raw

Mayo bowl? Should be annual matchup between BYU and Duke (yes, i know it's Duke's Mayo) but these are the 2 whitest FBS programs I could think of.

I really hope the Bears take advantage of the new rule that allows them interview candidates before the end of the season. Everyone knows Nagy is gone. No reason to prolong it to January. Maybe an embarrassing blow out in Green Bay in primetime on national TV does the trick next week.

Might be a 10-7 game. I feel like both teams' strengths play into the other's.

Yeah that's the one I was talking about. I don't even know how you stay in rhythm and hit the shot.

He had a ridiculous behind the back dribble into a step back long 2 that blew my mind. Like I knew he was good, but never saw a bunch of him in Canada and San Antonio, but man he is a closer. If Zach develops what he has in terms of being a stone cold killer late in games, its over. Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

I think that speaks more to highly compensated vets on the way out being unmotivated to return again with a crap coach leading things. Probably right. Didn't really happen in years past. Mack, Quinn, Hicks, Trevathan, etc. gutted out injuries when they potentially had something (and somebody) worth playing for.

I think I had mentioned before, but yea I think the PS call-ups really alleviate some of that need. Since you can't dress the entire 53 man anyways, it just costs extra money for a pretty low benefit. It's kind of hard to remember, but it used to be going on the IR meant you were out for the year. It's gradually been relaxed to a very loose injury provision that it is now, but maybe managing it judicially and saving cap space is a good thing? Yeah, the rules have evolved just in the last few years. Used to be IR = out of the year. Then they added where you could have 1 or 2 guys come back from IR, but it meant they were out at least 8 weeks. Then I think within the last 2 years they added the short-term IR. That used to be limited to a certain number of players as well, but then they allowed for everyone along with the whole 21 day thing with those not on short-term. But yeah, I guess it does save money. And it does make sense to do it this way if guys are going to miss 2-4 games. I know you can't know how guys will heal from every injury and you are cautious with the better players, especially as they get older. So, it makes sense to evaluate the guys on your practice squad weekly over putting a guy on the active roster, be stuck with him for 3-4 games if he can't play and then add new guys to the PS just to cut guys for roster moves in a few weeks.

Bears have had a stellar few weeks managing the IR. If Hicks and ARob can't go, they will have NOT gone on short-term IR despite missing the minimum 3 games, which is especially hurtful considering there was a bye week mixed in. So that means they mis-assessed 4+ week injuries as being < 3 weeks and could have used the roster spots (I know can call up infinite practice squad guys). Damien Williams hasn't played since Week 8, with no IR Khalil Mack wasn't put on IR until after they determined he was going to be out for the year, 3 weeks after they sat him down

But gumbo is not spicy. That's why there's hot sauce on the table. I think you missed the joke.

Eh, I doubt it moves too much. Bears are the home team. Early start for a team from out west. Bears QB situation probably won't affect things too much. Cards have also been decent without Murray. Doubt it moves to more than -8 or -9.

Obligatory....Bears are still in the playoff picture post. Only 1 game in back of the 7th wildcard spot!!! But anyway, we don't know who the QB will be in this game. There have been reports that Fields is expected to play. There are others that said more serious than originally thought. Nagy may say "F it" and just start Dalton anyway. Best player on defense may also miss this game after Roquan Smith hurt his hamstring on Thanksgiving. Best hope for the Bears is the Cards have a lot of rust with Kyler/Hopkins playing for the first time in about a month and they are weary from the travel after the bye week. 4-2 has a decent chance of getting the Bears in, even with the next 2 being mismatches on paper, win the last 4 and they'll have a fighting chance as long as there are no upsets (other than Bears twice over Minnesota) and the Bucs in particular have something to play for Week 18. Lets get crazy!

Love Marcus Freeman. He'll do well leading and recruiting. A lot depends on who he's able to get around him as far as OC and other position coaches, but he should do well. Former Bears 5th round draft pick, out of Ohio St. Also coached at Cincinnati, so if some coaching dominoes start to fall and Fickell goes to ND and Day wants to test out the NFL (Bears?) then I'd imagine Freeman would have a couple other places interested. ND would be a huge 1st HC job at 35 years old.

Some Bears site floated Payton or Tomlin as candidates to replace Nagy. The guy is full of it but this is how things turn into rumors. Yeah, it's the old "maybe he needs a change of scenery" idea. Both have been with their teams a long while and only have 1 ring despite being mostly contenders for years (never a losing season in Tomlin's case). But they both also have cushy jobs. Steeler fans call for Tomlin's head quite a bit, but he ain't going anywhere unless he wants to. They simply don't fire coaches. Saints fans would probably never call for Payton's job, and he has a FO that he has worked with for ages. Again, not going anywhere unless he thinks it's time. That site (believe it was SportsMockery) is just trying to push those longshot chances into reality.

It was a home game for the Bulls, which made no freaking sense. The Bulls played Friday night in Orlando, flew home and had a back-to-back in Chicago.....against another Florida team. Meanwhile, the Heat last played in Minnesota on Wednesday. They had 2 days off and had to travel from Minneapolis to Chicago. Bulls had B2B and traveled from Florida to Chicago in between. No reason that game shouldn't have been in Miami. Or the Heat should have had the B2B with the short travel.

Leftwich had success before Brady, though it was limited. 1 season with Jameis and his 5000 yards passing. As QB coach/OC for the Cardinals, he juggled 3 QBs in 2017 to a decent amount of success (15th in passing). In 2018, he had Josh Rosen which obviously didn't work out. He's definitely a guy I think can run a team, as a former NFL QB. He was always lauded for his leadership even back to his days at Marshall. I think he could build a staff. Best case scenario, he's a Mike Tomlin type. Should be a good leader of men. Great in the media. Do what he does well. But can he find a consistently strong DC? Tomlin has had a bunch of different OCs and the Steelers offense has been inconsistent a bunch, saved by a HOF QB when healthy. Daboll is the "safe" choice. He's a hot coaching name, a logical choice as the top candidate. But he's a very "inside-the-box" hire. He's the same type of hire as Nagy, Jason Garrett, and guys like Doug Pedersen and Adam Gase were (and many others). An OC under a good HC who has put together a good offense, developed a QB, and the next logical step is for him to be a HC to see if he can do it on his own. He's not the offensive genius like McVay or Shanahan. He's not innovative like the college guys have been seen. So a lot is going to depend on a bunch of other factors. Worst case, Nagy 2.0. Best case, he's coached under Belichick and Saban, so maybe he's the offensive version of Mike Vrabel and can surround himself with a strong coaching staff. Roman is interesting. I think his projections are all over the place. He's coached under both Harbaughs who have had a lot of success everywhere but against Ohio St. But I hate Jim Harbaugh as a coach (John is great). But he's had very mobile QBs in his career. Kaepernick, Tyrod Taylor, Lamar Jackson all have developed into solid, if not MVP level QBs that have taken teams to the playoffs. But the concern is those guys have been run a LOT. The QB run has been the main staple of those offenses. While Fields may have a similar profile as those guys (black and fast), he's much more of a passer than any of them. I worry about Daboll putting too many eggs in the QB run basket and not taking advantage of Fields' real strengths, throwing the ball down the field. Best case is he's a late developer like Frank Reich. He has a ton of experience, but never gotten a HC job. He has the worst, worst case though as he could get Fields killed if he proves he can't adapt.

I was told that Dalton was a better fit for the Nagy offense than Fields is right now. Ya know, like Foles was when he averaged (checks notes) 16.7 points per game

300+ yards passing Get a turnover inside the opponent's 40 3 straight drives starting beyond your own 40 10 penalties, 105 yards by Detroit 16 points scored Matt Nagy's tenure in a nutshell. Even a good offensive game is a bad game. Granted, I know they probably could have scored 20 points if they wanted it....but that doesn't make this list any better.

That was Tony Corrente level bad. 100% agree with everything you said. 1. It's not a foul on a guy shooting a jumpshot straight up and landing straight down. 2. If you call a foul on whatever contact happened when he landed (the only contact there was), then why doesn't the shot count? Made no sense.

But you still allowed your team to play a game in the middle of a season with a lame duck coach that everybody knew was lame duck. This team has not only sucked with their personnel decision, but timing has always been awful. You make the move Sunday night and announce it Monday. Short week is meaningless, unless you are cleaning house of the entire coaching staff, which they are not going to do. You can't make this decision, see it leaked and discussed all week and then play Thanksgiving Day without addressing the issue. Firing him Friday doesn't negate the lack of response throughout the week. I get what you are saying. My point of view is though, if it's true, then it's just as (if not more) damaging to come out and deny the report on Monday and still fire him on Friday. It's slightly different from the old "vote of confidence" before firing someone just because of the specifics given in the reported rumor. Of course, it sounds like this is all untrue so my hypothetical is probably moot. And it's certainly not like it's above this organization to be incompetent.

But if this IS his last game, is the response really lacking? Absolutely. It's been widely disseminated that he's all but gone. You have to address that. Letting a lame duck coach a Thanksgiving day game is a laughably terrible decision. Letting the coach and special teams coach be the only guys that face the media on this issue, plus ARob in his preemptive press conference, is cowardly. A member of the front office has to step in here and say something. I agree with all of that. But if it is true, and Nagy is fired on Friday then isn't that addressing it? They won't just send a press release. They'd have to have a press conference and address the leak then. If it's not true, then yeah that's disasterous. Hell, it's terribly handled either way, but I guess I'm saying firing him and making the report true kinda makes the last 2 days of handling this OK. Just say, "yeah, we're sorry it got out. Matt was a professional in handling the situation/working on Thanksgiving, blah blah blah".

But if this IS his last game, is the response really lacking? At this stage, I'd probably at least issue a like 2 sentence statement denying the report. But also, ooof, if they pre-determined the firing and only held on cuz of the short week. And then someone let it leak and didn't even let it get leaked in a good way. If it's true though, then denying the report looks worse when you fire him on Friday. Plus, it's too late for that now with a day having passed and the game being a day away. And I don't think the leak itself is that big of a deal. It's not a surprise that Nagy could get fired on Friday. The issue is how it was leaked, which I'm not all that concerned about.

But if this IS his last game, is the response really lacking?

He's clearly trying to distance himself from Nagy in this situation. The stuff on the broadcast with Romo and how "teams were calling the Bears to trade for their players". Him staying away from making a statement on these rumors. I think Pace's fate is still undecided, but I think they are more tied together than I originally thought. I also don't know why there would be egg on their faces. Everyone knows he's getting fired. He almost got fired after a playoff appearance last year. 3-7 definitely isn't even debatable if he stays. If they lose tomorrow, fire him. Nobody will fault them for firing the coach that gave the Lions their first win on national TV. If they win tomorrow, frame it as a mutual parting of ways. Blame the rumors and stress on his family w/ the chants at the kid's game. He's going to get fired anyway. Who cares if it leaked? Who cares if it's ugly? If everyone knows it, get it over with. Don't leave him and the players hanging on just for the sake of history. Try to salvage some development under an interim coach, get a jump on everyone else in the league in the next hire. Sure it sucks for Nagy and embarrassing the way it came out, but there's not a good way to get fired.

Maybe he's just quitting?

I would honestly hate that outcome more than just letting Pace keep his current role. Letting Pace be a creeper sniffing around and undermining the new guy is just ugh. Yeah, the more I think about this, the more I hate it. He's a personnel and staffing decision guy. That's all the experience he has (besides scouting, which would be a big demotion). If not involved in personnel decisions, he has no other expertise to really add to the organization. I thought maybe he could be heavily involved in the Arlington Heights stuff, but he's only slightly more qualified to oversee that than I am.