Chicago Bears preseason

[David]

7 minutes ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Windows are a myth

They definitely are if people don't think they'll be in one immediately if (when) Caleb is good. 

[CubinNY]

33 minutes ago, Tim said:

They may already have the personnel for it!  😃

I agree. I may be buying into the hype, but if the DL and OL are only a little better and Williams is as good as he appears they have really good team. The standard deviation of talent is so bunched up in the NFL it only takes a true difference maker to turn a team.

[Tank]

48 minutes ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Windows are a myth

Totally agree, and as a Buffalo Bills fan off-season I am bombarded with articles talking about how the window is closing. 

[UMFan83]

Man half of me is just so damn excited and hyped reading everything about the Bears.  The other half of me (the experienced Bears fan) is scared of being hurt again lol.  I mean the Bears have had what 1 season where they were actually legitimately exciting and good (2018) in the past 12 years.  That timespan represents 30% of my years on this Earth where the Bears have just been aimless and irrelevant.  I was in my 20's at the tail end of the Lovie years. 

We need this to happen so badly!

Edited August 16, 2024 by UMFan83

[Brian707]

The first season I remember truly following was 85 lol it's been all downhill since. The later 80s and the 2001, 05,06,18 teams came close but I think this team will win the SB within 3 years.

 

[David]

26 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

The first season I remember truly following was 85 lol it's been all downhill since. The later 80s and the 2001, 05,06,18 teams came close but I think this team will win the SB within 3 years.

 

Consider yourself lucky.  Mine was 1996.

I was around in 85 but not old enough to care or have memories lol.

[Sammy Sofa]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

I mean the Bears have had what 1 season where they were actually legitimately exciting and good (2018) in the past 12 years.  That timespan represents 30% of my years on this Earth where the Bears have just been aimless and irrelevant.

Don't feel bad about that; they've also been aimless and irrelevant for most of the rest of your life, too.

[jersey cubs fan]

With as bad as things have been for so long it’s kind of crazy to think the 70s may have actually been the worst era of bears football. The one decade they never won the division

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

2 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

Man half of me is just so damn excited and hyped reading everything about the Bears.  The other half of me (the experienced Bears fan) is scared of being hurt again lol.  I mean the Bears have had what 1 season where they were actually legitimately exciting and good (2018) in the past 12 years.  That timespan represents 30% of my years on this Earth where the Bears have just been aimless and irrelevant.  I was in my 20's at the tail end of the Lovie years. 

We need this to happen so badly!

I listened to some national main-stream media stuff that is similarly hyped.  Even nonsense like "I think every team in this division might make the playoffs" insane, as if the Vikings didn't exist.  I think your elation is reasonable.  

[David]

12 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

With as bad as things have been for so long it’s kind of crazy to think the 70s may have actually been the worst era of bears football. The one decade they never won the division

Didn't realize they won one in the 90s.  

In my time following, I can't decide if the late 90s or mid 2010s felt more hopeless.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Is it getting carried away to say the Bears have the QB advantage in 8 of their first 9 games this year? Because I think they very well might.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

4 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Is it getting carried away to say the Bears have the QB advantage in 8 of their first 9 games this year? Because I think they very well might.

Is it Stroud or Kyler that you're making the exception for?  I think healthy Kyler with targets and a good OC should prob be better this year, but otherwise clearly yes.  

[Bobson Dugnutt]

3 minutes ago, JudasIscariotTheBird said:

Is it Stroud or Kyler that you're making the exception for?  I think healthy Kyler with targets and a good OC should prob be better this year, but otherwise clearly yes.  

Stroud. Kyler and Lawrence are the two I was questioning but Lawrence was decidedly mediocre last year. Murray is three years removed from being a top tier QB but to your point, an awful roster, poor health and bad coaching have all been factors in that. There’s reason to believe in a bounce back for him.

[David]

I think Lawrence will bounce back in a big way this year.  He played a lot of last year hurt.  (I'd still take our guy)

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

13 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Stroud. Kyler and Lawrence are the two I was questioning but Lawrence was decidedly mediocre last year. Murray is three years removed from being a top tier QB but to your point, an awful roster, poor health and bad coaching have all been factors in that. There’s reason to believe in a bounce back for him.

I even missed Lawrence, and yeah, he's debatable too.  

[gflore34]

It's tempting to get caught up in hype, I been burned before, setting my expectations lower - average QB play, a QB who doesn't crap the bed against the Packers maybe, even, beats the Packers - those would be great outcomes.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

9 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

It's tempting to get caught up in hype, I been burned before, setting my expectations lower - average QB play, a QB who doesn't crap the bed against the Packers maybe, even, beats the Packers - those would be great outcomes.

yeah but that’s no fun

[Tank]

51 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Is it getting carried away to say the Bears have the QB advantage in 8 of their first 9 games this year? Because I think they very well might.

Non-Bears fan opinion. Stroud, Stafford, Lawrence, and maybe Murray, depending on which one you get, should be considered above Caleb right now. 

I do think health withstanding that the Bears are in the wild card mix until the very end, possibly even getting in. I would love to see it. 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

42 minutes ago, Tank said:

Non-Bears fan opinion. Stroud, Stafford, Lawrence, and maybe Murray, depending on which one you get, should be considered above Caleb right now. 

I do think health withstanding that the Bears are in the wild card mix until the very end, possibly even getting in. I would love to see it. 

This is 100% a fair take. Putting Kyler, Stanford and Lawrence ahead of him makes sense. That said, there’s enough question marks around each of the three (age, health, consistency, etc.) that I’m going to stick with my Bears Kool-Aid take. What’s the point of having a #1 overall pick who local media, national media, and other teams’ beat reporters are raving about and who is stepping into a dream scenario in terms of skill players if you can’t let yourself get a little carried away?

[David]

2 hours ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Is it getting carried away to say the Bears have the QB advantage in 8 of their first 9 games this year? Because I think they very well might.

If it's not that number, it's close.  And on top of that, a very good (possibly great?) defense.  That and a QB advantage is a great recipe for winning a lot of games.

[David]

14 minutes ago, David said:

If it's not that number, it's close.  And on top of that, a very good (possibly great?) defense.  That and a QB advantage is a great recipe for winning a lot of games.

Oh, yeah...forgot to mention DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett, D'andre Swift, etc.

[Tank]

2 hours ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

This is 100% a fair take. Putting Kyler, Stanford and Lawrence ahead of him makes sense. That said, there’s enough question marks around each of the three (age, health, consistency, etc.) that I’m going to stick with my Bears Kool-Aid take. What’s the point of having a #1 overall pick who local media, national media, and other teams’ beat reporters are raving about and who is stepping into a dream scenario in terms of skill players if you can’t let yourself get a little carried away?

I'm with you, man. I'm a Bills fan, but I also root for the Bears and I want to see them finally find that franchise QB. Eventually, Stafford is going to fall off whether by injury or just age. Kyler is also hard to trust. I never expected the Lions to the in the NFC Championship last year, so seeing the Bears make the playoffs isn't that much of a stretch. I'll be rooting for them.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The main thing keeping my feet even a little bit on the ground is that we haven't seen him in any regular-season action against first-string defenses that are actively trying to game plan against him.  Until he does, the error bars on the projections are gonna be a bit wider.

Anything's possible at the extreme end of the bell curves, that's why I hate terms like "floor" and "ceiling." I prefer something like "20th percentile projection" and "80th percentile projection."

His 20th percentile projection is that he stagnates and never gets any better at reading NFL defenses than he is right now, which still leaves him as a better (taller, better at manipulating defenses, more poised, more accurate) version of Kyler Murray and Kyler Murray is an acceptable NFL starting QB.

His 80th percentile projection is that he does get really good at reading defenses, and then he's literally Mahomes 2.0.  It feels so taboo to say, but he looks more like Mahomes than any person who isn't Mahomes has any right to be.

The only other prospect in my life as a sports fan that I've been *this* high on was Mark Prior.  

[minnesotacubsfan]

3 minutes ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

......
The only other prospect in my life as a sports fan that I've been *this* high on was Mark Prior.  

...and there it is, the kiss of death

[Hairyducked Idiot]

4 minutes ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

...and there it is, the kiss of death

He got tinstaapped. He was every bit as good as advertised on the mound.