mul21

Agreed. GB feels like the much bigger long term threat for the season, so stacking every loss possible on them seems like a better gambit.

Not too surprised Illinois took the L last night against a good team on their home floor missing 2 starters and giving 4 freshman 20 or more minutes. Add in that nobody besides Coleman could hit a 3 to save their lives and I feel pretty decent about the overall performance.

I think there was some of that but I also think the old GM drafting him against KOC's wishes was at least as much of a factor. Trading him feels like it was a power play for KOC.

I think we've heard the arm is good and the rest of the defensive profile is a work in progress.

It builds in an extra rest day 4 out of 5 times through the rotation for starters and I have to imagine that would likely help with injuries a bit. I would bet it helps position players numbers a decent amount too, especially guys who tend to fall off at the end of the season (Dansby) because they play so many games.

It's amusing to me that after last night's loss by the Vikings, the Bears went from playing at Carolina in the first round of the playoffs to hosting the Packers. That's not really an upgrade for a 3 spot jump in seed.

Because Christian Watson is an absolute menace on deep balls. If Love is throwing to almost anyone else, I think the success rate is markedly lower.

West coast teams playing the 1:00 game on the east coast ALWAYS struggle. I almost bet the Commanders in that game for that reason alone, glad I stayed away from that one.

I guess I haven't really noticed because I wasn't invested in the teams playing, but 2 Friday night games in a row for Illinois. How long have those been a thing?

There's no chance this FO is planning on Ben Brown being a rotation piece going into the season. They still don't know what's causing the neck issue.

I have no interest in any scenario that has Conforto as the strong side of an OF platoon. He's too old and too bad defensively for that to be playable with the pitching this team will likely have. I think I'd be on board for a Grisham/Taylor combination in the OF if they can make that happen.

I'll blame Rome for the first TD drop, but that second ball was on his hands before he could get them in the right position, so it's hard for me to blame him much for that one. That officiating crew was ass last night, and not just to the Bears detriment. There were so many flags that shouldn't have been thrown, most notably the two holds on the Bears during returns, but the second false start Wirfs got called for was imaginary. I hope we don't see them again the rest of the year.

Regardless of what moves are made, any projection of Ben Brown in the rotation feels like a fool's errand to me.

I think the likelihood of his power rebounding makes him a much higher upside gamble than either of those guys, and if he does have a better year at the plate, he's likely to get a really solid payday. Whether playing LF makes a big difference in that, I'm not sure because I don't know what his 2B defense is like. I don't see Shaw or Ramirez as much more than 20 HR max guys at their peak unless something drastically changes.

Nowhere does that identify the cause or say he's fully cleared.