bukie

Well, at least most Bear fans won't be clamoring for McCown after today.

Same for Illinois.

Saying a QB is a "big winner" is almost as stupid as saying a starting pitcher "knows how to win". The point is he's putting up numbers but it's not translating. Don't give me that weak starting pitcher comparison crap. That's not where I was going with it. It's not translating because it's a team sport. QB stats don't translate directly to wins. That's why it's a stupid point.

Saying a QB is a "big winner" is almost as stupid as saying a starting pitcher "knows how to win".

Really, the one play that personified the day was the "jumped too early" catch by Woods, with Conte allegedly lining him up for a big hit, only to see Conte miss him almost completely.

He is who he is, sure, but that's nowhere near who he is.

Cutlers performance crushed me. I know he will have better games, and games where he will look like the best QB in the league but if there was any hope that Cutler would have a career year where he is consistently a great QB, it's gone now. I guess I shouldn't expect that kind of leap at age 31 anyways. Every QB makes dumb throws. He made 2 in the game, and one of those happened to be severely punished. I think you're overracting. 2? I didn't see the whole game and saw more than that. Lucky for him one of them bounced off the numbers of a defender. After Holmes fell down.

I guess I will say that the Bears should have lost to the Lions in week 1 if not for a wacky rule in 2010 and ended up hosting the NFC title game. That said the Bears 2010 schedule was a LOT easier than the Bears juggernaut coming up. They are going to have to play a LOT better to even be 4-5 after the gauntlet ends. You have to look at the second half of the Bears' schedule and see that 4-5 at that point is still in good shape for the playoffs.

Every big play for Buffalo today enhanced by Conte either being there late or not making the play once he got there. Santonio Holmes is no Alshon Jeffrey, unfortunately.

You know people are overreacting irrationally when I bother to mention something about it. But at least we have Kyle here to be inciteful and Sponge to not get it. Irrational sports fans? How dare they! Everyone stop feeling things! I'll go get you another bale of hay for that strawman.

You know people are overreacting irrationally when I bother to mention something about it. But at least we have Kyle here to be inciteful and Sponge to not get it.

First time in a NSBB game thread? :) Remember, this is exactly why many people don't go into the game threads, because people are insufferable idiots.

Hey, at least nobody's spazzing out in the first half of the first game.

2.5, unless SD loses, since the Cubs would have to pass two of those three to get to 11th.

Per Schefter it's sprained MCL, not torn, and he shouldn't miss much time. Not considered serious. A moderate sprain partially tears the ligament, producing joint instability, and some swelling.

Lacy apparently suffered a concussion during the game yesterday.

Texas became the first team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last night by losing to the Mariners. The Rangers can no longer finish ahead of the A's, Angels or Mariners, and thus can't get a playoff spot.

Trey Martin hit what he thought was a game winning HR in the bottom of the 11th, but it hit off the top of the wall. Since he was watching it, he was thrown out at 2nd. No comment yet from Dave Kaplan as he searches for Martin's cultural origin.

The Cubs have used 46 players so far this year, for a net total of 30.7 fWAR: Name fWAR Anthony Rizzo 4.2 Jake Arrieta 3.9 Starlin Castro 2.7 Luis Valbuena 2.6 Travis Wood 2.3 Jeff Samardzija 2.1 Jason Hammel 1.9 Emilio Bonifacio 1.8 Welington Castillo 1.8 Chris Coghlan 1.7 Hector Rondon 1.6 Kyle Hendricks 1.1 Carlos Villanueva 0.9 Jorge Soler 0.8 Neil Ramirez 0.8 Edwin Jackson 0.8 Pedro Strop 0.7 Arismendy Alcantara 0.6 Logan Watkins 0.5 Tsuyoshi Wada 0.5 Darwin Barney 0.4 Justin Grimm 0.4 Justin Ruggiano 0.4 Brian Schlitter 0.3 Wesley Wright 0.3 Chris Valaika 0.2 Felix Doubront 0.2 Jacob Turner 0.2 Blake Parker 0.1 Dallas Beeler 0.1 Chris Rusin 0 Dan Straily 0 Rafael Lopez 0 Ryan Sweeney 0 Kyuji Fujikawa -0.1 Matthew Szczur -0.1 James Russell -0.2 Javier Baez -0.2 Zac Rosscup -0.2 Eli Whiteside -0.3 Jose Veras -0.3 Mike Olt -0.6 Ryan Kalish -0.6 Junior Lake -0.7 John Baker -0.9 Nate Schierholtz -1 30.7

Cubs pull Olt with bases loaded and 1 out in the 9th, because he got his 4 ABs. PH Lockhart promptly botches a suicide squeeze to cause the 2nd out, then lines out on the next pitch to send the game to extras.

Your National League batting average leader: Ben Revere, at .314, with a .330 OBP. I guess what I'm saying is Castro actually had a real shot at this the way he'd been hitting.

Thanks to the Brewers and Braves slides, the second wild card winner is projected to finish 84-78. So, all it's going to take is a 20-2 run to close out the season...

If MLB went by BaseRuns standings: AL East: Orioles 77-61 Rays 72-68 6 GB Blue Jays 71-67 6 GB Yankees 67-70 9.5 GB Red Sox 61-78 16.5 GB AL Central: Tigers 75-64 Indians 72-66 2.5 GB Royals 68-71 7 GB White Sox 65-74 10 GB Twins 65-74 10 GB AL West: A's 84-55 Angels 82-56 1.5 GB Mariners 75-63 8.5 GB Astros 66-74 18.5 GB Rangers 52-87 32 GB AL Wildcard: Angels 82-56 Mariners 75-63 Indians 72-66 3 GB Rays 72-68 4 GB Blue Jays 71-67 4 GB Royals 68-71 7.5 GB Yankees 67-70 7.5 GB Astros 66-74 10 GB White Sox 65-74 10.5 GB Twins 65-74 10.5 GB Red Sox 61-78 14.5 GB Rangers 52-87 23.5 GB NL East: Nationals 80-58 Braves 71-69 10 GB Marlins 66-72 14 GB Phillies 64-75 16.5 GB Mets 63-77 18 GB NL Central: Pirates 74-65 Cardinals 71-68 3 GB Cubs 71-69 3.5 GB Brewers 68-71 6 GB Reds 65-74 9 GB NL West: Dodgers 79-61 Giants 76-64 3 GB Rockies 64-76 15 GB Padres 63-75 15 GB Diamondbacks 60-79 18.5 GB NL Wildcard: Giants 76-64 Cardinals 71-68 Cubs 71-69 0.5 GB Braves 71-69 0.5 GB Brewers 68-71 3 GB Marlins 66-72 4.5 GB Reds 65-74 6 GB Phillies 64-75 7 GB Rockies 64-76 7.5 GB Padres 63-75 7.5 GB Mets 63-77 8.5 GB Diamondbacks 60-79 11 GB

Look, if Jay's not throwing for 7500 yards and 70 TDs, it's just not a good year for him.

Just as in June, when their Pythagorean was significantly better than better predictive models that showed the cubs weren't as good as the Pythagorean suggestion , now the more predictive models are much higher on the cubs. Their third order win percentage is .503, which translates to 70-70.