority.

 

Oh and DeAnthony Thomas is not very good. I'll scream if the Bears take him in the 2nd. He's a 3rd day pick to me, though I will admit I've seen plenty of places having him as a top 60 pick. Sproles and Vereen are significantly bigger than Thomas though. And you'd be getting him touches at the expense of Forte, not in addition to him in that role.

 

Yeah, that's exactly why that's not a good fit for the Bears. They already have a guy who is capable of being out there all 3 downs and the Saints and Pats don't have that, which is why those guys become valuable. That's just not a commodity they need to waste a pick to acquire right now.

[Rex Buckingham]

Also, while maybe not quite the classic burner, the Bears have the youngest player in the NFL with 4.5 40 and 6.65 3 cone speed. He may very well be our slot guy for next year. A rookie would be just as if not more risky and untested.

 

Plus the fact that we have done okay without that role being filled, like rawaction said. Its just not something I see having an eye towards that early next draft.

 

I assume that Marquess Wilson?

[Guest]

I think DAT will primarily be a slot receiver and have a Tavon Austin-like role in the NFL. He won't be a RB.

[sneakypower]

the Dexter McCluster route

[rawaction]

I think DAT will primarily be a slot receiver and have a Tavon Austin-like role in the NFL. He won't be a RB.

 

Yeah, and he's not as good as Austin (who was mostly a full time WR in college) or Harvin (who is bigger and more talented). McCluster is a good comparison, but he hasn't been worth the 3rd round pick used on him. Hence my issue with DAT.

[Splendid Splinter]

 

Like who in the FA would you target??? http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/wide-receiver/

 

The WR is gonna have to come from the draft IMO and it wouldn't shock me if Bears went with someone like Marqise Lee or even a TE in the 1st. Although I think they need to go DL or possibly CB/S and somehow get De'Anthony Thomas in the 2nd. Getting Thomas means that you can let Hester go and cut Bush at the same time then put him in the Sproles/Vereen role.

 

Yeah, you'll have to draft a speedy WR, but I agree that it's not necessary, especially early. The Bears have been just fine without a blazer. You're talking about the 5th option in the passing game. At least at TE, you could get a guy that could block at times and create more matchup problems vs. a base defense. Obviously if a speedy WR falls into your laps early, you take him, but I don't see that as a priority.

 

Oh and DeAnthony Thomas is not very good. I'll scream if the Bears take him in the 2nd. He's a 3rd day pick to me, though I will admit I've seen plenty of places having him as a top 60 pick. Sproles and Vereen are significantly bigger than Thomas though. And you'd be getting him touches at the expense of Forte, not in addition to him in that role.

 

Yeah, that's exactly why that's not a good fit for the Bears. They already have a guy who is capable of being out there all 3 downs and the Saints and Pats don't have that, which is why those guys become valuable. That's just not a commodity they need to waste a pick to acquire right now.

 

I don't see it as a big priority either, but I can easily see the Bears picking early on a WR/TE just to get more offensive weapons. Sproles is "significantly" bigger than DAT??? In my situation, Bush would be cut (I said it in the first post) and basically his carries would to go to DAT so it wouldn't be "getting touches at the expense of Forte" really. I think a guy like him would be a very good fit for the Bears. You make him your primary KR/PR (letting Hester go), give him 3-4 carries (what Bush gets on avg this year- cut him in the process and save $1.8 mil), and let him take Earl Bennett spot whenever the Bears want to go 3 WR sets (only 24 catches so far for Earl so he's not that big of a factor and you could cut him to save $2.4 mil). So on a good day, he probably see 12 targets/carries, but most likely see 6-8.

 

A guy like DAT would THRIVE in that role IMO as the 5th option on the offense. You do have to utilize him right though or you would end up with someone like McCluster or worse. Maybe I shouldn't have said in the "Sproles/Vereen role" as those guys consistently get a lot more touches than I would give DAT so maybe Tavon Austin is a better comp with a few more carries. The thing is... you can't deny that DAT is a playmaker and you can never have enough of those. Anybody know where Dri Archer could go? He's another guy I was thinking of who could thrive in this kind of role and probably be there in the later rounds.

[rawaction]

Sproles has 15-20lbs on DAT and is more solidly built. And what's the point of using a high pick if he's only getting 6-8 touches? Granted he'd get some special teams touches too. But 2nd round is too rich for my blood.

 

Archer I've seen anywhere from 3rd to 5th or 6th round. I like him better than DAT. They are the same player, but Archer has more experience in what will be their NFL role. Hes been hurt this year but once teams see him run in Indy, he'll be closer to a 3rd rounder than 5th.

[cubbyvirus00]

Anyone have the PFF grades from Sunday?

[Banedon]

Anyone have the PFF grades from Sunday?

 

Hasn't been posted on reddit yet. Should be sometimes today based on when it's been posted previously.

[UMFan83]

PFF things that have trickled out on Twitter:

 

Joe Ostrowski ‏@JoeO670 2 Dec

Vikings QBs had a 109.7 qb rating when throwing at Steltz, per @PFF. VIKINGS QBS!!!!! #Bears

 

Matt Clapp ‏@DaBearNecess 2 Dec

PFF's top 4 #Bears on defense vs Vikings: Julius Peppers +3.2, Stephen Paea +1.8, Corey Wootton +1.9, Landon Cohen +0.9.

 

Matt Clapp ‏@DaBearNecess 2 Dec

More Trestman impact: PFF has #Bears cumulatively graded as the 2nd-worst pass-blocking unit, yet they've allowed the 3rd-least sacks.

Expand

 

Sean Jensen ‏@seankjensen 2 Dec

#Bears missed 11 tackles, says @PFF, the 6th time they’ve hit double-digits this season or as many as they had in 82 games over 5 seasons.

 

- The three highest graded players were Jerome Felton (+6.8), Adrian Peterson (+5.9) and Alshon Jeffery (+5.1)

 

- The three lowest graded players were James Anderson (-5.1), Craig Steltz (-4.6) and Jared Allen (-3.2)

 

- It’s somewhat ironic after the Chicago offensive-line held up pretty well this week, allowing pressure on only 30% of passing plays against a decent d-line, that a quarter of the pressure turned into sacks. Previously a league 7th worst 40% pressure allowed had resulted in a league best 10% ending as sacks.

 

- When Alshon Jeffery last passed 200 yards (against New Orleans in week five) only 25 yards came after the catch. This time it was almost 50% with 121 yards of YAC.

 

- The cardinal rule when playing Adrian Peterson is to not let him run over left or right end. The Bears allowed him to do that on 16 of his 35 runs which cost them 132 yards at 8.3 yards a carry.

[Pushfrog98]

PFF things that have trickled out on Twitter:

Sean Jensen ‏@seankjensen 2 Dec

#Bears missed 11 tackles, says @PFF, the 6th time they’ve hit double-digits this season or as many as they had in 82 games over 5 seasons.

The Bears REALLY need to stop trying to strip the ball so often. Watching the game, it looked like a few of the missed tackles were because someone was just trying to rip the ball away. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but it seems like this has been the trend all season.

[Banedon]

PFF things that have trickled out on Twitter:

Sean Jensen ‏@seankjensen 2 Dec

#Bears missed 11 tackles, says @PFF, the 6th time they’ve hit double-digits this season or as many as they had in 82 games over 5 seasons.

The Bears REALLY need to stop trying to strip the ball so often. Watching the game, it looked like a few of the missed tackles were because someone was just trying to rip the ball away. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but it seems like this has been the trend all season.

 

They aren't missing tackles because they're trying to strip the ball. They're just not good at tackling. If they're gonna be bad at tackling, might as well try to strip the ball.

[Banedon]

I mean, it's not like this year there's been an uptick in trying to strip the ball and that it's resulted in missed tackles. They've always tried to strip the ball, the failure to tackle has just developed independent of that.

[mul21]

I mean, it's not like this year there's been an uptick in trying to strip the ball and that it's resulted in missed tackles. They've always tried to strip the ball, the failure to tackle has just developed independent of that.

 

I think it's been much more noticeable this year, especially when the guy who's best at it, Peanut, has been hurt for much of the year. I did think they sacrificed some yardage on at least a few plays trying to strip the ball, but I generally agree with you that they're just terrible at tackling and, even more importantly, at being in the right spot to tackle a guy.

[Banedon]

I mean, it's not like this year there's been an uptick in trying to strip the ball and that it's resulted in missed tackles. They've always tried to strip the ball, the failure to tackle has just developed independent of that.

 

I think it's been much more noticeable this year, especially when the guy who's best at it, Peanut, has been hurt for much of the year. I did think they sacrificed some yardage on at least a few plays trying to strip the ball, but I generally agree with you that they're just terrible at tackling and, even more importantly, at being in the right spot to tackle a guy.

 

They've given up a few yards here and there in the past trying to do get the strip, but when it's a guy turning a 3 yard run into a 4 yard run, you deal with it...especially when they have the success they've had previously. But when it's a guy turning a 20 yard run into a 25 yard run, it's more noticeable...and it's the 20 yard part of that that is really the bigger concern.