Week 13: Bears (5-6) @ Lions (7-4) Thu 11:30 AM CT CBS

[UMFan83]

Since it's a short week and people are already talking about it in the Bucs thread I'll start this.

 

If the Bears want to get any respect as a fringe playoff contender, they must win this one. To win, they must play significantly better than they have in the last 4 games.

 

All that said the Lions offense looks broken and there are signs that Detroit is going into their annual tailspin. Might be playing them at the right time.

 

Lions favored by 6.5

[Butterscup1679666578]

cool how about a hilarious loss in front of the entire country to cap this season off

[Sammy Sofa]

The Lions' increasingly farty offense seems like the kind of thing to keep the Bears' defense on this mini-roll they're on (AKA thank God we're playing shitty teams). Now if Cutler can just step up. He hasn't been disastrous, but he's got to start pulling some big plays off again. I don't know if it's how bad the OL has looked or what, but Cutler just looks broken.

[treebird]

we should assume that the bears will take the action at every step that most ensures they will get a bad draft pick while also never being fun or close to a playoff spot. they've been on that track for a while.

 

lions by 17. me yelling at an uncle for saying the wrong mean thing about jay cutler -1000. still easy money, though.

[rawaction]

The Lions' increasingly farty offense seems like the kind of thing to keep the Bears' defense on this mini-roll they're on (AKA thank God we're playing [expletive] teams). Now if Cutler can just step up. He hasn't been disastrous, but he's got to start pulling some big plays off again. I don't know if it's how bad the OL has looked or what, but Cutler just looks broken.

 

You know he's 1 week removed from a 330 yard passing game that featured a handful of big plays.

[apete6]

I'll be in attendance. Making the trip with my dad and brother. As long as it's not a blowout, I'll take it. Just glad the game is actually meaningful versus what it could have been without two wins the past two weeks.

 

I think the Lions win 23-10 or something along those lines. Their defense is just going to be too much for the Bears.

[Butterscup1679666578]

what's marshall's deal? he's mopier and worse than ever

[Sammy Sofa]

The Lions' increasingly farty offense seems like the kind of thing to keep the Bears' defense on this mini-roll they're on (AKA thank God we're playing [expletive] teams). Now if Cutler can just step up. He hasn't been disastrous, but he's got to start pulling some big plays off again. I don't know if it's how bad the OL has looked or what, but Cutler just looks broken.

 

You know he's 1 week removed from a 330 yard passing game that featured a handful of big plays.

 

Holy hell, YES. Cutler's having an odd good season, and we're not seeing nearly as much of great Cutler like we have in the past. It's weird, and when he's off he's looking REALLY off. Not like where's giving it up, but just like he's bad at almost everything else. I don't know if it's the OL giving up so much pressure or whatever the [expletive] is wrong with Marshall or Black Unicorn and his drops, but he's looked like he has today too often.

[apete6]

what's marshall's deal? he's mopier and worse than ever

 

Signed him to an unnecessary extension earlier this season, 3 more years after this one. I think it was 3/$40 with ~$20 guaranteed. Fun! Does Emery know franchise tag exists?

[rawaction]

what's marshall's deal? he's mopier and worse than ever

 

I think he really fed into the preseason hype of this team. They scored the 2nd most points last year. Jeffery became a star. Martellus became a reliable 3rd. Wilson was doing everything in the offseason to join them, Forte, and Cutler to form an even more dynamic offense. They were 1 blown coverage away from the playoffs last year and added 3 very good DEs. I think Marshall feels the pressure. He knows that if they don't get it together fast, Cutler may be gone. Trestman may be gone. He may be gone.

 

Plus, he's [expletive] crazy!

[rawaction]

what's marshall's deal? he's mopier and worse than ever

 

Signed him to an unnecessary extension earlier this season, 3 more years after this one. I think it was 3/$40 with ~$20 guaranteed. Fun! Does Emery know franchise tag exists?

 

Eh. Everyone knew it was going to happen, and most of us were OK with it. And it was a way to get some cap space for this year. I'm on record of saying I would have franchised Cutler for this year (injured the year before, got outplayed by backup albeit against easier schedule), but Marshall had been a model citizen in Chicago, with 3 years of the best production from a WR in franchise history. Wasn't a bad deal at the time.

[Guest]

The Lions' increasingly farty offense seems like the kind of thing to keep the Bears' defense on this mini-roll they're on (AKA thank God we're playing [expletive] teams). Now if Cutler can just step up. He hasn't been disastrous, but he's got to start pulling some big plays off again. I don't know if it's how bad the OL has looked or what, but Cutler just looks broken.

 

You know he's 1 week removed from a 330 yard passing game that featured a handful of big plays.

 

Holy hell, YES. Cutler's having an odd good season, and we're not seeing nearly as much of great Cutler like we have in the past. It's weird, and when he's off he's looking REALLY off. Not like where's giving it up, but just like he's bad at almost everything else. I don't know if it's the OL giving up so much pressure or whatever the [expletive] is wrong with Marshall or Black Unicorn and his drops, but he's looked like he has today too often.

This routine is as meatball as they come. There's like absolutely no proof for what you are saying.

 

Aliens, man, aliens.

[WrigleyField 22]

People need to stop treating the franchise tag as some cap space holy grail. Fact is you spend w ton of money and usually piss off and alienate one of your best players. A lot of the contracts Clifg Stein has drawn up lately are basically mini two year franchise tags (where the second year is a savings) with team options. We've been maintaining flexibility, bottom line.

 

 

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[WrigleyField 22]

And extensions help mitigate FA risk where your only tool is the one previously mentioned franchise tag.

 

 

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[jersey cubs fan]

People need to stop treating the franchise tag as some cap space holy grail. Fact is you spend w ton of money and usually piss off and alienate one of your best players. A lot of the contracts Clifg Stein has drawn up lately are basically mini two year franchise tags (where the second year is a savings) with team options. We've been maintaining flexibility, bottom line.

 

 

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franchising cutler would have only served the purpose of creating more tension on the team and would have gone against everything they were trying to do this year (which was build on last year's offensive success and win). In retrospect, if you were going to crap the bed you'd want Cutler on the tag so you can get rid of him next year, but that wasn't the goal then.

[UK1679666180]

The Lions' increasingly farty offense seems like the kind of thing to keep the Bears' defense on this mini-roll they're on (AKA thank God we're playing [expletive] teams). Now if Cutler can just step up. He hasn't been disastrous, but he's got to start pulling some big plays off again. I don't know if it's how bad the OL has looked or what, but Cutler just looks broken.

 

You know he's 1 week removed from a 330 yard passing game that featured a handful of big plays.

 

Holy hell, YES. Cutler's having an odd good season, and we're not seeing nearly as much of great Cutler like we have in the past. It's weird, and when he's off he's looking REALLY off. Not like where's giving it up, but just like he's bad at almost everything else. I don't know if it's the OL giving up so much pressure or whatever the [expletive] is wrong with Marshall or Black Unicorn and his drops, but he's looked like he has today too often.

This routine is as meatball as they come. There's like absolutely no proof.

Aliens, man, aliens.

 

Look at the stats. He's slightly above average at best.

 

He's been a disappointment like most of the team. If your best statistical category is 12th, it's a bad year.

Edited November 24, 2014 by UK

[WrigleyField 22]

People need to stop treating the franchise tag as some cap space holy grail. Fact is you spend w ton of money and usually piss off and alienate one of your best players. A lot of the contracts Clifg Stein has drawn up lately are basically mini two year franchise tags (where the second year is a savings) with team options. We've been maintaining flexibility, bottom line.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

franchising cutler would have only served the purpose of creating more tension on the team and would have gone against everything they were trying to do this year (which was build on last year's offensive success and win). In retrospect, if you were going to crap the bed you'd want Cutler on the tag so you can get rid of him next year, but that wasn't the goal then.

Agreed. But even with the deal looking worse now... We're still okay. Yea were committed to Cutler for another year, but even if you decide to move on and draft a Rd1 QB you aren't forced to rush him. And when it's all said and done we've been active filling holes in FA and remain in a good cap situation. The alternative is a bit more cash in Virginias pocket.

 

Looking at the upcoming cap for 2015 is interesting. Not surprisingly most of the true playoff contenders are in tough cap spots. If Emery does his job well we will too in about 3 years (due to resigning picks)

 

Also NO is in certified cap hell. They can probably get Bree's to restructure and they'll need to, but they'll still have to make a few cuts and could very well be coming off a losing record while still facing the other first place division winners.

 

Maybe Sean Payton becomes available in 2016...

 

 

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[Sammy Sofa]

This routine is as meatball as they come. There's like absolutely no proof for what you are saying.

 

Aliens, man, aliens.

 

He's been very inconsistent or disappointing in too many games this year. He's gotta pick them up and carry them more often if they're gonna have a chance. Look at the 49ers and Panthers games as flipsides of the same coin of being that up and down. Wouldn't you rather see more results like that Vikings game you love like it's your child as opposed to the all or nothing crap we've seen too often from him and the rest of the team where they seemingly only have a half of football in them?

[Guest]

This routine is as meatball as they come. There's like absolutely no proof for what you are saying.

 

Aliens, man, aliens.

 

He's been very inconsistent or disappointing in too many games this year. He's gotta pick them up and carry them more often if they're gonna have a chance. Look at the 49ers and Panthers games as flipsides of the same coin of being that up and down. Wouldn't you rather see more results like that Vikings game you love like it's your child as opposed to the all or nothing crap we've seen too often from him and the rest of the team where they seemingly only have a half of football in them?

He hasn't been close to all or nothing this year.

 

I think he should have been allowed to throw the ball more in the late third and all of the fourth, but Trestman was in full turtle-up mode.

[jersey cubs fan]

This routine is as meatball as they come. There's like absolutely no proof for what you are saying.

 

Aliens, man, aliens.

 

He's been very inconsistent or disappointing in too many games this year. He's gotta pick them up and carry them more often if they're gonna have a chance. Look at the 49ers and Panthers games as flipsides of the same coin of being that up and down. Wouldn't you rather see more results like that Vikings game you love like it's your child as opposed to the all or nothing crap we've seen too often from him and the rest of the team where they seemingly only have a half of football in them?

He hasn't been close to all or nothing this year.

 

I think he should have been allowed to throw the ball more in the late third and all of the fourth, but Trestman was in full turtle-up mode.

he threw like crap the first two quarters

[Sammy Sofa]

Cutler's awesomely shrugged off shitty coaching in the past to get things done. I miss that Cutler.

[jersey cubs fan]

I wouldn't describe Cutler has all or nothing this year. Unfortunately, I haven't see a whole lot of the "all" that I am used to seeing in him. He has looked really good at times, but not often enough. He's been okay for much of the time and looked bad far too often for my taste.

[Guest]

Cutler's awesomely shrugged off [expletive] coaching in the past to get things done. I miss that Cutler.

 

You have an odd view of Cutler's first few years here.

 

He was pretty similar, maybe a little worse (outside of the couple of Martz years toward midseason when Martz would stop trying to call the greatest show on turf - which I think was the best Jay actually played here when considering everything) in the past. The defense was just really good so they won more games. Maybe that's what makes you think he was getting things done or something.

 

I really think the Martz years (both times after having his stubborn attempts thwarted to drop him back 7 steps every other down) were the best Cutler actually played. The offense at those points in the season was rolling pretty good in both 2010 and 11 despite having terrible talent around him outside of Forte. Just really sucks he had to go down in 2011 because that team was really hitting its stride and just dominating pretty good teams. I still wonder what could've been if he doesn't break his thumb. Easy schedule where they could've padded their record on the way to a nice playoff seed too. Oh, and he could've ended the Tebow miracle crap before it ever began.

 

I think neutered (post reprimand for too many deep drops and not running the ball enough) Martz was the best OC Cutler played under. He was a stubborn [expletive] though.

[Guest]

This routine is as meatball as they come. There's like absolutely no proof for what you are saying.

 

Aliens, man, aliens.

 

He's been very inconsistent or disappointing in too many games this year. He's gotta pick them up and carry them more often if they're gonna have a chance. Look at the 49ers and Panthers games as flipsides of the same coin of being that up and down. Wouldn't you rather see more results like that Vikings game you love like it's your child as opposed to the all or nothing crap we've seen too often from him and the rest of the team where they seemingly only have a half of football in them?

He hasn't been close to all or nothing this year.

 

I think he should have been allowed to throw the ball more in the late third and all of the fourth, but Trestman was in full turtle-up mode.

he threw like crap the first two quarters

Yeah but he's come back before.

[Sammy Sofa]

I wouldn't describe Cutler has all or nothing this year. Unfortunately, I haven't see a whole lot of the "all" that I am used to seeing in him. He has looked really good at times, but not often enough. He's been okay for much of the time and looked bad far too often for my taste.

 

Yes, this. He's not the disaster his haters think he is, but he also hasn't been as awesome as frequently as he has in seasons past. Falling in the middle most of the time isn't enough with this team.