rawaction

Northern Indiana only producers studs!

Well, it also helps that NYG and PIT both suck balls, which I didn't expect coming in. I picked Pit to win 5 games. NYG I had missing the Playoffs. Figured the Bears would win at Pit and 2 of 3 at home vs NO, NYG, CIN.

Honestly the first 6 games have been almost dead-on with what I expected. And I came into the season expecting 10 wins. Same as last year. Better offensive talent/coaching, I expected offense around 15-18 in total yards. Aging talent/changed coaching on defense, I expected them to be about 12-15. Turns out both are about 5 spots better/worse so far, but still the same result.

Jackson and Brown, though Jeffery could have an argument if the Skins try to take away Marshall. Beware on Jeffery though. Went from 9-207 to 1-27. I'd trust Brown more right now.

It's not too bad after @GB, v. Baltimore, v. Dallas. The Bears have 5 of the last 10 vs. offenses in the top 1/2 of the league. They've had 4 already, though, and GB will be missing their leading WR in the first game. They play 6 games against bottom 10 defenses, including 5 games against the worst 7 defensive teams so far. The Bears play at all the mediocre-to-bad teams (Philly, Cleveland, Minnesota, Washington, St. Louis) and get the decent teams (Baltimore, Detroit, Dallas) at home with a home/home vs. GB.

Does every team score as often on defense or have as many turnovers as we do? They lead the league in pick 6's with 3. Also have a fumble for a touchdown. We also got a bunch of points thanks to special teams in the Minnesota game. Why do they need to be "lapping the league" in takeaways for them to have an impact on the points? They lead the league. That's plenty. The special teams haven't been very good but they are still 4th in kickoff return average. For a better gauge of points the offense actually scored, we're 7th in passing/receiving TDs and 14th in rushing TDs (15th in FG if you wanted to know that). And still, a few of those were aided by field position. It's nothing to apologize for but you can't just throw 3rd in points out there and act like we're even close to having the 3rd best offense in the league. I'm not downplaying anything. I'm pointing out that the point total thing isn't a great gauge of the offense. I also listed a couple of better measures that have us as a top 10 offense. Yes, because I clearly implied the Bears are the 3rd best offense. In fact, it wasn't even the first thing I said. And the short field scores happens for every team. The Broncos’ STs have 3 TDs. Teams that play Houston can basically pencil in 7 points directly off a turnover every week. The Cowboys, who are 2nd in the league in scoring, have TD drives of 16, 15, 15, 3 and a FG drive of 3, with 4 defensive/ST touchdowns. The Bears also have 4 D/ST scores, FG drives of 4, 14 and a TD drive of 17. That doesn’t include the drive they got 0 points off of last week that started at the Giants’ 12. The Bears also have 3 scoring drives in the 30s (32, 36, 36). So, yes short field and D/ST scores happen for everyone all the time. My whole point is there's too much noise in points scored to use that as an indicator of the quality of the offense. There are much better measures to use. And I used those measures (9th total offense, still top 10 if u take out defensive points)....so you even trying to make that point is pointless.

Exactly. 0 TDs in the 4th quarter. Despite the disasters vs. Detroit and tackling Jacobs, the Bears are still a top 10 run D that completely shut down Cincy, Pit and NO from running the ball. Did a decent job on Peterson too. The turnovers are a real skill. They've been doing it forever. The defense isn't as bad as the numbers indicate. It's basically been AJ Green, Reggie Bush, Jimmy Graham, Antonio Brown, and tackling Jacobs that has been given the D trouble....even with the lack of pass rush, they've done pretty well against everyone else (no Cincy run game, quieted Megatron, shutdown Saints WRs, Peterson under control, Cruz/Nicks didn't do much). Basically my point in this thread is that the defense hasn't been as bad as its made out to be and the offense is good enough to win games, even with the defense not up to standard.....just like they have all year. The defense probably won't rush the passer any better. But hopefully they tackle better. The offense though, could very well continue to get better.

Does every team score as often on defense or have as many turnovers as we do? They lead the league in pick 6's with 3. Also have a fumble for a touchdown. We also got a bunch of points thanks to special teams in the Minnesota game. Why do they need to be "lapping the league" in takeaways for them to have an impact on the points? They lead the league. That's plenty. The special teams haven't been very good but they are still 4th in kickoff return average. For a better gauge of points the offense actually scored, we're 7th in passing/receiving TDs and 14th in rushing TDs (15th in FG if you wanted to know that). And still, a few of those were aided by field position. It's nothing to apologize for but you can't just throw 3rd in points out there and act like we're even close to having the 3rd best offense in the league. I'm not downplaying anything. I'm pointing out that the point total thing isn't a great gauge of the offense. I also listed a couple of better measures that have us as a top 10 offense. Yes, because I clearly implied the Bears are the 3rd best offense. In fact, it wasn't even the first thing I said. And the short field scores happens for every team. The Broncos’ STs have 3 TDs. Teams that play Houston can basically pencil in 7 points directly off a turnover every week. The Cowboys, who are 2nd in the league in scoring, have TD drives of 16, 15, 15, 3 and a FG drive of 3, with 4 defensive/ST touchdowns. The Bears also have 4 D/ST scores, FG drives of 4, 14 and a TD drive of 17. That doesn’t include the drive they got 0 points off of last week that started at the Giants’ 12. The Bears also have 3 scoring drives in the 30s (32, 36, 36). So, yes short field and D/ST scores happen for everyone all the time.

So they aren't winning by enough? The Bears are not a picture of precision on offense yet, but this is the same formula many teams have used to great success in recent years. The Colts won a ring with a terrible D. The Saints were a bad D that forced a ton of turnovers and got a ring. Atlanta, Denver, New England all had varying degrees of mediocre to bad defenses last year. And if u are disappointed by an early playoff exit in year 1 of a new regime, your expectations are to blame.

Pretty sure nobody wanted the defense and special teams to fall off as dramatically as they have. Being an ass or u really don't get it? We wanted an offensive led football team. The offense is top 10 good and everyone has caveats. The defense doesn't have to carry the team and people are upset that they aren't capable of it anymore, despite the fact that they still get turnovers at a league best rate. The offense has made up for the decline on defense like we hoped.

I think the defensive struggles are overblown. I'm working on some stuff for my blog either this week or during the bye to show that. They aren't anywhere near good by any means, but people act as if the defense is going to stop this team from succeeding. Hell, the defense was great last year and they still failed when it mattered to get this team to the playoffs (Seattle, Minnesota). People, this is an offensive team now. This is what we all wanted for years to keep up with the rest of the league. Now we're fretting because the defense isn't dominating. Sure, but it's not like we've got a top 10 offense right now either. It's that awkward middle stage where both sides are, at best, mediocre. I'm hoping the offense improves quickly, because it appears that the defense is declining quickly. You're right. 11th in total yards per game. 3rd in PPG. I know the D has scored, but take those scores out and still top 10 scoring offense. 9th in yards. I'd say 3rd in PPG is misleading given the defensive and ST scores (and ST and defensively aided scores). Don't have DVOA updated yet for this week, but they were 10th in offensive DVOA for week 5. Are u taking out every team's defense and ST aided scores? The Bears special teams haven't been very good this year. Their defense has gotten turnovers, but its not like they are lapping the league in turnovers. Again, this I'd what we wanted. Stop trying to downplay the offense now that the Bears actually have one.

I think you can have #1 upside without command. Guys like Kerry Wood, Verlander, Scherzer who have the electric fastball and killer breaking ball though they can't always harness it were elite prospects without the plus command. They don't hit their ceiling until that command improves though.

I think the defensive struggles are overblown. I'm working on some stuff for my blog either this week or during the bye to show that. They aren't anywhere near good by any means, but people act as if the defense is going to stop this team from succeeding. Hell, the defense was great last year and they still failed when it mattered to get this team to the playoffs (Seattle, Minnesota). People, this is an offensive team now. This is what we all wanted for years to keep up with the rest of the league. Now we're fretting because the defense isn't dominating. Sure, but it's not like we've got a top 10 offense right now either. It's that awkward middle stage where both sides are, at best, mediocre. I'm hoping the offense improves quickly, because it appears that the defense is declining quickly. You're right. 11th in total yards per game. 3rd in PPG. I know the D has scored, but take those scores out and still top 10 scoring offense.

I think the defensive struggles are overblown. I'm working on some stuff for my blog either this week or during the bye to show that. They aren't anywhere near good by any means, but people act as if the defense is going to stop this team from succeeding. Hell, the defense was great last year and they still failed when it mattered to get this team to the playoffs (Seattle, Minnesota). People, this is an offensive team now. This is what we all wanted for years to keep up with the rest of the league. Now we're fretting because the defense isn't dominating.

Reminds me of every Redskins game of late. They are never anything special but a bad fit for Bears. RGIII could rack up a ton of fantasy points. But so should Jay. Yep. And I'm glad that RG3 isn't the mad runner he used to be. I'd be much more worried with this defense having to defend the read option. Didn't watch Sunday Night? He looked a lot better this week. Believe he ran for 74 yards and moved in the pocket a lot better. Not getting a pass rush might work better, keep him in the pocket and focus on contain. And yes, I hate this game. The Skins were in a similar situation last year and really took off at this point in the year (or so). They're probably better than the Giants, who the Bears barely beat, and get to play at home. But the Bears gotta win this game if they are going to be contenders. They're clearly the better team. Schedule turns up a notch after the bye, so this one is extremely important to get.

I stand corrected. Didn't realize he's missed that many tackles.

I feel like it's hard to judge safeties in this defense. In the cover 2, there's clearly a void in the zone between the CB and the safety (right down the sidelines) that good QBs can take advantage of. No S can stop that throw. But I don't think you can have as many 20+ yard pass plays as the Bears have given up (think 3rd most in the league) and say your safeties are playing well. I do think most can be contributed to a combination of the lack of pass rush and the scheme. I feel like Wright and Conte are the only players on the D that have tackled consistently, along with maybe Tillman. And the last 3 games, they've done a pretty good job stopping the big play. Wright coming over late (100% his fault) on the Randle TD on Thursday night is the only serious blemish on the safeties the last 3 weeks. The long throw to Nick Toon was vs. man coverage. The long one to Jimmy Graham was on Briggs biting on a play fake.

No. He's big, young, and doesn't have much wear and tear on him given that he was a backup until midway through last year and missed a couple years with the knee injury. Plus its a lot better to overwork Wootton over 33 yo Peppers or 250lb McClellin.

In what way is the AFC "historically bad" this year? Didn't mean it literally. Or think I'd offend anyone. But there's probably 3 teams (NE, Den, Ind) that I would put in the top 10 power rankings. Jags are historically bad. There are clear gimmes with over 1/2 the AFC teams, except when they are playing each other. The bad NFC teams other than Tampa are extremely dangerous and ATL, MIN, Was were all playoff teams last year. NYG won 8 games and have a potential HoF QB. Despite the records, I'd have Buf, Pit, NYJ, Oak, SD, Cle, Jax, Hou in my bottom 10 teams (NYG and TB from the NFC).

I'm sure I can take on points. Haven't really looked at my team though.

They're still better. Ask anyone in the east. I'll ask Penguin fans. They're going for back-to-back Stanley Cups, since they were crowned in April.

The AFC is historically bad this year. KC or Denver could conceivably go 16-0 or both 15-1 for that matter (with losses to each other). And they get the AFC South (3 bad teams) and the worst division in the NFC.

Broncos are the clear best team in the NFL but would be the 5th seed in the AFC right now.

Not even the worst in their division. Who do you think is worse? Jets or Bills? YES

My Week 6 fantasy league WRs. PPR1- Randall Cobb- 9.8, Torrey Smith- 2.2, Cecil Shorts- 0 PPR2- Torrey Smith- 2.2, James Jones- 2.0 Non-PPR- Anquan Boldin- 2.8, Marques Colston- 1.1 In that first league, I'm in my 6th year and I've never finished outside of the money (top 4). And I'm now 0-6. I drafted Gronkowski (not even super early, like 7th round) in that league thinking I could survive 4 weeks or so with his replacement Zach Sudfeld, and I have a grand total of 21.7 points from the TE position this year. Back-to-back 0s from Sudfeld and Celek to start the year. I also drafted CJ Spiller in the 1st round. Still have 2 losses by single-digits and an 18-point loss last week when Romo went for 50+.