rawaction

35 second play clock....give or take.

That'D be ideal.

Ugh. James Jones.

I hate Haren.

last year 2 years ago the home game was the one we should've won to get into the playoffs if not for conte's blown assignment What? We got beat by 30+ twice last year. Edit. Maybe 1st half of 1st game last year?

It's like playing against Jesus.

I don't think he'd take that. He wouldn't. But would also not get more on the open market.

Imperative to get 6 here.

no Not at all. And I love the guy.

Ducasse playing well.

Yeah defensive penalties.

Forte has to score there

Actually think they look pretty good so far same Did you see how manhandled they got on that Lacy run? Did u see every other play?

Of course a miraculous 1 hand catch TD.

what the hell do you expect him to do on that play? Exactly what I said. Hold onto the [expletive] ball. I don't understand why he couldn't.

Megapunt

Ugh. Hold onto the [expletive] ball Jay. It's not a fumble though.

I actually don't think this game is that impossible for the Bears to win. I base this mostly on the "new year, new team, new coaches" theory. The Bears know what they are going to get from the Packers, even though they have no recent history of stopping it. I think missing Jordy Nelson will be big for them, especially early in the year. On the opposite end, I don't think the Packers really know what to expect from the Bears. They can watch old tape of Denver's offense or old tape of the 49ers defense, but I don't think that's really enough. The Bears were really vanilla in preseason on both sides, and were missing their top 3 WRs. The Bears did have plenty of offensive success in 2013 in Trestman's first year, and some on defense also. Obviously, last year they were completely dismantled on both sides by the Packers. But I think a big reason everyone stopped the Bears offense last year was that there was no speed element, no creativity with the playcalling. I read on Pro Football Focus (I think) that about 30% of Brandon Marshall's routes were comeback routes. The Packers sat on this route and picked off a few Cutler passes, IIRC, on this very route. Marshall was too slow to sell the go route, and the Packers were able to not respect the deep route and wait for him to break it off. And most of that route jumping was done by Tramon Williams, who is no longer on the Packers roster. One thing PFF did show was that the Broncos (and Peyton Manning) led the league in yardage on WR screens. Demaryius Thomas has consistently been among the league leaders in screen yardage. The Broncos also run a lot of slant patterns and crossing patterns, typically with some sort of "pick" involved. I think the additions of Kevin White and Eddie Royal (top 15 in WR screen yards) were made to carryout a Broncos-like offense in Chicago. I think we'll see the Bears with a lot more routes going across the field, instead of down the field, giving the Bears receivers a chance to run after the catch. The interesting part will be to see how the Bears let Cutler adjust to mismatches before the snap. Peyton would audible when he had a preferable matchup and send his WRs on a go route, with a 3-step drop. Eddie Royal fits perfectly in the Emanuel Sanders role from Denver last year. I think the Bears will be able to take advantage of Hayward (former nickel now starting outside CB) and both ILBs. So, I look for Royal and Bennett to be big factors. On defense, I heard about these exotic blitzes, but the Bears shown very little of this with the #1 and 2 units on defense. With only 5 active DL, I think we'll see a lot of exotic looks with multiple pass rushing LBs and only 1 or 2 DL on the field at a time. The Bears also have 2 ILBs who both were edge rushers either in college (Jones) or in the pros (McClellin). I think the Bears will be able to put pressure on Rodgers and will send a lot of speed rushers after him all afternoon. The Bears know they can't really cover a team like the Packers, so they may choose to force the action. I don't expect the Bears to win this, but I would expect a tightly contested game into the 4th quarter.

Only 1 is a mighty Hoosier of Indiana, so I choose that guy.

Everytime I see the daily lineup, I am happy. No more black holes in the lineup other than when Ross plays. And Ross games are completely expected before-hand and as minimal as possible given the circumstances. Far cry from the Castro @ cleanup, Olt, Szczur, Castillo, Alcantara lineup that could only muster 1 run in Colorado in early April.

I didn't think so either, but wasn't sure and didn't want to put my foot in my mouth. Looks like ESPN has Wada listed as tomorrow's starter.

When the rumor came out August 31 that the Cubs were trying for a starter, Harang was who I had in mind. I think I actually like the 2 bullpen games. Should be able to beat the Phillies without a real starter going. And I think you could really keep the Cards offense off balanced by not letting them see the same pitcher 2 times thru the order, especially if you don't throw similar pitchers back-to-back. Something like Wood, then hit them with Edwards, then Wada/Cahill to get them thru 5, then regular pen usage after that. Having an offday Monday, and then Lester and Arrieta after that Cards bullpen game would be the ideal time to make it work also.

5 games out.

OMG, this is real. I'm following a non-Cubs game on Gameday.