Week 9 Dolphins @ Bears (+4.5) - Noon, CBS

[raw]

 

It will be a massive failure by Poles and co. if they don't add 1-2 more above replacement level WR's this offseason.

 

It won't be easy. There's just stone cold nothing on the FA market. That's why we paid through the nose for Claypool.

I mean there definitely will be capable, above replacement WR in FA. The question is if Poles sees a big-ish FA signing with Mooney and Claypool set for FA in 2024. Does he see three big-ish money WR or are they relegated to draft picks and lotto tickets now that he did the Claypool move.

 

Many of the top offenses really only have 2 big time targets. Hill and Waddle in Miami. Brown and Smith in Philly. Diggs and Davis in Buffalo. Chargers when healthy have Allen and Williams. Chiefs for years had Hill and Kelce. DK and Lockett in Seattle. Teams with 3 really good targets are rare, as there just aren't enough footballs to go around. Cincinnati is the exception more than the rule, and they may only go 2 deep going forward with Chase and Burrow soon to get big paydays.

 

Granted, the Bears 2 aren't nearly as good as any of those 2s with no top 10 level WR. But with Velus (assuming they don't give up on him and find a niche role for him) and if they keep Harry (and he has a solid 2nd half), that along with getting Kmet in the pass game more and not blocking, honestly MAY be enough to field a really respectable offense the way Fields is playing. I definitely don't think you see them spend on a WR. IDK that they'd draft a WR top 10 now either. Seems more of a luxury than a necessity, if today is a glimpse on how much a factor Claypool will be (should have been 2 PI calls). Of course, the wildcard is the 125Mil. If they pay for 2 OL and some pieces on defense, BPA may truly be one of the top WRs in the draft.

[WrigleyField 22]

Big-ish here would still be only a #3 WR, but that's still like a $7M+ price tag in the current WR market: Julio Jones, Zay Jones, Cedric Wilson, DJ Chark, Russell Gage, Valdez Scantling, and Juju Smith Schuster (with incentives) all got 6-10M AAV this past offseason, and most of those guys I think would be described as "#3s"

 

If Mooney and Claypool are gonna be $30m (which frankly could be light), is Poles gonna also throw 10M at a Lazard and have a $40M WR room with no true number 1?

[UMFan83]

2022 Bears

 

[jersey cubs fan]

So let’s take stock of where Fields is right now amongst starting QBs

 

Definitely better at this point:

 

Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Hurts, Lamar, Herbert, Tua

 

I realize he has to get better as a passer but outside of that group who can you confidently say is better than fields? You have the old guard who have better track records than Fields but currently not playing better. That includes Rodgers, Brady, Russ, Stafford. Then you have guys who are solid but don’t have the ceiling Fields does. That group is pretty much Cousins and Carr. After that it’s people that are clearly worse than Fields right now. Yes that includes Kyler, Lawrence, Goff, Jimmy G, Geno.

 

If fields and tua switched teams the dolphins would have won by 20+

[BigbadB]

While I am 100% in for the tank for the rest of the season for best possible draft position, it still makes me mad when they have a game within reach and an outside force denies that opportunity. Putting those two PI calls side by side, there is absolutely no way you can call the one against the Bears over the one the Dolphins committed in a potential game winning drive. I would definitely be issuing a complaint to the league office.

 

The final score was exactly what I'm hoping to see going forward. Maybe not allowing 35 points would be my one request, unless they are playing the Falcons since I have them in my 3/35 pool.

[David]

While I am 100% in for the tank for the rest of the season for best possible draft position, it still makes me mad when they have a game within reach and an outside force denies that opportunity. Putting those two PI calls side by side, there is absolutely no way you can call the one against the Bears over the one the Dolphins committed in a potential game winning drive. I would definitely be issuing a complaint to the league office.

 

The final score was exactly what I'm hoping to see going forward. Maybe not allowing 35 points would be my one request, unless they are playing the Falcons since I have them in my 3/35 pool.

 

if you want losses you're gonna have to deal with them giving up 35 points lol

[David]

jesus horsefeathering christ we have a quarterback!!!!!

[Bertz]

 

Bears currently project to have tied for the 3rd fewest wins in football, but because fractional wins aren't a thing and the Bears come ahead in several tiebreakers they are only given a 36% chance at a top 5 pick.

 

But even if they end up picking like 7th or 8th, with 3 QBs currently slated to go top 10 the Bears will presumably have either a premium tradeback opportunity or one of the top 5 non QBs sitting there for them.

[Tryptamine]

Next week will be big for their draft position. If they can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against a horrendous Detroit squad, they have a good shot at a top 5 pick.

[UMFan83]

 

Bears currently project to have tied for the 3rd fewest wins in football, but because fractional wins aren't a thing and the Bears come ahead in several tiebreakers they are only given a 36% chance at a top 5 pick.

 

But even if they end up picking like 7th or 8th, with 3 QBs currently slated to go top 10 the Bears will presumably have either a premium tradeback opportunity or one of the top 5 non QBs sitting there for them.

 

The whole tiebreaker where teams with harder SOS pick lower is so stupid. On the surface the logic makes sense but it annoys me that you punish a team for playing a disproportionately difficult schedule.

[raw]

 

Bears currently project to have tied for the 3rd fewest wins in football, but because fractional wins aren't a thing and the Bears come ahead in several tiebreakers they are only given a 36% chance at a top 5 pick.

 

But even if they end up picking like 7th or 8th, with 3 QBs currently slated to go top 10 the Bears will presumably have either a premium tradeback opportunity or one of the top 5 non QBs sitting there for them.

 

The whole tiebreaker where teams with harder SOS pick lower is so stupid. On the surface the logic makes sense but it annoys me that you punish a team for playing a disproportionately difficult schedule.

 

I think the logic is opposite. They aren't punishing teams for a difficult schedule, they are pitying teams who couldn't win against a lesser schedule.

[Brian707]

Next week will be big for their draft position. If they can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against a horrendous Detroit squad, they have a good shot at a top 5 pick.

 

Also need GB to win a few games. I hate to say it but the December game against them will definitely be a must lose game for the Bears. The Packers look like absolute trash, their schedule is tough too

[WrigleyField 22]

Next week will be big for their draft position. If they can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against a horrendous Detroit squad, they have a good shot at a top 5 pick.

 

Also need GB to win a few games. I hate to say it but the December game against them will definitely be a must lose game for the Bears. The Packers look like absolute trash, their schedule is tough too

Oh no, what if the "Packers take the all time wins mark from the Bears" storyline everyone was prepping for week 2 just gets pushed to December.

[gflore34]

It'll be interesting and hopefully, fun to see what'll happen in the passing game once Claypool gets phased in and Brown phased out. I don't expect the pass blocking issues to go away so, how much the passing game improves will be limited by that factor. Just don't want to see Fields having to target Brown or Pettis anymore in situations such as yesterday. They've proven to both have hands of stone, would like to see what Harry can do. Think he can block just as well as Brown.

[gflore34]

Saw analysis of Fields' TD run, appears he was going to pass to Mooney in the middle but, observed Mooney had his head turned so, he faked and took off. WTF, a Bears QB, learning from his mistakes, playing smart? Is that legal? Thought it being the Bears and all such a thing is not allowed.

[UMFan83]

 

Bears currently project to have tied for the 3rd fewest wins in football, but because fractional wins aren't a thing and the Bears come ahead in several tiebreakers they are only given a 36% chance at a top 5 pick.

 

But even if they end up picking like 7th or 8th, with 3 QBs currently slated to go top 10 the Bears will presumably have either a premium tradeback opportunity or one of the top 5 non QBs sitting there for them.

 

The whole tiebreaker where teams with harder SOS pick lower is so stupid. On the surface the logic makes sense but it annoys me that you punish a team for playing a disproportionately difficult schedule.

 

I think the logic is opposite. They aren't punishing teams for a difficult schedule, they are pitying teams who couldn't win against a lesser schedule.

 

Sure, that's just how I chose to frame it. It sucks when your team is garbage but you also played a difficult schedule and you drop from like 5th to 9th because of it. There has to be a better way to break ties.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I hope we pick outside the top 10

[minnesotacubsfan]

Saw analysis of Fields' TD run, appears he was going to pass to Mooney in the middle but, observed Mooney had his head turned so, he faked and took off. WTF, a Bears QB, learning from his mistakes, playing smart? Is that legal? Thought it being the Bears and all such a thing is not allowed.

 

the last 3 games remind me of Urlacher and Browns rookie seasons. You can see the talent they have, its a matter of getting the rest of the team up to their speed. I think the Bears will be all kinds of fun in the next few years

[minnesotacubsfan]

I hope we pick outside the top 10

 

I only agree if it means Fields is wining games for us

[jersey cubs fan]

Next week will be big for their draft position. If they can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against a horrendous Detroit squad, they have a good shot at a top 5 pick.

 

Also need GB to win a few games. I hate to say it but the December game against them will definitely be a must lose game for the Bears. The Packers look like absolute trash, their schedule is tough too

 

Screw that, I’d love to see them rattle off some wins. I want Fields to own Detroit and put the fear of god into the Packers. Hell, they could steal a win in the meadowlands, and I’d be fine.

 

Losing shootouts is fine, but I’m not cheering for it to happen.

[Brian707]

Or they pick outside the top 10 because they traded down

[Tim]

Or they pick outside the top 10 because they traded down

I wouldn't mind losing a bunch of shootouts where the "future" guys all show out; then having the pick one before the packers and trading down to deny them the QB of their choice. Then they reach, overdraft a guy and get stuck in QB hell for ages.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Or they pick outside the top 10 because they traded down

I wouldn't mind losing a bunch of shootouts where the "future" guys all show out; then having the pick one before the packers and trading down to deny them the QB of their choice. Then they reach, overdraft a guy and get stuck in QB hell for ages.

 

question I have for GB fans, wheres the Love already?

[CubinNY]

Or they pick outside the top 10 because they traded down

I wouldn't mind losing a bunch of shootouts where the "future" guys all show out; then having the pick one before the packers and trading down to deny them the QB of their choice. Then they reach, overdraft a guy and get stuck in QB hell for ages.

Don't they think they have their QB of the future right now, in Love?

[Tryptamine]

Or they pick outside the top 10 because they traded down

I wouldn't mind losing a bunch of shootouts where the "future" guys all show out; then having the pick one before the packers and trading down to deny them the QB of their choice. Then they reach, overdraft a guy and get stuck in QB hell for ages.

 

question I have for GB fans, wheres the Love already?

 

The shitstorm from Rodgers would be unprecedented and I would bask in every moment of its glory.