Bears vs Cowboys Thursday night on FOX

[Soul]

Bears have won 4/5. I definitely didn’t see that coming regardless of the opposition.

[Brian]

what would be the bigger gut punch

 

win out and still miss the playoffs

 

beat GB and KC then have a win and in against the Vikings and lose?

 

Don't think either are likely, but it feels like one of those is the way this season would end.

[UMFan83]

So any ideas why Mitch decided to not run all season until now? Very strange. Still wonder if the shoulder injury had something to do with it

[Soul]

Just feels wrong that the NFC East will send a team to the playoffs and that ultimately all this mega-fail from the Cowboys doesn’t sink them.

[UMFan83]

what would be the bigger gut punch

 

win out and still miss the playoffs

 

beat GB and KC then have a win and in against the Vikings and lose?

 

Don't think either are likely, but it feels like one of those is the way this season would end.

 

How about win out and finish with a same record as the Vikings only for the Rams to go 3-1 and win the H2H tiebreaker.

[Derwood]

Just feels wrong that the NFC East will send a team to the playoffs and that ultimately all this mega-fail from the Cowboys doesn’t sink them.

 

The 6-7 Cowboys have a 70% chance of making the playoffs

The 7-6 Bears have a 3% chance of making the playoffs

 

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[UK]

So any ideas why Mitch decided to not run all season until now? Very strange. Still wonder if the shoulder injury had something to do with it

 

Coaching, the Cowboys are bad against dual threat QBs

[Thed Hoyerstein]

what would be the bigger gut punch

 

win out and still miss the playoffs

 

beat GB and KC then have a win and in against the Vikings and lose?

 

Don't think either are likely, but it feels like one of those is the way this season would end.

 

I would definitely be gut punched if they won out and still missed the playoffs but assuming Mitch is a big reason why they win out, I'd be pretty happy with the outcome since it signals that Mitch may be a viable solution. Not to mention 10-6 is a good record and illustrates that Nagy isn't the dummy visor boy that some of us thought.

[raw]

This is probably a bad matchup for the Bears. Cowboys are #1 in total offense. Most passing yards, and a top 10 rushing unit. Defense is very similar to the Bears across the board, except for their run D is middle of the pack, which the Bears don't have the ability to exploit. They protect the QB better than anybody (most passing attempts, fewest sacks allowed).

 

The Bears only chance is to get turnovers. The Cowboys are -4 in TO ratio, despite not turning the ball over a ton (16 times), so they don't force very many TOs. Oddly enough, those 16 turnovers have come almost exclusively in their losses.

 

2 fumbles and an INT vs. NO

3 INTs and 2 missed FG vs GB

missed FG in 2pt loss to NYJ

missed FG and INT vs. MIN

missed FG, blocked punt & INT vs NE

2 missed FGs, 2 turnovers vs BUF

 

The accuracy! Lol

 

Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm still just not sure what to make of that game. Where did that come from and where was it all year?

 

My favorite part was Trubisky just firing balls confidently into tight spaces. All season he's been scared to pass to wide open receivers, and then suddenly last night he was almost Cutler-eqsue in his ability to thread windows between multiple defenders.

 

My second favorite part is all these random dudes showing up and performing reasonably well replacing hurt veterans.

 

It's probably too late for this season, but I'm willing to reign in the doom boner for 2020 a little. A *little*.

[gflore34]

What the horsefeathers was that? I mentioned something about the Bears flipping the script however, I never thought it as a possibility, more wishing, hoping on my part. But, seriously, what the horsefeathers was that, someone called Mack getting to the QB, Bears looking competent, getting a big lead and having their opponent score in garbage time? A TE making plays? I didn't think the Bears knew they could use a TE on offense of course, they lack of is due to how terrible Burton and Shaheen have been but, it did take them 10+ games figure that out. And, in true Bear fashion, they win but lose Roquan Smith quite probably for the season.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm still just not sure what to make of that game. Where did that come from and where was it all year?

 

I don't think it was that surprising. When I saw the line on Sunday I put the money on the Bears +3 and over parlay, thinking the line would narrow. Dallas looked abysmal, and you don't come back from a "coach has to be fired" game when you keep him. Dallas was a disaster coming into that game. The Bears had been playing better. Prior to this game I doubled down on that parlay since the line didn't move, thinking the offense would score a few and the defense would be stout early before giving up yards and points late.

 

Dallas is not a good team. As I said in another thread, they are essentially the same as the Bears over the past ~20 years. Only for some reason people think they've been among the elite. Grossly overrated and the coaching situation has become muddled. They were primed for a 2nd consecutive ugly loss.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

What the horsefeathers was that? I mentioned something about the Bears flipping the script however, I never thought it as a possibility, more wishing, hoping on my part. But, seriously, what the horsefeathers was that, someone called Mack getting to the QB, Bears looking competent, getting a big lead and having their opponent score in garbage time? A TE making plays? I didn't think the Bears knew they could use a TE on offense of course, they lack of is due to how terrible Burton and Shaheen have been but, it did take them 10+ games figure that out. And, in true Bear fashion, they win but lose Roquan Smith quite probably for the season.

 

Smith's replacement was softer against the run but might have been better against the pass, which is fine because running doesn't matter.

[gflore34]

I'm still just not sure what to make of that game. Where did that come from and where was it all year?

 

My favorite part was Trubisky just firing balls confidently into tight spaces. All season he's been scared to pass to wide open receivers, and then suddenly last night he was almost Cutler-eqsue in his ability to thread windows between multiple defenders.

 

My second favorite part is all these random dudes showing up and performing reasonably well replacing hurt veterans.

 

It's probably too late for this season, but I'm willing to reign in the doom boner for 2020 a little. A *little*.

 

Maybe he's finally said horsefeathers it, if I don't play aggressive, I'm going to be done after 2020. It's about time, at this point, there's literally nothing to lose perhaps, he's figured that out as well.

[gflore34]

Just for shits and giggles in addition to the Bears the Blackhawks managed to beat the Bruins in Boston. Whatever it was for Chicago teams last night, they need to bottle it, not used to my teams enjoying such success. Hell, maybe, even the Illini won't start 0-2 in the Big Ten!

[UMFan83]

Just feels wrong that the NFC East will send a team to the playoffs and that ultimately all this mega-fail from the Cowboys doesn’t sink them.

 

The 6-7 Cowboys have a 70% chance of making the playoffs

The 7-6 Bears have a 3% chance of making the playoffs

 

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

5% now according to 538.

 

The odds are so low...if the best case scenario happens this weekend (Vikings lose to Detroit, Packers lose to Washington, Rams lose to Seattle), their chances shoot all the way up to 18%. If the best case scenario happens this weekend and next (Bears beat Packers, Vikings lose to Chargers, Rams lose to Dallas), it goes up to 55%.

 

Basically, Bears need to win out, have the Vikings lose 1 of their 3 non-Bears games (or Packers lose 2 of their 3 non-Bears games) and have the Rams lose 2 of their 4 remaining games. If they go 2-1 (with 1 of the wins being Minnesota) that turns to needing a 1-2 record for the Vikings and 1-3 record for the Rams.

 

Not going to happen, but at least we can try to win out and then spend all offseason lamenting Nagy not trying to get a few extra yards for Pineiro's game winning FG attempt against the Chargers.

Edited December 6, 2019 by UMFan83

[BigbadB]

I'm still just not sure what to make of that game. Where did that come from and where was it all year?

 

My favorite part was Trubisky just firing balls confidently into tight spaces. All season he's been scared to pass to wide open receivers, and then suddenly last night he was almost Cutler-eqsue in his ability to thread windows between multiple defenders.

 

My second favorite part is all these random dudes showing up and performing reasonably well replacing hurt veterans.

 

It's probably too late for this season, but I'm willing to reign in the doom boner for 2020 a little. A *little*.

 

Maybe he's finally said horsefeathers it, if I don't play aggressive, I'm going to be done after 2020. It's about time, at this point, there's literally nothing to lose perhaps, he's figured that out as well.

 

Prior to these last two games by Mitch, I'm not sure an XFL team would have taken a look at him. Now it looks like he might be fixed. His jump balls to Wims late in the game were nice high throws that a defender couldn't steal. They weren't caught, but it's where you throw those types of balls. He hit receivers in stride. The Cohen screens were nice. That play should be open and utilized more by both Cohen and Montgomery. I just don't have many complaints at all about last night's game. Very few penalty calls on the OLine. Only one penalty on Special Teams. Just an all around well played game. Mitch was reading the field, hitting receivers and TE's, he stepped up in the pocket. He ran the ball often. Just a well executed game where he didn't act like his line was as bad as it usually is and he just didn't play scared. I wonder if maybe a couple of other games could have been salvaged with some decent TE's on the roster earlier in the season. I don't know if Holtz/Horsted are the answer at the position, but I certainly hope they get a close look in training camp next year. I thought Horsted did enough in preseason to win a job this year.

[UMFan83]

I'm still just not sure what to make of that game. Where did that come from and where was it all year?

 

My favorite part was Trubisky just firing balls confidently into tight spaces. All season he's been scared to pass to wide open receivers, and then suddenly last night he was almost Cutler-eqsue in his ability to thread windows between multiple defenders.

 

My second favorite part is all these random dudes showing up and performing reasonably well replacing hurt veterans.

 

It's probably too late for this season, but I'm willing to reign in the doom boner for 2020 a little. A *little*.

 

Maybe he's finally said horsefeathers it, if I don't play aggressive, I'm going to be done after 2020. It's about time, at this point, there's literally nothing to lose perhaps, he's figured that out as well.

 

I think part of his issues were playing extremely tight and conservative. Not sure if that was Mitch being scared of throwing INTs or Nagy not trusting him to make the right reads, or both. But certainly looks like Mitch is throwing downfield with more confidence. And he's thrown 5 INTs in his last 4 games after throwing 3 in his first 7 games. And that's fine...I'd much rather have him throwing downfield and risking the occasional INT than having him throwing dump passes to Cohen for 3 yards all game.

 

We'll see. The whole town gave up on him already anyways, what else does he have to lose besides his job (which he was going to lose anyway playing how he did)

[jersey cubs fan]

And he's thrown 5 INTs in his last 4 games after throwing 3 in his first 7 games. And that's fine...I'd much rather have him throwing downfield and risking the occasional INT than having him throwing dump passes to Cohen for 3 yards all game.

I cannot get on board with this theory, that admittedly has been shared by many others. Mitch was throwing deep before, he wasn't intercepted becuase he'd miss everybody by 5 yards. He also had quite a few "should have been" INTs, and plenty of them on shorter passes as well. The INT last night was really bad. He was not pressured, had plenty of time to get rid of the ball, and should have just thrown it away (although I suspect the film will show he had some open receivers earlier). He's lucky the defense stepped up after Dallas started with a precision drive.

 

He did play great and has rebounded nicely, but I am not for "the interceptions means he's trying more" mentality. His INTs are from bad decisions.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I always thought some (not all) of those bad throws were him overexaggerating the "put it where only my receiver has a chance" thing.

[BigbadB]

I'm not a fan of the INT either, but I can live with a bad thrown once in a while. The big plus with last night's passing game was YAC, which Chicago was probably at the very bottom of the league in because Mitch rarely hits his receivers in open spaces or in stride where they can beat their defenders.

[raw]

I'm not a fan of the INT either, but I can live with a bad thrown once in a while. The big plus with last night's passing game was YAC, which Chicago was probably at the very bottom of the league in because Mitch rarely hits his receivers in open spaces or in stride where they can beat their defenders.

 

Yeah this is really a big deal. Short game has been frustrating because it's been Robinson going to the ground to make a catch or Cohen reaching behind and losing speed to turn the corner. Nobody cares if Mitch throws short if they are turning into Patterson's play.

 

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[David]

Just feels wrong that the NFC East will send a team to the playoffs and that ultimately all this mega-fail from the Cowboys doesn’t sink them.

 

The 6-7 Cowboys have a 70% chance of making the playoffs

The 7-6 Bears have a 3% chance of making the playoffs

 

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

7.5% to be exact. We are out of miracle territory and into "non-zero"

 

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/playoffodds

[Derwood]

Just feels wrong that the NFC East will send a team to the playoffs and that ultimately all this mega-fail from the Cowboys doesn’t sink them.

 

The 6-7 Cowboys have a 70% chance of making the playoffs

The 7-6 Bears have a 3% chance of making the playoffs

 

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

7.5% to be exact. We are out of miracle territory and into "non-zero"

 

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/playoffodds

 

I heard 3% on the radio, but don't know where they got that from

[Old Style]

I'm trying hard not to fall too far into the "Mitch is finally starting to figure things out" category. I'm hopeful he's turning a corner but afraid it's just fool's gold.