W16@SF: Struggles at the Bay

   Close game win against the 49ers on the road doesn't really tells us much aside that the Bears seem to still struggle against them at their house for some reason.
   The offense played well enough despite making two turnovers, the last one coming at the final minutes of the game giving the 49ers the chance of taking the lead but they didn't get to do much and got shut down by the defense sealing the win for the Bears. So again the Bears defense has played at a high and consistent level, the absence of Eddie Jackson and Aaron Lynch didn't inflict much in the overall performance of the unit but it was against a average team, the good news is there is a big chance they both come back for the playoffs and even better is that Kyle Long already is back on the team and there is even a better chance he gets plunged in at right guard for the for game of the postseason just in time to gear up the running game. I have said like many others that Mitchell Trubisky is the key to the Bears going all the way, but Cody Parkey could have a saying in this, he missed another manageable field goal and the only thing that lowers my concern of his performance is that this season no kicker is a sure thing, still I am very afraid.

   The final game of the season is here as the Bears trave to Minneapolis to face a a Vikings team fighting for their playoff lives, they have their faith in their hands but if they lose then its up to the Eagles to they take advantage and win their game snatching the wild card seed away from the Vikings. the Bears get the slight chance of getting the two seed by beating the Vikings and waiting to see if the Rams fold against their division rival 49ers, its not likely but Matt Nagy already stated that the plan is to go all out this game to get the win, then its wait and see. At first thought this game wasn't worth the effort as they will be showing the Vikings their hand and will be in harms way for potential injuries and I still don't think the 49ers will beat the Rams at the Coliseum. Still I can understand why try and win this game and its that chance of maybe getting a by and eliminating a division rival from the playoffs as a bonus, getting rid of a team that already played you twice this year and then play you again in back to back games can be rather dangerous. Injury is what concerns me, they already lost Trubisky for two games against them, this is one of the key elements the Beas                managed to get in the post season because they took better care of their players health so just hope no one gets seriously hurt.

W15vsGB: Hibernation postponed

   This season is a definite step forward for the Bears organization topping it of with a win against the arch rival Packers with Aaron Rodgers leading it, resulting in a Division Title and a home game in this years post-season, just in time for Christmas. Although there is a slim chance this can get better and of course it can get worse as well, because karma I guess?

   Starting of with the man that can take this team to the promise land depending on his performance, Mitchell Trubisky flipped the script and played a very good game, nothing compared to his previous one, so maybe it was rust? One could only hope so, he did throw a pair of early passes before the receiver started his cut but no overthrown balls, no turnover although he did fumbled once but no harm came of it as the ball was recovered by his O-line which played pretty good as well, picking up a variety of blitzes and helped Trubisky escape the pocket when nothing was open. This type of performances make the Bears a Super Bowl contender but I have seen this hot and cold scenarios in the QB position before with Rex Grossman and Jay Cutler, differences? Grossman didn't have the type of elusiveness, its still to early to tell if Trubisky can make better decisions consistently, Grossman was a freaking roller coaster, Cutler not as much but was inconsistent with or without good receivers, the biggest thing Trubisky has that Cutler never had was the undeniable support of his teammates, accepting him as a leader even when struggling, this area hit Cutler hard on his job as a starting QB. Jordan Howard is getting the ball and doing his part, gushing thru the middle on one play resulting on a long touchdown run. Tarik Cohen was the player to watch on offense in this game, making great plays but then balancing his performance with some big mistakes of his own loosing a ball on the hand off to Howard on a wildcat play and then catching a short pass that could have resulted in his second touchdown but for some reason went out of bounds even before crossing the first down marker making the Bears go for a field goal instead. Still Cohen is a dangerous weapon to have and a key piece to the offense, the good things he did in this game showed that. Adam Shaheen appeared on this game with a pair of catches and watching him with the ball just wants me to watch more of it, he is massive and can push people around in the secondary. 

   Aaron Rodgers was a tad off on his deep throws, but the usual suspects on defense shined once more. I really liked Leonard Floyd's play and effort on this game, he look like he had something to prove playing hard and fast all over the field. It hurts not having Bryce Callahan but Sherrick McManis is a good job of replacing him, he looks to be a step slower than Callahan but has enough to stick to his man and making the tackles. One of the things that makes the Bears defense great is they their health, watching Aaron Lynch as a good rotational OLB and Eddie Jackson as the backfield cover safety hurts, Jackson's absence will hurt Kyle Fullers game more than anyone else in the field, his type of play is better when he can trust his safety to cover the deep routs, really hoping that Jackson can be ready for the playoffs. 

   Five Pro Bowlers later (just four on defense, should have been more), the Bears finish 7-1 at home losing only to the Patriots in a tight game. Getting home field advantage for the whole post season would be huge but the odds are against them, beating a re-surging 49ers team led by rookie QB Nick Mullens and a stingy defense, who play better in Candlestick Park, is the first step. This win is needed if they want to get a 2nd or even a 1st seed, even so a win would assure them the 3rd, a playoff game at Soldier Field, what a year. Playing in wild card week could be better for a Bears team that didn't play well when coming out their bye week this season, but if Jackson isn't healthy enough to play it may not be the best scenario, Deon Bush will be under the microscope in this game.

W14vsLAR: Opportunistic

This looked like the game against the Giants with biggest differences being that Eli Manning did turn the ball over as much as Jared Goff did, the Bears defense took what the Rams gave them and shut them down to only 6 points which is very impressive, what wasn't as the QB play on both teams.
   Mitch Trubisky did his best impression of bad Chase Daniel going for 3 picks on the game, two air balls and one on a bad decision, this could just be a result of him not playing in 2 weeks so he can get a pass this time but its a wait and see thing now. Jordan Howard got more involved this time and paid of getting to 100 rushing yards since forever, this makes me happy. The Rams defense didn't do that much and just received the gifts thrown by Trubisky, the only score by the Bears came on another creative play drawn up by Matt Nagy that look like last second plays you watch in sport movies. The key to the game was Chicago's defense getting into Goff's head and making him take bad decision, he looked uncomfortable all game and the Bears slowed down the little running game the Rams tried Still this game was too close and turnovers gave Bears the win.
   Next is the final home game and it will be against the Packers, winning gets the bears a home game in the postseason which would make the win even sweeter, it will not be easy just because its against Aaron Rogers but again, if they win this game it means even more by beating a team they have struggled to beat for a long time, lets see if the Bears came make this an even rivalry again.

W13@NYG: To be or not to be... a good QB

   So what was it Chase Daniel? Did you Oline under perform that you got pressured too often? Was the game plan to simple for the defense to figure out? Was it that the run game stalled again and to much was put in your shoulders? Was it the rain that made you perform like an inexperienced QB coming out of the bench mid game against one of the best defenses of the year? Or was it that I jumped to early conclusions that you were a more than dependable experienced backup QB when you just had a good game to then show one week later that you cant move in the pocket, you're accuracy is average at best in bad weather and you panic like the average QB when you cant find your first read open and pressure is coming, showing that you cant really put the offense on your back because of your lack of game inexperience. Yeah I may be going to hard on him,when I didn't have anything but good things to say about his performance against the Lions last week, but it was so awful to see him play against the Giants showing a 180º type of performance, only touch he showed was on the pair of throws to Tarik Cohen on the wheel routs. Some say that Matt Nagy didn't continue to run the ball as much on the second half because the Giants were expecting it but the way Daniel was playing, the conditions on the field and the number of blitzes the Giants made could have benefited for a couple of more run plays to be called, I don't see how mixing it up with Howard would have hurt. The defense could have taken the game in their hands but let a trick play go for a score and then couldn't stop them on 4th and goal for another score, even so the game wasn't lost because of them, they did enough for the offense to get them the win but didn't happen. 

   Mitchell Trubisky comes back to host the NFC first place Rams on Sunday night, this is the game that will grade the strenght of this Bears team before they can get to the playoffs, they will have all their starting players and still cant wait for this game to start. This will be Vic Fangio against Shane McVay, one with years of experience and the other, while still very young, has proven to have great creativity and has excellent control of his teams strenghts, Nagy can show he is as creative or more helping his defense win this game, just remember to watch out for Rams #99.

Just saw the end of the Dolphins vs Pats game.... wow. And whats up with the kickers this year right?

W12@DET: Resiliency

   What a great win by the Bears on the road on a really short weeks rest forced to play with the backup QB, it didn't really matter and won as a team against a bad Lions team that wasn't at their best without their lead running back and just one good receiver, even so the game was a close one and the Bears needed to play a solid game to get it done.

   Chase Daniel did what you expect from a backup and more, he started slow but didn't turn the ball over and threw for a pair of TDs, overall he did his part pretty good. Trey Burton on the other hand might just had his worst game of the season, coughing up the ball once and drawing and ending a potential scoring drive with an offensive holding, this might just be a bad day kind of thing. Who had a good day was Eddie Jackson who took one to the house reading Matthew Stafford like an open book and picked him for what would be the game winning touchdown, this got him the defensive player of the week and month of November recognition that could just maybe give him the attention of fans to get him to the Pro Bowl which I do believe he deserves. To win both games against the Lions and one against the Vikings is so great to see even better when with was one after the other, to win against you division opponents its what you expect from your team if they want to win your division, what the Bears demonstrated these three past games is huge progress and that they are a contending team at the least.

   The Bears go to New York to play a dangerous but bad coached Giants team, this team is a sleeping giant (pun intended) and you really don't want to wake him up, they got the weapons necessary to score on you at any moment with the receiving core they have and a rising star at running back. Eli Manning is good enough to hurt you but the Oline is shaky at best and there is were the Bears defense will need to take advantage of by getting into Mannings face and head while containing Saquon Barkley in the process. Daniel will have a second go at starting QB proving he can help the team win but if Akiem Hicks doesn't play and this gets out of hand, Daniel will have to play as good as he did at Detroit, if the Cowboys demonstrated something by beating the Saints Thursday night was that defenses still matter and that you cant get to confident that you are the better team just because, execution of the right game plan is everything, players and coaches need to get it right to get it done, I do believe that the Bears can pull this one off to continue their winning streak all the way to Los Angeles. Cant wait.

W11vsMIN: For real

   The Bears managed to defend their home turf against the former NFC north champs in a well fought game, they got the lead early in the game and shut the Vikings defense for no points in the first half and would need every point because adjustments where made and the score got uncomfortably close at the end but the Bears didn't break and held the lead until the end giving them a healthy lead in the division and maybe some well deserved respect around the league.

   Cody Parkey got his mojo back and nailed all of his 3 field goal tries very nicely, what was weird is that he didn't have any extra point tries due to the Bears going for 2 point conversions on each of their 2 scores, some kind of security blanket for Parkey? Mitchell Trubisky had a rough time against a stout defense throwing for two picks, the first one was an aggressive well thrown ball intro triple coverage but wasn't on time to beat one of the safeties, it was a good try but the second one was a bad one throwing it to no mans land with the game on the line, he cant be giving the other team life with late turnovers, add this one with Tarik Cohen's lost fumble and it almost spelled catastrophe, luckily the Bears have great receivers this year specially the rising youngster Anthony Miller had a good game completing a difficult catch in the end zone for the only touchdown for the offense, great route, great reaction, great hands, awesome score and even better celebration. To watch Jordan Howard still able to punch the hole for more than 3 yards is a breath of fresh air and shows teams that they cant ignore him. Matt Nagy really showed he can game plan in this game, really putting the Vikings defense on their heels at least for two quarters, but still doing enough to finish the game on top.

   What more can you say about the defense but that it has to be taken seriously and that they can still get better with the young talent they got, which only makes them scarier. The fact that this defense  is a turnover machine only helps the offense in a big way, especially Trubisky who gets more playing time which he really needs and it helps that he has the weapons necessary to extend plays and get points on the board. So yeah, although this offense can score, its still fueled by the defense and that is not a bad thing.

   Its a short week for the Bears and hopefully they can treat us with a thanksgiving win at Detroit while also ending that nasty losing streak they have at Ford Field in the process. Again, they cant let Matthew Stafford get comfortable, without Kerryon Johnson they will be more vulnerable on the ground and on screens. With the News that Trubisky hurt his elbow at the end of the Vikings game, one can only hope its nothing serious, no team wants his franchise QB not playing but it hurt more when he is still young, correcting his mechanics and learning the system. Any time he loses by not being on the field seriously hurts the teams future. 

W10vsDET: Doink!

   The Bears manage to get a solid win against their first division foe of the second half of the season, beating the Lions with a well executed game offensively and defensively, cant say the same about the special teams unit although Cody Parkey did manage to do something spectacularly stupid for the ages without hurting the team enough to cost them the game.
   Mitch Trubisky played very good, even on some missed overthrown passes, I liked how he kept the ball to fall inside the field near the sideline giving only his receiver a shot to get it, even if it was to far from his target I prefer to see these misses instead of the ones where the ball falls on the side line or get under thrown for a potential interception, that for me shows improvement and can be fixed with repetition and chemistry with his receivers. He managed to throw some pinpoint passes through tight coverage, his scrambling is getting better and his vision was the best thing, using his eyes to move defenders and create opportunities for himself was awesome to watch. Impressive and at the same time concerning was that the Bears did most of their damage through the air due to the run game not getting enough push, this may be something to watch out for very closely, the Lions may have game planed to stop the run but still this years defense is not known because of their tough run defense. Allen Robinson's return to the field was huge and showed how he is establishing himself as a true WR1 in this team, this only makes the receiving core look even more dangerous with the improving game of Anthony Miller, Taylor Gabriel as a true deep thread and finally having someone who can really stretch the field, the all around thread that is Tarik Cohen, Jordan Howard showing he can catch the ball makes him a complete three down back, Trey Burton as a mismatch TE and when Adam Shaheen comes back to complements Burton as the big bruising TE, this team can only get better as Trubisky keeps progressing. its up to the coaching and the O-line to keep him on his feet and get better.
   The defense is real when Khalil Mack is on the field, he really makes the defense go up a notch from good to solid defense. Bryce Callahan is playing his hart out and letting the Bears know he deserves to get payed next year. This defense shows they are loaded with talent and how good they can be is based on Vic Fangio getting them where they need to be. One thing that just needs to go is the stupid penalties that extend the opponents drives that have been resulting in garbage time touchdowns, they cant let teams creep back on them like that, they may lose a game because of it especially against good teams. This is also a warning to Parkey, I mean congrats or whatever on successfully missing four kicks by hitting the goal post on all of them, but those where 8 points that didn't get to the scoreboard, if those four where all field goals I would be pleading Ryan Pace to redeem himself from his biggest mistake and give the Niners a ransom for Robbie Gould to get him back, nothing againt Pace hes been great but come on!

   Next game they get to host the Vikings on Sunday night, it loos like a mirror match against two big defensive squads with explosive receiving cores, good runners and shaky O-lines. Penalties and turnovers have to be at the minimum to get this one done. The Bear have let slip these kind of big games against Packers and Patriots who are contending playoff teams, they need to win these games now to assure not just their pass to the playoffs but to earn respect from the league that they deserve to get to the post season and even get them thinking that they have a shot of winning in January.

W9vsBUF: Who's bad?

   No big surprises in this game, the Bears pulled the easy win against the Bills who have shown little to no offense this year, their defense tried the best they could but there was little they could do once the Bears made two defensive touchdowns out of the four total takeaways made. Kyle Fuller had a great game and was involved on three of the turnovers made getting a well fought interception of his own. Bears offense was slow and at one point it didn't matter, they failed to score touchdowns on the other two turnovers created by their defense but did manage to score 27 points with some good plays from the special teams to give them good field position. Mitch Trubisky had an average performance throwing for one touchdown and one bad interception floating one deep where it seemed there was some miscommunication with Trey Burton, this play didn't affect the score but one that did was another dumb personal foul on Aaron lynch for an inappropriate celebration that kept the Bills drive alive and ended in their only touchdown. Against tough opponents these penalties will be very costly, honestly the Bears where playing very clean football the first 6 games and on this one they committed 14 penalties in total, many by the offensive line, this cant happen again especially when playing at home.

   The Bears have reached the mid point of the season on first place in their division, they could have ended with a better record but also could have been worse, let the Packers game slip away, they beat a rather lost Seahawks unit that right now seems to have found their way again, struggled against a bad Cardinals team, kept the win streak going by beating a hot Bucs team, fell to a solid but basic Dolphins team, then fell a yard short to force overtime losing to the almighty Patriots, so any given Sunday right? Unfortunately I didn't evaluate the schedule very well as I thought the first half was the though part, now looking at things as they are, the second half is though enough and more important than the first half as they have five division games left, a struggling Giants team, a resurfacing 49ers team and the conference leading Rams. For the Bears to get to January they have to win at least 5 maybe 4 but only if these are against the divisional teams. The next three games, two against the Lions and the other against the Vikings, could determine if they can get to the post season. Just getting there, even as a wild card, would speak volumes on the direction the team is going especially the coaching side of the team. But first things first, the Lions travel with several injured key players unlike the Bears that are getting back some of their star players back, they have to take advantage of this but staying focus on Matthew Stafford, he can get it done if he gets the chance.

W8vsNYJ: No Mack, no sack?

   The Bears where able to win the game that they should have won against the Jets depleted offense led by still very raw Sam Darnold. 

   Again, the offense started slow, aside from the long touchdown by Tarik Cohen, they didnt do much. Once the second half hit, the Bears offense put enough point to seal the deal. Mitch Trubisky was off again on his throws but did enough with his legs to open the field for some big plays, still a work in progress but wins make it easier to be patient. The defense never did let its guard down until Eddie Jackson's late hit that ended being a personal foul that cost the Bears not to get the ball back and ended in New Yorks only touchdown, other that that the defense was solid and made the very intelligent choice of not playing Khalil Mack. It never was a necessity to play him on this game because even if Mack didnt get traded to Chicago, the Bears still where viewed as a good defense before the start of the season, so they had to show that they were good enough to take down a team like the Jets and so they did, so its best to have him as close to 100% as possible heading against the more difficult opponents.

   The injury to Kyle Long will hurt, maybe more on moral and leadership on the field that in the playing itself, last time he got hurt Erick Kush did a good job in filling in for him but its looking more and more like this team is not all in on the power run with Jordan Howard, working more with Cohen skill set while using diversions with Taylor Gabriel. Howard is the short and goal line hammer, on this game he pounded the line to end the game, but that's it. So it seems the line is more focused on protecting Trubisky and confusing the defense to create holes for the runner. I'm still waiting for Howard to one cut and go but he gets trapped at the line too often due to bad blocking or the defense piling up at the line of scrimmage. I guess its a good thing that Howard got better at catching the ball.

   Next the Bears go to Buffalo to take on what I consider to be the worst team of this season (although the Raiders don't make this an easy pick), this means that I expect the Bears to win this one by taking care of the ball and not letting LeSean McCoy beat them with side line runs and screens, the Bill got size in their receiving corps led by Kelvin Benjamin and newly acquired Terrelle Pryor so safety's Jackson and Adrian Amos have to be ready against the deep ball, or just beat up the QB, that would be better. Trubisky needs to protect the ball like last time, the Bills secondary is their pride and joy and only the group that makes them have a chance to compete. Even so, I believe the Bears should keep Mack out of this one until next game against the Lions, they have to prove one more time that they are good enough to beat low tier teams even if its on a hostile environment with some of the weirdest fans.

   

W7vsNE: So close, yet so far

   It almost happened, the Bears were in route to pull the upset by almost forcing overtime but came a yard short. That is how the game ended, in reality the Bears were very fortunate they even had a shot at tying the game. 

   The offense for a second straight game struggled to move the ball at the beginning of the game, luckily the defense and special teams both created turnovers for them to be able to score a pair of touchdowns to get a comfortable lead that lasted about 10 seconds. Aside from the forced fumble, Bears special teams had a really bad day and were a big factor on why they did not win this game, first blunder came at the ensuing kick off after the Bears second score, Cordarelle Paterson took it to the house, at the second half they got a punt blocked for a score and then gave good field position to the Pats on the last drive of the game. The Patriots rarely give the ball away, so when they do you do not give the favor back, you cant win against them like that. Patriots snatched the lead before half time with 14 seconds left, I said that Matt Nagy had to be aggressive and creative to have a chance of winning this game, if it weren't for the plays called on their last drives at the end of both half's I would have been OK with the play calling, but these didn't make much sense, if you are not going in to half time trying a long field goal then throw it to the end zone, both are gambles but throwing it short and trying to evade the secondary with no blockers for 30 yards I believe is an even bigger gamble.

   The Bears retook the lead at the beginning of the second half but it almost didn't happen. On both this score and the one after, Mitchell Trubisky was lucky he didn't get picked in the end zone with some horrible throws, one was a bad decision the other a very poorly thrown ball, he was off on his accuracy the majority of the game but instead helped the team get yards with his legs, which is good to know he can do that but would have made this game more winnable if he threw the ball better. His inaccuracy came later on to bite him in the ass, he wouldn't get away with those dropped picks the Patriots had. Trubisky's two picked balls were not on mark to his target but they were close enough, add some great ball skills demonstrated by the Pats DB's and the results were incredible interceptions, the one thrown to Anthony Miller was the one that hurt more because if he caught it showing more effort to fight for the ball, he would of had a shot to score, but yeah Trubisky could have placed that ball better.

   The defense for the Bears struggled to stop the short pass again but this time it was mixed up very well by the Patriots and the Bears played the run defense better this time, they didn't get to Tom Brady as much as one would like but Brady is the master of getting the ball out quick so I get it, still this team should be more focused on pressuring the QB with what they have and not fall completely on the other teams game plan. The Bears defense forced an interception in the fourth quarter that again was turned into seven points, an upside for this offense is that they made every turnover into a touchdown. This score made it a one score game, but the Bears special teams didn't help as they let the Patriots get very good field position on the kick off, the defense couldn't stop them until they reached the Bears side of the field and once the offense got the ball, the play calls got weird again with three short passes that didn't even made them reach across mid field, I don't know if these plays were chosen because of Trubisky's struggle with the deep ball but again, you had to be aggressive or get creative. So hail mary time and Kevin White came down with it near the 3 yard line, span around and got stuck on some defenders at the one, no push to help him, didn't reach with the ball maybe because of fear of loosing the ball or not knowing how far the end zone was, but that was it, one yard short, game over.

   Its something that they were able to maintain a close game against a very good team but it wasn't a well executed one, the Bears had a shot to win this game but didn't manage to maintain the advantage and made mistakes of their own, the rush got neutralized again, the run game is still struggling to get big chunks and Trubisky is running hot and cold. 

  

   Not to get ahead of myself, but the Bears get two must win games back to back, starting with the Jets at home led by rookie Sam Darnold and after that it's off to Buffalo to play against maybe another rookie QB who knows, the Bills are in desperation mode and are rounding up any QB available to play for them. The Bears defense has to get back to how they played the first 4 games and pressure these QB's, the offense and Nagy have to get on the same page and keep the foot on the gas at all times, the Jets and Bills defenses are no easy units so they will be good tests for the offense to keep getting better as a unit.

W6@MIA: Really?

   What a weird game this one turned out to be, the Bears offense and defense couldn't get it together for a full half and both ended up collapsing in the 4th quarter to a conservative offense led by none other than Brock Osweiler who ended up beating the Bears... again... for the third time.

   It started off slow with both offenses not being able to move the ball much, if it weren't for an iffie roughing call on Leonard Floyd (which he got fined for which is stupid, one thing is wanting to protect the QB and another is not even watching that the hit wasn't even serious but still charged meaning this is for discipline reasons what makes this a stupid move, add up it cost almost double the fine for the semi pile driver on Danny Amendola, meaning the cost is just because it was against the QB, stupid) the Dolphins would have been trying a field goal, instead they get close enough to get the touchdown. The offense lost the chance to get it tied after the half but Jordan Howard ended up coughing the ball near the goal line. Starting the second half, Mitch Trubisky and company remembered they where good enough to beat this Dolphins defense and scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives while the defense only allowed two field goals. Then entering the 4th quarter is where insanity hit, the Bears going for their 4th consecutive score where called for another iffie penalty on Trey Burton for a pass interference which overturned the touchdown. The next play on 1st and goal ended up being a Trubisky interception in the end zone which would end up being very costly, Trubisky played a good game but this mistake took away points, at least a field goal. The Dolphins never abandoned the short pass and screen game because Osweiler, but with a tired Bears defense due to the hot weather or because of the bye week, which ever the reason was they ended up breaking down allowing two touchdowns on catches of less than 10 yards that got taken for more than 40 yards to the house, this was possible by bad tackling and horrible angles taken by the defense especially by Eddie Jackson, who on both plays was in position to make the saving tackle. If you are going to allow them to take the short pass because Osweiler isn't good with the deep throws then you have to tackle, if you don't then this was bound to happen especially with all the small speedy receivers the Dolphins have. Aside that Osweiler isn't good throwing deep, the game plan was obviously to get rid of the ball fast to eliminate the rush and when the Bears took the lead I wonder if Vic Fangio challenged the Dolphins to go deep and cover the short to intermediate zone more tightly, it didn't help that they played the run poorly almost the entire game and couldn't take advantage of the lead to take away this part of their game plan. The Bears then had a chance to end the game in regulation with a late score but Tarik Cohen fumbled the ball near midfield and the Dolphins ended up being in good field position but finally got plugged by the defense. So to OT we go and the Dolphins went marching in to the Chicago 1 yard line where they ended up fumbling the ball, recovered by the Bears in the end zone. Then there go the Bears rumbling to the Dolphins side of the field with two big run plays by Howard, then they keep running the next three plays, not getting enough for the first down. I understand that the run plays where working but there was no reason to get conservative here or even worse there was no imagination on these plays, just running straight trough the gut of the line and just hoping the hole was going to be there when on the entire game there was only one run that went for more than 7 yards and it was a Cohen draw play, I would have expected an option play that would have more chances of getting the yards needed to make Cody Parkey's kick easier to make, because of course he missed it from 53 yards away. I really expected him to miss it because why not? If I'm Matt Nagy I would be thinking I need to get this ball inside the 30 yard line to have a chance, because I have the players to get the ball to that range and I don't have a reliable kicker from 50 and over. So Parkey misses it and Jason Sanders doesn't.

   The Bears blew this game, they had the better team but the turnovers just were to much for them to handle. The defense did let the Dolphins run game get the best of them but other than that it was the two touchdown passes that killed them. It was a crazy game that went the Dolphins way, it was like 85 when that deflected pass ended falling in the hands of a Dolphins receiver for a first down on OT, I couldn't help myself but just laugh at how this game was turning out to be, the two teams got their chances and at the end of the day the Dolphins took the advantage and took the win.

   Speaking of 85, next up New England goes for a visit. Its hard o believe the Bears will end up winning this one but if the Dolphins game tells you something is that anything can happen. The Bears are going in to this match almost intact while the Patriots are going Gronkless, this should be an advantage but Fangio cant get confident and will need to be ready for every player that Tom Brady will have on the field. If the game against Miami taught the Bears something is that the Patriots can play the short passing game as well as the Dolphins and Brady is more than capable of throwing deep if he gets the chance. What I expect from the Bears offense is to not hold back and get as creative and aggressive as possible, if you are going down then go down with style.

W4vsTB: Touch

   Well I wanted a better play out of Mitchell Trubisky and got it against the Buc's in a big way, he showed he has the accuracy and vision needed to be a great QB at least in this game, he did have a pair of passes he overthrew but there where plenty more where he was right on the money. Maybe the Buc's defense is a bad unit but this is what should happen when a good offense plays a bad defense, so yeah the Bears offense played as a good NFL offense and did it through the air without much help from Jordan Howard through the ground which is not to say that Howard played bad, just that the ground game was not moving the chains, at the end it didn't matter because Trubisky and company shredded the defense with the pass. There was little to worry about on defense, Tampa Bay went on to panic by siting Ryan Fitzpatrick and putting in Jameis Winston ending the Buc's offensive magic, second consecutive game where the Bears defense makes the opposing team bring in their backup QB off the bench, not counting when DeShone Kiser backed up injured Aaron Rodgers but it could count. Wonder if this could trend more this year, too much to ask? Knowing that the Bears can outplay a bad team that way is encouraging, if the offense can consistently play at least half as good as they did against Tampa Bay then this team looks like a playoff contender that should be feared and only thing stopping them would be how healthy they can maintain themselves... and maybe Aaron Rodgers.

   Next up is at Miami against an opportunistic defense that has created ten interceptions this season. Still I believe the Bears should win this one, even if the Dolphins started the season 3-0 those three wins came against low to mid caliber teams (Titans, Jets and Raiders) to then get destroyed by the Patriots and lose to the Bengals, both on the road to fairly good teams. What the Bears need is to not get sloppy returning from their bye week and continue where they left off.

W3@ARI: Shuting it down

   I expected a hard fought game but not a nail biter that went down to the wire, once the game ended I didn't realize until the next day that the Cardinals didn't score points after the 1st quarter, they where shut down by the Bears defense plain and simple creating four turnovers against the two by Mitchell Trubisky and even so just one of them cost them seven points, I knew the Cardinals where struggling at QB but this really did amaze me once I noticed it.

   Again I could see Trubisky go hot and cold still looking like someone that isn't comfortable enough yet with the system, obviously it shows he is still not ready and looks like he is really trying to not turn the ball over by making the wrong decisions on where and when to throw the ball. Still he ended with two turnovers although these where more slip ups than bad decisions, he just needs to take better care of the ball when scrambling and the interception was a better defensive play than a bad throw. This errors aside he managed to have good stats with high completion percentage and more than 200 yards for the first time this season, no scores tho so its still an average performance by him with some great plays and other times where he just made me scratch my head, throwing with poor to no accuracy, it concerns me a lot.

   I liked the balance between Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, I felt the number of run plays and moments they where in the game were good and if they weren't trailing almost all game, I believe the Bears could have won the game with more run plays and of course good defense, which once again had to bail the offense out to manage to end with the victory. 

   Again, we can see why Kalil Mack is worth every penny, even when he is called for an offside overturning a pick six by Eddie Jackson in the final minutes of the game that would have sealed the game, its no biggie as it was just a matter of time for him and the rest of the front seven to generate enough pressure to get to the QB and be over with the game for good.

   With the Bucs playing next at Soldier field led by the magic beard of Ryan Fitzpatrick and the number one offense, this makes for a big game that can better tell us how good the Bears defense is... but not really. The Buccaneers are where they are because of the WR and TE group they have, Fitzpatrick just has to lob it to Mike Evans, O.J. Howard or Cameron Brate and they will come down with it more times than not, they can stretch the field giving space to speedy Desean Jackson, Chris Godwin and Adam Humphries, I'm still not sure if the Bucs cant run the ball or just don't want to. 

   With the news that Prince Amukamara wont play, this forces the Bears to play rookie Kevin Toliver II or Bryce Callahan outside, it doesn't look good for the Bears. Eddie Jackson and Danny Trevathan can cover the TEs while Kyle Fuller will have his hands full going one on one with Evans, Callahan has to stick on the slot to cover one of these speedsters be it Jackson or Humphries, that would leave Toliver against Godwin which I will be paying much attention to. The Bears front seven has the ability to get to Fitzpatrick against the Bucks average Oline but that may not be enough if he gets the ball fast although pressure could eliminate the deep ball which is the Bucs triumph card. This game may depend on Trubisky and the offense to get needed points on the board that they left off on the previous games, they can not play catch up like they did against the Cardinals or they may lose this one.

W2vsSEA: Defense for the win

   Before the game started I thought this was a winnable game for the Bears, they were the favorites to win it and as the match progressed my mood changed from winnable to a must win game mostly because of how the defense was playing, there was no way they could lose this one and at the end it was closer than it should have been. But a win is a win and a win at home is even better.

   Is easy to see that Mitch Trubisky is still not a polished QB but shows you enough to believe he can get better, but what bothers me is that his strength is considered to be his accuracy and on these past two games hes been up and down, overthrowing as well as underthrowing receivers, then you see him on the move and you kind of forgive him for the rough edges he still has.

   The offense again moved steady at the beginning and then slowed down as the game progressed but came with enough points to get the job done. This was mostly thanks to Allen Robinson who showed he is a true number one receiver, showing good hands and strength to get extra yards after the catch already showing that he can go get it on 50-50 balls, it was great to see those 10 made connections between him and Trubisky. Jordan Howard has to fight for every yard once more and Tarik Cohen had more chances on this game although he wasn't able to do a big splash aside from the lobbed catch he made for a big gain on a broken play. The O-line still looks a bit shaky and could be more consistent on making lanes for Howard to ease the pocket more for Trubisky, if not then its up to Nagy to get creative with the misdirection and option plays.

   There is really nothing bad you can say about this defense other than Kyle Fuller really needs to look back for the ball. This unit is looking to be a top 10 defense again and if everything clicks, look out. Leonard Floyd's hand is getting better, Danny Trevathan when healthy is a playmaker, Roquan Smith can really move and Khalil Mack amplifies what this defense is capable of. Honestly I am impressed with Aaron Lynch, hes done a good job  helping collapse the pocket frequently, not a flashy guy but has contributed when on the field.

   Next game at Arizona will be another winnable game, they are 0-2 but only because Sam Bradford is doing terrible. There is a slim chance that what happened in Cleveland's game can happen in this one, if Bradford plays poorly again or gets knocked out which wouldn't be something new for him, then in comes Josh Rosen and then anything could happen because the Cardinals team has a fair share of good and upcoming players on both sides of the ball just waiting for their savior. But this is not the Jets defense he would be up against, the sky's the limit for this group.

W1@GB: Un-Real

   I didn't know what to expect from this game before it started, ultimately what I wanted was for a competitive game against the rival team that has been dominating the win column the past few years. Even if the team isn't meshed up as one would like with two top talents still very raw to the team in Khalil Mack and more so in Roquan Smith, what really intrigued many was what the offense would look like. The result was un-real for me, both half's of the game.
   I don't think anybody expected a first half performance from the Bears defense like the one shown on Monday night, what Mack did was to good to be true, it made me believe that we finally had an edge against the Packers. Even when Roquan Smith came in for injured Danny Trevethan and on his first play got a sack it felt like everything was going the Bears way and when Mack read the screen and intercepted DeShon Kisers pass and took it for six, its when I felt it, it was like I was dreaming. Cross out the fact that Aaron Rodgers got hurt, I wasn't expecting or wanted that to happen, but even with Rogers in, he was getting neutralized and at the end it did factor to the insane moments that where happening, that this game was in the bag.
   Then the second half started and here came Rodgers back like a freaking sports movie hero coming in to save the day for his team and fans, I even questioned the call to let him play by his coaches, was it worth it to try and win this game? was it even possible in his state? It seemed to risky. Then with a 20 point advantage, everything went upside down. Rodgers when no huddle, the defense couldn't get to him and seemingly tired them down, they couldn't stop them. I don't get how they couldn't get to a guy who couldn't get out of the pocket, he could move laterally yes but to have pressured him from every side in the first half to not even get on his face was crazy. The defense folded, got tired and began to give Rodgers time to find receivers down field. The offense didn't play lights out the first half but moved the ball well enough. In the second half they were the unit that ultimately cost the game for their team, Matt Nagy and Mitchell Trubisky lost this game. Nagy insisted in not utilizing Tarik Cohen in favor of Jordan Howard which is not a bad plan but kept slamming him to the better part of Green Bays defense that was the front three D-linemen. Trubisky lost his chance overthrowing Allen Robinson in the corner of the end zone for a TD in the second quarter, in the second half he missed more open opportunities and was very inaccurate, he looked indecisive waiting for receivers to get open on moment that required more to get small chunks of yards and get the ball out quicker, this is Nagy's fault for the play calling or Trubisky for not making the throws. In the end not enough first downs sealed the game, yeah Fuller dropped an easy interception, Howard ran out of bounds, Cody Whitehair still snaps it to high and cost the team some opportunities, but in the end the offense stalled in the second half and cost the Bears a win.
   That they lost this game isn't the sad part of it all, this team is still growing together and still has to learn the plays and learn from their mistakes, Trubisky didn't look in control, him and Nagy still have a lot of work to do and the future still looks bright. What was sad is that this team for a half had the Packers where they wanted, showing something that fans have waited to see for a long time, at the end they still couldn't beat Aaron Rodgers, even on one leg.

   On to face the Seahawks at Soldier Field on Monday night football, these Seahawks are not the same as before, the legion of Boom looks to be a thing of the past but still have enough to test the Bears offense. This is Russell Wilson's team and will determine their offense, he is quick and elusive as Rogers when healthy or even more than him, so this will be a challenge for the pass rush but it should be welcomed to see how they perform against these type of QB who are the most dangerous and trending types. I can see the Bears winning this game and many others just by watching the talent on the team, everything from here on out is going to be how fast Mack and Smith get into the starting lineup permanently, Trubiskys development and of course Nagy and Fangios gameplan.

2018 Chicago Bears Roster

   So if you look closely at this years roster you will notice a significant difference KHALIL MACK IS IN IT OMG YES. So you could say I'm glad of the decision Ryan Pace and the Bears organization took on getting Mack out of the wrinkled old hands of Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders, the price was steep costing the Bears the 2019 and 2020 first rounders but ultimately worth it, more so with that 2020 second round pick they packed Mack with. I do see it as Mack being our first rounder next year, at the end of the day you cant get a better first rounder than a proven elite pass rushing OLB at his prime, the other first rounder is soften by the second rounder given back so its really a good move by the Bears, the Raiders can due what the hell they want with their picks and build a dynasty for what I care, this move ultimately makes the Bears team a better team now and for the future, so great job.

   This move makes the defense look like a top 5 unit on paper, it has the making of the 85 Bears and it could sound cliche but there are so many players at DL and LB that can penetrate the line with speed and/or strength its seems a matter of time for rookie Roquan Smith to prove he is a great player, a healthy Floyd and a more accustomed Mack, add Akiem Hicks and newly resigned Eddie Goldman, you get a nasty group of headhunters which the 85 Bears where.

   All in all, I like how this years roster looks but there are some minimal things I'm concerned about. 

Going with FB Michael Burton says max protection for Mitch Trubisky, maybe Ryan Nall is to green but can still get better and impress on the PS. No surprises at WR and there is really no way to go wrong at TE but just cant get more injuries with Daniel Brown now banged up and Adam Shaheen out at least 8 weeks. Its good to see the O-line healthy, being this group the weakest one on offense, Charles Leno Jr has done his job but still has to improve to be a great player, no question Bobbie Massie needs to be more reliable, the depth is young and raw aside from Bradley Sowell but is banged up.

   At defense there is talent at the starting position and quality depth behind it, its a little shaky at ILB with rookie Joel Iyiegbuniwe but many things need to go wrong for him to play. But really my two big concerns are, who is playing behind Goldman at NT and what the hell is Marcus Cooper Jr doing on the roster? I wasn't a big fan of Crevon LeBlanc but I did see him making plays last year unlike Cooper how got benched and placed at the bottom of the depth chart and should be on this years as well. On the official depth chart there is no backup for the NT, I was waiting for John Jenkins to be resigned days after the final cuts like last year but it didn't happen, is it going to be Bilail Nichols or Mike Williams? I have no clue. I don't like the fact that Aaron Lynch made the team, he didn't play and was injured almost the entire duration of camp, only thing hes got going is that Vic Fangio knows him, so it will have to do.

   Pat O´Donnell beat the rookie, Patrick Scales got a spot and no Robbie Gould, sigh.

   Ryan Pace has assembled a nice balance roster in age and of drafted/signed players. I do believe that this team can go only up in the next few years but its all in the hands of Trubiky, his development with these coaches is what will make or break this team, he doesn't have to be the best QB in the league but does have to be a leader and a contributor for this team to get where they want to go. I like how the majority of key players are signed long term to keep the team focused on the game and nothing else. This season looks to be tougher than the previous one, not sure if this is because I have never focused on the whole season from the start until recently but looking at it by opponents they could finish 7-9 and miss the playoffs, but if this team plays like they look I wouldnt be surprised if they go 9-7. This first match against the rival Packers as any other one before against them marks a strong statement of what this team is made of and how far they can go, but one still needs to be patient until Smith and Mack gel with this team and then it should look different, hopefully better, like a playoff team.

Predicting the 53 man roster for 2018

   Its almost here, its almost time for the 2018 season to begin and while it hasn't been a smooth ride from the end of last season to this point, it really doesn't matter I just want this season to start already. There are good vibes coming from the Bears locker room from what I have read but its still early, for its only the first year of newcomer coach Matt Nagy. The ex-QB turn coach has had a good first impression on everybody from the owners and players to the media and fans. It didn't take him long to show hes not afraid of change with the recent announcement that he would rest almost all of his starters and not play them for the final two games of the preseason so they can be ready for week 1 against the Packers. As a fan I get it, he wants to get to the season with as many healthy starters as possible against a difficult first quarter of the season and with the recent history of injured Bears not surviving preseason it really isn't difficult to understand this decision, what is difficult is knowing how it will affect the players understanding and execution of the new playbook more so for he offense, but Nagy put it to rest  by saying that its his team and know where its at. So yeah you believe in him or you don't, I choose to believe the guy.

   In other events from this offseason, we got the Roquan Smith holdout. Only good thing about this is that its over and he is signed but from there on out it has gone poorly. His development took a halt with his hamstring injury, not getting enough reps to even play in one of the two preseason games he could of played and now we will have to see how many reps he can get at games that do matter. It was rather odd to see him be the last player drafted to sing his contract due to contract terms when he wasn't the only LB picked in the first round, or the Bears organization screwed it up by getting to cocky with special terms or Smiths agent blew it by taking burning to much time getting to specific, Roquan's decision I understand in not getting on the field until guaranteeing a contract because if he gets hurt worse as he is now, who knows when he would get a deal done then.

   Supposedly the contract terms that where so troublesome to correct where because of the new tackling rule established this year by the NFL where they focused more on hits made or intended with the crown of the helmet which I don't have a problem with, but the players do with reason, I understand when some don't know what to do when in a situation where they would normally lead with the helmet to initiate the hit but I see it as a way to change their ways and use technique, easy no but impossible I don't think so. But watching some of the penalties called on these preseason games that the league and refs are using to experiment with the new rules I see that it is difficult for them to call it right and worst is by having this rule its making them call hard hit as penalties and that shouldn't be a given that if the hit is hard it should be an automatic foul and what I hate most of what i have seen is that its more focused on the defense and not applied to the offensive player when lowering the helmet to ram defenders over. For these reasons I believe the league should make their refs study more film and be ready for next season maybe to apply this rule.

OK so the 2018 Chicago Bears roster, how do I think its going to look like,

QB Mitch Trubisky, Chase Daniel

So two should be enough this year where Mitch the apprentice will take the helm and Chase the vet is already familiar with the system and showed he can handle himself with some good plays made this preseason. I don't know if teams still carry three QBs on their team but I don't see the need here.

RB Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Benny Cunningham, Knile Davis

I wouldn't have a problem if the prefer going with Michael Burton instead of Davis, think it will tell me more of the type of offense Nagy will run depending on which they choose. Cunningham showed this preseason he should be the 3rd back. I read that Ryan Nall could play FB as well as RB, if this is true than forget about Davis or Burton, get this guy a spot.

WR Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Kevin White, Javon Wims, Josh Bellamy

Choosing this group is kind of easy, but knowing how they are going to perform and who is going to play "Y" is not as easy. This is the hard part when taking in Nagy's word and not take those extra snaps in the preseason, but again one thing is what we see and another what Nagy sees in practice. But the ones that did play and played good benefited big time, White and Wims demonstrated that they deserve a shot this season and with the size and speed they bring you cant get but somewhat exited about these guys.

TE Trey Burton, Dion Sims, Daniel Brown, Adam Shaheen

I placed Shaheen last only because his health status is still in the air, Nagy says he s not going to IR but didn't mention if he could go to the PUP list which I see happening. If this is the case then they should bring in Ben Braunecker and keep four TEs in the team because all four have played very well and should be a strenght on this offense.

OL Charles Leno Jr., Erick Kush, Cody Whitehair, Kyle Long, Bobby Massie, Bradley Sowell, Jordan Morgan, James Daniels

Sowell could be hurt for a long time so if this happens then Rashaad Coward could end on the team but wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong on this one because Sowell would have been the swing T where Coward is still learning the position and couldn't be counted on to cover one of both T positions, he should be concentrated at one for now. Kush get to start on LG but this positions is still strongly fought for. Other that that position the other positions are very set for week 1.

DL A. Hicks, E. Goldman, R. Robertson-Harris, J. Bullard, J. Jenkins, B. Nichols

The DL is going to be the heart and soul of the defense, if this defense plays good its going to be because this group will open the doors for the LB to go get the ball if they don't get there first. Nichols showed good play when on the field and consider he should get a spot in an already strong group where he can learn from them.

OLB L. Floyd, S. Acho, I. Iring, K. Fitts, K. Edebali

This group is going to need all the help they can get from the DL until Floyd get back to good health if he ever get there this season. I dont think Aaron Lynch should get on the team because he hasn't been around to much and the rookies have shown they can get to the ball. So I prefer the team develops these new guys instead of having someone who is as much a question mark as the other guys and maybe get injured again.

ILB Danny Trevathan, Nick Kwiatkoski, Roquan Smith, John Timu

I cant believe myself I'm giving Timu a spot but its the only one I have seen making plays on these preseason games, I would give it to Joel Iyiegbuniwe but haven't seen him do much at games, neither has Smith college production backs him up. If I'm right and Timu is the pick, this group is worrisome.

DB Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Bryce Callahan, Creveon LeBlanc, Sherick McManis, Kevin Toliver

Aside from Toliver, everybody is back and boy is this a good thing, getting better at communicating between these guys and safeties will be huge, they already showed they can play, its all on how healthy they can keep themselves that will matter now. Toliver get the last spot mainly because of the rave he got from camp and practice, who gets picked will be the one the coaches see who shown more promise and growth.

S Eddie Jackson, Adrian Amos, Dion Bush, DeAndre Hall

Same guys, know the playbook, better communication. That the same secondary group returns along Vic Fangio makes me hopeful that the OLBs will get more time to get to the QB. Amos has been targeted with negative comments about if he should be considered a starter caliber player, this will be his year to make a statement to the critics.

K Cody Parkey

Hes been better than Connor Barth right? Ugh letting Robbie Gould go I believe is the one bad thing I will never forget about Paces carrier with the Bears so far.

P Pat O'Donnell

Haven't payed much attention to this position battle so ill just go with the same guy.

LS Patrick Scales

Same here.

As a team, this is almost a very solid team if not for some injuries and 1 or 2 players short of being a great team on paper that should be considered an underdog playoff team at leat. Based on this years schedule and the division their in tho, its going to be a hard ride to consider getting a playoff spot,   theres a shot at not ending at the bottom of the division for a third straight year. So now we wait a little to see what the team is going to be that will fance a hard first quarter of the2018 season.

Post Draft 2018

   With the draft over I can see now that evaluating talent is one thing and predicting what teams want or need is another. Everybody knew the Browns needed a QB, but until days or even hours before the pick there wasn't that many who believed that Baker Mayfield would be the pick, most believed it should have been Sam Darnold like myself and some people I don't understand what they where thinking had them picking Josh Allen so the need was obvious but what they wanted wasn't. Then the Browns with their 4th pick didn't need a DE but could have gotten arguably the best player in the draft in Bradley Chubb but instead went with need again and reached for Denzel Ward letting Chubb land on Denver's lap like it was their birthday. Then came Chicago's pick selecting ILB Roquan Smith, who didn't necessarily fill a need, the Bears needed at least to address the position with some depth, but went with the best player available, something that Ryan Pace has said to be his motto and finally showed it this year. Honestly I really didn't like the pick that much, I can understand the pick and any other pick at that spot with the players available would have been considered a reach for the Bears in terms of need, so basically their best move was to trade down which I would have preferred but if there aren't any decent offers well then the only option left is to pick value. Smith comes with a very high ceiling but great concern, I like his awareness and showed he can read plays, he is fast to go side to side and strong enough to tackle RBs on his own. He isn't good shedding OL blockers and can be eliminated from plays completely, so I really hope Vic Fangio can help him with that because if he does then this guy is going to be very good and should push Nick Kwiatkoski to the backup role. 

   Biggest reach in the fist round should go to the Steelers picking up S Terrell Edmunds, I think he is an average player and had him going in the 5th round at least, they took the spotlight away form the Seahawks with their own questionable pick of RB Rashaard Penny, there where more options at RB than S at this point so this one could be more of a headscratcher. The Saints and Raiders really reached for their guys but at least Oakland didn't give picks to get him but instead got picks by trading down, although the 49ers maybe are to blame for possibly screwing them by picking the T they wanted. There really wasn't a pick I loved, but Indianapolis trading down and getting the best ranked OL player in Quenton Nelson to protect Andrew Luck was awesome. I wont call the D.J. Moore pick by the Panthers a reach yet because I did read a lot of hype from a lot of people about him, I don't really see anything really obvious that tells me he is special but seems I'm missing something then. I did decent in my rankings i believe, I did though do horribly on my TE and S list but well still it was pretty fun doing the lists although it really time consuming even if I just scraped the surface of a real player analysis.

   Bears second rounders James Daniels and Anthony Miller are really good picks, I really like Miller's play and attitude. Daniels fills a big need for the Bears and hopefully he will eliminate the problem at LG if he is able to play as he did C at college. Fourth pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe (got it on my third try... first time didn't even write what I thought to write) was a reminder that Pace is the Bears GM and he is picking his small school prospects, I'm getting used to it and giving Pace the benefit of the doubt on these type of players given now his brief history of late draft picks that have worked but having guys like Lorenzo Carter go some picks earlier or Josh Sweat still on the board is hard to digest. Fifth pick Bilal Nichols, another small school prospect, will play the 5Tech and hopefully bring depth to the position. Finally in the sixth round Bears address the pass rush picking Kylie Fitts who I had as a seventh rounder, supposedly Fitts had a long run of bad luck getting injured most of his college carrier but has what it takes to be a good OLB, this position of not the first at least the second most important need the Bears had and to try and fix it with a sixth rounder feels like a big gamble. Seventh round WR Javon Wims will battle for a backup spot and he wont have it easy. As a result from this draft the Bears came up strong at ILB with a possible upgrade as a starter and dreat depth, no DBs selected this year means same starters and depth from last season most likely which isn't bad, no OT improvement meaning that Bobby Massie will start one more season (sigh), WR is loaded and most likely almost everyone that makes the team will have a role, TEs set, RBs set, DL set and yes finally QB set so its rookie minicap followed by OTAs then 2 months of no one getting charged, arrested or suspended so we can get to the nightmare that is August with training camp and the pre-season praying no one gets a mayor injury and we can start the season, almost there. 

   There were many players I had going before the third round that didn't even get picked, so yeah whatever I may have gotten it wrong, only time will tell, but guys like Simmie Cobbs Jr and Holton Hill not getting picked was unimaginable for me, I was checking the URFA list to see if the Bears picked them up, unfortunately they didn't although they did pick up Kevin Toliver that seemingly has personality issues but I had him as a third rounder. 

   So I have something to look back to and see if how I looked at things works, even if there is so much more things that impact a players success like scheme,  team chemistry, all around team talent, injury, etc. Vven so, if I got something right it wont stop me from going I KNEW IT! 

2018 Mock Draft

   Let me get in to this mock draft bonanza although I am of the group of people that think that mock drafts made 1 month before and beyond draft day is just plain silly and useless to predict. I wont go into trade speculations because my head will hurt and I would be able to finish this in time.

Pick 1 Cleveland Browns select Sam Darnold QB

   For some time I had Saquon Barkley to be the pick but the Browns need a QB and with Carlos Hyde on the team then need to prioritize the main position and go with the one they like more. Although I believe Rosen is the better passer, Barkley not far behind and his clutch factor can hype up the team if he manages to win them some games early in his career.

Pick 2 New York Giants select Josh Rosen QB

   Again this could be Barkley or even Bradely Chubb but I don't believe the Giants are one of these players away from going all the way and then there is the fact that picking on the top 5 should be something you stride for so getting this "chance" if picking this early you should think of your future and have someone ready for when Eli Manning isn't there anymore, and that is very soon.

Pick 3 New York Jets select Baker Mayfield QB

   Lets face it, although they have need on other positions, they traded up for a reason and that should be to pick a QB.

Pick 4 Cleveland Browns select Bradley Chubb EDGE

   No Barkley, no problem. Now the Brown are a nightmare on defense and every QB should be on their toes with Chubb on one end and Myles Garrett on the other. They can trade down if possible but they have tons of picks already so why not take the best defensive player of this year.

Pick 5 Denver Broncos Select Saquon Barkley RB

   Its time the Broncos had 1 good RB and stop with the RB by committee scenario. This can only help QB Case Keenum minimizing the pressure and by a part of the passing game. The defense can still play at a high level for 1 or 2 years more.

Pick 6 Indianapolis Colts select Quenton Nelson G

   This is all about helping Andrew Luck stay health enough to finish the season, its their best player so they need to make him the focal point of this team.

Pick 7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Derwin James S

   Their safeties are average at best, James is a superb athlete and leader that can only make this defense better. They can trade down as well.

Pick 8 Chicago Bears select Mike McGlinchey OL

   Chicago can go CB selecting Ward or reach a bit for Landry or risk it by selecting Edmunds even Davenport but I'm prioritizing the Oline because they have to do everything possible for Mitchell Trubisky to have success and improving the T position is a need. They can trade down and take some of the other players available.

Pick 9 San Fransisco 49ers select Denzel Ward CB

   Looks like the Ruben Foster drama is going his way but still I would have given the niners Ward because its their biggest hole on defense. They can look for a receiver deeper in the draft.

Pick 10 Oakland Raiders select Roquan Smith LB

   It not a real need but more of a good match for a good player. Smith can play his game in this defense and not worry to much of being overwhelmed by big blockers coming his way and focus on working the hashes.

Pick 11 Miami Dolphins select Calvin Ridley WR

   They lost Jarvis Landry and they will miss him, Ridley can help them forget he was there.

Pick 12 Buffalo Bills select Josh Allen QB

   They need to find their guy and he can have time to learn on the bench for a while.

Pick 13 Washington Redskins select Jaire Alexander CB

   They gave away Kendall Fuller so here's Alexander to help the secondary.

Pick 14 Green Bay selects Tremain Edmunds LB

   Green Bay still suffers at the second level, Edmund need to learn to play better ILB if not they can try him an OLB to pair up with Clay Mathews.

Pick 15 Arizona Cardinals select Mason Rudolph QB

   Bradford is going to get hurt at some point, they need depth and a future. Or they can try and nab Allen.

Pick 16 Baltimore Ravens select Courtland Sutton WR

   Give Joe Flacco a real receiver for once.

Pick 17 Los Angeles Chargers select Minkah Fitzpatrick S

   They need help at the back end, Fitzpatrick is the best FS of this class right now.

Pick 18 Seattle Seahawks select Da'Ron Payne DL

   They got busy at FA to help the Oline, its still not ready but they can wait and pick an agile DT to help them with the run game as well in pass rush.

Pick 19 Dallas Cowboys select Vita Vea DL

   Theres no receiver wort picking here so why not get a stud on Dline who can disrupt the offense to help his teammates do the rest. Or they can trade up for Sutton.

Pick 20 Detroit Lions select Ronald Jones II RB

   Its time to get a dependable runner that can have a chance to reach 100 yards in a game.

Pick 21 Cinncinatti Bengals select Isaiah Wynn OL

   Selecting someone to plug in Vontaes Burficts place could be a need but Andy Dalton needs time to pass the ball to AJ Green.

Pick 22 Buffalo Bills select Leighton Vander Esch LB

   Some help on defense that can cover TEs as well.

Pick 23 New England Patriots select Mark Andrews TE

   Heres a posible Rob Gronkowski replacement.

Pick 24 Carolina Panthers select Taven Bryan DL

   A posible Julius Peppers replacement.

Pick 25 Tennessee Titans select Billy Price OL

   Not many holes so why not protect Marcus Mariota more.

Pick 26 Atlanta Falcons select Christian Kirk WR

   Give Matt Ryan his weapons back.

Pick 27 New Orleans Saints select Harrison Phillips DL

   Sheldon Rankins didnt play much so a doublke dose on Dline to stop the run.

Pick 28 Pittsburgh Steelers select Joshua Jackson CB

   Strenghten the secondary, their most weak spot.

Pick 29 Jacksonville Jaguars select Simmie Cobbs Jr WR

   They trust in Blake Bortles so give him a big target to throw to.

Pick 30 Minnesota Vikings select Braden Smith OL

   They had big problems with their Oline las season, Smith can play center or guard and help day 1.

Pick 31 New England Patriots Select Brian O'Neil OL

   They lost their athletic T in Nate Solder, they can replace him with O'Neil.

Pick 32 Philadelphia Eagles select Sam Hubbard DT

   Michael Bennetts recent social troubles can make the Eagles go for DL help.

   OK it's a bit late but let's see how I do.

2018 Draft Prospects Post-Combine

   I did move some players around based on their combine results but just a few. The pro day results really didn't influence me much but did consider it for 2 or 3 players and although there where some prospects that where not invited to the combine that had good numbers I didn't have the time to go and watch some game play on them and get this posted before the draft. Instead I added the other positions I didn't include before.

Rk	WR	Rd			Rd
1	Courtland Sutton	1		Steve Ishmael	4
2	Simmie Cobbs Jr	2		J'Mon Moore	4
3	Marcel Ateman	2		Chris Lacy	4
4	Equanimeous St. Brown	3		Cam Phillips	4
5	DJ Chark	3		Darren Carrington	5
6	James Washington	3		Allen Lazard	5
7	Cedric Wilson	4		Byron Pringle	5
8	Jordan Lasley	4		Dante Pettis	5
9	Auden Tate	4		Deon Cain	6
10	Jaleel Scott	4		Antonio Callaway	6
				Korey Robertson	6
Rk	WRS			Braxton Berrios	7
1	Calvin Ridley	1		Javon Wims	7
2	Christian Kirk	2		Trey Quinn	7
3	Anthony Miller	2		Davon Grayson	7
4	Deontay Burnett	3		Ray-Ray McCloud	7
5	Michael Gallup	4		Dylan Cantrell	7
6	DaeShon Hamilton	4		Marquez Valdes-Scantling	7
7	D.J. Moore	5		Tre'Quan Smith	7
8	Keke Coutee	5		Jester Weah	7
9	Steven Mitchell	6		Robert Foster	FA
10	Quadree Henderson	7		TJ Martin	FA
				Ka'Raun White	FA
				Jake Wieneke	FA
				Richie James	FA
				Brandon Powell	FA

   Moved Ridley to a slot receiver because of his height and vertical jump results, wont hit his stock much but some might consider like me that he cant be a WR1 like Sutton. Cobbs, Ateman and Tate disappointed with their 40 time that isn't enough to show they can gain separation with speed. Washington for me will be the biggest looser with his combine numbers showing average agility and speed. Gallup and D.J. Moore will go early in the draft showing they are competitive receivers despite their body size. Lazard showed he has above average agility to go with his height. Cantrell, Valdez-Scantling, Smith and Weah showed enough skills in the combine to be considered on day 3.

Rk	OT	Rd			Rd
1	Mike McGlinchey	1		Martinas Rankin	4
2	Brian O'Neil	2		Jamarco Jones	4
3	Isaiah Wynn	2		Toby Weathersby	5
4	Connor Williams	2		Tyrell Crosby	5
5	Kolton Miller	3		Chukwuma Okorafor	5
6	Orlando Brown	3		Ike Boettger	5
7	K.C. McDermott	3		David Bright	5
8	Geron Christian	3		Nick Gates	6
9	Desmond Harrison	4		Brett Toth	6
10	Joel Noteboom	4		Bentley Spain	6
				Brandon Parker	7
				Greg Senat	7
				Timon Parris	7
				Cole Madison	7
				Austin Corbett	7
				Will Richardson	FA
				Alex Cappa	FA
				Casey Tucker	FA

   O'Neal impressed with his physical skill set to be considered on day 1, if he weren't so inexperienced he could of been a top 10 player. Miller is somewhat in the same boat as O'Neal I still have my doubts on him, he will be picked higher and maybe he should be. Brown isn't agile enough and should slide in day 2, Jones was even a bigger disappointment for me having atrocious numbers in the combine that should send him to day 3 along with Crosby.

Rk	G/C	Rd			Rd
1	Quenton Nelson	1		Will Clapp	5
2	Isaiah Wynn	1		Austin Golson	5
3	Billy Price	2		Scott Quessenberry	5
4	Braden Smith	2		Sean Welsh	5
5	James Daniels	3		Brian Allen	6
6	Will Hernandez	3		Sam Mustipher	7
7	Tony Adams	3		Coleman Shelton	7
8	Bradley Bozeman	4		Mark Korte	FA
9	Frank Ragnow	4		Nick Linder	FA
10	Mason Cole	4

   Hernandez is a big man and I would be surprised if he gets picked earlier even if he is still learning the position. 

Rk	DE/NT	Rd			Rd
1	Vita Vea	1		Chad Thomas	3
2	Taven Bryan	1		Breeland Speaks	3
3	Da'Ron Payne	1		Jerry Tillery	4
4	R.J. McIntosh	2		Da'Shawn Hand	4
5	Harrison Phillips	2		Kendrick Norton	4
6	Andrew Brown	2		John Atkins	4
7	Tim Settle	3		B.J. Hill	5
8	Drew Bailey	3		Eddy Wilson	5
9	Kahlil McKenzie Jr	3		Rasheem Green	5
10	Duke Ejiofor	3		Jayln Holmes	6
				Folorunso Fatukasi	6
				Lowell Lotulelei	6
				Du'Vonta Lampkin	6
				Taylor Stallworth	7
				Joshua Frazier	7
				Matt Elam	FA
				Deadrin Senat	FA
				John Franklin-Myers	FA
				Bilal Nichols	FA
				Jojo Wicker	FA

   Bryan's agility could be seen on games but when put into numbers it just shows how much he is and how much better he can become if he learns the techniques of the position. Phillips has the size, strength and agility to become a really good player. Settle showed he cant move his size as some would wish he did, right now hi looks like a run stopping plug. I switched Thomas to a three point stance because he carries to much weight, should be better as a 4-3 end.

Rk	OLB/EDGE	Rd			Rd
1	Bradley Chubb	1		James Hearns	4
2	Sam Hubbard	1		Dorance Armstrong Jr	5
3	Harold Landry	1		Shaq Griffin	5
4	Arden Key	2		Leon Jacobs	5
5	Marcus Davenport	2		Tyquan Lewis	5
6	Lorenzo Carter	3		Jeff Holland	6
7	Kemoko Turay	3		Hercules Mata'afa	6
8	Uchenna Nwosu	3		Mike McCray	6
9	Josh Sweat	4		Marquis Haynes	6
10	Ogbonnia Okoronkwo	4		Davin Bellamy	7
				Marcell Frazier	7
				Olasunkanmi Adeniyi	7
				Peter Kalambayi	7
				Trevon Young	7
				Ade Aruna	7
				Kylie Fitts	7
				Fred Warner	7
				Jacob Pugh	7
				Chris Covington	FA
				Joel Iyiegbuniwe	FA
				Darius Jackson	FA

   Landry showed he should be evaluated by his 2016 tape with his results. Davenport is so physically gifted that his lack of experience against top prospects could be ignored. Carter is fast and nimble, what you want in a rushing OLB. Sweat impressed me with his numbers and is a very intriguing player. Key showed to the combine lighter but didn't show he got quicker, some team that really likes his tape maybe will pick him higher.

Rk	ILB	Rd			Rd
1	Roquan Smith	1		Micah Kiser	4
2	Tremaine Edmunds	1		Dorian O'Daniel	4
3	Leighton Vander Esch	2		Tegray Scales	5
4	Darius Leonard	2		Skai Moore	5
5	Jack Cichy	2		Jerome Baker	5
6	Rashaan Evans	3		Chris Worley	6
7	Malik Jefferson	3		Josey Jewell	6
8	Jason Cabinda	3		Kendall Joseph	6
9	Matthew Thomas	3		Azeem Victor	6
10	Christian Sam	4		Keishawn Bierria	6
				Shaun Dion Hamilton	7
				Garret Dooley	7
				Genard Avery	7
				Kenny Young	7
				Oren Burks	7
				Nick DeLuca	FA
				Andre Smith	FA

Thomas and Baker had impressive results, if had more time I would have seen more game play by them, would surprise me if both go day 2.

Rk	CB	Rd			Rd
1	Denzel Ward	1		D.J. Reed	2
2	Jaire Alexander	1		Tarvarus McFadden	3
3	Joshua Jackson	1		Nick Nelson	3
4	Duke Dawson	1		Kevin Toliver II	3
5	Isaiah Oliver	2		Levi Wallace	4
6	Mike Hughes	2		Isaac Yiadom	4
7	Carlton Davis	2		Tony Brown	4
8	Donte Jackson	2		Kameron Kelly	4
9	Holton Hill	2		Taron Johnson	4
10	Anthony Averett	2		Michael Joseph	5
				Christian Campbell	5
				Danny Johnson	5
				Jordan Thomas	5
				J.C. Jackson	6
				Davontae Harris	6
				Quenton Meeks	6
				Rashard Fant	6
				Parry Nickerson	6
				Kamrin Moore	7
				M.J. Stewart	7
				Darius Phillips	7
				Brandon Facyson	7
				Dane Cruikshank	7
				Avonte Maddox	7
				Andre Chachere	7
				Grant Haley	7
				Chandon Sullivan	7
				Henre' Toliver	FA
				Jamarcus King	FA
				Rashaan Gaulden	FA
				Sean Chandler	FA
				Dee Delaney	FA
				Chris Jones	FA
				D'Montre Wade	FA
				Tracy Walker	FA
				Greg Stroman	FA

   Ward and Alexander should go 1 and 2 as the first CBs taken. Donte Jackson and Avarrett really helped themselves in the combine with great 40 times that should put them to go no later than the second round. McFadden and Kelly on the other hand showed their lack of speed and will result in  knock on their value.

Rk	S	Rd			Rd
1	Derwin James	1		Troy Apke	3
2	Minkah Fitzpatrick	1		Armani Watts	4
3	Kyzir White	1		Quin Blanding	4
4	DeShon Elliott	1		Jessie Bates III	4
5	Marcus Allen	2		Natrell Jamerson	4
6	Ronnie Harrison	3		Siran Neal	4
7	Justin Reid	3		Terrell Edmunds	5
8	Van Smith	3		Joshua Kalu	5
9	Jordan Whitehead	3		Stephen Roberts	5
10	Damon Webb	3		Dominick Sanders	5
				Tre Flowers	6
				Marcell Harris	6
				Godwin Igwebulke	7
				Jamar Summers	7
				Max Redfield	7

   James is hands down more athletic than Fitzpatrick, maybe the later has more instincts but I don't think its by much, right now James looks more like a SS but should be able to play FS as well. I'm a fan of White and Elliott, White is more aggressive but Elliott has more ball skills. Bates on the other hand I am not a big believer if his skills, he is more of a cover safety that had production as a ball hawk but I don't know if it will transfer to the NFL. This seems to be a good group of safety's but where did Apke come from? he just blazed on his 40 time and showed skills, his film is good but really didn't hear about him until he ran a low 4.2, really interested in what team he lands with.

Rk	TE	Rd			Rd
1	Mark Andrews	1		Jaylen Samuels	4
2	Troy Fumagalli	2		Andrew Vollert	5
3	Hayden Hurst	2		Marcus Baugh	5
4	Mike Gesicki	2		Adam Breneman	5
5	Christopher Herndon	2		Dalton Schultz	6
6	Dallas Goedert	3		David Wells	6
7	Durham Smythe	3		Ian Thomas	6
8	Tyler Conklin	3		Blake Mack	7
9	Jordan Akins	4		Ethan Wolf	7
10	Ryan Izzo	4		Cam Serigne	7
				Danny Friend	7
				Jeb Blazevich	FA
				DeAndre Goolsby	FA
				Tommy Myers	FA
				Jordan Thomas	NA
				Brandon Lingen	NA
				Austin Roberts	NA
				Will Dissly	NA

   Hurst is the majorities top TE for this year but I like Andrew more because for me he is more an all around TE as for Hurst he more a pass catcher only. Gesicki dominated in the TE class in the combine, maybe enough to be picked in round 1. This group seems weak but I can see potential in the bottom 10 players.

Rk	RB	Rd			Rd
1	Saquon Barkley	1		Nyheim Hines	4
2	Nick Chubb	1		Bo Scarbrough	4
3	Ronald Jones II	1		Josh Adams	4
4	Sony Michel	2		Mark Walton	4
5	Royce Freeman	2		James Butler	4
6	Derrius Guice	2		Kalen Ballage	4
7	Akrum Wadley	2		D'Ernest Johnson	4
8	Rashaad Penny	3		Darrel Williams	5
9	Justin Crawford	3		Lavon Coleman	5
10	John Kelly	3		Jarvion Franklin	5
				L.J. Scott	5
				Kerryon Johnson	5
				Jordan Wilkins	5
				Chris Warren	5
				Dimitri Flowers	5
				Ray Lawry	6
				Kamryn Pettway	6
				Ralph Webb	6
				Ito Smith	6
				Justin Jackson	6
				Kyle Hicks	6
				Chase Edmonds	7
				De'Angelo Brewer	7
				Jeffrey Wilson	7
				Dalyn Dawkins	7
				Larry Rose III	7
				Ryan Nall	7
				Demario Richard	7
				Jordan Chunn	FA
				Jalin Moore	FA
				Nick Wilson	FA
				Terry Swanson	FA
				Phillip Lindsay	FA
				Roc Thomas	FA
				Warren Ball	NA
				Osharmar Abercrombie	NA
				Nick Bawden	NA
				Donnie Ernsberger	NA

   A lot of people are raving about Guise and it wasn't until today I read that he was supposedly playing hurt in his 2017 season, and showed better play the year before. I'm not going to change my ranking of him but if he goes in the first round well then ill know that team like the 2016 version of him. Scarborough is an interesting player with size and good hands who can be a really good change of pace back.

Rk	QB	Rd			Rd
1	Josh Rosen	1		Luke Falk	4
2	Sam Darnold	1		Chase Litton	4
3	Baker Mayfield	1		J.T. Barrett	5
4	Josh Allen	2		Logan Woodside	5
5	Lamar Jackson	2		Quinton Flowers	5
6	Mason Rudolph	2		Matt Linehan	5
7	Riley Ferguson	2		Austin Allen	6
8	Kurt Benkert	2		Nick Stevens	6
9	Mike White	3		Nic Shimonek	6
10	Kyle Lauletta	3		Danny Etling	7
				Anu Solomon	7
				Tanner Lee	7
				Brandon Silvers	FA
				Alex McGough	FA
				Jeremiah Briscoe	FA
				Cooper Bateman	NA
				Kyle Allen	NA
				Max Browne	NA

   Finally the mysterious QB class, who will make his team a genius or a buffoon. Rosen looks the part but he could end up being the next Sam Bradford. Darnold could be clutch like Matthew Stafford but how accurate can he be? Mayfield is missing 3 inches in height to be the top QB for this year but maybe he doesn't need them. Allen I don't trust, but what an arm. Jackson can make everyone look stupid if he pans out. The bottom 10 will fight to get the chance to be a starter or to be forever in bench mode.

So at last I can leave this here and come back to see how I did in my first position ranking. So there.