UMFan83

I'm surprised Julie Dicaro hasnt commented on this (unless I missed it). Shes been (rightfully) banging the drum for more female representation at the Score for years, particularly after her and Maggie Hendricks were let go

There are rumors that Jim Harbaugh is actively trying to generate interest from NFL teams, and his extension offer from Michigan has sat unsigned for a week. Apparently he may have been in LA yesterday to meet with the Chargers about the HC role. Im sure Michigan's AD lowballed him with the contract extension offer and thats why this is happening, but the longer this lingers the more it hurts UM.

FIFY It’s not hyperbole to say that Brees can’t throw the ball farther than 25 yards down the field anymore. His arm is completely dead. His final games are setting up to be very similar to Peyton's

you arent going to control the TOP against a team who is going to shove Kamara down your throat This plus aren't the Saints somewhat limited by Brees? Not in the same manner of the Bears of course, nevertheless, I thought there's throws, etc. Brees has trouble with? Maybe but isn't their offense more of a intermediate catch in space/YAC style? I could be way off.

I'm confused why you think it was ok against the Packers but that they should go aggressive with the Saints who are a better pass defense. If the logic is to control TOP and slow the game down to offset a bad offense, I'd think that would be the same strategy against the Saints even if they potentially have a less explosive offense (though not dramatically with their playmakers) Odds are neither approach will work but, I'm of the mind the Saints are expecting a very conservative approach but, Bears go aggressive, it may surprise them and work. Also, it doesn't matter, this is one of those games where they can go out and have "fun" attempting this or that, they've nothing to lose. I'd like to see Mitch look like a franchise play making QB for one game, I think there's a higher probability of that happening with a chance taking aggressive game plan. Yeah I guess my argument was that they had the same scenario in the Packers game. I guess the biggest difference is that they've made the playoffs now so they are playing with house money. Sad that 'house money' for the Bears is simply making the playoffs as an 8-8 7 seed but whatever. Also, it made sense to simply keep things close in the Packers game since they needed to keep the Rams motivated to play their way in.

It's all you've got with Mitch, in what was, at the time, a must win game, what else could they do? Against the Saints I see no reason not to go balls to the walls aggressive with Mitch, who cares if it results in multiple TO's and Saints a route? We know the short passes, runs eat the clock rely on the defense won't work, for one game, the dip horsefeathers could look competent. Plus, in recent years, the Saints have found all kinds of new and creative ways to lose in the playoffs, wouldn't losing to Bears with Mitch playing the game of life just be the cherry on top? I'm confused why you think it was ok against the Packers but that they should go aggressive with the Saints who are a better pass defense. If the logic is to control TOP and slow the game down to offset a bad offense, I'd think that would be the same strategy against the Saints even if they potentially have a less explosive offense (though not dramatically with their playmakers)

It was probably the right game plan. But helps underscore his limitations and that the prior 3 game run was a mirage. I'm back down to maxing his guaranteed money on a new deal to like 10M tops (and I still feel awfully generous). I think its a better game plan for this upcoming game with the Saints pass D, but I think you need to open it up a little more otherwise the defense has to play a near perfect game to win. That may be the case regardless. Either way, I'm sick of having a QB that you have to build game plans like this around, especially in this era of NFL football, but that's conversation for a different time.

Mitch's pass chart last week: Looks like he went 2-7 with an interception on passes thrown 6+ yards beyond the LOS

I was looking at a saints blog today and they were discussing the game earlier in the year. I had forgotten that they were without Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in that game. But Brees wasn't playing with broken ribs at that point either. He doesn't look 100% just looking at a few plays from last week. It's not a secret that Brees is heavily rumored to be retiring after this season...can't think of a better way to go out than to lose at home to a crappy 8-8 team that snuck in as a 7 seed

mineaswell start this one up. Bears have injuries and are considered giant underdogs against the Saints. We will probably lose but who knows. Even though this is a middling team that proved it with their 8-8 record and +2 point differential for the season, as a fan its good to make the playoffs especially because there were maybe 3 seasons the last decade where we were on the cusp and couldn't break through. Thank for NFL for creating a playoff seed just for us. First road playoff game in 26 years. Curious to hear how the Saints have played at home this year given the lack of crowds, I'd imagine it changes the HFA at least little.

This is legitimately funny

Nice! I know him and Len are really friendly towards each other. I hope Len did the team a solid on the way out and helped him get the job. Finally some good news this offseason.

I think yesterday's game was such a glaring example of the fact that the Bears have glaring holes in a few important areas, its hard to ignore even if the end result was the playoffs. They finished with the same record as last year despite an easier schedule and snuck into the playoffs only due to an extra playoff spot being created. I am going to enjoy being in the playoffs but still hoping/expecting changes to be made after the season. I'll be angry about this outcome if/when its clear nothing will be done

It's a very, very mediocre defense. It had two good games in the entire second half of the season, and one of those was Jacksonville so it doesn't count. Mack and Hicks have lost a step. Jackson is completely washed up. Smith is pretty good at what he does, but what he does is clean up plays and pad his tackle stats beyond his actual impact. Quinn was worthless this year, maybe he'll be more healthy next year or maybe not. Fuller and Johnson are ok (although Johnson's a bit overrated by Bears fans). Trevathan is the guy who makes a TFL on 2nd-and-8 then gets targeted for an easy first down on 3rd-and-9. Eddie Jackson is completely washed up and actively bad at his job. I honestly can't remember one thing some dude named Gipson who is apparently our other starting safety did all season. You've already invested way too much in the defense as it is, you can't possibly justify committing a bunch more to it. Montgomery, Mooney and Kmet are what you build the team around going forward. I don’t know about very very mediocre. They were ranked 7th in the league in defensive DVOA going into this week, maybe there are better stats out there to evaluate defense, feel free to suggest. But your remarks on the individual players are valid, so maybe as a collective unit they hold their own but their individual pieces are not at the level were at 2 years ago. Still think the secondary is a strong unit but are often burdened by a lack of pass rush. Jaylon Johnson has potential but for every big play he’s made, he’s countered with a glaring mistake. But he’s a rookie and I like what I’ve seen

I’m not sure what to think of the defense going forward. It’s still good. It’s possibly very good still but it’s not elite anymore and given the offensive shortcomings I’m not sure how many more resources we can pour into it to keep it at its current level. If anything maybe this should push us more towards a rebuild rather than trying to win with a mediocre offense/elite defense formula. But obviously they won’t do that.

It’s hurt them more than it’s helped them these last 3 seasons. Perhaps aggressive playcalling turns 2 of those FGs on 4th and 2 into TDs and they are up 3 instead of down 5. I’m not suggesting the bears start slinging it down the field the whole game but throwing 90% of your passes to within 3 yards of the LOS is not done because you are trying to slow the game down, it’s because you don’t trust your QB to throw anywhere farther even when the situation requires it. Same thing. You're trying to slow the game down because they have a HOF MVP QB and you have Mitch Trubisky. If the game hinges on which QB can throw more TDs, you lose. And again I’m not saying he should be a gunslinger but at some point you have to run an offense more complex than 2 yard dump offs and runs up the middle. The gameplan to slow the game down and limit possessions was fine, i even said that earlier in this thread during the 1st quarter. But at some point you need to start going down field. It’s unfortunate he threw an INT right away but that was after this conservative game plan had them down 12 points. Should have done it earlier when they managed to stop the Packers 2 drives in a row. I dunno you may ultimately be right but there has to be a middle ground between what we saw against the terrible defenses and today when I can only remember 1 pass that traveled more than 5 yards down field until garbage time. It’s hard to suggest where that line is given the dramatic difference between the Packers defense and the Texans but for starters what happened to rolling Mitch out? Buy him some time to get the ball downfield. Maybe give him something different to run than a run up the middle on 3rd and 1 when it failed the previous 2 times on the drive. I’m rambling. But either way, if this is the game plan against defenses with a pulse I think it says all you need to say about whether to invest in Mitch beyond this year. They might sign him as a bridge for 1-2 years but he can’t be the long term QB answer

8.5 seems...low? Should see that go up

It’s hurt them more than it’s helped them these last 3 seasons. Perhaps aggressive playcalling turns 2 of those FGs on 4th and 2 into TDs and they are up 3 instead of down 5. I’m not suggesting the bears start slinging it down the field the whole game but throwing 90% of your passes to within 3 yards of the LOS is not done because you are trying to slow the game down, it’s because you don’t trust your QB to throw anywhere farther even when the situation requires it.

Game is at 3:40 Sunday so Kamara will play Full schedule: The game will be on CBS, Amazon Prime and....Nickelodeon?

No, that is 100% THE ISSUE. Somehow, Matt Nagy lost his ability to craft an offense. Lazor could, and by the way, MN had a pretty good defense. Yeah i think DVOA has them at like 16th for the year but clearly trending downwards since the Saints put 52 on them the week after and the Lions 35 this week. Anyways but the other 3 teams (DET, HOU and JAX) came into the week as the 30th, 31st and 32nd best defenses per DVOA. Almost the easiest possible 4 game stretch an offense could possibly have. Bears took advantage which is a credit to them as I’ve seen even worse Bears offenses struggle against terrible defenses in the past, but it’s clear to me that this was a major reason for the offensive emergence.

The more I think about it, the more that report about Nagy regaining significant influence in playcalling bothers me. If that’s true, it’s possible that what Lazor was doing was actually working and Nagy trying to take over again is horsefeathering things up. I thought the playcalling last week seemed different than what we saw against Houston and Minnesota. Yes they scored 41 but it was a more conservative game plan with short passes. If what Lazor was doing was working why would Nagy horsefeathers that up, like he can’t handle someone else getting the credit for fixing his offense. Maybe I’m looking at it too black and white. Clearly Nagy as head coach is always going to be heavily involved in the offensive game plan, so maybe the Bears just played some terrible bottom feeding defenses and now they aren’t

I'm not sure I want to ruin my Sunday that way. Might be better to roll it all into the Sunday Night Blahs and have a crappy Monday instead Alvin Kamara can't play if the game is Saturday. Can if Sunday. I don’t know if this is what Spongeworthy was referring to but also the Saturday Night wild card game is known for having upsets

I spent half the season trying to ignore this team lol. I probably logged more time watching Red Zone during Bears games. But I’m still a Bears fan and playoffs are rare for us so I’m somewhat excited. Until kickoff at least

Man this 7th playoff spot is a godsend for the Bears. If they had this during Lovie Smith’s tenure he’d still be coaching the Bears