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The Bears lost to the Redskins today. They likely would taken the game into OT, but Robbie Gould, who cost the Bears a victory over the 49ers last week by pulling two easy 4th quarter field goals left, "adjusted" and missed a 50 yard field goal wide right.

Talent-wise, the Bears are not a good football team. They could have been more talented, but the new regime has told anyone who is not all about the team to tell their stories walking. I applaud him for this. Though they lack talent in several key areas, IMO they are one of the best-coached teams in the NFL. They have somehow built a competitive team with multiple starters who are borderline NFL players. Because of this, I'm optimistic about their future.

Another reason for optimism is that GM Ryan Pace's first draft class has done very well. Though their first round pick, Kevin White, has been unable to play, picks 2-5 all look like NFL starters...that's awesome.

Most of the media and many fans entered the season wanting to see Jay Cutler gone...damn the cost. IMO, he's been one of the to-10 QBs in the NFL this season. More than any other player, he's been the reason the Bears have been in virtually every game in the 4th quarter and the main reason they've managed to win 5 games. Former GM Phil Emery screwed up a lot of things, but signing Cutler to a long-term deal now looks like his signature positive move.

The Media has it as a foregone conclusion that OC Adam Gace is gone to a head coaching job next season. I'm not so sure. By any measure the Bears offense is in the bottom half of the NFL and the team is not going to have a winning record. This is not the profile of a "hot" head coaching candidate. There aren't that many NFL GMs who want to proudly tell their fans that they just signed the offensive coordinator of the 24th-ranked NFL offense as their new head coach.

The Bears under the disastrous Emery/Trestman team touched bottom. Under Pace/Fox, they've begun their ascent to the surface. As a die-hard bears fan, I very much want to see what these guys can do given a reasonable length of time to acquire their kind of players.

Go Bears!

I think the most interesting thing is Cutler. This year he has progressed mental but somewhat regressed in his passing ability, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the past, Cutler just launched the ball to the target. This year, he has been attempting a lot pro type throws like the back shoulder. Since he never threw passes like that before he's not very good at them right now, but the more he tries them and looks at his tape this off-season and looks at what he has to improve on, he will improve. I think next year will be his best passing season yet

patryk7754 wrote:I think the most interesting thing is Cutler. This year he has progressed mental but somewhat regressed in his passing ability, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the past, Cutler just launched the ball to the target. This year, he has been attempting a lot pro type throws like the back shoulder. Since he never threw passes like that before he's not very good at them right now, but the more he tries them and looks at his tape this off-season and looks at what he has to improve on, he will improve. I think next year will be his best passing season yet

That's just not true.

He has thrown the back shoulder passes in the past and shown that he is capable of making the "pro type throws." This year isn't the first time he's done it.

What's different about him this year is simply he is stepping up in the pocket more and avoiding throwing into double coverage. And his mechanics in the way he holds the ball when he's in the pocket.

He's always been prone to over throw guys as is any QB.

This off-season is a pivotal one. Pace/Bears have a ton of cap space (60 mill) and another draft as well.

It will be interesting to see if they can add another draft pick by trading Martellus Bennett.

I think with the right moves, the Bears can contend next year for the NFC North and then you never know what happens in the playoffs.

RedBulls83 wrote:

patryk7754 wrote:I think the most interesting thing is Cutler. This year he has progressed mental but somewhat regressed in his passing ability, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the past, Cutler just launched the ball to the target. This year, he has been attempting a lot pro type throws like the back shoulder. Since he never threw passes like that before he's not very good at them right now, but the more he tries them and looks at his tape this off-season and looks at what he has to improve on, he will improve. I think next year will be his best passing season yet

That's just not true.

He has thrown the back shoulder passes in the past and shown that he is capable of making the "pro type throws." This year isn't the first time he's done it.

What's different about him this year is simply he is stepping up in the pocket more and avoiding throwing into double coverage. And his mechanics in the way he holds the ball when he's in the pocket.

He's always been prone to over throw guys as is any QB.

I didn't mean that he didnt attempt them at all just not at the rate he is this season. And I didn't mean to imply he isnt capable of making pro throws he just was more prone to trusting his arm power and launching balls into the defense. This year he's relying more on his mental and physical capabilities instead of just his physical

RedBulls83 wrote:This off-season is a pivotal one. Pace/Bears have a ton of cap space (60 mill) and another draft as well.

It will be interesting to see if they can add another draft pick by trading Martellus Bennett.

I think with the right moves, the Bears can contend next year for the NFC North and then you never know what happens in the playoffs.

If we add a couple game changers on defense I.e. von Miller, I think we can win the north. We've shown that we can contend with anyone this season while somewhat healthy. With White coming in and surely some defense talnet through free agency or the draft we could be one of the best teams in the NFL

We essentially have two 1st rounders next year (potential two top 10 players) . I might be expecting too much but I expect us to have a similar free agency to the ine the Broncos had a couple years ago when they brought in Ward, Talib, and Ware.

Another thing about cutler is that he's shown a pretty impressive competence at the line of scrimmage

As mentioned in my OP, the Bears are 5-8. 5-8 ain't good and in general, I'm a "you are what your record says you are" kind of fan. However, if you want to put the most positive spin on that 5-8, take a look at the Bears comparative SRS (Simple Rating System). Though this stat is most commonly used in to evaluate NBA teams, there's no reason why it's value needs to be limited to that league. SRS combines a team's W-L record, its margin of victory (loss) and strength of schedule. The Bears' SRS currently sits at -1.0. Obviously, that's not good, but it's the 14th highest of the 32 NFL teams and is higher than any team in the NFC East or the AFC South. If you buy into the validity of the SRS stat, the Bears are going to get a much better draft choice than they deserve.

It ain't much, but it warms me up just a little on this cold Chicago day.

On defense we only have:
4 forced fumbles
6 interceptions
29 sacks

Despite the clear lack of talent we are second in the league in Passing Yards Allowed. Fangio is an excellent coach and makes concessions so as to get the most out of his players. We're 26th in Rush Yards Allowed but that still puts us at 12th for Total Yards.

I don't think we've recovered all four of our FF. We haven't even forced 10 turnovers! As a team! And yet teams aren't moving the ball at will and scoring all over us (18th in scoring defense). Once we add some talent on that side, the sky is the limit for what Fangio can do.

Our rookie 3-4 NT has 4.5 sacks. That's ridiculous!!! And there are 3 more games. Our rookie 5th round pick safety is leading the team in solo tackles. We're averaging just under 4 yards a carry as a team, but we've only allowed 19 sacks. 19 sacks!!!! 19!!!!!!! That's with a rookie at center, a new LT who was a 7th round pick a couple years ago, and our star lineman moving from G to T the first game of the season. Our #1 receiver last year was traded away, our top 3 receivers have each missed at least 4 games with injuries, and our #7 overall pick hasn't played a snap at receiver, and yet Jay Cutler has been sacked only 19 times and has his best career Quarterback Rating.

We're 5-8, but the arrow is pointing up. And not only have we stockpiled draft picks, which Pace has already shown he can use effectively, but we will also have at least $60M to spend.

I'm excited for the future.

Well it's definitely looking more and more like this entire team blew their wad in beating the Packers. That was their superbowl. Not only were players celebrating like it was, but so were the coaches.

I think the shift to the 3-4 has hurt the team. Had they stuck with the 4-3, or something along those lines, I think they'd be in better shape.

clancyphile wrote:I think the shift to the 3-4 has hurt the team. Had they stuck with the 4-3, or something along those lines, I think they'd be in better shape.

It's hard to change over in one offseason. They'll be fine when they can actually rebuild and reform the defense with the right personal.

ADDinChicago wrote:

clancyphile wrote:I think the shift to the 3-4 has hurt the team. Had they stuck with the 4-3, or something along those lines, I think they'd be in better shape.

It's hard to change over in one offseason. They'll be fine when they can actually rebuild and reform the defense with the right personal.

Not to mention the defense was like a 100x better this season compared to last 2 years. Not sure how anyone can say the problem is scheme and not talent. The defense is just void of play makers at LB and the secondary.

I love a 3-4 defense. Having more guys stand up, more athletes going after the ball is what I want. Its going to take a year or 2 to get the right personel but the Bears should be fine.