BigbadB

To be fair, Bagent was playing with a fully healthy offensive line, something I'm not sure Fields has ever had in a single game in his entire career. With that said, I do expect Fields to show us what he can do with a completely healthy line, assuming that everyone on the line is still healthy after last week's game.

Actually went to that game, had the gang come back to our place for the weekend and just now feeling ready to face the world again. What an exhausting trip. Yikes. I'm 60 years old next month. I can't keep shutting down bars on back to back nights. As mentioned before, I went to the game with some loyal Carolina fans. They don't like Young mainly because he just can't see over his line. They pointed it out on many of the overthrows and incompletions. I saw them too and had to agree that this is a major problem for them going forward. I don't hate Poles' plan. He literally did start with absolutely nothing. No star talent to speak of, little payroll flexibility, and limited draft picks. With that said, I felt like he hit on some draft picks, but also missed. I don't hate Kyler Gordon, and I felt he had a great game on Thursday night, albeit against the worst team in the NFL, but he's a nickel DB that got drafted way too high for his position. Velus Jones Jr. was a strange draft pick then, and a horrible looking draft pick now. It was a desperation move after several guys were already drafted at the WR position. Was it Pickens that they could have drafted, or Skyy Moore or was it someone else? Did VJJ get cut? I was a bit surprised to see Tyler Scott deep for kickoffs. Assumed Poles finally cut him. Free agency #2 was disappointing. Everyone saw that they signed no one to play the DLine, and they didn't address it immediately in the draft. I get it. This team was so barren of talent, one or two offseasons probably wasn't going to be enough to fix the amount of holes this team has. I think people expected more than 3 wins this year. The hope was for a winning season, then this upcoming season puts them in the hunt for division and conference championships. I suppose that could still happen, but it's hard seeing that far with the poor play we have seen. I do think there needs to be a house cleaning with the coaching staff. But, I would give Poles another chance to get it right. We need Fields playing the rest of this season to help determine if a QB needs to be drafted or not. If you get some talent on the DL this offseason and fix the remaining holes on the OLine and maybe get one more stud WR, with the right coaching, I think this can be a good team as soon as next year.

My phone notified me that Counsell was not signing with the Brewers or the other team that was hard after him, and that the team that signed him will shock you. I didn't even click the link because I knew it wasn't the Cubs. I get just about every Cub fan Cubs page notification, and somehow this random Google Sports notification beat every Cub fan Cub page notification. Weird. Craig Counsell was face punchable for that horrid batting stance. Other than that, much respect for his game and managing skills. Happy to have him on board. Ross played too much small ball, made too many head scratching decisions with the bullpen, and didn't play the kids enough. I was ready for him to be gone.

My tickets for this game are $430 each. Ugh. A chilly Chicago evening watching two of the worst teams in football try to one up each other on the draft board. I am meeting up with a couple of my friends from San Diego who became Panther fans as soon as they became an NFL franchise, mainly because they were tired of San Diego teams screwing them over. I'm pretty sure this will be my last NFL game, so let's hope for a victory. My take on the QB situation is if you combined the strengths of Bagent and Fields, you'd have yourself a pretty solid NFL QB. But, both have weaknesses that will likely always be exploited at the pro level. I think the Bears have to go QB with the first pick this year, as sad as I am to say that. I really wanted Fields to be the guy. He's running out of time to prove he belongs. I hope he plays Thursday. He really hasn't had as good of an OLine that Bagent got this past week. Maybe, just maybe, Fields can become a highlight machine if given enough protection to gain confidence in his abilities and trust in his protectors.

Not sure how you can have an extension worked out without the word tampering being involved. I guess if you know you can't be outbid, you can feel comfortable going after a guy who is probably looking to break the bank.

Glutton for punishment, but I recorded the Bulls game, then watched it until MNF started. Then watched the remainder of the Bulls game until complete, then tried to stay awake to watch the also recorded Blackhawks game. Woke up somewhere in the 2nd period while the score was 7-1. Wife said "go back to sleep". So I did. Don't think I can watch the rest, but still don't have a clue what the final score was.

I'm still trying to figure out how the Chargers pass defense is somehow worse than ours. I don't literally think the Bears defensive backs are the worst when looking at the talent when healthy. However, the inability to put any pressure whatsoever on the QB makes it virtually impossible for the DB's to do their job. I'm quite speechless that Eberflus feels so comfortable in his own skin that he can take the entire final two minutes of play off. I wasn't expecting a score or anything extravagant, but just letting the clock run out with 2 minutes and 3 times outs was exactly what I didn't want to see there.

a C is not going to fix this roster. You can get one in free agency or draft one in the offseason without having to give up valuable draft capital now. A win against the Raiders isn't enough for me to think they still have a fighting chance at a playoff spot to start thinking about being buyers at the deadline.

Gotta love the immediate time out after that play.

I braved that entire game. Had to set it to record so that I could see it from the beginning after the Hawks game. This team shoots like ass. What is LaVine even doing out there. 40m? Yikes.

Defenses and their coaching see what you are good and bad at, and attempt to make you do the bad things. It's up to the QB and his coaching staff to scheme to do the good things. If you can't do the good things on a consistent enough basis to be a good team, you are not long for the NFL. It's really that simple. I've been a Justin Fields apologist, and I still don't think he's been given the right tools to be successful, but we aren't frustrated that he's only passing for 250 yards a game instead of 300, we are frustrated because he isn't even hitting `175 yards a game passing. He does seem to miss open windows while he's holding the ball. He does seem to take a lot of unnecessary sacks. He does fumble a lot even though he knows he's going to get hit. I really wish he was available for this Charger game. I would have liked to see what he can do against the 32nd ranked passing defense in the league. If he's going to secure a future, it has to be on his return. I'm growing more and more skeptical he can do it now.

I think that's actually when I officially changed the channel. I want to say Vuc was still on the floor with Carter, Coby, Craig and Caruso and it was Vuc taking the shot beyond the arc, bounced big off the rim and there wasn't a single Bull in the picture for the rebound. Awesome.

Turned the game off early in the 4th quarter. Vuc should never shoot another 3 in his life. Not only is he just not good at it, there is no one for offensive rebounds, not that he is good at that either. Lavine should have just stayed home. What a terrible game for him. The big 3 was the dud 3 last night. Drummond was the only one worth watching last night, and he doesn't play enough minutes to make it worth it. But, I'll be tuning in again next game.

Your comparison is Dan Fouts, who finally turned it around in his 6th year, then flourished starting in his 7th year. I'm thinking Fields doesn't get that much time to show us what he's got. LOL. Fields just needs me to be his coach. My fantasy team was 6-0 while Fields was my starter. My team lost this week with Fields out. Just gotta know how to use him. Oh, and put better players around him.

Bagent was starting with 2 backup OLinemen starting and one of the best DE's in the game. I would have fully expected Bagent's air yards to be one of the lowest in the league. He had to have training wheels on just because of his NFL experience and such an iffy pass protection. With that said, I thought he was excellent at not freaking out and taking sacks when the pressure closed in. They will probably have to take the training wheels off this week if Bosa and Mack are playing, because those guys will expose this OLine even more. They will need to design more plays that are closer to the first down marker. Using all of those receivers last week makes it a bit harder for the Chargers to scheme the offense. The Raiders seemed to try to take Moore out of the equation more last week, but Moore might be the guy Bagent needs to target heavily this week and just let his legs bail out the offense.

Has anyone ever had a tougher schedule in the history of mankind, and in any sport, than the Blackhawks have had so far?

If it's that difficult, why not just call him T-Bag? I know, worst nickname in sports history.

That was complete domination.

I think you can rule out any thought of AZ trading their first round picks for a QB. Kyler Murray is signed through 2028 and his dead cap hit is rather large, so trades are not an option. Does AZ really trade blue chip draft position for a QB to learn behind Murray for 5 years?

He actually tried to come back and play, but he left the ice soon after.

Yeah, they definitely wanted to get the tv time for Bedard to start the year. I'll take some NBC Sports channel games from here on out, please. This is the third straight game I'll have to watch on the DVR. I'm retired. WTF?

Thanks Debbie Downer! LOL.

I don't know where the Commanders OLine ranks in regards to protection, but the Bears brought pressure pretty well against them. Definitely way more blitzing, which is what I was screaming for earlier in the year. The rookie DLinemen are starting to take a bigger percentage of the snaps, and one of Pickens or Dexter had the best rating on the defense last week. Moving Walker inside has also shown positive results. Add in the DB's all getting the band back together and I smell a steal this week. The home crowd needs something to be happy about. Actually, they deserve something to be happy about. I still wish there was a better ending for the Claypool situation. A DJ Moore injury will turn this currently capable offense into mush.

Gotta miss the live version of game 1 since I have Samantha Fish tickets for tonight. Not expecting huge leaps this year, but I'm looking forward to watching all of the games and see them build the next dynasty.

Brees didn't fail with his first team. He played 5 years with the Chargers and was going to get really expensive on a team that really couldn't afford to go expensive at that position without losing a core of their team elsewhere. They went 11-4 and 10-6 in his last two seasons in SD with the top running back in the league taking pressure off of the passing game. In that same year they went 11-4, they drafted Philip Rivers in the first round, and they were ready to make the transition to him. Not only that, Brees had a labrum tear, had damage to his rotator cuff and a dislocated shoulder to end his final season with the Chargers. Big contract, injury and a young QB in waiting made it quite simple. I honestly thought San Diego was stupid for letting Brees walk. He was already a special QB before he got to NO.