WrigleyField 22

Reason #1 to bring Cutler back. He is the only QB under contract.

And not in anyway to be intended as a compliment to Cutler, but he was not outplayed by Matt horsefeathering Barkley.

Leonard Floyd joining Alshon with the Super Bowl guarantee. Is this the just standatd denial phase of greiving for a 3-13 team? Also, first coaching shoe to drop. Stan Drayton will not be back as RB coach (not clear if he left on his own or not- most likely his contract was up as he was hired in 2015).

Pace is definitely in an interesting spot to evaluate. He has consciously gotten rid of some good players to accomplish specific goals (get younger, clean up the locker room). So in some regards, he dug the hole for himself, and if that was the plan all along, there is no reason to shift course due to the record. Still, its hard to like so many individual moves and yet see the overall record degrade. Its kind of wait and see approach while still being really eager/optimistic to see what comes next.

I'm just in a weird spot where (assuming Fox is back), I want them to be bad enough next year that Fox is let go, but good enough that they're fun to watch and we know Pace is the right guy for GM and we dont need another wholesale operations turnover. But then I just go back to wishing they do as good as possible despite John Fox and telling myself he is old and can't stick around that long anyways.

I do think they could take a wait and see approach. At the very least, Cutler is the only leverage they hold at the position, so they shouldn't announce anything until they have a different plan ready.

The idea of Fangio being the fall guy is really weird, but I guess would just confirm the rumors of conflict between him and Fox. The Loggains situation is interesting. Not sure what outside top candidates they could actually attract (given any external candidates are allowed to interview). It could really be a wait and see approach where Loggains isn't fired by tomorrow, but is let go if a better option presents itself. Any offensive assistants from recently fired HC staffs could even still be hanging in the balance for a few weeks as they are still under contract as they wait for their new HC to determine their future. Unless you want to raid the college ranks, you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place when you aren't offering up what will be an attractive job.

End of year Press Conference tomorrow. Seems a given Fox is returning, but will there be any changes to his assistants?

3-13 they already suck hard. any qb that tried to step in for him with this garbage team was decimated and/or threw 1,000 picks. yeah, this should be the rock bottom point. the injuries didn't help that record, either. 2015's draft looked mixed at first and now looks awful after two, but pace had a very good draft in 2016. have another very good one in 2017, make some good signings, and start the upswing next year with jay as the bridge at QB. i can't think of anything more disheartening or depressing than if the bears have another awful year next year. it shouldn't take that long. don't we have a horsefeathers ton of cap space too? even if jay is kept around and alshon is franchised? Yea unfortunately there wont be a whole lot to spend it on. Blow the bank on Eric Berry.

And those 2018 QBs could be 2019 QBs. They dont have to pick a QB at number 3, but they have to take the future of the position seriously, and the 2018 draft shouldn't factor in, IMO.

Matt Barkley, starting WR?

Lets hope for fun bad the rest of the day.

World series champs long sleeve with Zobrist on the back Rizzo shersey with WS patch on sleeve Locker room t shirt in blue And not WS related but blue hat with retro cub logo

And 29th in points is actually worse than last year. 17.9 ppg is a full FG less than last year. And not having a reliable QB is not an argument to excuse him running the ball the 4th fewest times. Sure it is, he thinks passing moves the ball better, and he'd be right, regardless of the QB. It would seem to me that being 4th from the bottom in rushing ratio would have more of a relevant causative relationship with total yards, rather than scores. So the 4th in rushing ratio isn't necessarily a bad thing, and it's certainly not apparently related to their issues with scoring. They just had a bunch of turnovers in the red zone. Haven't found the stat for TO specifically, but they have a higher red zone scoring % this year then last (by TD%) so I'm not sure that TOs are the reason.

If I had to guess, the improvement in yards is in large part to the D actually being able to get off the field this year. Last years O was definitely better.

Hoosier! Gotta give some credit to the OL, especially with Long missing a ton and Sitton also missing time. But none of the other backs have close to the same numbers. So, Howard is clearly making the biggest difference. Also, shoutout to Cameron Meredith who has solidified his spot in the WR corps when the Bears really needed someone to step up due to White's lack of development. 62 catches, 800+ yards. An outside shot at 70/1,000. I think he's shown upside of a (very) low end #1 WR, which he may hit if he can cure the drops and fumbling. Not enough to make me want to let Jeffery leave, but if the Bears could get Eric Berry and a Kenny Stills for basically the same amount as Jeffery will cost....I'd take that option. Like the idea on the last part. Might want one more Stills level FA still and make White earn the second/third spot. Thompson or Bellamy can stay on as Special Teamers and Braverman or NFL roster fodder as 5th WR.

Could be two buck chuck inside, but really not paying for the wine. It will stay sealed for a long time.

Why do you think Tyrod Taylor has this untapped potential? Hes been in the league a while and will have accrued 30 starts by next week. Not saying he can't improve some, or that hes a bad QB as is, but not one I'd give up assets for. And whether its this year or next, he wont be cheap on the open market.

Also bought one of these for myself and one for my parents from Costco (for much cheaper than listed here) https://www.manoswine.com/mlb-wine/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-world-series-champions

Just two ornaments so far, but we're not doing my extended family's full Christmas until New Years which is when I should see at least a couple things.

Nah- losing this game is the reverse spoiler for them.

I am taking more offense to the sentiment that the Bears aren't sold on any QB, or shouldn't be sold on any at #3. If they aren't sold on a QB, then they suck at evaluating football. If they do like Watson best, but know he won't go at 25, then yes they should take him 3-6, because they don't have a pick between 3-6 and 25 where he will likely go. Not getting a good QB is not acceptable. You can't just chalk it up as "oh, the guy we wanted didn't last til our 2nd pick". And trading up to get him requires 2 to tango and the loss of more resources. You can't argue getting value by waiting on a QB and then also advocate losing value by trading up. I don't see the point of stopgapping. Cutler is a stopgap. Pace's Bears gave him a legit shot to be the guy, but basically he would've been gone 2 years ago if not for the money owed to him. And developmental QBs in the 3rd-5th rounds don't exist. Those are the Matt Barkleys and Brian Hoyers of the world. Every once in a while you luck up and get a Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott or a Kirk Cousins (and Wilson and Prescott didn't develop they were just thrown in there and immediately delivered), but those are clearly the exceptions. I actually am not a huge fan of Kizer. I have him as the 3rd QB after Watson and Trubisky. I want Watson (and would take him 3-6), I'd be OK with Trubisky (and be ok with taking him 3-6), and I'd hope for the best with Kizer if the Bears do take him 3-6, but I wouldn't personally take him that high. I know it's not the end of the world if the Bears don't get any of the 3, but it sure as hell seems like a continuation of the current world where the QB is simply not good enough. I agree I dont see the point of giving up resources (other than money) for a stopgap. I'll understand if they decide to just walk away from Cutler, but not to turn around and give up picks for another stopgap. Re: the draft. The rate of failure is awful up and down the draft, but it does pretty much fizzle out completely after the 4th. The bottom line is they have to start putting themselves in the game. I am not dismissing a first round QB and/or a 3rd/4th round development guy. So they do have to maintain some truth to their board, but I do agree that waiting around for the perfect QB prospect is not a viable option either. If I had to guess a QB the Bears would take its Kizer. Seems like he has the biggest ceiling and thats been Paces MO. That said, his high picks have also graded out pretty strong in the football character department. So I think the combine process will be important (not for the athletic testing), and if he has Kizer and Watson graded with a similar ceiling, but sees more drive out of one, that may make the determination. And while I'm fine with them grading Watson as top 10 and taking him there (even if signs point to him being available later) I'd be annoyed if they had the same grade as everyone else and jumped that early. Not that we'd ever really know if that was the case.

If you think one of those guys has a reasonable chance of a Flacco/Ryan type career, you pull the trigger if Garrett/Allen go 1-2. But yea, you definitely don't want to be forcing a QB at the top pick. That said, I think they really need to pick a QB by round 4 (regardless of whatever else they decide about the position). After round 4 is where even finding a serviceable starter all but goes out the window. And I'd even be alright forcing in the 2nd or 3rd round.

They need to take a QB in the first 4 rounds, at minimum, IMO.