raw

Some thoughts. 1. Caleb Williams is really good. There are several factors in his comp % (3 drops last night, multiple bad/wrong routes run). But he has thrown for 4400 yards this season and obviously has the hero ball plays down. If Caleb can get up to 64% completions, he's one of the best QBs in the league. He's going to be one of the best players in the league. 2. Colston Loveland man. I'm gushing over this dude. Last 3 games, 24 catches, 322 yards, 2 TDs, 2pt conversion. 8 catches, 107 per game. 136 catch, 1,825, 11 TD full season pace. Oh, and he's the best blocking TE on this team (See Swift TD run). He's 21 years old. Sky's the limit for him. 3. Really sucks on Ozzy. My hope is his age really helps him recover better than most. If he can't come back next season, you have Theo and Amegadjie, so you hope one of them can be passable until Ozzy comes back. I'd still give it a year to see how things go with his recovery and potentially with his replacement(s) before going all in on a LT early in the 2027 draft. Doesn't mean ignore OT, as the Bears need to take linemen every year. 4. If this is the last season for guys like DJ and Brisker, I'm going to miss them. Brisker was the most energetic and looked like the most athletic player on defense. DJ had the drop, but another game winner. Just because the Bears have other players, doesn't mean DJ isn't valuable or good. Don't just get rid of either for the sake of getting rid of them. It's all about better use of the money these 2 make or will demand on the open market (Brisker). If you have to replace either, replace them with speed. Get faster, more athletic on both sides. 5. Ben Johnson. Had a couple issues with some playcalls (couple of misdirections that came off as "too cute", 4th down pass when they needed a 1/2 yard). But make no mistake, every 4th down decision to go for it (which was all of them) was the correct call. Horrible execution from the Bears. Packers spammed the A gap with LB pressure between Dalman and Jackson and they had no clue how to handle it. But Ben correctly "read the room" all night, his team wasn't always on the same page executing.

Not that I don't want IU to win, but the same would be true if Oregon wins the natty.

I was going to say "I can't believe you guys don't remember the 2020 playoff game", but it's pretty forgettable. LOL Bears were the 1st 7th seed. It was the first Nickelodeon game. Trubisky won player of the game or some horsefeathers. LOL. One of the storylines was Javon Wims, who was kicked out of the regular season matchup w/ NO for randomly punching CJ Gardner-Johnson in the helmet (always a smart move). Then Wims provides the lowlight for this game by dropping a perfect thrown, perfectly designed flea flicker where Mitch lined up at WR and they ran a reverse to him with Wims running down the middle of the field wide open. Also, Jimmy Graham scored a TD on the last play of the game (to make it 21-9), dropped the ball and ran in the lockeroom, all in 1 motion. One of the most unintentionally funny things I've seen on a football field.

I think Jaylon Johnson would have to be Rizzo. He's the longest tenured Bear (along w/ Kmet) and was the best player on this team the last time he was healthy. Kmet can be Starlin Castro.

I (and others) have been equating this season to the 2015 Cubs. Young offense, loaded with talent and looks to be on the way up. New coach, lot of 1st and 2nd year players who are thriving under the new coach. Better than expected in Year 1 of the new regime. I just don't know if this is the Pirates game (because that was the wildcard round) or if this is the Cardinals series (biggest rival). Hoping the results are the same, but I never felt "cursed" against the Cardinals in these type of situations, so that's where head vs heart comes into play.

Got burned picking the Bears to beat the Lions, pretty big. Didn't think the LIons would be very motivated. Turns out the Bears were not

All I remember is the Javon Wims drop and the Jimmy Graham walkoff TD catch where he literally walked off the field after scoring all in 1 motion.

I shouldn't be confident because this is an experienced team vs a playoff tested team, this is a rookie coach vs a veteran coach, and this is Bears/Packers and we have been on the wrong side of this matchup for like 15+ years. The Bears kinda limped to the finish line with 2 consecutive losses, but both were on the last play of the game losses. And if the Bears are limping, the Packers are damn near crippled with 4 straight losses. The Packers made the right move though by sitting starters this week, and I fully believe the Bears did so by playing theirs. The Packers have played this game several times (wildcard game on the road). And they had several players they needed to get healthy for the playoffs. On the other side, the Bears are a team that needed the reps. Ben tried to get the offense back to the basics by simplifying the game plan, but it didn't really work. But the coach and QB's demeanor since that game has been of pure frustration. For all the stuff made of the Bears starting off slow, they are actually 6th in the league in 1st quarter points. And they got passed for top 5 on Sunday. The Packers are a much different team from what they were in the 1st matchup, their OL is in shambles. They will get Zach Tom back, but the Pack has been sacked 11x since Week 15 and only has 3 sacks themselves without Parsons. They also do not take the ball away (Caleb's game losing INT is their only takeaway the last 6). The Bears did get a couple sacks against them last time, and the big one that killed Love doesn't even count because of the penalty. The Bears defense is not good by any means, and I don't expect 0-5 in the red zone, but the hope is they are motivated enough and Kyler coming back is enough to limit the redzone trips. On offense, the Packers have actually done a good job stopping the Bears explosive runs. They only have 2 in the 2 matchups (not including a backward pass to DJ counting as a run) and all 3 of those plays came in the last matchup. The Packers haven't exactly stopped the Bears run game, but the Bears do need to find a way to keep them off balance by mixing the run and pass. My hope is they really lean into Darnell Wright being the best run blocker on their OL and just spam the outside right side of line. The Bears add a weapon with Rome, who the Packers haven't seen yet. They only got 1 game of Burden, and the Bears were productive throwing to TEs with Loveland/Kmet combining for 11 catches, 115 yards and a TD, so could be an embarrassment of riches for Caleb in the pass game. When Ben was hired, he said he loved beating Matt LaFleur 2x a year. He can't live up to that expectation he put out there unless he wins this one. On the field, these 2 teams have played pretty evenly matched (1 point difference and 6 total yard difference in 2 games). But on paper, I'd like to think the Bears are the better, more talented, healthier team. My heart says the Bears should win this game by 2 scores (whether 9 points or 18), but my head says this is another game that will take multiple years off my life. No prediction.

He still knows Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. The hope is a portion of that was him and a big part of Chicago was Mitch's fault..... I guess.

Yeah, they basically need the defensive version of last year's draft. LOL. I do have hope that they can because that's basically what the Rams did in the 2024 draft. Also, defense is a young man's game. Try to stay fast and keep up with offenses enough to slow them down. Keep Ben, Caleb, and a strong OL...maybe a weapon or 2 depending on if Loveland, Burden and/or Rome prove irreplaceable over the next few years. Bring in a new rookie deal RB every couple years. Then replace defenders through the draft and keep getting faster and younger on that side. If any defender proves to be elite (think Chris Jones in KC) then you keep him, but otherwise keep a revolving door on that side. That being said, keep Byard, but all other D FAs or non-performers can go on a yearly basis.

Quietly a huge development. Because Theo clearly wasn't the answer, and if you had to find a LT in the offseason (or trust an inexperienced Trapilo at RT and move Wright to LT) then that's fewer resources for the defensive front.

I got you. And yeah, you are probably right as far as actual talent. Perceived talent though, Dayo and Jarrett got paid like very talented players and were drafted very highly, which is what I was basing the "talent" statement on. The Bears have spent and drafted enough where they should be much more productive on the DL. Jarrett WAS a pretty good player a couple years ago and Dayo has probably played enough at this point to where he is what he is and shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt that he was a top 60 pick and has some more untapped potential.

I didnt mean to imply they just started to suck. But to be fair, the only members of the DL who were even here last year are Sweat, Dexter, Billings, and Booker. Booker was a rookie last year. Billings missed most of last year. They thought they upgraded the talent bringing in Dayo, Jarrett and drafting Turner over Walker, Pickens, Coward, etc. which on paper they did. Obviously not talented enough, but DA has a history of not being a DL friendly coach.

IDK why I was thinking Oregon was the night game on Wednesday. But yeah, I figured the thing with getting IU in the Rose for tradition's sake.

Edit: and I love DA as a DC. Don't want him gone or anything, but I think there's enough history to show guys don't necessarily flourish as pass rushers with him as their DC. Which is fine. Stay healthy on the back end of the defense and they'll be fine going forward.

I don't think it's a talent issue, TBH. Sweat is a talented player. Booker is talented. Dayo is talented and had a MUCH better year last year before he got hurt his year. They've spent enough money and fairly compensated the players who they paid (Jarrett was overpaid on paper, but historically had been good enough for the contract he got). They've drafted guys highly without overdrafting them. Some haven't panned out like they expected. But I think a big issue is how Allen plays his DL. IDK what it is but he doesn't seem to let his guys pin their ears back and go after the QB. Maybe they are "run first" upfront and that is slowing them down when rushing the passer. But Allen had a history of similar in NO. Chase Young had a career low in sacks with Allen (not counting the years with the ACL injury) and had more the years before and after (this year) DA. Cam Jordan had his big years under Allen, but just 6 sacks the last 2 years, before 8.5 this year again after Allen left. Allen is known as a coach that gets a lot out of his back 7 moreso than the front 4. He generates pressure with timely blitzes, but they will face QBs that they can't really blitz without getting destroyed (Love, Purdy, Stafford) in the playoffs. I honestly think this offseason, Poles and Ben need to take control of the situation on the DL and either go after guys that get to the passer much quicker. Or DA proof the DL by getting 1 game changer that also happens to fit Allen's mold for edge rushers (Garrett, Hendrickson, Crosby), don't come off the field and are good all around players.

Haven't read this whole thread so IDK if this was mentioned, but IU is the only team in playoff history (2 years) to win a playoff game after having a BYE. Also I guess it could've been mentioned on broadcasts, but I only watched the IU and Oregon/TT games with sound on. Also, I think it's pretty crappy that the #1 seed will have to face teams with more rest than them if they make it to the championship game. Oregon played Wed, IU Thursday. Then the other semifinal is next Thursday while IU plays Friday.

DL in general is the issue. No pass rush, not stopping the run. They are built to stop the run because Allen likes big ass DEs. Granted, one of them is hurt, but clearly haven't been good enough at what they were built to do. That being said, they have randomly pulled a good run D game out of their butts. 1st GB game, Philly, Cincy, NO, and Dallas (after the 1st couple drives) were decent run D games. Of course, then they gave up an average of 292 passing in those games, not including the game they played the non-serious Browns offense. The best hope is the CBs take away the quick stuff from the offense and Sweat and Booker pull out some timely pressures and essentially have their best games of the season in January.

Yeah, I'd imagine so. Two highest seeds remaining, and would likely be 1 vs 3 if 2 wasn't in the same conference as 1 while making the conference championship. I don't think either team can take Miami's defense or Ole Miss' offense lightly though.

Ah my bad. I thought you were responding to a different quoted post

Don't play Oregon next year. Get tOSU in Bloomington. USC at home as well. Go to Michigan

55M + 2nd round pick for Dexter, 2nd round pick on Shemar Turner, 1st pick of the 3rd round on Pickens (which was actually pick 64 due to a forfeited pick) + a 2nd round pick trade to get Sweat. You got a value signing in Billups and a value draft pick in Booker, otherwise Poles has spent a bunch of money and basically used four 2nds on the DL.

Yall worried about the wrong coach's revenge. Detroit is a good team. Best point differential in the NFC North. But I have 0 doubt the Bears are going beat them by double digits. Doesn't sound like St Brown will play for them. They haven't been outdoors in months and haven't played a cold game outdoors since the game in Chicago 375 days ago. The Lions gave the Bears their worst loss of the season and they have only lost 1 game where they didnt have a chance to win on the last play since mid September. Lions have given up 27 or more in 5 of the last 6 games (would be 6 of 6 if they had faced an NFL QB last week vs Minnesota). The Bears offense will want to stay hot for the playoff run. Ben tries his damndest to get Caleb to 4000 (270 yards) and 30 (5 TDs). Bears win by 20.

I heard a good argument that I'm buying as a good reason to play everyone that's healthy. Basically it boiled down to this team has never been to the playoffs. So you have them resting for something they don't even know what to expect. I think it's a different story if you're the Packers, Eagles, maybe the Niners (though they missed last year), Rams, or Lions (if they were in) that has been in a couple years in a row. But the Bears current players haven't experienced the playoffs for the most part. So, you're already making it a bigger deal than it needs to be by resting guys and throwing off their routine. Plus, this team could use the reps on offense, while needing a bounce back, against a good offense, on defense. Also, you don't sit the starters against THIS team. Maybe if it was Minnesota or even Green Bay (and you lost close games the way you did the 1st time against them), but this is a team that put 50 on you at the beginning of the season and had the crowd chanting "F Ben Johnson". The teams are going in opposite directions right now and I think you step on their throats as a division foe. And you know Ben isn't letting his exes off the hook.

I'm no capologist either, but he can be traded and save the Bears cap space. Pre-June 1, they'd have a 12M dead hit (16.5M savings), post June 1, they'd have 4M dead (with 24.5M in savings).