David

And with him, if there are no dongs, there are no TDs.

Yeah, maybe I will have to eat crow on this, but I think the Forte loss is being hugely overstated by many. He wasn't even THAT special of a running back. Great in the passing game, as everyone knows. And I'm not just saying this now...I wasn't crazy about signing him when he was holding out for the contract too. Just block and hand other guys the ball. I consider Bennett more of a loss, not that I'll miss him off the field. I always appreciated Forte but was never enamored. My point was he was a durable, proven productive RB, and even when they had that they weren't a good offense. Now they don't have that, among other things. I feel like the only way this team squeaks out an 8+ win season is if the defense makes a huge leap and then they play a special kind of keep away ball with the offense. For a while it looked like that was the goal this offseason, signing 7 linebackers and all that. But at the end of the summer those additions look more like minor improvements to me (inside linebackers don't win football games). The pass rush remains in doubt. The secondary remains in doubt. The first round draft pick is a big question. It doesn't look to me to be a talented enough defense to make the leap I was hoping for to make the team a boring defensive led contender. Yeah, I didn't mean to call you out on the Forte thing, but moreso the general sentiment that I keep hearing Forte talked about as a huge loss on offense whose massive production they can never replace.

Why not just make a thread for that? I'm sure it'll go unnoticed by many of said peons in here.

Yeah, maybe I will have to eat crow on this, but I think the Forte loss is being hugely overstated by many. He wasn't even THAT special of a running back. Great in the passing game, as everyone knows. And I'm not just saying this now...I wasn't crazy about signing him when he was holding out for the contract too. Just block and hand other guys the ball. I consider Bennett more of a loss, not that I'll miss him off the field.

Well injuries aren't BABIP. You don't typically suffer a lot early in your career and then get all super healthy later on. It's not about a predisposition to get injured but rather a collection of injuries that take a toll. True, but he managed to play 15 games last year, which to me would at least somewhat suggest that he might be OK on that end. You could also argue that he's got less wear and tear on him as a result of the lost time. I'm not sure exactly what his injuries have been, as most things I can find are pretty vague (i.e. "missed time with a foot injury"). I did see an Achilles one, which is never good. So maybe throw the reduced wear and tear argument out the window, lol.

Mainly this was my thing. Not to mention that Matt Bush is notorious for other things, like almost killing someone, which makes him an odd guy to bring up.

I'm not sure if you noticed, but the Cubs teams from 2010-2014 were quite bad.

I'm also more inclined to believe that Miller has had shitty luck in a sport that leads to lots of injures than that he has a predisposition to being injured. We'll see. Obviously a concussion is bad news.

Miller had 4 good games. He can be a pretty good receiving TE. That being said, there's almost 0 chance he stays healthy. Last year, he played 15 games after playing 0 in the previous 3 years. He missed most of camp. He's not playing anywhere near 16 games. White probably won't be fantastic, but hopefully he takes some steps in that direction. The run game should be interesting. I think the Bears will definitely give the run game a college try. I think they'll make sure it doesn't work on a game-by-game basis before they abandon it each week. And I think they'll run all 3 backs and in a variety of ways to try to make it work. But yeah, I'm hoping for average. Average offense and slightly above average defense would make this an 8-8 team. Wouldn't an average offense + slightly above average defense + bottom 5 schedule give you better than 8-8 assuming average luck? Def

That's not the point he was making, or at least that's not the point I was making. He can be the standard 1-2 WAR fifth starter or whatever, but if that's your role you don't get to stare down Joe every time he comes to pull your ass in the 5th inning and then complain about it to the media after the game. It was the third. that wasn't the only time that happened

here comes another disaster inning

oh man that reed johnson play

3 run game, no prob

hammel can see innings...just not as a starter He gave up a homer on the first pitch. I have no faith in him as a reliever either. uhhhhhhhh

hammel can see innings...just not as a starter

It came from a nickname for young, promising players. So technically it started as species non-specific, but I think the bear connection has been pretty well established retroactively. Because I'm a Cubs/Bears pyscho, my in-laws bought me a book on George Halas. In it, the claim is made that he named the football franchise the Bears because that was a grown-up version of the Cubs baseball squad. Maybe wrong, maybe right. Halas was a University of Illinois graduate, which is the motivation for the Bears colors being blue and orange. The more you know (rainbow rainbow rainbow) think that's true

same

also TLS at 3rd lmao

jesus christ you have to try to be this bad

we needed this as a reminder that hammel does not, under any circumstances, get into the playoff rotation

lol sat the MVP and mini-larkin and the lineup still looks decent

are you for serious? For one, Zach Miller had a couple good games. He's a middling TE. Kevin White has to be fantastic to make this an above average offense. There is no running game, the line remains a huge question. The offensive coordinator is a pud. The head coach is the most conservative coach in the league. I mean, they've had offenses with Forte, Jeffery, Bennett and Marshall struggle to achieve mediocrity. PFF really liked Miller last year. He might be legitimately good, if he can stay on the field. Kevin White just has to be good as a second option. I know you're not a huge fan of his, but there is no question that Alshon is a legit #1 and one of the best WR in the league. The interior line looks very good on paper and should be a good run blocking unit, at the very least. Massie, Long, and Sitton are all decently to very highly regarded run blockers. You hand a guy the ball and block and if your blocking is good you'll have a running game.

Go Pirates and Marlins, I guess? At this point, it's basically a 90% chance that the wild card game will consist of two of the Giants/Cards/Mets. Half of the remaining 10% is that the Giants catch the Dodgers. yeah, it is what it is at this point. i'll take the cardinals, send the idiot mets home, and screw the even year [expletive]. becoming the 90's bulls to the cardinals' knicks will have to do.

A+ material here, good stuff

if zach miller is for real and healthy, and kevin white isn't a disaster, how isn't this an above average offense? i'm not saying these are certainties, but they're fairly realistic possibilities/ i look at these WR corps + TE and it's MILES better than what we had in like 2010-11 when the offense was still doing a respectable job (albeit aided by an elite defense).