rawaction

Signed him to an unnecessary extension earlier this season, 3 more years after this one. I think it was 3/$40 with ~$20 guaranteed. Fun! Does Emery know franchise tag exists? Eh. Everyone knew it was going to happen, and most of us were OK with it. And it was a way to get some cap space for this year. I'm on record of saying I would have franchised Cutler for this year (injured the year before, got outplayed by backup albeit against easier schedule), but Marshall had been a model citizen in Chicago, with 3 years of the best production from a WR in franchise history. Wasn't a bad deal at the time.

I think he really fed into the preseason hype of this team. They scored the 2nd most points last year. Jeffery became a star. Martellus became a reliable 3rd. Wilson was doing everything in the offseason to join them, Forte, and Cutler to form an even more dynamic offense. They were 1 blown coverage away from the playoffs last year and added 3 very good DEs. I think Marshall feels the pressure. He knows that if they don't get it together fast, Cutler may be gone. Trestman may be gone. He may be gone. Plus, he's [expletive] crazy!

You know he's 1 week removed from a 330 yard passing game that featured a handful of big plays.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Detroit hasn't scored more than 24 points since the season opener. They've scored 15 in the last 2 weeks. Of course, today was the first time they gave up more than 23. All the Bears wins have been ugly, and this one is going to have to be if they are going to win.

They aren't. But the Bucs are. The Jets are. The Vikings are. The Falcons are. That's 4/5 of the Bears wins. Only one of those terrible teams are left on the schedule. They haven't proven they can beat a team with a good QB. Hell, they couldn't beat Manuel or Tannehill. I will admit though, it still feels like this team is 1 performance away from putting it all together. Cutler has certainly gotten hot before. Of course the defense will again fall apart.

I guess I don't understand why. Line blocking a little worse? Yeah. Jeffery with a step down? Yup. Marshall having a down year? Yup. But those can't account for the 2nd best offense in the league turning into somewhere in the late teens. Is it on Cutler? Trestmans play calling? Or a combo of a lot of things. It's rather perplexing. Its all those. Cutler has had bad games throwing the ball. Marshall and Jeffery haven't made the plays they did last year. The OL is significantly worse, but it's not a complete disaster like before last year. The playcalling has been pretty bad. But I can't say if is because all of the aforementioned things.

Buffalo- Loss SF- terrible 1st half NYJets- mediocre on offense, survived bad QB on D Packers- embarrassing loss Panthers- no defense, turnovers on O Falcons- decent game all around Dolphins- bad loss Patriots- embarrassing loss Packers- embarrassing loss Vikings- moved the ball, barely scored enough points Bucs- only scored enough points thanks to bad opponent turnovers This team has played 1 full game that was even on par with what an 8-8 team did last year. I don't have much hope for this season to end strongly. This offense just isn't good enough.

Damn. No QB sweep?

O'Donnell having a great game.

How did he not get that fumble?

Why?

This should not be happening 11 games into the 2nd season of an offensive coach that returned all his starters, including 4 probowlers and a talented QB.

No.

Finally found a returner! SEASON BACK ON!

Nothing was wrong with the throw. Don't know why he went to the ground.

[expletive] this game

Eh. Pittsburgh is probably 55-40-5....Pitt, Penn State, WVU

Bears have 1 defensive TD so far this year. They had 6 last year. Gould has 10 FG attempts this year and made 8 so he's on pace for 13/16. He was 26 for 29 last year. Forte also hasn't broke out a "long" rushing TD (all rushing TDs this year have been inside 10 yards). It's not all of it, but there's your differences in scoring. I don't even know what you are trying to say. They are getting 20 fewer ypg than last year, but scoring a TD less. The lack of FG attempts thing means the offense isn't scoring enough too, so not sure what you are saying with that. Even with the defensive TDs, the Bears are on pace to score 5 fewer TDs on offense and 13 fewer FGs (based on your numbers above). That's 74 fewer points (4.625 per game), and that doesn't even take into account that you can't count on defensive scores or the fact that the offense should have improved in Year 2 rather than regressed.

And yes, this team needs to be measured by points. Cutler is on pace to break all of last year's records for passing yards as a team. He's on pace for well over 30 TD passes. Forte is having another wonderful year. Yet, they are middle of the pack in scoring.

That pressure to perform excuse does not hold in the Green Bay game. They crapped the bed. sure. "Oh yeah, you guys have to score a touchdown every time we get the ball,, ok? And all of their players are pinning their ears back and coming for you, Jay. Good luck." You will lose every time if your defense allows 55 points and forces 0 punts. But if the defense can't get a stop, the offense (for an offensive minded team) has to at least keep it competitive. The offense had 3 first downs, 3 punts, an INT and only 31 yards of total offense while the game was within 3 TDs. The Bears didn't stop the Packers the 1st time they played. After 2 drives, it was clear they weren't going to stop them that night either. At that point, it's on the offense to keep the ball and make sure the next time the Packers get the ball, the score is 14-7 and they've had 5+ minutes to hang out on the sidelines and hopefully cool off. And repeat as necessary. Worst case, you still lose, but they don't put up 55 if the offense does anything. And maybe the Bears offense makes them sweat a little in the 4th quarter if they put up the 28 they put up on average last year, and should be all means be putting up again with the same personnel with a year experience in the scheme.

Thoughts from Diamondbacks blog. Yes, I would do that trade they are suggesting in a second. http://www.azsnakepit.com/2014/11/19/7247561/trading-miguel-montero-diamondbacks-cubs I was just reading that one and noticed it was a couple days old. I have little interest in Montero, but that trade seems like something I'd enjoy. I'd do that trade in a heartbeat. No prospect involved? I'd trade Jackson for probably any player in baseball if the Cubs don't take a huge hit in payroll. To get a pitcher that isn't likely to be worse AND an actual useful player would be amazing.

Wow. Hoosiers won!

Lovie also got his players to play hard, something Trestman is incapable of doing. Trestman's offense took a big step back this year. It isn't comparable to Lovie's defense. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable and praying for a miracle. If the cap situation is such that they have no choice to do it, whatever, but there is no point in pretending stability is the problem with the Bears. They have a shaky at best GM running the team, an inept coaching staff, a terrible defense and their QB isn't anywhere good enough to make up for all the other weaknesses. Yeah, that's exactly what you are doing. Praying for a miracle. But that miracle is more likely than the same shaky GM picking another coach and QB, the latter of which would easily be a less talented player. And I never said stability was THE problem. I said there is some value to it. And I believe there's more value to it than starting over, when you have the same guy starting it over. You sound like you expect Emery to go down with the ship this year, and we both know good and wel that isn't going to happen. The next coach and QB would be his hire again.

I wouldn't necessarily call Cutler "Emery's francise QB". Emery gave him an extension that was relatively team friendly but he inherited Cutler and I am pretty sure he would never go out and choose Cutler as his guy under different circumstances. Personally I would just hire a real NFL GM, HC and staff, let them fart around with Cutler for a year as they get their roster set-up and look for their own QB. As soon as Cutler can be released in a financially viable manner. If you want to keep Trestman around to babysit on the way out the door you can, but that's just a waste of time in my opinion. I agree with the 1st paragraph. But when he gave him that contract, he locked into 3 years of Cutler or a complete rebuild after 1 year. Obviously, he felt good enough about Cutler to give him those 3 years guaranteed. It's a waste of time if you don't feel Cutler is the guy, but honestly what has Cutler done to show he's NOT the guy? He's been Cutler. He turns the ball over. He shouldn't, but that's the same guy Emery signed 9 months ago. I am on record of saying I would have franchised Cutler for this year, and this is the precise reason why. Flexibility. To find a new QB, to find a real NFL caliber coach. I'm ok with the contract Cutler got, but I think Emery has to be too. He made his bed, so to speak. I don't think you can start over just yet when the defense is still a disaster.