Week 18: Bears vs Lions at 3:25 on FOX

[BigSlick]

I’m glad to hear others felt the same way I did on the 4th and 5 at the end of the game. I felt punting was nearly tantamount to surrendering the game. Obviously a 4th and 5 on your own 30ish isn’t ideal, but going for it I felt like gave the Bears better odds of winning than punting it away. Ah well.

[Geographyhater8888]

10 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Burden went 15 weeks without dropping any and then had crushing drops in back to back weeks. Total bummer.

Don’t forget Loveland dropping a key fourth down pass that would’ve extended a drive in Lions territory. That’s another 3 points taken off the board at worst. 

Edited January 6 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

8 hours ago, BigSlick said:

I’m glad to hear others felt the same way I did on the 4th and 5 at the end of the game. I felt punting was nearly tantamount to surrendering the game. Obviously a 4th and 5 on your own 30ish isn’t ideal, but going for it I felt like gave the Bears better odds of winning than punting it away. Ah well.

Worst case scenario is the lions score quickly and you have another possession. You could read Ben’s lips on the sideline saying he should’ve gone for it. I’d like him to stop running the ball on every first down too to make it 2nd and 8. After they gashed the Eagles he’s been calling runs on early downs way too often.

[raw]

On 1/3/2026 at 11:07 AM, jersey cubs fan said:

This line didn’t just start to suck when they hired a new DL. 
 

there’s very limited talent. Dayo stinks. Sweat is maybe a top 20 guy as your best and the talent falls precipitously from there. 

I didnt mean to imply they just started to suck. But to be fair, the only members of the DL who were even here last year are Sweat, Dexter, Billings, and Booker.  Booker was a rookie last year. Billings missed most of last year.

They thought they upgraded the talent bringing in Dayo, Jarrett and drafting Turner over Walker, Pickens, Coward, etc. which on paper they did. Obviously not talented enough, but DA has a history of not being a DL friendly coach.

[jersey cubs fan]

10 hours ago, raw said:

I didnt mean to imply they just started to suck. But to be fair, the only members of the DL who were even here last year are Sweat, Dexter, Billings, and Booker.  Booker was a rookie last year. Billings missed most of last year.

They thought they upgraded the talent bringing in Dayo, Jarrett and drafting Turner over Walker, Pickens, Coward, etc. which on paper they did. Obviously not talented enough, but DA has a history of not being a DL friendly coach.

Thinking you upgraded the talent by bringing in a nobody like Dayo and a geriatric Jarrett isn’t the same thing as actually upgrading the talent.
 

the Bears d line problem is a talent issue. Their best guys aren’t that good and it falls off precipitously from there 

[BigbadB]

12 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Thinking you upgraded the talent by bringing in a nobody like Dayo and a geriatric Jarrett isn’t the same thing as actually upgrading the talent.
 

the Bears d line problem is a talent issue. Their best guys aren’t that good and it falls off precipitously from there 

It was what everyone here was screaming about pre-draft and even free agency. I can guarantee that you can find "get rid of Dominique Robinson" posts from 2 years ago in this forum. We were all waiting to see what EDGE the Bears were going to draft in the first round, second round, third round, fourth round, etc....

Dayo was not on anyone here's wish list this past offseason. Not sure how we felt about Grady Jarrett, but age was certainly discussed. They failed to address the biggest hole on the roster and it's the worst part of their team today, but we are in the playoffs and they got farther than we ever expected them to, thanks to the draft picks (and OLine) they did bring in. This coming offseason, they must address the DLine. Hopefully there are guys who actually want to come to Chicago to be part of something special.

[Brian707]

3 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Hopefully there are guys who actually want to come to Chicago to be part of something special.

 

I know a pipe dream and not really feasable

[Banedon]

18 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

 

I know a pipe dream and not really feasable

Yeah but, that's not really up to him.

[gflore34]

4 hours ago, BigbadB said:

It was what everyone here was screaming about pre-draft and even free agency. I can guarantee that you can find "get rid of Dominique Robinson" posts from 2 years ago in this forum. We were all waiting to see what EDGE the Bears were going to draft in the first round, second round, third round, fourth round, etc....

Dayo was not on anyone here's wish list this past offseason. Not sure how we felt about Grady Jarrett, but age was certainly discussed. They failed to address the biggest hole on the roster and it's the worst part of their team today, but we are in the playoffs and they got farther than we ever expected them to, thanks to the draft picks (and OLine) they did bring in. This coming offseason, they must address the DLine. Hopefully there are guys who actually want to come to Chicago to be part of something special.

It's so Bears that Poles managed to fix the hardest parts - HC, QB and offense - before, fixing, in my opinion, the easiest parts - defense.  In theory, Poles should be able to repair the defense enough to achieve normality.  With what the Bears are going to be on offense all they'll need is a defense that isn't sieve it is now.

[Wilson A2000]

I would like to see some Stevenson too if our secondary is going to keep getting burned. He’s also great against the run. He got 0 snaps against the Lions.

[Wilson A2000]

 

[BigSlick]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

It's so Bears that Poles managed to fix the hardest parts - HC, QB and offense - before, fixing, in my opinion, the easiest parts - defense.  In theory, Poles should be able to repair the defense enough to achieve normality.  With what the Bears are going to be on offense all they'll need is a defense that isn't sieve it is now.

I actually think thats exactly how it should be done - the most important parts of modern football are the coach and QB. They got that down. They got an O-Line to protect and run block. Got that down. Defense... well, you might not be able to get it right in exactly one season (and obviously they spent money, they devoted resources to it), but you can get it right in the next season. The big building blocks are there. 

I almost look at modern NFL defenses like an MLB bullpen. They are less "sticky" than offenses, they can have a lot of variance year to year. On offense if you figure it out, you have it figured out for years and years (this isn't guaranteed, variance and injuries and poor OCing happens, but its more of a sure thing than defensive quality). Go get some bullpen arms, lock it down, and have a Super Bowl contender for next year. 

[Banedon]

 

[gflore34]

3 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

I actually think thats exactly how it should be done - the most important parts of modern football are the coach and QB. They got that down. They got an O-Line to protect and run block. Got that down. Defense... well, you might not be able to get it right in exactly one season (and obviously they spent money, they devoted resources to it), but you can get it right in the next season. The big building blocks are there. 

I almost look at modern NFL defenses like an MLB bullpen. They are less "sticky" than offenses, they can have a lot of variance year to year. On offense if you figure it out, you have it figured out for years and years (this isn't guaranteed, variance and injuries and poor OCing happens, but its more of a sure thing than defensive quality). Go get some bullpen arms, lock it down, and have a Super Bowl contender for next year. 

An absolutely perfect analogy, just perfect.  As with most bullpens and NFL defenses, in addition to talent, health might be the biggest predictor of success.  Look around the NFL, most of the successful defenses managed to stay relatively healthy or, at least, the key players managed to stay healthy.  A Bears defense with, say, a healthy Edwards, Edmunds, Gordon, Stevenson and Johnson would have fared better and probably been close to average.

[Brian707]

On the other hand we can't count on this many turnovers from the defense next year either. Just get the defense average and the Bears can compete for a SB next year

[We Got The Whole 9]

49 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

On the other hand we can't count on this many turnovers from the defense next year either. Just get the defense average and the Bears can compete for a SB next year

This team has won too many coin flip games this year. Could easily be 2002 all over again next year, or a season like the Vikings or Commanders just had. Im enjoying it while it lasts and I love having this offense, but Poles and Johnson have a tall task this offseason continuing to shape the roster. 

[raw]

7 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Thinking you upgraded the talent by bringing in a nobody like Dayo and a geriatric Jarrett isn’t the same thing as actually upgrading the talent.
 

the Bears d line problem is a talent issue. Their best guys aren’t that good and it falls off precipitously from there 

I got you. And yeah, you are probably right as far as actual talent. Perceived talent though, Dayo and Jarrett got paid like very talented players and were drafted very highly, which is what I was basing the "talent" statement on. The Bears have spent and drafted enough where they should be much more productive on the DL. 

Jarrett WAS a pretty good player a couple years ago and Dayo has probably played enough at this point to where he is what he is and shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt that he was a top 60 pick and has some more untapped potential. 

[Tryptamine]

If the 2026 draft is even half as good as the 2025 draft, I'll feet pretty great about this defense next year. Damn was that 2025 draft an absolute killer. Landing a guy who is all ready one of the better tight ends in the league, landing a guy who legit looks like the best receiver on a team that incldues DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, a guy who looks like he might be starting left tackle for the next half decade and Monangai is pretty crazy. I still have some hope for shemar Turner too.  Whether or not Zah Frazier even suits up again as a Bear seems up in the air at this point and I've frankly never been particularly impressed with Ruben Hyppolite. Luke Newman probably never sees any meaningful time barring a rash of injuries.

[raw]

17 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

If the 2026 draft is even half as good as the 2025 draft, I'll feet pretty great about this defense next year. Damn was that 2025 draft an absolute killer. Landing a guy who is all ready one of the better tight ends in the league, landing a guy who legit looks like the best receiver on a team that incldues DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, a guy who looks like he might be starting left tackle for the next half decade and Monangai is pretty crazy. I still have some hope for shemar Turner too.  Whether or not Zah Frazier even suits up again as a Bear seems up in the air at this point and I've frankly never been particularly impressed with Ruben Hyppolite. Luke Newman probably never sees any meaningful time barring a rash of injuries.

Yeah, they basically need the defensive version of last year's draft. LOL. I do have hope that they can because that's basically what the Rams did in the 2024 draft. 

Also, defense is a young man's game. Try to stay fast and keep up with offenses enough to slow them down. Keep Ben, Caleb, and a strong OL...maybe a weapon or 2 depending on if Loveland, Burden and/or Rome prove irreplaceable over the next few years. Bring in a new rookie deal RB every couple years. Then replace defenders through the draft and keep getting faster and younger on that side. If any defender proves to be elite (think Chris Jones in KC) then you keep him, but otherwise keep a revolving door on that side.  

That being said, keep Byard, but all other D FAs or non-performers can go on a yearly basis.

[Banedon]

 

[BigSlick]

Its nice to see him dancing and all but I want to see what he looks like running routes

[Banedon]

Posted that in the wrong thread but I agree.