raw

Looks like he had Miller on the 2nd level of the defense. Had another half second to find him and hit that throw.

LOL. Why the hell he run that back inside? I honestly think he was afraid of a Kyle Fuller hit, he was the only one out there and he was getting blocked.

Freaking holding call, takes it from 1st and 10 past midfield to 2nd and 12 and a punt.

Getting nervous and excited for this game. I know I'm setting myself up for disappointment, but I kinda expect a statement game from the Bears. Goff hasn't figured out this defense the last 2 years, and this defense is much closer to 2018 than last year, as Hicks wasn't healthy and the Bears were much worse at 3 of the DB positions. Plus, the Robert Quinn revenge factor against his former team. The Bears beat them in 2018 and were a competent QB away from a blowout win. Last year, the Bears lost by 10, and it was also when Pineiro was hobbled with the hamstring injury. He missed a pair of 40+ FGs and prevented the Bears from going for 2 more from an otherwise normal make-able field position due to the injury. And again, that was without competent QB play. The Bears couldn't run the ball or block Donald last year, so no different now. They couldn't really get the ball to Robinson against Ramsey last year, so no different now. They went heavy to Miller and Gabriel last year, to the most success, and had no options at TE. I feel justified in thinking as long as Foles doesn't horsefeathers the bed, the Bears should be able to take this game....maybe even with the ever elusive multi-score margin of victory.

Yeah, that's one theory. The other was that they had always planned to get Tua ready over the bye week, but their bye week got changed due to all the rescheduling. I wouldn't be surprised to see Fitz to Dallas within the next day or two. They can still have a bunch of offensive talent and could make the playoffs in a terrible division. Not that it'll do them any good ultimately, but their too proud not to go for it.

Well, now that Seattle lost, the Bears are in a best case scenario with a win tonight. 6-1 obviously would be the best record in the NFC by a 1/2 game. But it also would make them 6-0 against the NFC. Importance of that is that even if the Bears lose to New Orleans next week, they'll be in no danger of losing the tiebreaker for top wildcard spot. They'll have the H2H win over the Bucs (who would be 2nd to NO for the division due to H2H loss) and they'll have conference record tiebreaker over both the Bucs and Cards (who are on a bye next week). Would also have the same tiebreaker advantage over SF and Seattle, depending on what happens in that division.

More of a humble brag than a complaint. I gambled and picked Kyler Murray really early (4th round) and didn't draft another QB as I hate having 2 QBs and second guessing my QB pick every week. Like there's a team with Ryan/Roethlisberger. How do you pick a QB each week? But being that this is a keeper league, I picked up Justin Herbert before last week during his bye so there wouldn't be waiver competition. Got him for a long-term stash, but now he went and put up nearly 42 points yesterday. Of course, Kyler put up nearly 41, and has nothing less than 24.4 in any game this year. But the first time Murray scores less than Herbert causing me to lose, I'm going to hate myself and second guess the rest of the year.

You have to go for it. Ideally, Bridgewater doesn't take a sack, but you have to go for it with that little time left. 4th and 19 is more likely to convert than the longest FG in the history of the NFL. Plus, a miss meant Saints get the ball 7 yards closer than a simple incompletion. I don't know. Slye has a cannon for a leg and didn't miss that by much. That's one of those where I don't know if I'd had an argument either way. That goes on Bridgewater (and the offensive line) more than anyone else. Carolina is clearly one of those teams that's just good enough to be a pain in the ass for just about anyone to play but not good enough to beat most of those teams. Tampa is the only loss of their four that wasn't really close - and on the flip side, Arizona is the only one of their wins that wasn't really close. Honestly, the difference to me is like 2-4 yards. If that's a 61-63 yard kick, sure. But longest FG in NFL history with the game on the line is a lot to ask for.

Seattle/Arizona game is the ultimate short term vs long term scenario. Arizona wins and the Bears are the #1 seed in the NFC for at least 24 hours and all week with a win tomorrow. Seattle wins and it has positive effects on the Bears ability to make the playoffs in general and potentially get the favorable 1st round game against the NFC East if they don't win the division. Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

Just wait until the PAC......nevermind.

Hoosiers into the polls at #17, highest they've been since 1993. Got Rutgers next, but damn would it be fun if this ranking lasts thru Michigan in 2 weeks, and a win in that game could mean a top 10 matchup against Ohio State in late November. LOL

Man, this Bears defense is really good. Held Tampa to 19. That game was sandwiched between a pair of 38 point outings, they've also scored 28, 31, 23 in the opener, and have 21 at halftime today.

What was their alternative there? It was 4th and 19 from near midfield and 2 minutes left. Quick scouting report for Bears fans. Throw it deep against the Saints. They’ve had more blown zone coverage than any team in recent memory. Every freaking week. You have to go for it. Ideally, Bridgewater doesn't take a sack, but you have to go for it with that little time left. 4th and 19 is more likely to convert than the longest FG in the history of the NFL. Plus, a miss meant Saints get the ball 7 yards closer than a simple incompletion.

Some crazy endings to the 1pm games. Titans miss the game tying FG. Bengals bungled Falcons falconed on a wallk off Carolina for some reason went for a 65 yard FG to try and tie

He got lit up. Funny thing he was almost past the line of scrimmage which would have made the hit legal by all interpretations.

Don't care. Penn State deserves to lose that call just for scoring when IU was letting them. How do you not tell your team not to score? Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers! Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

If 2018 is recent past he started 5 games and had a vastly better YPA (7.2 vs. 5.8 this year), completion percentage (72 vs 62) and QBR/Rating. Small Sample size, but he was also coming off the Super Bowl run the year prior where he performed like an elite QB. He was not actually an elite QB mind you, but the numbers he put up were elite. 2 years is a long time and the 2018 numbers wouldnt really constitute a very good QB but if he was performing at that level in Chicago this year it would make a big difference moving forward. Don't think he will for various reasons but he's probably capable of playing better than he has thus far. He's had one short stint of great play and looong stretches of below average-mundane play. Bringing him on was simply trying to catch lightening in a bottle. I still hate we traded for him when others like Dalton, Bridgewater, Newton either became available or were available. Foles is better than all those guys though. Maybe not better than Bridgewater, but just clearly outplayed him head-to-head (of course didn't face the same caliber of defense). Not to mention a better fit. I know this is unpopular, but I kinda feel like this is going to be a best case scenario type of season. Foles is winning games, but not playing so well that the Bears do something stupid like giving him more money or pretending he's a long-term answer. They should still go out and get a long-term QB in the draft, and they don't necessarily have to throw him on the field right away or have pressure to do so like they did with Trubisky, because they should have competent play ahead of the rookie. It's a lot better scenario than losing a bunch of games, still not losing enough to get the top QB, and not having a competent bridge guy for your potential franchise QB.

Texans interim coach is 73 years old, he knows he's not an option to get that job full-time. He went for the win to end the game right then and there. For a team that's been top 5 pick bad, he was trying to get his team a win.....especially since they have no incentive to take with no picks in the first 2 rounds. I don't hate the move to go for 2. But there's probably no other situation I can think of where I would do that. Also, should be noted, the playcall was fine (unlike the Eagles try for 2 and a tie vs. the Ravens), it was just a good defensive play.

Rams are a weird team, and I don't really know what we're going to get on Monday. They are statistically very close to the Bears defensively. Separated by less than 20 total yards allowed per game. They've allowed 2 fewer points than the Bears. They have 20 sacks as a team, but had 0 against SF. So, they had 20 in their first 5 games. But they got fat off of Washington, missing linemen and throwing in a QB who almost lost a leg. Rams allowed 108 total yards to the WFT and had 8 sacks. Other than that, they've been average at best. They've played decent against bad teams. Played poorly vs. SF on Sunday. They got down 28-3 to Buffalo and made a comeback then blew it probably due to a bad call. They seem very similar to the Bears in a lot of respects. But honestly and without bias, I think the Bears are a better team. If the Bears pressure Goff like they did Brady and Bridgewater, Goff will struggle. He has 5 INTs to 0 TDs against the Bears D the last 2 years. The Bears DBs can take away a lot of what they want to do in the pass game. Jackson and Fuller are a no-fly zone. Gipson has quietly done well against TEs though the Bears haven't faced any good ones (Rams have a couple decent ones). They'll try to get the ball to Kupp in the slot against Skrine. They'll try to pick on Johnson, especially if they get him in man vs. Woods. But I think he'll be up to the task. The Bears won't be able to block Donald as per usual. Probably won't be able to run the ball. Foles will have some shots though against most of their DBs, and I'd even take a couple shots with Robinson even against Ramsey or on a double move with Mooney. Low scoring game, turnover battle will be the difference. I trust Foles to protect the ball more than Goff, stupid play last week notwithstanding.

Definitely worth the time in that situation. The likelihood of converting 2nd & 1 is extremely high. And they were already in very make-able FG range. So, the concession is the first down. If you are going to give up a 1st anyway, you might as well get it over with and save time when that is a factor. Yea, I think ultimately knowing the projected points at different yardages would be critical. For example is 2nd and 4 from a similar spot in the field equally as tough, or would you start burning your TOs in that spot and try for the stop. I know there is the occasional "they're gonna score, so preserve the clock" situations, but I don't think this was quite it. Funny "let them score story"; Senior year of HS we were down late 6 to 7 and on defense and the opposing team bust off a huge gain to get inside the 5 yard line. So the call came in to let them score so we would get the ball back with time to try and tie. At the snap 10 of 11 of us stood and just let them run it straight up the middle. Our middle LB, who was kind of dopey, was the only guy who didn't get the call and went and lit up their RB, causing a forced fumble, probably due to the fact the RB was so caught off guard as well. We recovered the fumble and then had a chance to outright win (which we unfortunately weren't able to do, but it was a pretty funny sequence of events anyways). That story is hilarious!

Actually reading through this, I think it was a little more complex than "knows Hou will score". It would be dumb just to concede a score. But you do want to use your TOs in succession to stop after 1st down, 2nd down, 3rd down. At 2 and 1 you give them the 1st and 10 and try to get 3 stops with 3 successive TOs. The 5 yards therefor is what might analytically be worth the extra time, with the expected point change being minimal I assume. It would have to be 2nd and 4th or less to make this a potentially desirable move I think. Definitely worth the time in that situation. The likelihood of converting 2nd & 1 is extremely high. And they were already in very make-able FG range. So, the concession is the first down. If you are going to give up a 1st anyway, you might as well get it over with and save time when that is a factor.

It's funny because the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the Bears whole strategy for choosing the starting QB was "hey we play some bad defenses early, let's see if Mitch can do something". Would explain the short leash and getting Foles ready for the Indy, TB portion of the schedule. Because if you played Trubisky vs. the Colts, you would have to keep him in there vs TB because you couldn't get Foles ready in 3 days.

They need another play maker. We know it won't be Antonio Brown. LOL. They need a nice complement to ARob on the other side. I saw way too conservative of a game yesterday. Nagy doesn't seem willing to take chances and spread the field more, which is hurting the run game and it keeps every game too close. That's going to hurt when we start playing these good teams. They do need a playmaker. But that would mean to come at the expense of Darnell Mooney, a rookie with great speed and huge upside. Or Anthony Miller, while he has his issues...he does have 2 game winning catches this year and the Bears still have plenty of hope for him. It's not going to happen at TE. Too much invested in Graham ($$ wise) and Kmet (draft status). Any playmaker you bring in would be taking snaps away from someone who has a future with this franchise. Their best shot at a playmaker was if they could have won the Le'Veon Bell sweepstakes last week.

I wonder if Pace is willing and/or able to pull off a trade for a LG. The guy I've got my eye on is Andrew Norwell of the Jags. He's an elite run-blocking LG. The Jags have given up any and everyone without a long-term future there. He is under contract for 2021, but has a 15Mil cap, but could save 9Mil of that by cutting him. Same would hold true for the Bears if they were to acquire him. Not to mention, he's good enough to where you could extend him and less his cap hit for 2021. And he'd be worth reshuffling the OL for (Daniels to OC w/ Whitehair going to RG, or Daniels to RG next year). Honestly, I don't know what will get this offense in gear. They don't really have many other places where they can realistically improve the personnel and jumpstart this offense to consistency. I don't even know if Norwell is available, but I feel like this is kind of a bonus season of competing before they give the QB position another shot for a new window with most of this defense. They gotta take their shot now.

Going to need it with our schedule coming up. I’m going to regret this but: Rams have only beaten bad teams. Saints have 2 losses. Titans have 1 quality win. Vikings are horrid. Packers just got undressed by a team we beat. It’s a friggin tough stretch but I see some chinks in the armor of these teams, just like the Bears have flaws. Like I said last page, everyone is beating bad teams. Bears are the only team that have beaten multiple .500 teams. This is as much disparity between good and bad teams that I've ever seen in the NFL. About half the league is downright terrible.