David

I'll double up if you want

Nice stand by the defense

I suspected that night be the case. Explains why it sounded so unhinged.

They leaned heavily on Lynch and that insane defense, though. Lots of those 150-250 yard games. It was a while before they actually let Russ cook. But yes, he was shockingly good quickly. Maybe a lazy comp there. The point was that managing him that way (and having that around him) allowed him to play well early, though.

I think that's been the plan with this staff/FO. Russell Wilson same thing his first few years. Protect him by not asking him to do more than he's capable of and make it easier on him, let him progressively work on and get better at different things on a year by year basis, etc. Run the ball, play action, boots, whatever. I'm gaining confidence that Getsy is going to handle that well. Yea, just have to hope Getsy gets a solid 3 years with him. But all it takes is one breakout year from Fields and hell skyrocket to the top of hot HC names. A concern of mine, but definitely a good problem.

I think that's been the plan with this staff/FO. Russell Wilson same thing his first few years. Protect him by not asking him to do more than he's capable of and make it easier on him, let him progressively work on and get better at different things on a year by year basis, etc. Run the ball, play action, boots, whatever. I'm gaining confidence that Getsy is going to handle that well.

what made the Pettis TD special is 1) Pettis just sat down in the zone when the play blew up while the other WR's kept moving and 2) Fields athletic ability to avoid getting tackled, pivot and play catch with Pettis. They both really deserve a lot of credit for how they handled the break down. Fields lobbed that throw....all Pettis had to do was get under it, but credit Fields for finding him. i do think Fields locks on to receivers and holds the ball more then I'd like, but I also feel that is something he can grow out of with more playing time and learning defenses as well as his own offense. He doesn't seem to linger as long as he did last year, at least that's my impression from last Sunday and the last preseason game Nitpicky but Pettis didn't exactly sit down in the end zone... he found a wide open window when the DBs near him started cheating towards Fields anticipating a scramble. It was a defensive breakdown but he did a good job recognizing that and finding an open spot. Also he caught it at the 30 and made a pretty nice run with minimal blocking to get into the end zone so he had to do more than just get under the ball and catch it. FWIW he didn't say he sat down in the end zone...

Yeah, I had the same thought. I don't know how you call the Pettis TD a read in any way. His scramble drew the defenders his way and left Pettis wide open and he floated it over there to make sure it got there.

Honestly, that last Martz clip that went out about Lance and Fields had me thinking the dude is suffering from dementia.

Fields was good in his last primetime game against the Steelers. Very true. Just sick of reading about how much Fields sucks by National guys. Would love for him to crush it for 4 quarters and change the conversation I haven't seen anyone doing actual analysis saying this. Dilfer, O'Sullivan, Baldinger all had positive things to say (along with criticism) and got into specific breakdowns/film. I'd also avoid reading too much into a game against that defense in those conditions with 17 or whatever pass attempts. Anyway, who cares what dumb ass talking head national media guys like Mike Martz and Mike Lombardi who likely didn't even watch film say? I wonder what Mike Lombardi had to say about Mac Jones when BB had him throw 3 times against the Bills.

If the Bears are in this game it is not going to be by giving up 42 points to a decimated offensive line and garbage receiving corps.

I don't like the Bears to win this game, obviously, but I like the +10 and am likely to bet it. Everything I've seen from this team and coaching staff makes me think the try-hardiness and smart play will keep them from getting blown out too often. The Packers potentially missing 3 starting OL would just be the cherry on top. Either way, looking forward to this SNF game a lot more than I expected to when the schedule came out.

It’s a little late for that, we saw what he did, which was very little. He hired a coach, collected some picks and added fringe players and random utes. Now it’s time to see what Eberflus & Co can do. We’ll have to wait until the spring to see what Poles really has planned. I generally agree but we could see that he's a much better talent evaluator than we know yet

All that is to say I'll take the over on 6.5 wins. Especially with their schedule. Not much else. Edit: and I definitely don't think they'll be in the conversation for worst team in the league. There's a team starting Geno Smith FFS.

For me the outcome of the game is unimportant, I just want to see Fields light up Niners thereby, giving the national media and other experts a collective middle finger. Of course, it's the Bears so the most probable result is the usual garbage we've come to expect. Fields doesn't have the supporting cast and can't do it himself. Everything that's happened to this point suggests that they aren't invested in him being successful. Darnell Mooney is a legit star receiver. The national media hasn't gotten the memo yet. They will. Cole Kmet will take another step forward this year. I've seen the Bears go into contending seasons with worse skill talent (go check out the 2010 team's WR corps and OL). The rest of the receivers aren't great, but they each have some strengths that I'm gaining confidence Getsy will be able to take advantage of. I have loved everything I've heard from Luke Getsy and think the Bears made a very good hire there. They also drafted Justin's hand picked WR, like it or not. Don't love the pick but definitely see enough there that he could be a contributor. They've also been effusive in their praise of Justin since they've had time to work with him. The line... Well, I wish as much as anybody else that they'd done more (same at WR), but it's starting to feel like they're onto something there and it won't be horrible. We'll see. The reports on Jones have been overall very positive, but he's a 5th round rookie so there will be growing pains. All that said, I think the idea that they're not sold and want to get their own guy or something is nowhere close to the truth and lazy and uninformed. They chose a path for better or worse (I don't like it but I'm optimistic on the early returns) to not go all out this year, but I don't think it's a referendum on their thoughts on Justin.

Not sure why its all caps but whatever. So basically he wants to rebuild a Lovie style Bears team with maybe a good QB this time? It took you until now to realize this is what they're doing?

Sunday's forecast looks like crap. Hopefully it changes a bit between now and then.

Will Kittle dodge his favorite team??

Bears biggest single team market in the NFL, Niners are seen as a SB contender and are also a major franchise with a major following. The Bears seem to get plenty of island games too even when they're expected to be bad. The networks know what they're doing at this point. That's also probably major reason the national media has spent so much time [expletive] on them while not really paying attention or knowing anything about what is going on - they have to justify giving them attention even though they're just run of the mill bad, not WORST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE!!!

Here you go, Derwood

Holy horsefeathers - as an aside, the Packers' practice facility looks like a damn Blaine's Farm and Fleet or something I guess who cares when you luck into back to back HOFers at the most important position in sports.

Nothing other than having a centralized location for all their operations and only one place for players to have to commute to. They're obviously not terribly far from each other (30-40 min drive, 25ish miles) but it just occurred to me when thinking of how the Bulls moved their operations near the UC from Deerfield. Way fewer games for the Bears, obviously. Having an even shinier and newer facility if they're investing all of this money anyway. I guess it's probably not worth wasting the land on a few practice fields, though. Yea and I'd think the business of a stadium area would be a nuisance anf possible distraction. I know Dallas combined their stadium and practice facility, but I'm not sure about any other teams who have. It's Green Bay but I know the Packers do. But yeah, it's Green Bay.