raw

We finally beat Bucky! Last 3 times IU and Wisconsin have played it has been 45-17, 51-3 and 62-14. I read Wisconsin was a 13.5 point favorite, but I didn't have much doubt of a Hoosier win, even when it got close late. Michigan is going to get us in the Big Ten championship game! Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

Only makes sense if Harden is going and either Beal or Westbrook are going from Washington.

Can both teams lose a trade?

I think it's a bit misleading to refer to Foles as a handpicked QB. The guy was on the verge of retirement before coming through as a backup and getting overpaid, then quickly dumped. Foles was a quintessential hold the fort QB. The Bears were never going to win a bunch of games with Nick Foles as the QB. He was Mitch's babysitter. Nagy has never had a handpicked QB. That would come with his next draft pick, if he gets one. I mean, Foles wasn't the pick of the litter choice, but he was definitely picked because he "knew the offense". And the fact that the leash was so quick with Mitch and Nagy went from calling a bunch of stuff under center, playaction, and half field reads to calling the stuff he wanted to run that he felt Trubisky couldn't execute supports this theory.

Yeah, I kinda feel that way too. I do buy that the McKaskey's love Pace, and the whole revamping of Halas Hall shows that they were in on Pace for the long haul. My first hangup is the lame duck contract situation. I do kinda feel like the decision is either fire or extend this offseason. Can't have a lame duck situation. That benefits nobody. The other is that GMs don't typically get to hire 3 coaches. Maybe there is some legitimacy to Fox being pushed on him and not counting against Pace, but I feel you have to get rid of Nagy if not Pace. Nagy's record is fine, but clearly not sustainable without an offense, and he was brought here to fix the offense. He was brought in to groom Trubisky, then got a handpicked QB that knew his system to show it wasn't him but the QB, and both have failed. I don't think you can bring in a new QB and assume he can put him in the best position at this point. While it may be unfair to Nagy that he was strapped to Mitch (especially if Pace is not), it kinda is what it has to be at this point. how do you feel about Lazor's play calling? Granted, it could be hard to judge based on the junk time he had on Sunday night, but could the combo of Nagy HC and Lazor play caller work going forward? I thought Lazor dialed up some good plays, some Mitch hit on, others he completely missed. Which begs the question, can Mitch grow with Lazor or is he just flat out too stupid? I never thought playcalling was the problem really with Nagy. It's just a general offensive philosophy that doesn't really have a go-to, bread-and-butter type play or concept. And I judge that based on the fact that Bears can't even script points. They don't score consistently in the first half of games, even this week got their TD with seconds left in the half. They don't score at all in the 3rd quarter. First and third quarters are supposed to be when you script the first 10-15 plays designed to score points. In the last 1 2/3 seasons they've been abysmal in those scripted plays. And I guess I'm not really concerned about the Mitch/Lazor combination. Best case scenario is Mitch is here 6 more games (5 regular season and if they win enough of them a 1-and-done playoff game). I don't think the Nagy/Lazor can work out. Still the same issue the last 2 games of no early points, nothing out of halftime.

Eh. I know everyone hates trades up, but the Trubisky trade up wasn't the issue. It was Trubisky the player. The Chiefs and Texans traded MUCH more for Mahomes and Watson and nobody cares because they are top 3 QBs. I wouldn't mind if Pace traded up again in this draft. My issue would be with the fact that the man who picked Trubisky, Foles, and Glennon would be picking the QB. I maintain that a combo of Pace and Nagy making that pick together has a legit chance to select the right guy. This staff has had its doubts about Mitch from day one. They brought in veteran babysitters for their knowledge, and sure, Pace grossly overpaid them but that's a different issue. Pace has a valuation problem which showed in his trade ups and several, but not all, signings. There's reason to move on from Pace and Nagy this year, but I doubt they'll hire a better duo. Last time they moved on from mediocrity because they couldn't figure out the QB position they had a disaster hire. I think they are at least as likely to have Pace and Nagy collectively figure out a QB than they are to find a new GM/coach/QB. There can be value in stability, especially when you're coming out of a decade of turnover and turmoil. Just going back to the Ditka decade, that was followed by Wanny getting 6 years, Jauron getting 5, Lovie getting 9 and then Trestman with 2 and Fox with 3. They have to be thinking about turnover every 2-3 years not looking good. I think ownership wants to make it work with these two guys. They aren't incompetent. They put together the first 12 win team in over a decade. They've fielded competitive teams. Barring a meltdown to end the season, they can see justification for keeping the band together. Might as well extend the guys through 2023 at what would have to be a discount coming off down years. Do away with the lame duck concerns for the next two years while having them live through their own 2020 signing decisions. Yeah, I kinda feel that way too. I do buy that the McKaskey's love Pace, and the whole revamping of Halas Hall shows that they were in on Pace for the long haul. My first hangup is the lame duck contract situation. I do kinda feel like the decision is either fire or extend this offseason. Can't have a lame duck situation. That benefits nobody. The other is that GMs don't typically get to hire 3 coaches. Maybe there is some legitimacy to Fox being pushed on him and not counting against Pace, but I feel you have to get rid of Nagy if not Pace. Nagy's record is fine, but clearly not sustainable without an offense, and he was brought here to fix the offense. He was brought in to groom Trubisky, then got a handpicked QB that knew his system to show it wasn't him but the QB, and both have failed. I don't think you can bring in a new QB and assume he can put him in the best position at this point. While it may be unfair to Nagy that he was strapped to Mitch (especially if Pace is not), it kinda is what it has to be at this point.

Since the week 1 matchup, both teams are 4-6. Both teams lost in Week 12 on national TV by a score of 41-25.

Eh. I know everyone hates trades up, but the Trubisky trade up wasn't the issue. It was Trubisky the player. The Chiefs and Texans traded MUCH more for Mahomes and Watson and nobody cares because they are top 3 QBs. I wouldn't mind if Pace traded up again in this draft. My issue would be with the fact that the man who picked Trubisky, Foles, and Glennon would be picking the QB. I wouldn't disagree about trading up this season if I felt Pace could competently make that pick, buuuu.... also, trading up one pick because you felt threatened when there were 3 possible outcomes all with talent was horsefeathering stupid. I flat out disagree with you on that. He was playing checkers when the rest of the NFL was playing chess. I still feel like this is you having an issue with the result more than the process. You can say Pace could have stayed at 3 and ended up with Mahomes if Trubisky went at 2. But if Pace had Trubisky as his #1 QB, then the other possible outcomes are not as ideal in his eyes.

not that I would do it again because he deeply overpaid, but Graham hasn't been the worst addition. He's played adequate (5 tds in 11 games) and gives Kmet some solid tutorship. As for Pace, I want him gone. I don't trust he would be able to stand pat if it looked like he wasn't going to get one of the top 4 QBs in the draft. I worry deeply he would trade up again and further handcuff the team with lack of draft pics. Thats the mess we got into with Cutler (2 1st rds) and Trubisky. Enough. If you cant get one of the top 4, stay where you are and draft best avail, preferably at OT, WR, EDGE Eh. I know everyone hates trades up, but the Trubisky trade up wasn't the issue. It was Trubisky the player. The Chiefs and Texans traded MUCH more for Mahomes and Watson and nobody cares because they are top 3 QBs. I wouldn't mind if Pace traded up again in this draft. My issue would be with the fact that the man who picked Trubisky, Foles, and Glennon would be picking the QB.

Yeah, the Bears have the perfect setup if they decide to move on from Pace and Nagy. Pace in the last year of his deal. Nagy will still end the season with a winning record overall in his 3 years, but it's clear the offense isn't good enough and he's an offensive guy. Pace's moves this offseason reeked of desperation. He signed got older AND more expensive at TE and OLB, re-signed the older Trevathan based on his leadership and basically tried to stay status quo everywhere else. Those are the moves of a guy that either A) feels his team is close but needs a couple tweaks or B) is trying his damndest to win games because his job is at stake. The Bears don't fire people midseason, so no reason to expect anything to happen before Black Monday. And despite losing 5 straight, i don't see anyway they lose out. Detroit is just as big of a mess as the Bears are. Houston is playing much better of late, but lost their #1 WR for the year due to PEDs. Jacksonville is not actively trying to win games. 3 wins to finish are possible, if not probable. But at this point, that can't be enough to keep them. There's too much incentive for a lame duck GM to make more moves like Quinn and Graham. And there's no desire for a lame duck to rebuild. Throw in the fact that the Bears need to draft a QB of the future, I know the Bears ownership is football stupid, but they can't allow Pace to be the guy making that pick.

Yeah, pick 8 seems to be the sweet spot for QB this year. I'm not sure if there will be 3 gone before that pick, but I'm figuring you either get the end of that tier of QB talent or your pick between 3rd and 4th QB at 8. Going from 14 to 8 isn't typically that expensive. Should be able to do that without a future 1st or losing your 2nd rounder.

Russell Wilson to DK: 10- 13, 177 yards. Russell Wilson to everyone else: 11-15, 46 yards, 1 TD

I don't know if you can June 1 cut Leno, because he's a FA after 2021. The June 1 feature allows you to spread the dead caps over 2 years, but I don't think you can spread that over a season he wouldn't be under contract anyway. Then again, that deferred money may make a difference. You're right in a typical "one year remaining" scenario. But I think those extra deferred/void years matter in the case of Leno since at the time of the cut they would be contract years that are potentially voidable, but for which the criteria to void them haven't been met. So for instance Hicks can't be June 1 cut. Well, he could be cut after June 1, but there wouldn't be any special cap accounting for it. Gotcha. I should have figured those void years made a difference.

I don't know if you can June 1 cut Leno, because he's a FA after 2021. The June 1 feature allows you to spread the dead caps over 2 years, but I don't think you can spread that over a season he wouldn't be under contract anyway. Then again, that deferred money may make a difference.

Sucks a lot, especially for Penix. His 3rd straight season ending injury, and his 2nd time tearing his left (I think) ACL. I really hope he can come back in 2021, but it's gotta be increasingly difficult with multiple major injuries to the same knee. As for the team, I think they can be alright. Jack Tuttle takes over and he was the #4 or 5 pro-style QB recruit a couple years ago. He looked good in relief of Penix on Saturday. I think he can beat Wisconsin and Purdue to get them to a NY6.

Race Thompson with 23 and 13 today. Joey Brunk is out with a back injury, so he got more playing time than usual, but if Thompson can play anything close to this, IU will be a very good team. They will still struggle to shoot 3s and from the FT line, but seems like a lot of teams in the conference may have that issue.

7 straight losses after a bye week. Means 0 under Pace. Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

Jokes on you, they only lost by 2 TDs! Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

I'm a Riddick fan. Obviously the parallels with Mayock (who has done a solid job w/ Oakland) are there. Former player, but he does have NFL scouting and front office experience. And frankly, I'd love if they'd hire a minority for the first time in team history. All these white guys haven't worked out, so why not?

For a mobile QB, Mitch isn't really very good at read option. Makes wrong decisions, bad ball handling. Also for a QB, Mitch isn't really very good at throwing a football.

What game are you watching?

The Bears do NOT add to their TD less halves total under Nagy. Unfortunately, this goes up there with the garbage time TDs vs. the Colts and Titans.

Not quite the Sunday night beating that got Trestman fired, but this should about do it for Nagy, even though it won't happen til Black Monday.