UMFan83

No I think the Sox plan is to convince the fanbase that all they need is a new manager to get them back on track, not spending more money in FA. If he can spend $4m for a Bochy/Maddon type and keep the stands adequately filled, its better than spending $20m a year on like Trea Turner to get the same return on attendance.

The Cubs have gone 15-4 against the NL East since the ASB. 4-0 vs. PHI 3-0 vs. NYM 4-2 vs. MIA 4-2 vs. WAS

Jeez

After saying goodbye to Willson several times already this year, Cubs fans get to say goodbye to him another final time this week as he was activated from the IL and in the lineup tonight. Also inexplicably returning to the lineup for the last 9 games are Nico and Seiya. Also we get to welcome back Schwarbs and Castellanos

They're totally hiring Joe Maddon

How much should we take away from pre-WC friendlies? I'm guessing if there were ever friendlies to take anything away from its these ones right? Not encouraging at all but not quite 'we're 100% doomed'?

FWIW, the Bears are wearing the all navy blue uniform set in Week 18 against the vikings. I can only remember them wearing Navy/Navy 3 other times, all losses to the Packers: 2017, 2006 and 2002

I'm sure its fine and they were just being cautious an- damn

In my mind, I've accepted Lonzo is never playing for the Bulls again. If he does, great. But until there is some clarity on whats going wrong, I cannot pretend like we will see him this year (or next).

Not a huge fan but I hate the bright orange jerseys more, which I believe will be coming in a couple of weeks. The Bears wore their traditional home uniforms for week 1, but don't play in them again until week 9

Their depth chart lists Richie James, Wan'Dale Robinson and David Sills as their starting WRs. Weird because Toney, Golladay and Slayton are still on the roster but they all appear to be in the doghouse.

finally some good luck for my fantasy team. I think he'll have a big game, and Daniel Jones has been running a ton too with a lot of success. Shepard left the game on a stretcher yesterday so I doubt he'll be playing. Toney and Galloday have both been in the doghouse big time this year but I'm sure one of them will have an opportunity to step up. Regardless of how Barkley does, the Giants have still struggled to put points on the board this year so we definitely have a shot at winning this one IMO. Giants are favored by 2.5 at home which means they basically see these teams as equal (not sure if or how Vegas adjusts for short weeks, that may take 0.5 points off the line)

PFF grades: Jenkins once against vastly outplays Patrick despite getting only 1/3 of the snaps. Fields actually gets by far his best PFF grade of the first 3 games. Kyler grades poorly again. Roquan gets a strong grade as expected. Despite not recovering a fumble he fell directly on top of Joe Thomas has the best grade on the defense.

More breakdowns. Apparently he has a patron now so his full game analysis is behind a paywall but he basically breaks down the video into individual plays and posts them on twitter which is almost better. He said right decision, bad throw/TE possibly let up a bit on the route causing the throw to miss badly Given the pass rush it was good decision and given his body position it was mostly a good throw, just a little high. Mooney should have had this Good decision, good pass Upon seeing the All-22 I feel slightly differently about Pettis being open. He was open but it was a tighter window than I had guessed. But the Safety does read his eyes and starts to shift towards Mooney before Fields begins his throwing motion, so he might have been able to look off the S and throw to Pettis. Bad decision, bad timing, bad throw One situation where a delay by Fields helps him because if he goes to Kmet early its an INT

This photo shows 8 defenders. One of the defenders is shading the right side of the field deep, another is the person I mentioned is at the center of the field and picks up Mooney. The third is also on the right side of the field playing shallower for the checkdown. Here's the full play:

Damn, the Guardians threw a ton of shade at the White Sox after clinching the Central

Rewind that a few frames to the point where the target decision is made. It's still bad, but it is much less clear than it is in this moment. I do see a safety shading towards Pettis but appears to be setting his feet at the middle of the field to pick up Mooney just as he's leaving the frame. Probable that he's reading Fields' eyes, which is something that would be great if he could use to his advantage to free receivers. As for Kmet, he looks plain open as a checkdown as soon as he comes off his block. Again he might be stopped short if Fields decides to throw to him, but certainly better than throwing to Mooney there, especially given the game situation (tie game in the 4th quarter)

I'm sure everyone just wants to move on from the performance but damn (this is not a video, I just took a screenshot from a video, so no need to click on the play button) 3rd and 6, Fields is intercepted throwing to Mooney in triple coverage. Pettis is completely open on the other side of the field and probably has a TD if the throw is on the mark. Kmet is also open as his checkdown on the side of the field he is looking at. Not sure if Kmet gets a 1st if the ball goes to him but certainly seems like a better option than Mooney with defenders all over him. It's possible the coaches are telling Fields to just focus on one side of the field which is why Pettis goes unnoticed. But plays like this are there to make.

Probably just meaningless “inside info” from Halas Hall. Even that Bears insider blogger @DaBearsBlog has turned on Fields though it’s hard to know what are his own thoughts and what he is echoing from what he’s heard.

With regards to the WRs, they've sucked but we also have to remember that Velus Jones and N'Keal Harry have yet to play. Velus was most likely their 3rd (maybe 2nd) WR. I'm not sure what Harry would have brought to the table but he was a volume option with possible upside. Here were the possible WR acquisitions if the Bears decided to spend more of their focus on the position: * = Still a Free Agent right now Bold = Signed a 1 year deal Odell Beckham* Will Fuller* TY Hilton* Jarvis Landry Russell Gage JuJu Smith-Schuster Christian Kirk Julio Jones DJ Chark Marquez Valdez-Scantling Jamison Crowder Quite a few players that we could have fit into the 2022 team that would be upgrades over Pringle or whoever the WR2 technically is and wouldn't have hurt our cap beyond this season. That said, every single one of those 1 year deal guys besides DJ Chark signed with a contender so maybe they would have never been available to the Bears without overpaying, but just saying there were reasonable options out there. Not a single one of them could do any more or any less than what the Bears are getting out of their present receiving corps. People are getting open, are open, Fields isn't executing, it's all on him right now. Someone like Jarvis Landry is an elite route runner and solid possession receiver. If Fields' issues are processing speed and hesitation to throw, would Fields feel more confident in pulling the trigger on a pass to someone with over 700 NFL receptions? Does he feel confident that Dante Pettis is going to be able to adjust on the fly to an inaccurate pass and make a reception instead of a possible INT? Are these concerns things that cost Fields the extra milliseconds of processing time before getting off a pass? Would Fields feel more comfortable throwing to Julio Jones in a 1-on-1 situation knowing that he's made hundreds of millions of dollars catching those exact passes? Obviously there is no way to know if what I'm saying matters at all. But Fields needs more confidence and I think having at least 1 more established WR on the roster would have helped with that.

With regards to the WRs, they've sucked but we also have to remember that Velus Jones and N'Keal Harry have yet to play. Velus was most likely their 3rd (maybe 2nd) WR. I'm not sure what Harry would have brought to the table but he was a volume option with possible upside. Here were the possible WR acquisitions if the Bears decided to spend more of their focus on the position: * = Still a Free Agent right now Bold = Signed a 1 year deal Odell Beckham* Will Fuller* TY Hilton* Jarvis Landry Russell Gage JuJu Smith-Schuster Christian Kirk Julio Jones DJ Chark Marquez Valdez-Scantling Jamison Crowder Quite a few players that we could have fit into the 2022 team that would be upgrades over Pringle or whoever the WR2 technically is and wouldn't have hurt our cap beyond this season. That said, every single one of those 1 year deal guys besides DJ Chark signed with a contender so maybe they would have never been available to the Bears without overpaying, but just saying there were reasonable options out there. why is Odell Beckham still out there? Have to assume there's concern he'll miss the entire season. Teams are probably watching his rehab closely. OBJ is also likely waiting for a contender to have a need and sign him. He won't get a long term deal this year so he's probably hoping to come back later in the year, show he's healthy and then parlay into a long term deal. Could be wrong though.

With regards to the WRs, they've sucked but we also have to remember that Velus Jones and N'Keal Harry have yet to play. Velus was most likely their 3rd (maybe 2nd) WR. I'm not sure what Harry would have brought to the table but he was a volume option with possible upside. Here were the possible WR acquisitions if the Bears decided to spend more of their focus on the position: * = Still a Free Agent right now Bold = Signed a 1 year deal Odell Beckham* Will Fuller* TY Hilton* Jarvis Landry Russell Gage JuJu Smith-Schuster Christian Kirk Julio Jones DJ Chark Marquez Valdez-Scantling Jamison Crowder Quite a few players that we could have fit into the 2022 team that would be upgrades over Pringle or whoever the WR2 technically is and wouldn't have hurt our cap beyond this season. That said, every single one of those 1 year deal guys besides DJ Chark signed with a contender so maybe they would have never been available to the Bears without overpaying, but just saying there were reasonable options out there.

Yeah Football Outsiders has the team finishing 8-9 at this point. The Bears aren't good but this schedule is a joke. Fields could be the Bears 2nd NVP in 3 years!

Not that QB rating is super accurate but I can think of multiple games off the top of my head that were worse. 2006 at home vs Vikings. I believe his qb rating was 3. Also 2006 at home vs Packers. It was 0.0 in that game. The “horsefeathers it I’m throwing it downfield game” against the Patriots was really bad too Edit: just looked up those specific games MIN - 6/19 for 34 passing yards, 0 TD, 3 INT GB - 2/12 for 33 passing yards, 0 TD, 3 INT (only played the first half) NE - 15/34 for 176 passing yards, 0 TD, 3 INT Heck the famous MNF game against Arizona he was 14/37 for 144 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT 2007 vs Dallas - 15/32 195 yards 0 TD, 3 INT What about Cutler? 2009 vs BAL: 10/27 for 94 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT 2010 vs NE: 12/26 for 154 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT 2011 vs CAR: 9/17 for 102 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT 2012 vs GB: 11/27 for 126 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT