raw

I know I’m not the target audience, but I already tune out college football by the time the championship comes up. I generally watch sports to watch my teams and since I don’t really have a college team, I’m really only interested in big matchups. We’re lucky to get two good games in a regular season weekend, by the time bowl season rolls around I expect garbage. I’ll maybe watch parts of each playoff, and some of the big name bowls. With expansion that’ll just make me less interested. Yeah, IU is pretty meh as usual, after a couple solid years. But I do like college football, and watch NFL prospects in general, so I will watch. But I usually turn games off if it's 28-0 in the 2nd quarter, which is likely to happen when you have your typical 5/12 matchups. And going forward, I don't see many scenarios where 5/12 and 6/11 aren't going to be Michigan/Ohio St loser and whichever SEC West team isn't in the championship game (LSU, BAMA, Auburn & A&M occasionally) vs. a 3-loss Power 5 or mid major teams.

I hate the playoff expansion. I understand why it's being done and I know "any given Saturday" but in the 8 years of the playoff, we've only seen 4 of the 16 games featuring just the top 4 teams finish within THREE SCORES. Only 1 in the last 4 years has even been competitive.

Reiff and Borom have injuries and different levels of suckitude. I wouldn't mind Leatherwood getting a look at RT, especially if no Fields. I'd rather give Whitehair the boot (if he can't play C) and let Leatherwood play LG. Hell, put him at RG and give Jenkins another shot at tackle.

Oh yuck.

He’s a free agent. They could franchise him, which would make him no longer inexpensive, and still leave them with no long-term solution and thus likely still wanting to draft a qb. Otherwise he hits the open market and who knows? I was thinking he might get some 2/40-2/50 offers. Seems like a reasonable risk. Bridgewater signed 3/63M with Carolina a couple years ago. With contracts increasing again, I think it would take closer to that 2/50M for Geno. They can guarantee him a little more than the franchise tag (~31M), create an out after the year if necessary, and Geno gets his big payday and everyone should be happy with that.

Houston's impossible to catch. With that tie, the Texans have to win 3 more times if the Bears lose out. They end with Jacksonville and the Colts, but have Browns (Watson revenge factor), Cowboys, Chiefs and Titans in the next 4. Actually I think they only need two more W if Bears lose out. That tie basically acts like a half win doesn't it? Yeah, you're right. I'm thinking in terms of wins instead of in terms of losses. Bears would be 3-14 if they lose out. Texans 3-13-1 if they win 2 more. So Bears would get the #1 pick.

I know it's a long shot but I'm keeping an eye on the Houston scores. mineaswell dream big Houston's impossible to catch. With that tie, the Texans have to win 3 more times if the Bears lose out. They end with Jacksonville and the Colts, but have Browns (Watson revenge factor), Cowboys, Chiefs and Titans in the next 4.

Looking at the current 53-man roster, I'd a conservative estimate it at 19 current players who will have a significant role (starter or key contributor) beyond this season in the NFL. Another 2 are on IR (Patrick, Herbert). 2 more will go on IR today. And of those 17 remaining, 2 are the kicker and punter. Fields, Claypool, Gordon and Brisker will all be questionable to play this week. Any or all of Blasingame, Ebner, St Brown, Harry, Pringle, Pettis, Griffin, Wesco, Leatherwood, Schofield, Mustipher, Eiselen, Carter, Reiff, Pennel, Charlton, Blackson, Watts, Thomas, Adams, Weatherford, Jaylon Jones, Vildor, Layne, Blackwell, Cruikshank, Hicks and Scales could be out of the league for good after 5 more games. And that doesn't include guys like Velus Jones and Borom who will likely have NFL roster spots but insignificant roles, at best. It's not enough to have the least amount of talent in the league. The Bears also have significant injuries across the board. Luckily for them, the Packers suck. Aaron Rodgers is also hurt, though I'd imagine he'll play. Even though the Packers do suck, they suck much less than the Bears. But Justin Fields has proven good enough (and GB defense bad enough historically against QBs that can run) that his availability could singlehandedly change the outcome of this game. If Fields plays, go out and win this game. Draft positioning be damned. If Fields doesn't play, I will enjoy a 2nd stress free Sunday in a row.

Yikes. That is REAL bad. Travis Etienne had a lisfranc injury and missed his entire rookie year. This information reads like Jackson is likely to miss most of, if not all of the 2023 season. Also implies that defensive players do have significant decline (though, it simply may not consider defensive stats).

What do you mean by "you get 2 teams"? Do you get to pick 2 teams and get their QB, RB, WR/TE? Or do you pick 2 sets of QBs, RBs, WR/TEs for around the league?

NFC playoffs are going to be a snooze fest in the 1st round. I don't imagine the Niners will have issues with the Giants. Cowboys should beat the Bucs, though Bucs will be at home and have the greatest QB of all time. Vikings will beat Washington or Seattle. Nobody else realistically has a shot. 2nd round with the top 4 (by record) should be fun though. AFC may see a couple road favorites between Cincy/Tenn and Buff/Balt. Miami looks like a dangerous sleeper. They are undefeated this year in games Tua has started and finished, including wins over Baltimore and Buffalo. Lost to playoff teams in the 3 games Tua missed. Gauntlet of a 3-game road trip @ SF, LAC and Buffalo coming up next week will determine how serious of a threat they are to the AFC championship.

They are potentially losing their starting RB (is a FA) and one of the starting safeties (Jackson highest cap hit on roster, now injured). There's literally no position that they don't need, besides QB, which is ironically the only time it has never been the opposite way in Bears history.

I still agree with the logic with the crappy FA market. You are either picking WR 1st or 2nd round anyways so instead Claypool was that pick, not that he’s done a ton of impressive things so far. Not saying it was a great move, but a defensible one. Poles will make up for it when he picks up 2 future 1sts to move down 8 spots so someone can grab Stroud. Mooney getting hurt also lends an opportunity for Fields to connect with Claypool the last 4-5 games as well, which was also the purpose of trading for him this year. I wish they could have held out for Jerry Jeudy, who is more of a man coverage better, but that's a guy Denver may want a 1 for, even if not, you'd probably still give up that early 2 and would not have these 8-9 games to work with him in 2022.

Luckily some of the bad teams won today so 1 win won't kill them. Hoping the Raiders beat the Seahawks. Oh you definitely want to beat the Packers if Fields plays. If he doesn't, they can beat the Bears like the Jets just did. But if Fields plays and has to win 1 more game this season, this is the one you want. Draft position be damned. The bad teams all play each other a bit this year. The Broncos and Rams are the other 3 win teams (neither have their picks) and they play each other, so at least one of them will win another 1 at least. Steelers also have 3 wins, but hopefully they can beat the Colts at home tomorrow night. The 4-win teams all play each other as well, so definitely worth hoping you can make up the losses if you take the GB game next week. Though, I'd imagine if they lose tonight and to the Bears, they'd probably shut down Rodgers and lose out with Love (though they still have winnable games vs. the Rams and Lions).

In other news, the Packers have given up 103 yards rushing to Jalen Hurts in the 1st quarter, which includes a 0 and 1 yard carry.

Interesting dilemma upcoming. Bears previously said they want to extend him. Do they lowball him after a down season (OL talent influenced) and an injury? Or do they pay him, in an offseason where they have to spend tons of money, based on his potential if they fix everything around him? Sucks for Mooney a bunch. What a week! The Bears legitimately ended this game without it's top 4 players (Fields, Mooney, Jackson, Brisker). Throw in Herbert and Gordon; and Smith and Quinn previously, and the Bears may have ended this game with the least amount of talent any team has put on the field in a very long time.

Should it be Pete Carroll that gets the ring? I thought he came in and killed the trade. That would have been the ultimate pace parting gift: three firsts traded for a dead russ on a trash team with no picks Yeah, that's true.

If Justin Fields leads the Bears to a Super Bowl win, I want Russell Wilson to get a ring. The Bears NOT trading for him gave us Fields. And his ineptitude to lose horribly to the Panthers may help the Bears get a franchise changing trade for the 2nd overall pick.

And Seimien is starting.

Hahahaha I have to know if Jersey went now. This is a full on tank game. There's no way Siemien actually got hurt in warm ups.

Fields officially inactive. Brisker and Gordon also out. I'd probably watch if the latter 2 were active, but I will be watching the Falcons this afternoon.

So how do we feel about the Bears taking one of the top defensive prospects (Will Anderson, DE Bama or Jalen Carter, DT Georgia)? I'm kind of torn because I feel like the focus should be on adding an offensive stud. Obviously, you don't draft a lesser player at 3 or whatever, but if a team wants to trade up for Anderson or Carter, I'd just as soon let them and take the best offensive player after a trade down. The team took defense early last year, and based on what looks to be available in the FA market, I think they'll add a star player on defense. They have a ton of money and I expect they spend to fill the holes on defense. They will spend on offense too, but there's really not a ton to spend on other than OL. They don't need to spend on a QB. I don't think they go after Barkley at RB. They won't spend on a FA TE. There's no WRs available that I think they'd spend big on or else they wouldn't have traded for Claypool. I'm really all "defense be damned" and want a stud on offense. The FAs they sign for the OL won't be more than really solid players. You find stars early in the draft, and I'd take a star on offense over a star on defense. We've seen what that looks like. I want an elite weapon for Fields or an elite blocker. If the Bears can trade down and get Jordan Addison or an OT (I love Olu Fashanu from Penn St, though he is inexperienced), I think that goes further than Will Anderson, even if he is a stud. I want a potential Justin Jefferson or Trent Williams over another Khalil Mack. Plus, with the Bears now picking late 2nd instead of early, I think the dropoff at WR and OT is much larger than it will be at DE.

Yeah, Fields ain't playing in this game tomorrow. All the writing on the wall suggests they will go with Siemien this week. Gordon and Brisker are also out, so this isn't going to be a game where you come away hopeful for the future as most of the players on the field will be not important to the Bears' future or catching passing, blocking, or protecting someone who is not important to the Bears' future.

I was kind of hoping they would win yesterday to stay at #1 (though, IDK if they would have either way). But UNC comes to Assembly Hall on Tuesday (and play again tomorrow before traveling to Bloomington). It'll be an interesting matchup either way, and I'd imagine both could be top 10. They have the size to compete with IU. And they may be the only team that shoots worse than IU from 3 (actually IU is 90th in the country after being 200th in shooting last year). UNCs highest volume shooters are both under 25%, while at least IU has the right people shooting the most of them. Kopp is making about 1/2 of his 3s so far, which is good since that's all he brings and he was bad hitting open looks last year. Tamar Bates, thanks in part to a big game yesterday, is shooting well too. Xavier Johnson, despite the ugliest jumpshot, is shooting well too. TJD is a little banged up, but nothing too crazy. Malik Reneau has been really good as a freshman big so far. Hood-Schifino is the anti-Johnson. He has a beautiful looking shot, but it's not going in right now. He is quite the creator and all-around player, so far though. I'd like to think his shot will start falling later in the year, which could be a huge key to IU making a tournament run.

I'm definitely not one of those people you see saying, "sit him until after the bye" or "shut him down for the year, the future is too important". Part of the future is him getting reps now to better prepare him for the future. Live reps to work on or fine tune some things. That being said, if there was ever a game for him to miss, it would be this one. The Jets D leads the league in getting QB pressure. They also are well built to take away the QB run as well. Just simply not a good matchup for a less than 100% Justin Fields. And frankly, if Eberflus says the goal is to win, then I honestly feel that Siemien gives them a better chance to win by getting the ball out short and quick. And it's not like you have to put up a ton of points to beat the Jets anyway, they aren't going to score a ton, probably even against a very bad defense.