W14vsHOU: Keeping it simple

    Bears take advantage of a very bad and beaten Houston Texans team obliterating them by 29 points and allowing only seven, this keeps the chance of getting a playoff spot alive with three more games to go, although they dominated this last game there is little to show off from this victory.

   Mitchell Trubisky played a good game by keeping it safe, he is playing more his type of game by rolling out and using his legs, his focus was mostly completing short and fast passes and protecting the football, he had some opportunities to go long but with easier open targets available and a big lead already early in the game, it wasn't really necessary. Trubisky might have to try those throws if his team falls behind but for now moving the chains and getting the ball to his playmakers while not giving it away was and will be the only thing he need to do. David Montgomery and the Oline are slowly but surely meshing together, they still have to polish some things but overall the Oline looks like a functional NFL caliber one and that's enough for Montgomery to work with and make defenses pay, still this wasn't a top ten defense and Bill Lazor is still giving away snaps to Cordarrelle Patterson as a runner, that has got to change fast. One more game where Cole Kmet shows he can play the TE position, more please. A negative for his offense is that once they got just passed the 50 yard line in the 3rd quarter at 1st and 25 because of two penalties against them, they started to struggle again and finished scoring only 2 FG in the second half, this is more of the same struggles they have had all season giving the other team a chance to bounce back and asking the defense to bail them out like every other game they have one this season.

   The defense had a field day with 7 sacks and one for a safety, Mario Edwards Jr. is looking to be a keeper for next season as a really good consistent pass rusher, unfortunately with the news of his encounter with legal issues guess it will be a wait and see scenario. It's no question that the defense dominated but the Texans were a very poor equipped team in this game missing all of their top WRs and still the Bears struggled at times in zone coverage but are looking good against the run again. With the news that Robert Quinn is playing injured, maybe it's best that Trevis Gipson gets more snaps, he showed some good things in this game getting behind the Oline often.

   Next is a tough game against the divisional rival Vikings at Minnesota, struggling team with a defense that is missing some rush but makes due with preparation, still they will be missing LB Eric Kendricks wich will be huge, unfortunately the Bears will be down Buster Skrine and Jaylon Johnson so this might end up being a shoot out which will make it very interesting to see if Trubisky can light up the scoreboard which could be needed for the Bears to win this one and keep the dream a reality one more week.

W13vsDET: Just enough to lose

   It was maddening to see how the Bears let this game go, a total second half team collapse gave the Lions the win dropping the Bears to a 6 game losing streak at 5-7 which puts them out of postseason possibilities if it weren't that the Arizona Cardinals are struggling themselves.

   Mitchell Trubisky played OK, his stats were god against a beat up Lions defense with no starting CBs, he still showed lack of field vision but did throw a couple of nice mid range passes with accuracy and timing, a great second half ending drive to score a TD, he had 2 deep ball shots that weren't even close and had the "game sealing" fumble that gave the Lions great field position to score the last points of the game. Needles to say it was a mixed bag against a lower tier defense. David Montgomery and the Oline had a good game even if the Oline still struggles in the run game still needing to communicate assignments better, they did play better in pass protection but Charles Leno Jr. and Germain Ifedi ultimately had some bad plays and gave a sack each that really cost the offense the chance to seal the game. One thing that needs to be explained or just not do it again is to give even run snaps to Cordarrelle Patterson and Montgomery, the later is the lead back, the other is the gadget chance of passe RB, dont change what is obvious. TE Cole Kmet is showing he can play and needs the ball more, Jimmy Graham has to lose snaps to get him more involved ASAP,  he can be a mismatch and the team needs to see if he can dominate the middle of the field to call the attention of safeties. Bill Lazor needs to eliminate the bubble screens to WRs, its not working and never will if Anthony Miller and Allen Robinson refuse to block.

   Chuck Paganos preventive defense is showing to be too soft, the pressure from the front four was close to nothing, in various occasions the defenders clustered to much on stunts and just didn't create holes to attack the QB, they looked hopeless and somewhat tired, they just couldn't find a way to get through. The secondary played terrified of the deep ball and with reason, when they didnt go 2 or 3 deep they would get torched by Matthew Stafford on 2 long TD passes (the first being a OPI on Kyle Fuller). If they did play cover 2 zone, there was enough time for Stafford to find the hole and attack it. Robert Quinns bull rushing, at least in this game, had zero impact while Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks couldn't take advantage on one on ones. There was just no answer on how to pressure the QB unless they blitzed and that didn't happen enough. 

   This game was a no brainer and still the Bears managed to lose it, there is little left to get out of this season and even if there is still a chance to get to the playoff I really don't see it happening, even when the rest of the schedule is against a shot in the leg Texans team, an inconsistent Vikings team, a Mike Glennon led Jaguars team (we all know how that one goes) and a Packers team that will most likely sit Rodgers for the playoffs. So yeah there's a chance the Oline gels more, Montgomery runs more, Pagano blitzes more and Trubisky does just enough. But with what has happened recently, it looks like a long shot by now, lose against the Texans and rest our minds to think on next season or keep wining and give us some false hope, I'm all for it I guess, go Bears.

W12@GB: Hard lessons

    So what looked inevitable happened but worse, the Bears got demolished by the Packers, they had no answer on offense or defense and possibly are just one loss away to get eliminated from any postseason possibilities.

   Mitch Trubisky was all over the place, he played desperate. His two interceptions were deep balls to double and triple coverage, the first one killed a promising drive in Packer territory and the second killed the possibility of coming back from an already big deficit. All in all he just didn't play good enough,  The Oline on the other hand played better with a new starting lineup, Alex Bars and Sam Mustipher didn't play perfect but they were decent and it's way better than what was shown on previous games, Germain Ifedi at RT looked better, Cody Whitehair at LG played as well as his other teammates with the exception of Charles Leno Jr. who is still playing poorly and was the weakest link of the starting five. David Montgomery was the benefactor of the better play of the Oline, he put solid numbers running the ball but he did miss some holes, it will all depend if this new Oline group can mesh and improve so Montgomery can get familiarized with them.

   Some say the defense just gave up, watching the all 22 I didn't see that, they just got outmatched and outcoached. They needed Akiem Hicks and/or Eddie Goldman to play, the Packers ran through them often by being patient, the Packers RBs did a good job of waiting for holes to open up and attack them, Aaron Rodgers did just enough to pick them apart with short passes by exploiting the holes on the defensive scheme. Rushing three was never going to work and it just let Rodgers get confortable looking for one of his receivers to get open. Chuck Pagano and the defense can bounce back from this if they focus on the things that went wrong on this game, it can be a real learning experience.

   The one that needs to learn but really needs to focus on basics is Trubisky, his mechanics when throwing are not there, its really infuriating and amazing at the same time watching Rodgers just sling passes really not giving a damn how his feet are planted or not, but Trubisky doesn't have this trait as so many other in the league, he needs to focus on the basics and go with the open guy, get in rhythm and if the run game works then the deep wideouts will get one on ones and now take the shot, if he gets his basics right it doesn't matter how many interceptions he throws now, he will get better later, how much? that's another topic, when? hes to far behind to focus on this. He might fail in Chicago like others have failed and others on their teams, but there is a chance he gets it. Right now he is a Bear and he is the starting QB and he is a good kid, I'm wishing he gets better because this team can win if he does. Next against the Lions at home should be a game they can win, how they win it is more important but even more importantly is what happens if they win it convincingly, but I'll wait first for the result, I'm already getting ahead of myself to much.

BYEWEEK: Desicions

    The Bears hit their by week with an even 5-5 record and seemingly no solution to improve their offense which would result in the very familiar result of a wasted year of good defensive play and no playoff games. Still there are 6 games to be played to see if some experiments work or in the worst case just to see where this team sits for the 2021 season. So, at this point who do you blame for this result? What needs to happen to win the confidence back of the team and fan base? And if it stays the same or gets worse at the end of the season, does he stay or go? The three usual suspects that damaged the growth of the team are in no particular order GM, HC and QB.

   Mitchell Trubisky had an unspectacular but normal rookie year in 2017 where he messed up in various occasions like usually every rookie does, then he goes and makes the pro bowl his next year, the year after that has a bad season filled with injuries and bad decision making leading to declining stats. This year shows more of the same and desperation gets him benched. You can see the guy has physical traits, he is agile enough, above average arm strength, can make touch passes, as a player he looks to be accepted by hes teammates, coaches and personnel. His problem is not easy, he is inconsistent, but knowing why is the hard part to explain. One thing is for sure, he is been coached or asked to play like a pocket passer, he hasn't been able to be a good one yet and might not be for the Chicago Bears. My problem with Trubisky is that he makes bad decisions seemingly by not watching the field properly pre and pos snap. Trubisky was a 1 year starter where he showed his skills that are not questioned, the doubts were on his mental skills to play pro football, is he failing because he doesn't have it or is he not being coached properly?

   Matt Nagy got his first HC position with the Bears in 2018, in part because he accepted to coach Trubisky and what he has tried to do so far is to mold th QB to his game scheme which has not worked since 2019. In 2018 the Bears looked like they were having fun on the field and showed Nagy as a creative offensive play caller, this did not progress, with a subpar 2019 and a very bad offense this year. Nagy brought almost a new group of coordinators and coaches to turn thing around but hasn't worked and is getting worse with a very poor offensive line group. He passed play calling duties to his offensive coordinator this last game and didn't go well. So, did Nagy do a bad job coaching Trubisky or is the QB not good enough? Can Nagy rebound back to 2018 with a new QB or is he still too young a HC that needs more experience?

   Ryan Pace was given the GM position in 2015 as a young talent to give the Chicago Bears organization a more fresh perspective, his biggest decision was picking Trubisky as his 2017 first round draft pick and is the pick haunting him the most, he hasn't made a big boom on any draft year but has been good with his picks especially in the middle rounds of the draft to find some very skilled players. He has brought some key FA players compared to the years before him specially bringing in Akiem Hicks and has strengthened the depth chart and special teams every year. His move to trade for Khalil Mack was huge and would have paid dividends if it wasn't for the lack of offensive progress. His knocks have been the decision of letting Robbie Gould go, missing in first rounders Kevin White because of constant injury and Leonard Floyd because of lack of sack production, extending the contracts of average players on important positions in Charles Leno Jr. and Bobbie Massie, his decision to wait and see if he extends his best WR Allen Robinson,  but nothing more gut punching that missing better QB talent when picking Trubisky over more favored Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes who nobody expected he would play the way he is but still was considered a high skilled player, Pace decided to go with the less experienced wild card. Add the choice of Nagy to be his next HC and both have combined to create disaster. Has Pace done enough to get another shot to bring a new QB/HC? 

  The problem is that all of them are new to their positions and could be seen as going through their learning curve, but if the higher up is flunking then it's obvious that it will domino to the one below him, all of them could get better with time. With this said, I believe that Nagy has more of the blame to the present state of the Bears than the other two. Pace might have brought them together but i believe he get more the benefit of the doubt on not knowing this would happen and his hits might be more impactful than his misses. Trubisky as I mentioned has a good skill set but his inconsistency is killing his chances and I believe he could do better with a better scheme and coaching (and Oline). Nagy is still green and hasnt showed he can adjust, to get rid of coaches and get 10 TEs to the team to find the one he need to run his scheme correctly and still blame the QBs bad play is a bit overboard. Sadly the easier move is to get another QB and see if the result of you big guys above can make things work this time around so Trubisky need these opportunities to make the Bears organization think twice about letting him go or sell himself high to another team this coming offseason and in Chicago there is no other better way to do it by beating the Green Bay Packers, although I don't believe he will have a chance without Akiem Hicks but he can still win personally by playing good football.

W10vsMIN: Back breaker

   As expected, even with another good performance by their defense, the losses keep piling up with the Bears offense falling flat again, this time to an average Vikings squad. The game ended being close but just because Bears defense and special teams showed up to help put point on the board and stop Dalvin Cook from being a factor in this game. In short, the offense did nothing to help their team break the losing streak. They have fallen to a 5-5 record going to their bye week.

   Nick Foles looked out of sync, he had chances to gain big chunks of yardage but never saw the open receiver down field, instead he went with short escape routes or held the ball to long, a still struggling Oline at best means he didn't really had that much time to begin with. Truth be told, the Oline played better, if graded their improvement would be from an F to an F+, still mediocre. Rashaad Coward is still getting snaps, kill me now. Germain Ifedi, Alex Bars and Cody Whitehair still can't get in the same page in some plays and are still struggling to win position in run plays but of the bunch they are the ones that made the Oline play better even if it was brief. Charles Leno Jr. is just not good enough anymore. Cordarrelle Patterson isn't a running back, he showed fight and it's what this team needs, if he maintains that fire he should get the ball but he isnt a running back and cant be considered to be the backup, not with this Oline. I expect David Montgomery to get his spot back once he is out of the concussion protocol and have Lamar Miller or Artavious Pierce as backup RB. Ryan Nall shows to be a good football player and deserves to get some snaps, it would be awesome if he could play better at FB but he isn't there yet, still he could be better than J.P. Holtz and this team needs a good FB. Screens and bubbles will continue to not work if the wideouts and TEs keep missing blocks, Allen Robinson as talented as he is as a receiver is not showing to be interested in blocking, could an extension make him better? guess it will be a mystery this season. Anthony Miller is the Chicago Bears in a nutshell, has the ability to be great but falls short most of the time. Now with all this being said, knowing your team is the coaches job to help them play better by using their strengths, so why did Bill Lazor play 3rd downs like this team was the 98 Vikings? No short or intermediate routes and didn't try to exploit the middle of the field. Are these coaches incapable of accepting that they have Oline problems or do they simply don't know what to do? That they need to pick apart the other teams defense by getting small chunks of yards to keep the chains moving and help the run game open up the field more, that it doesn't matter if a receiver gets deep when your QB is getting blasted by blitzers and seems to be taking a mental toll on him? Foles was supposed to be better with RPOs but its not really used much. 

   The defense is playing to win, morality must be hanging by a thread and I believe it will break if they lose this next one to Green Bay. Two more loses and I believe this season will be officially over, there is little to try to salvage it, one move is to insert recently signed Eric Kush to RG and push Ifedi to RT, the other is to change back to Mitch Trubisky. Nick Foles has shown what he can do with this offense and it almost cost him his spine, if the Oline improves with Kush then let Trubisky help improve it more with his mobility, the Bears have literally nothing to lose at this point, if it keeps falling it will not be because of Foles, it will be because coaching and the decision making was not on point, let your first round QB go out in flames, there is a chance that he still has some unfinished business.

W9@TEN: Next in (O)line please

   No surprises in this game, just more of the same. The Bears Oline got worse with new bodies on it and no practices to try and mold this scrapy unit together due to COVID issues.

   I'm not gonna even talk about the defense, this is plain and simple, the Oline will cost the Bears the season, it shadows any other problem that this team could be having, the Oline is so horrendous that you can't possibly be able to evaluate individual performances correctly or fairly, not even as a group, it makes everybody look bad or worse. I don't believe it can get better, I haven't seen anything that tells me it can, this team will only continue struggling even if they manage to win, which I don't believe they will get many the rest of this year. What concerns me is whoever is behind this line at QB is possibly going to break and if that happens it hurts the future of this team, imagine trying to get FA talent to fortify the position, anybody with talent will look somewhere else first because no one will want to play with this empty shell of an offensive line. 

   If Cody Whitehair is down, the coaching staff cant do anything but to start their new guys and evaluate them to see what they got and if it's enough to consider getting them back for next season. There IS one important step to do before anything else and it's not debatable, that is to get Rashaad Coward OUT, I do not what to see him again in the starting line up, I don't even want him to be considered as an offensive player on the roster, he is done and should not place a foot on the field when the offense is in, if there is no other RT then push Alex Bars to that spot, there is nothing to lose right now, he looked awful at center and its maybe why Ryan Pace signed Eric "tanktop" Kush. It's a mystery as of now to know what this line is going to look like depending if he plays RG or C which is how he is designated on the roster as of now. I would put Sam Mustipher at C, Kush at RG, Jermain Ifedi at RT, Bars at LG and Charles Leno Jr. at LT. With this being said, I want Leno benched, Bars or Whitehair at LT and the other at LG, but LT is no joke, Bars would need reps first to possibly make the change permanently, any of these changes is not a simple task and LT is the least one you want to meddle with.

   The news of Matt Nagy passing the play calling to Bill Lazor might just get Nagy a chance of keeping his job next year, if honestly this was his and only his decision then he has shown a a small sample of flexibility and willing to change and learn as the young HC he is, sadly a losing record might get Pace fired and consequently him as well if the new GM decides to bring someone new, still its a bit to soon to know. Lazor might want to simplify everything for his offense especially the run game, no tricks meaning less Cordarrelle Patterson and maybe more Ryan Nall up the gut when he is in for David Montgomery. More bodies in the line of scrimmage doesn't seem to be working to get the run going, maybe showing pass to run can work, put 4 wideouts and make the defense think pass even if the passing game will have to be short and quick passes the important thing is to gain positive yards and get first downs consistently to get the defense rested.

   I don't expect this team to get fixed in time to be considered a real contender in January and maybe by even trying to get better they can hurt their chances of getting a good draft pick for next year but giving up is not something fans want to see from their team. Next they host the Vikings who are an inconsistent team to say the least, but someone that is not inconsistent is Dalvin Cook which will be a handful for the Bears defense but they can take him on, but again nothing matters if there is no progress with the Bears offense, at least it will be interesting to see what Lazor tries to do differently.

W8vsNO: Forcing change

    The Bears suffered quite a bit this past Sunday against the Saints not just losing the game but players and their temper as well. They might as well lose some pride in the process and really look in the mirror and ask themselves who they really are and what needs to be done to get better because they are not doing it enough.

   The Oline played like garbage most of the game, there is no other way to name this performance which has been showing time and time gain only getting worse as the season continues. Losing Bobby Massie to injury, Matt Nagy was forced to put Jason Spriggs in, who was already over due to play. At the end of the day it didn't make any difference wich says very little about Massie, saying that a backup can play as good as him without taking any snaps as a starter is just not good. For some reason Rashaad Coward is still starting at LG and played horrible once more. Sam Mustipher looked like he was playing his all but wasn't enough and got beat on several occasions. Overall it's hard to watch this unit play, they don't generate push at the line, they don't make lanes for the RB, they get lazy and don't maintain blocks or get to the second level, they don't seem to care. I had to go back and watch some 2018 games because it basically was the same playes minus Kyle Long and James Daniels but those guys were fierce, they weren't perfect but they fought for yards and looked more focused with their get off timings. My only guess is that Massie and Charles Leno Jr. have gotten to this abysmal point of play because of age and Kyle Long is missed badly. The only thing that I can say is that Mustipher and Spriggs showed flashes of aggressive play and really that is all I could ask for, even if it's not enough I want to see some fight in them.

   The defense had some bad coverages and got beat by versatile players Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill, the defense was getting outsmarted and got picked apart by the short passing attack of Drew Brees who just took anything the Bears gave him to move the chains. The two TD passes by Brees, I believe where the longest passes he threw in the game, made Jaylon Johnson look like the rookie he is, let this be a lesson for him as he plays against the elite vets, even if Brees looks to be on the declining side. It could be that Chuck Pagano got outplayed as well, Kamara had a ton of plays were he was uncovered or given a lot of space, Brees wasn't looking particularly sharp with the deep ball and would have been better to man cover and smother Kamara, also blitzing more would have been nice, getting pressure against these veteran QBs is the better way to mess with their timing, I was pleading for some blitzing on the Saints last winning drive and when they did Pagano sent Roquan Smith of all people and Brees just tossed a short pass to Kamara on the sideline and gained like 15 yds. So the defense could have played better but this team again is counting on their defense to much.

   The trade deadline has passed and Ryan Pace did diddly squat, no line help, no offensive weapons, nada. Maybe he prefers to keep his draft capital to bolster the team or spend it all on a new QB, because that is one topic that popped lately, should Mitch Trubisky receive a second chance. That option is dead for the moment with Trubisky out for this next game at least with his throwing shoulder injured, IF he could play I would start him but not because I don't like Nick Foles, honestly I like Foles as the QB but it's imposible for him to play with the Oline problems, if this keeps up and nothing is telling me that it's not then eventually Foles is going to get hurt, it's a miracle he is still in one piece. Right now, Foles isn't outplaying Trubisky that much stat wise, the thing in favor for Trubisky is that he can run for his life and also he need another chance, his last chance, to show how much he is worth. I wouldn't be so optimistic to say he is going to learn Nagys offense because that ship has already sailed for me, Nagy and Trubisky are not compatible and Nagy I don't believe is willing or capable of calling the plays based on Trubiskys strenghts, Foles is more compatible but can't execute due to being constantly under pressure. If Foles continues to be the QB, Nagy also needs to change his game based on the Olines performance which is hideous, Sean Payton showed he can move the ball with a struggling aging Drew Brees, that is what is expected from a good coach, if Nagy can't make this change or refuses to pass it to someone more capable, it says somethings about him, either he is too young a coach and is still getting the hang of things or is just to stubborn and GMs need to work on getting him what he needs to make the game plan work. Pace on the other hand showed with his disinterest of moving around some pieces of his team that he isn't worried and is already thinking in the 2021 season, the Bears are going against the Titans who lost their last game against the Bengals who got two OGs to protect their franchise QB. Its being said that the Titans don't have a good pass rush front so it's going to be a slob fest in the trenches with the news that Spriggs and Mustipher are out along with Cody Whitehair, again forcing Nagy to play Alex Bars and I have no idea who will play at center. The only reason the Bears have a chance is because Tennessee has its own issues with their Oline but just not as bad as the Bears, we will see but I can't expect a Bears or anyone getting a sure win with such a poor group of dudes that can't hold their ground.

W7@LAR: Where is the panic button?

   So the worst case scenario against the Rams showed on Monday night football, Bears get obliterated offensively scoring only 3 points while the defense scores 7 trying their best to keep the game close but ends up submitting to jet sweeps and quick tosses, opening holes in the Bears secondary to finish with an easy LA Rams victory.

   Nick Foles was under duress the whole game getting picked off twice succumbing to desperation of not having space or time to set himself up to make accurate throws. Again, the run game was non existent which only made things more imposible to pass the ball deep. The defense showed up but couldn't keep up with their offense going 3 and out on many occasions, the lack of point production didn't help obviously, add to all that more bogus penalties by the ref against them.

   This team is going to keep struggling if Matt Nagy and staff keep thinking that their offensive plan is going to work with the pieces they have on the field these past few games, I understand that their Oline is playing garbage and little is possible to obtain offensively if this unit keeps playing like the are so far, but doing absolutely nothing won't help either, its due time that other players get a shot at showing what they got physically and mentally, the Oline is desperate for players that can bring toughness and hart to this group. Nagy needs to mold his offense or give it to someone who can, that 4th and 1 that got blasted for negative yards is unacceptable, why bring Cordarrelle Patterson as the tailback and not David Montgomery? with Patterson as the back on that situation you are not fooling anyone, the only way that works is if you go anywhere else, they knew the ball was going to him. Red zone offense was a mess, you are getting penetration in less than 3 seconds, how about some of that creative offense and maybe bring in Mitch Trubisky in on some situational snaps and try to confuse the defense with a QB that can be a threat with his legs in short field or short yardage situations. How about using all of your 6 foot 3 and above guys and physically get advantage against the defense, how about using these same guys and use them to block for your RB. Right now they need to know that your top players are Allen Robinson, David Montgomery and Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet showed he has showed skills to catch and has improved in blocking, these guys need to be on the field as much as posible with Jimmy Graham and Anthony Miller close behind, everyone else is a situational player. Ted Ginn Jr. should not get punt return dutie, Dwayne Harris got called up to the 53 man roster this week, use him or Mooney. There is a chance to get John Ross from the Bengals and get some real speed at WR that got lost when Cohen went down, if he costs a 5th rounder maybe even a 4th, Ryan Pace should be considering bringing him to the team. Some say free agent G Quinton Spain has value, lock him up. Cam Robinson from the Jaguars for a 3rd? Why not? I understand that draft picks are valuable but Pace needs to see that he has a good core team that is in need of Oline help to make the leap, he need to consider pulling the trigger on some of these type of moves.

    Saint go to Soldier Field next, this is no easy team, they are missing one of the best WR in Michael Thomas and also Emmanuel Sanders. Drew Brees looks to be more conservative but has shown he can still throw it deep when needed. Alvin Kamara is as dangerous as a RB can be. The Saints secondary is average, the Bears have enough weapons to beat them by air. None of this matters if the Oline can't spot the Saints stingy Dline, if everything stays the same as last week then the result of this game will most probably be the same.

W6@CAR: What is blocking?

    For most analysts and experts the is no answer of why the Bears are 5-1, there is no trust on this team that they can win on a weekly basis but somehow they have, honestly I can't believe it myself watching this Oline try to block and it looks to be infectious, that not even funny.

   Nick Foles is working with little time in the pocket to get it out to his receivers most of the time, this also means that he is getting knocked down more that one would like, he's not known to be durable. If Matt Nagy doesn't want to work with Mitch Trubisky again, he better be talking with Juan Castillo to fix this mess of a Oline. The running game is nowhere to be found, David Montgomery looks lost trying to find gaps that are not there and often tries to make something out of nothing missing open hole at times maybe because he is losing confidence that it will stay open, I wouldn't blame him finding myself frequently screaming at the screen for Montgomery to bounce it outside and make a broken play happen. It's time to get Darnell Mooney more involved as the #2 wideout, he is fighting for the ball and showing up when he doesn't have it as a blocker for his teammates, it's more than what Anthony Miller has shown recently, he is looking like a frustrated kid every time he doesnt get the ball and the times he got it on a screen and then on a reverse he displayed poor vision not using his blockers correctly which by the way were not many guys willing to do so on this last game. Allen Robinson and Jimmy Graham looked like they were "trying" to block at best, them along with Miller and the whole Oline looked unwilling to give a second effort and continue to push defenders to extend plays and that will not make them better or get them closer to finish off games. Rashaad Coward needs to get benched for Alex Bars and I wouldn't mind watching Jason Spriggs start at LT for Charles Leno Jr., this line needs some type of message sent that states their poor performance is not acceptable, something needs to click to get it together and scheme does not look to be the problem.

   The defense gets a little better with the improved play of Mario Edwards Jr., he is getting pressure from the inside and is helping his teammates get an extra second or two to get to the QB, his run defence looks to be getting better as well, helping Bilal Nichols and Akiem Hicks blow up the line more consistently but it still depends on the play of Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, the later showed an excellent play to stop a screenplay on its tracks by shedding and shielding the running lane with the blocker, its Smiths Achilles heel and it was wonderful to watch him do what he did, this will only help the defense be a solid unit all around. Saw some news that the Bear could be singing SP specialist Dwayne Harris for punt return duties, that is a need and he would really help, Ted Ginn Jr. is not qualified anymore, he really looks sluggish out there.

   Next game against a hot and cold Rams team will be a winnable game but anything can happen if the Bears Oline struggles against Aaron Donald, James Daniels and Cody Whitehair did a good job against him the last time they met but Daniels wont be around for this one and Whitehair has gotten pushed around to often on one on ones. If the Oline keeps underperforming, the defense will need to put constant pressure on Jared Goff to have a shot.

W4&5vsCOLTS&BUCS: O-line woes

    I read on twitter the other day that the league was planning to call personal fouls on games due to personnel on the sidelines not wearing masks properly, I immediately thought that it was stupid, not because it's not necessary to do something about it but the way they what to attack the issue before any other option possible is irrational to me. Don't taint the game because of life issues, if someone is breaking protocol off the field of play by all means get him out of the stadium, suspend the person and don't fine him, fine the team he represents so they can take necessary actions and if they don't then take it on the team. And don't make the referees do this, they already have too much on their hands by trying to do their present job right to now place their attention elsewhere besides the game they have trouble calling correctly. I understand the importance of the topic they want to address but the game cannot be played with propositions like this and if the people involved can't get it together then don't play it at all.

   The Bears got beat by a Colts team that I underestimated, especially their defense which dominated most of the game, still they did get help from the Bears Oline especially from Charles Leno Jr. who is playing worse every game and could get Nick Foles injured, Bobby Massie is trying to play worse than Leno but sometimes gets lucky or its just that not every team has two good edge rushers, not elite just good. If it wasn't for the interior three I don't believe the Bears could win a game and it showed in some snaps where Cody Whitehair got blasted off the line, this will be a game he will not want to remember. David Montgomery couldn't get started, getting stuffed on almost every play, Matt Nagy for some reason believes that Cordarrelle Patterson can run inside, he cant, he doesn't show the vision necessary to find the creases made by his Oline, he is better off going outside or on screens where he can use his big frame to push back DBs. Anthony Miller had some drops and couldn't make the big catch in the 4th quarter to give his team a chance, giving way to Darnell Mooney to have more snaps which he deserves. Mooney gives the Bears a better chance to stretch the field while Miller should be brought in for three wideout sets.

   The defense had its share of problems especially with the continuous struggles of Danny Trevathan but now he got help from Tashaun Gipson, both of them were guilty of not filling their assigned gaps and let Jonathan Taylor run all over them. Still the defense gave their offense a shot all day to even the score and almost did it by themselves, if not for a dropped interception by Khalil Mack in Colts red zone territory, that would have made a huge difference, but the offense cannot be waiting for this to happen all the time, they need to pull themselves out the hole they are in and get the ball moving.

   Against Tampa Bay they somewhat did but not because the Oline played better, they almost looked worse than before but it may be because the Bucs front four is nastier with Vita Vae and Ndamukong Suh in the middle and Shaq Barrett at one edge. The run was none existent again and fell in the hands of Nick Foles and the receivers to get it done, everyone contributed in some way but Jimmy Graham is paying dividends with his red zone play.

   The defense does what is expected, they come and play every game with the same intensity and unfortunately with the same issues, Trevathan played better this game, better is not good, he managed to fill his gaps in time against the run and stayed close to Rob Gronkowski on every play, Gronk isn't the monster he once was, Trevathan can't keep up with speed anymore. The Bucs run game was present but this time it was because Roquan Smith missed key tackles and Eddie Jackson missed on one play in which he was late to come down to the line and got juked by the runner. Luckly these mistakes were not enough to lose control of the game. A massive hit by Kyle Fuller resulted in a recovered fumble by the Bears which gave Chicago life and the lead with an ensuing TD drive. After that it was a field goal battle and the Bears had the last kick, defense made Tom Brady look old and stopped him in his tracks with a 4th down incompletion. The Bears had luck in their side on this game and needed every bit of it to pull the win. The bad news is that James Daniels was lost for the season with a pec injury, now there is no turning back and finally Alex Bars will show what he is made of, he struggled allowing a sack on his first snap but got better as the game went on, I'm excited to see how he performs now as the starter.

   The first quarter of the season was a good one for a really struggling Bears team, trailing by one behind the Packers gives them a chance to get better as a team. With a shaky Oline it would be better now more than ever to use more two and three TE sets, Cole Kmet is doing his part as a blocker and should get more shots as a receiver in time, getting him more on the field by giving him J.P. Holtz snaps should be a must. They need to somehow get Montgomery going or the long ball will not be an option, Foles is not getting enough time to throw and hasnt showed good accuracy, he needs more chances to throw deep without someone hanging in his face. Next against the Panthers will be a though one, Carolina has a good all around team and will not be easy to beat, they can exploit Fuller and Jaylon Johnson with their speedy receiving group, Teddy Bridgewater dismantled the Bears last time when he was in New Orleans with tempo and accurate passes, the Bears can learn more about themselves against this team.

W3@ATL: Bittersweet

   Things aren't looking promising any more with two postponed games due to COVID issues, the scenario in Tennessee is not good and if it's not under control fast, then its as I feared and the season should be ended and done this year, is it possible? I have no idea but it's just not worth the risk for all the people on the field and in the stadium.

   The Bears won another miraculous come from behind win but also lost in the form of Matt Nagys patience with Mitchell Trubisky as the Bears QB, pulling him out of the game on the second drive of the 3rd quarter, the defense did not permit another score and Nick Foles helped the offense score TDs in three consecutive drives in the 4th quarter sealing the victory and very possibly Trubisky´s chances to relinquish his starting gig as the Bears QB as well.

   The offense started their first drive strong until they reached the red zone and stalled for a Cairo Santos missed FG, in Nagys eyes this was strike one against Trubisky, the inability to punch the ball in the endzone for TDs. The offense struggled from there going in to the half with 10 points scored against a very depleted Falcons secondary, Trubisky struggled with the long ball, wasn't fast enough with his reads and didn't get the ball out in time to avoid sacks, overall Trubisky making the same mistakes was strike two against him. First drive of the 3rd quarter, Trubisky makes another bad decision and gets picked, turnover on a bad read was strike three and got out. I get why the decision was made and it killed me when Nagy pulled him out of the game, I was rooting for the guy to be the QB for this team, Nagy tried to coach him to be a pocket QB and just couldn't get him to be that consistently, I wish he would just let him bootleg the life out of him, even his inefficiency to play the read option consistently hurted him, Nagy failed and pulled the trigger not caring that he just made his boss Ryan Pace look bad, ending with another 1st round bust bring it to 3 out of 4 tries. Trubisky´s only chance is one I don't believe he is waiting to happen and that is for Foles to go down with an injury, although the move to bring Tyler Bray to the roster is an interesting one, is Nagy so done with Trubisky that he is willing to put Bray in the field before Trubisky? Charles Leno Jr. is not helping, he is getting beat by edge rushers to often and his run blocking is average at best, he needs to get better or we will be needing two tackles next year. Losing Cohen for the year hurts in explosiveness and moral, there is no other back like Cohen that can do what he is capable of doing, the running game will shift a bit in style with him not there but fortunately there is still good talent in the RB department, Montgomery is a monster and Patterson can be counted to make some noise in trick plays and screens. The WR group is getting more dangerous with Darnell Mooney in it and Jimmy Graham is giving the Bears what they expected of him as a red zone threat.

   The defense continues to struggle stopping the run, Danny Trevathan is to blame for both TD runs by Atlanta by missing  his gap assignment  and as good as Roquan Smith is to cover side to side, he can't shed a blocker for his life, safeties are being counted for to fill these holes, Tashaun Gipson has to be more aggressive and decisive to attack the lane and Eddie Jackson can't live near the line when he is a menase roaming the back field. Akiem Hicks is to much to handle and the duo of Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn is showing some improvement, QB pressure is showing more often and sacks are being made, there is still room for improvement but another DLineman is needed to step up his game. Kyle Fuller and Jaylon Johnson were in trouble in this one, if Matt Ryan had more time or looked more for Calvin Ridley he would have done more damage, he was burning the Bears DBs often.

   So Foles will start against the Colts this week and now some people are watching the Bears a bit differently, like if now they are contenders and even if I wished this was true I can't, not yet, because I've already witness something similar the last 2 years when Chase Daniels was the backup QB, he would come in for an injured Trubisky early in the game and dissect the defenses, then he would come and start the next game and play like trash. I'm hoping this will not be the case, that I will get Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles and give the Bears some wins, this next game is a good chance for him to show he is the real deal and not just another journey man.

W2vsGIANTS: Climbing the ladder

   Another close win against a not so good team, it does not change the matter that there was stability in some areas and improvement in others, there were mistakes that can be corrected while getting one more in the win column to keep themselves on the right track. In a week plagued by injuries, it's also good to see that the Bears got of this game almost intact if not for the loss of John Jenkins that was placed on IR, it wouldn't be a big issue if it wasn't the position that is missing Eddie Goldman already.

   Mitch Trubisky started strong and had a good game overall, his 2 picks where good defensive plays, a little bit of sluggishness by Allen Robinson and bad luck, still Trubiskys bigger problems were the same ones he had the previous game at Detroit, needs to get rid of the ball to the safety valve when pocket collapses and read the field better. He trust his legs to get him out of trouble and sometimes it's not necessary because he often has a receiver near the line to bail him out, can't blame him much being that he is very dangerous on the run. He still treads the needle on throws, which is not bad because he is showing good accuracy but it's not always necessary when its on early downs. The two picks stalled the Bears offensive momentum adding both drops by Anthony Miller that would have counted for a TD and a first down on enemy territory, the score would have been much different. David Montgomery can run the ball, the Oline gave him just enough gaps for him to be able to pound on the Giants defense always fighting for extra yards, even when he seemed to get injured his neck when he went down on his head on a dive he still returned and played strong, the guy is tough as nails.Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson were lost somewhat in this game and while Robinson did his part, he didn't seem to be 100% on every play. Darnell Mooney on the other hand showed grit as a receiver and blocker. Players who need to get their head back in the game are Charles Leno Jr. on run plays, he needs to stop with the dives/chop blocking costing Montgomery some bigger chunks, and JP Holtz looked horrible at his FB position, he need to keep running and maul someone, anyone.

   The defense in their bend but don't brake mentality finished the job and limited the Giants offense to 13 points. I had heard for some time now the cries of fans to give more holding penalties against Khalil Mack, now that I can watch the all 22 I could see why all the fuss, it's ridiculous the way he is grabed and no flags come on the field, the guy just disrupts the offensive game flow in spite of this, if only he had another guy who could get to the QB on the other side. I'm a bit concerned of the number of snaps Robert Quinn is getting which are not enough but this week he is off the injury list completely so I can't way to see him more on the field. Danny Trevathan getting subbed out for Deon Bush is interesting, it seems to work but not long ago Trevathan was known for being a great cover LB, its would be surprising if he lost a step this suddenly. Jaylon Johnson keeps making plays, him and Mooney have flashed these past two games and are slowly making themselves known in the league, Cole Kmet has been silent but is slowly getting his identity starting as a blocker which is helping the run game so he is coming in slow.

   I read a tweet where a fellow user commented that this next game against the Falcons is a lose -lose for the Bears. I get it, winning against a 0-2 team doesn't mean anything, its just another bad team the Bears are facing and if they lose to this bad team it means that they are who most analysts think they are and that is a bottom tier team. The question for the Bears is can their defense stop Matt Ryan without Julio Jones and can Trubisky and his offense score more than 3 TDs, in stats this is all that would matter, in reality is how much can this team polish their game and end the game with another win. 

W1@Detroit: EDDIE COME BACK!

    What a life draining game, holy crap! Even when the game was sloppy, at the end the thing that matters is the win,. If the Bears want more of them they have to polish up almost in every area which can be fair to say that every team is coming in to this season rusty by not getting real action this preseason, so again even if it was a bad win it's still a win and a step on the right direction.

  The Bears Oline overall played a good game especially helping push the pile and giving the runners some holes to attack, Germain Ifedi helped a lot on this area who aside of Cody Whitehair were the better looking maulers, James Daniels and Charles Leno Jr. did their jobs nicely but it would help if they didn't fall down and keep blocking, it would have given the runners bigger chunks or even a break out run. Bobby Massie stood his ground but was the least impressive. It was a good idea by coaches to use a TE to help block the edges on play action, Detroit had a spy or a defender at the edge ready to cut the escape lane if Mitch Trubisky decided to run or to reduce his time to find receivers on bootlegs, the TE helped to protect the QB on these situation and Jimmy Graham executed better this task than J.P. Holtz, even if Holtz is more physical and maintains blocks better, he sometimes doesn't get the best angle or isn't on time to make the block. Graham blocked good enough but gives the defender a chance to recuperate, good thing Trubisky got rid of the ball fast most of the time.

   The trio of David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson showed what they can do and they can be better, every one of them can contribute in short pases but Montgomery is the mauler while Cohen and Patterson will make you pay with open field in front of them. The Oline improving is important to the development of this offense based on what everybody showed and it's that this team has various weapons that can attack the defense in different ways.

   Mitchell Trubisky showed he is still not there, but he isn't the same player from last year, he showed improvement. From all his throws he had 2 bad throws while trying to thread the needle on tight coverages and got lucky not getting picked both times but kept trying to do so the rest of the game not shying away. Throws that hurt the head of his coaches las year were like the one he threw to Demetrius Harris at the end zone while moving to his right, placed it at the far corner of the endzone too far from the reach of Harris displaying bad accuracy, but before that he had already thrown a great pass to Allen Robinson in the endzone while again moving to his right but Robinson was held and couldn't make the catch, a clear pass interference not called that should have been a TD. Then he has another similar one moving to his right and hit Graham on the move right in the chest, next drive again at the 2 yard line moving to his left hit Javon Wims in the numbers. He missed an open Graham twice on the move and Cole Kmet once probably by not being in the same page, the misses to Graham and two long balls, one to Robinson and one to Anthony Miller, where off by inches. But the throws like the one to Robinson that was to short where the ones that we got used to see last year, the others where a tad to long but not out of reach, Trubisky in my eyes is improving his accuracy, it's still early to say but I didn't hate everything Trubisky did the whole game and absolutely loved his 4th quarter heroics, a thing I need to see more that he can do if needed. The fact that the Lions where without their starting CBs and that is why he could hit his receivers is debatable, the throws I mention were on the money and I believe that the CB couldn't have been a factor just by where he placed the ball. Where Trubisky still needs to get better is in blitz recognition to get the ball out to his safety valve and his accuracy in slant route while in the pocket, he is placing the ball behind the receivers not giving them the chance to gain momentum.

   The defense was scary and frustrating to see, I really didn't expect for Adrian Peterson to slice and dice the Dline for that much yardage. How much Eddie Goldman is going to be missed is still early to tell, Akiem Hicks was doubled teamed the whole game and Khalil Mack did what he could but just couldn't get to the QB in time, would have helped if some holdings were called, still there was little to no help on the other edge to get pressure on the QB, whether is was Barkevious Mingo or James Vaughters it didn't matter. Danny Trevathan looked old, he got crossed by receivers the whole game and looked slow, wasn't consistent against the run not really helping Roquan Smith, this will be interesting to follow, there isn't much security at the MLB depth chart. The secondary was very reliable even with rookie Jaylon Johnson's debut he did his part and Tashaun Gipson look good at the SS spot, at the end they were the ones giving the offense the chance they were waiting for to get the win.

   Cairo Santos didn't miss, big check mark, more of this please.

   Matt Nagy simplifying Trubisky´s work is essential, Trubisky did his best to go through his progressions and the Oline did their best to give him time most of the game, still it's a work in progress and play action and bootlegs are still Trubisky´s strengths. Giving Detroit enough time at the end of both the 2nd and 4th quarters where a concerne and better play calling is needed, better play by the defense will help as well. Using two set TEs seems to work Graham, Kmet and Harris seem to fit in Nagy´s plans but we will see.

   Next is the first home game against the Giants, this seems like a similar game against the Lions, a team with a running game, a big armed QB and an OK defense. Still it's a winnable game the Bears can improve upon. The drama with Robinson isn't what it's needed right now and hopefully it can get resolved soon preferably with Robinson still on the team, he is a great WR and has done everything right but Trubisky needs to rely on the whole receiving corps when Robinson is getting double coverage. Step by step, let's see where this goes.

2020 Chicago Bears Roster

    Hours from Sundays kickoff, the Bears have decided what their team will be for the start of this season. Cuts done to trim it to 53 players were not surprising, the roster looks solid on defense and promising on offense but everything as it always does comes down on how the QB performs.

   With the new rules for the practice to add more spots for veteran players the guys I thought were getting roster spots got signed to the PS, only unexpected move that happened was letting Isaiah Irving go and giving the backup spot to James Vaughters.

Mitchell Trubisky gets the opportunity to show how much he can turn his career around in his posible last year as a Bear and he gets the chance to start with the right foot against Detroit where he has performed very well.

   Germain Ifedi plugs the RG spot in hopes to better the performances of last year declining Oline.

   It's good news to hear David Montgomery is ready to go week 1, still his injury is dicey and could be limited to fewer snaps than expected to monitor his health.

   So they did go with 5 TEs, so that will be interesting in how many times they will be going 2 TE sets. I believe Cole Kmet will come in as the blocker while Jimmy Graham will be off line as a receiver primarily followed by Demetrius Harris. JP Holtz gets in as a FB and at ST with Eric Saubert.

   Allen Robinson and the WR corps will be as good as Trubisky lets them be.

   

   The defense is still the strength of this team. One could argue that theres is some meat missing at the Dline without Eddie Goldman even when adding Mario Edwards Jr. from FA. Akiem Hicks will be even more pivotal to this Dline.

   Robert Quinn is likely to miss the opener so its wait and see how good the pass rush can be once he comes back, on the bright side we get to see what Trevis Gipson looks like as a pro.

   The backfield has the biggest question mark with Jaylon Johnson getting the spot across Kyle Fuller, this is where my attention will be most part of the game.

   Eddy Piñeiro to IR was somewhat expected, in comes Cairo Santos who really gives me as much relief at he position as Piñeiro does, which is questionable at best.

   I do believe Trubisky will be on a short leach and performing poorly in his first game could get him benched, the schedule doesn't get any easier after this game so he doesn't get much time to get it right. Getting to the playoffs this year will be though, the schedule isn't pretty with games against the NFC South and AFC East teams, they need to get as much wins against their division rivals as posible but a 8-8 record right now seems to be a best case scenario. Every season shows us different team performances, but the only one that matters is how improved this Bears team got.

2020 53 Man roster prediction

   Coronavirus is a pain in the ass to say the least but having to live with it and thousands of idiots ignoring it is more painful to the body, mind and soul. 

   I still cant believe there is going to be a 2020 NFL season, or at least that it's going to start. In a way, for me,  it really doesn't feel right that this is happening, because it's not like its really necessary to have a season played and have people risk their lives and/or others for the sake of entertainment. For the viewer it may help as a distraction from the world, for some working on this industry means to keep their jobs a float, so there is positives to this but I just hope the cost isn't steep. I still have a job and Im thankful for it,  have to leave the safety of my house to do it and for me it's hard to leave and come back to possibly become a threat to others or myself. Sometimes I question myself if it's worth it, at the end its necessity that ends the question.

   Anyway back to business, with no preseason to watch the new faces its a bit harder to know what these guys bring to the table so it shouldn't be weird for coaches to go with the guys they already know. This is what I think will be this years Chicago Bears 53 man roster.

QB - Mitchell Trubisky, Nick Foles.

I believe Trubisky will be the starter and will have to get on the winning column early and often if he wants to keep it. Foles can get to know more his teammates on the bench until he is needed if ever.

RB - David Montgomery, Ryan Nall, Artavis Pierce

Montgomery will be the lead back once he recovers, although Nall is the more experience complete back, I believe that there will be more gadget plays with Patterson and Cohen.

FLEX - Cordarrelle Patterson, Tarik Cohen

Fantasy mode on. Patterson seems to be a jack of all trades in training camp this year so I gave him a special spot with Cohen as his backup who is nothing like him but brings the same terror to the backfield if you mismatch him.

WR - Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, Ted Ginn Jr., Riley Ridley, Darnell Mooney, Javon Wims

Who is going to step up and be Robinsons Robin? Much is expected of Miller this year and has shown he has talent to get open, I expect Ridley to push for the job as well. There is talk that Mooney is impressing coaches which would be fantastic if he can bring his speed as soon as posible to this offense that has plenty of height but lacks burners.

TE - Jimmy Graham, Cole Kmet, Demetrious Harris, J.P. Holtz

At the beginning there were ten. It comes down to four... I think, could be five if they really want five and give Jasper Horsted a spot. Lets see how much veterans Graham and Harris can hold on and help get Kmet up to speed. 

OL - Charles Leno Jr, James Daniels, Cody Whitehair, Germain Ifedi, Bobby Massie, Jason Spriggs, Alex Bars, Sam Mustipher.

I really don't want to put Coward here as much as I would like to see someone else at RT that is not Massie, I still believe that Bars can snag the spot.

DL - Akiem Hicks, Bilail Nichols, Roy Robertson-Harris, Abdullah Anderson, John Jenkins, Brent Urban

Goldman will be missed, like, a lot. I fear for the run defense. Offenses might get 3 yards a carry now.

ILB - Danny Trevathan, Roquan Smith, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Josh Woods

This group stays the same, good but still not great, it depends on how much Smith has progressed.

OLB - Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Barkevious Mingo, Isaiah Irving, Trevis Gipson

If Quinn is a s advertised, this defense is going to be fun to watch. 

CB - Kyle Fuller, Jaylon Johnson, Buster Skrine, Kevin Toliver, Sherrick McManis, Kindle Vildor

This group is shaky and full of doubts. I expect much growth from Johnson and Vildor at the end of this season, it's all I can ask from them.

S - Eddie Jackson, Deon Bush, Tashaun Gipson, DeAndre Houston-Carson

Im giving Bush the SS spot, he know the defense and I believe the line will need an enforcer to help them with the run. Then again, I can be way off and Gipson gets the starting spot because he seems better in coverage and with a shaky situation on one side of the field oposite of Fuller maybe this would be better.

SP - Cairo Santos, Pat O´Donnell, Patrick Scales

Eddy Pineiro getting injured got Santos singed, I have seen what happens to kickers when they get injured and usually their performance goes down that year or don't play at all.

McManis, Bush and Mingo should bring some good experience to SP.

Ok, so now its wait and see what happens. Maybe five TEs.

2020 Offseason post draft

  

   Things are moving slow with this pandemic situation, Ryan Pace is still trying to fill the gaps on the team with FA players while Matt Nagy is already starting his virtual camp sessions, this season is going to be a mess if there is even a season to consider this year, with stupid people not helping the cause and idiotic government personnel in charge in many places of the world doing even worst damage, there is no way to know when this is going to get stabilized. But I will keep going with my life thinking there is a shot of a 2020 NFL season just for kicks and some sanity.

  The biggest move Pace made this offseason was trading the 2020 4th round compensatory pick for Nick Foles, I wouldn't had a problem with this move if it wasn't for the massive contract attached. This deal to me means that Foles is the starter or should be, you don't pay a QB 15 million a year just to sit on the bench even when the team says it will be a competition, Mitch Trubisky is almost certain to be on a spot to fail, he would become Foles backup to then be let go on 2021 when his contract is done and will be labeled as a bust 1st round pick making him Pace's third 1st round bust he has drafted with the Bears, even with the mid round gems he has found thru his 4 years as a GM, this will badly taint his reputation as a good personnel evaluator. Trubisky should get his last shot as the starter but it's really hard to envision this scenario with how much money they are investing in Foles and how little they would lose by letting go of Trubisky if Foles works out, Pace and Matt Nagy would get another year to find the Bears future franchise QB. Getting really ahead of myself, what if Foles struggles early? When do you decide to take him out for Trubisky? in the case Foles starts and he is taken out because of production for Trubisky, Pace will place his job on Nagy's hands to save both his asses while trying to make Trubisky play his heart out. Fun right? Well with how this draft ended up being, specially the first two picks, this Foles/Trubisky thing can be viewed maybe in the same way. Pace drafted TE Kole Kmet with his first 2nd round pick while the board was falling with other better prospects on other positions available that Pace could have picked due to value, instead he drafted his 10th TE on the roster, then with his next 2nd rounder 10 picks after Kmet he drafted a stud DB in Jaylon Johnson. So, does it matter if he chose a better pick after a not so good one in regards of value as a prospect? Other things come into consideration but the main thing is that if Trubisky starts and Foles sits at the beginning of the year, I could view it as just salary total for the QB position not regarding who is owner of which contract, problem is if Trubisky thrives in 2020 then how do you keep the guy? do you go all out with Trubisky and franchise tag him while showing Foles the door? do you retain both for insurance while paying them top dollar? or do you let Trubisky go and try to get a good compensatory pick in return, draft a top QB in 2021 while retaining Foles? Does Pace sleep at all?

   In other lesser stressful news, Pace went on a mission to get speed for the offense by drafting 5th rounder Darnell Mooney and by signing FAs Ted Ginn Jr. and Trevor Davis. Mooney seems to play hard even with a really slim frame, he will need to keep that flame alive to get a shot against the veterans, right now I believe it's Ginn's spot to lose while Davis can contribute more on ST's. Ginn doesn't make the slot position solid, he’s a former speedster that relies on his knowledge of route running more than his physique, Davis and Mooney are question marks for now so even if Pace found some talent, it's still a wait and see scenario.

   The EDGE position got some help in the 5th round as well, going up for Trevis Gipson who shows good shedding and burst to get to the QB, can bend somewhat but helps that he shows a good motor to finish the play. Can be a good rotational guy behind veterans Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn.

   The other 5th rounder that Pace went up to get was DB Kindle Vildor, a hard nose corner who doesn't shy away from contact with really good agility, his size doesn't help him against big receivers, but he will go all out no matter what. He is bound to play on the inside of the secondary be it at nickel or safety, but he will be a good addition to special teams. The addition of Tashaun Gipson clearly will make him the starting choice at SS, others that can compete for this spot other than Deon Bush and Vildor could be Stephen Denmark and newcomer Jordan Lucas.

    Seventh rounders T Arlington Hambright and G Lachavious Simmons will fight to climb the depth chart to get a chance to play or probably more likely to make the PS. This is a statement from Nagy, not drafting top talented prospects Olinemen to plug Kyle Long's spot and get real competition for at least Bobby Massie says to me that he is convinced that what happened last year was a fluke, that the 2018 OL is the reality of this unit and can get back to being as they were. I don't buy it, at least at the RT position, Massie is getting old and was never a dominant player, he won't get better and can easily regress, to not have talent behind him is a dangerous game, I just hope Alex Bars is a diamond in the rough and can be that guy, there's still the signing of Jason Spriggs to look at and see if he can get coached to be the player the Packers thought they were getting. Germain Ifedi is still believable to hold the RG spot but again who is behind him pushing him to be better? Pace could have gone OL at the draft and gotten Matt Peart or Netane Mutti who where my favorite late picks for this draft that could have pushed the competition.

   Getting back to the two top picks of the Bears draft in Kmet and Johnson. Johnson looks to be a player that is very similar to how Kyle Fuller plays corner, he is tough with good size and plays with instincts to know when to attack the ball, he doesn't show recovery speed so if his instincts fail him he is going to get in trouble. Saying that we would have two Fullers on the field doesn't sound bad, but who would cover the speedster? every team is searching for their Tyreek Hill in regards of deep threat receivers, I'm not all that sure that they can cover speed that well without help from the safety. Now Kmet is another statement form Nagy, one that makes me believe that he is not a good coach, by drafting Kmet as a priority with their first available pick this says to me that Nagy is unable to coach if he does not have the "right" TE corps, he is unable to mold his offense depending on what he has on his roster and I find that limiting his ability to coach a team and that is what would bother me on the Kmet pick, I understand that there is scheme involved but how much talent do you need to have on one position to make it work? do you really need a carbon copy of a player for Nagy’s offense to function properly? No pick is a sure thing but going blindly for one guy not even considering the other options available is shortsighted for the future.

   There’s still some depth missing at RB and ILB that Pace can try and fill at FA but if nothing else changes from here to the start of the season, the roster is solid at defense and questionable at best at offense of course, OL and QB will tell the tale of the 2020 Chicago Bears season, if there is one.

2020 Defensive Situation

DL

   One of the best fronts of the league, the Bears can try to bolster their Dline by getting some insurance players if Akiem Hicks or Eddie Goldman get hurt (knock on wood). Bilal Nichols is still on evaluation and the only way he gets debunked from the starting unit is if he gets in a slump or the Bears get some kind of pro bowl player on the roster. There is really no need to get Roy Robertson-Harris back if his price is too high, it might benefit the Bears more if they let him go to pile up a possible compensatory pick for next year's draft.

   Free agency has some intriguing picks but all of them will probably demand a big contract that the Bears can use elsewhere.

LB

   This position is where it gets interesting, Ryan Pace has several options he can take to strengthen this area, what there is no question is that the pass rush at the EDGE need to improve, this is not a total hit on Leonard Floyd who I think is a very good player but he is not winning in the sack department by taking advantage of the attention placed on Khalil Mack by opposing offenses. I wouldn't blame Pace for sticking with Floyd but he needs to get the QB down more than he has in his career or Chuck Pagano has to shake things up for someone else to do the dirty work and let's face it, behind Floyd there is a big gap in talent so there is need here, it could be filled at FA with guys like Kyler Fackrell or Jordan Jenkins but a draft pick would be best. MLB has even more options, I like the one they keep Danny Trevathan and Kevin Pierre-Louis and let go Nick Kwiatkoski. Funny I prefer to let the young one go after a great year to keep the old guys on the roster, but Kwiatkowski’s emergence feels a bit fishy, he was a guy who couldn't cover for his life but was a good run stuffer, all of a sudden he isn't a liability in coverage and blitzer like a maniac? I don't buy it, let him get a starting job elsewhere and elevate the chance for a compensatory draft pick for 2021. Trevathan can still play and Pierre-Louis was a nice surprise, Roquan Smith should get better this year. I wouldn't bother searching for someone on FA to fill the gaps.

CB

   With Prince Amukamara gone, its Kevin Toliver’s job to lose against anyone Ryan Pace brings to compete for the spot which he needs to do. Kyle Fuller is set on the other side and the nickel can improve but Buster Skrine did his part very well. These two seem to be at their prime age and could be declining any moment in the next couple of years, there is no rush in finding replacements for this position but it’s a though position to fill so it’s a good idea to bring in one or two rookies to evaluate. There is a lot of options for the slot on FA, Kendall Fuller is a nice player that can be brought in to play with his brother but for be CB2 position maybe Logan Ryan is a nice veteran presence who has solid play that can come cheap.

S

   Eddie Jackson needs a new partner, the HaHa Clinton-Dix experiment wasn’t a complete failure but didn’t have the results I expected, interceptions went way down compared to the previous season probably because the pass rush wasn’t all there so there weren’t many opportunities to exploit the two ball hawking FSs on the field, it didn’t help pulling Jackson to the line of scrimmage on some plays to help stop the run, he need to be downfield reading the defense at all time, so it’s very likely that the Bears go back to the normal formula of a pounding SS. Deon Bush is still an option but he needs to improve on coverage, it looks like there are some nice candidates on this draft for the Bears to consider with their mid round picks, as for FA there are guys like Tony Jefferson, Reshad Jones or Tavon Wilson that could be nice options at the right price.

ST

   Pat O'Donnell and whoever is the snapper will likely stay put, they just need to beat the competition like every year. Eddie Pineiro on the other hand needs to be tested with fire once again, bringing in a veteran and a rookie and not let him feel comfortable until he gets to the final 53 man roster, then Matt Nagy can loosen up on him a bit.

2020 Offensive Situation

QBs
   The QB will always be the first position to be evaluated and get the majority of the blame, in this case... yeah Mitch Trubisky needs to get it together next year, he shows flashes of talent but then shows you boneheaded decision making that makes me understand why fans and critics want him out. What Jimmy Garopollo and others showed me this postseason is that when your team is struggling they will turn to the QB to give them hope of victory with their play and leadership, the ones that respond are the called elite, Trubisky is a QB who the team can win with but not one that wins because of him, he is not elite but average at best right now, the little tape he has accumulated doesn't show hes on the path to being one and will continue to show more inconsistency if the Oline, TE position and coaching are not fixed and upgraded. Coaching was the first to get purged and renewed with the hireing of OC Bill Lazor, QB coach John DeFilippo, OL coach Juan Castillo and TE coach Clancy Barone. Lazor is the one that is creating more noise in the league for his connections with the Bengals when he was their OC with Andy Dalton on his offense who is on the trading block or some say he is, some critics say the Bears should take a shot at getting Dalton and be their starting QB for this coming season, well I'll get to that  in a bit.

   Chase Daniel is a free agent and I believe his work with the Bears is done, he has shown what he can do as a backup QB and as a mentor to Trubisky for some years now and I believe there is better value at FA to get upgraded at backup QB, meaning I still believe Trubisky should get the nod in 2020. Competition to push Trubisky is needed no question about it, bringing someone like Dalton or Derek Carr by trade would be tempting but they would be taking the starting job, not competing for it. I don't think they are sure things to push the Bears to the next level and it would cost draft stock that the Bears are lacking, I would prefer to use cap space to fill the need. Top prospects Drew Brees and Tom Brady would break the Bears bank, although they would most probably upgrade the position, there is no telling for how long. This would kill any chance for Trubisky to come back from his 2019 performance and make him a bust pick. If Brady or Brees pan out with some playoff appearances then Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy keep their jobs and the search for the future QB for the Bears continue on their hands. Same thing happens if they go for Teddy Bridgewater, a less probable upgrade but with promise, I would pass on him. Realistic option for me would be Marcus Mariota, he would come in and compete and if he wins the job it's because the coaching staff sees something that Trubisky didn't show and I would be OK with that. Ryan Tannehill or Case Keenum would be options as well, even if Tannehill took a step forward this season doesn't mean he is an automatic starting QB in my eyes and should be treated like Nick Foles with the Eagles and  not pay for him like the Jaguars. These two should be quality back ups that could earn the dollar Chase Daniel was paid. Tyler Bray is a big question mark, he could be called up from the PS for the backup job, if he is not then it's time to search for another QB this year to polish, but in what round? there is not enough ammo to spread around to fill all the holes on the roster and still have some to strengthen other positions.

   The offense needs to be reworked and reloaded, there is not enough cash to take the "easy" road unless there are some drastic moves made by Pace, the road I would take is go all in with Trubisky but then again my job isn't on the line.


RBs

 The running game in 2019 was a thing of horror, David Montgomery as a rookie took the role of lead back and excelled at it although he didn't put the numbers to back it up. Even when there was no hole in front of him, he produced yards just by sheer will, strength and determination to not go down and not get pushed back. Not everything was clean, his vision can improve a bit but it was a slight issue because he needed to create his own running lanes instead of waiting for his Oline to open them up for him. Tarik Cohen took a step back and even worse I saw little to no willingness to attack the hole, running east-west and getting out the sidelines to often, again this is an issue with the Oline but this tells me that Cohen is not a pure running back and depends on his speed and agility alone to make defenders miss and can't sustain to many hits or doesn't want to. Cohen needs to be more involved on screens and the passing game and limit his snaps by how he played las year, two years ago it was the contrary, showing what a dangerous player he was with the ball coming off the backfield, but again, is it all the Olines fault? Is the running game broken because the Oline can't execute Matt Nagys playbook? It is a possibility and would be easier to fix, that is if the coaches know how to use their current players.

   This position doesn't need that much attention, Montgomery should get better with better all around offense. It's time to see how good Ryan Nall is as a backup change of pace RB while getting Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson on some situational plays. There isn't really someone on free agency that could make an impact aside maybe Matt Breida or a returning Jordan Howard to back up Montgomery if the team is still doubting Nalls potential. All is futile if the team can't turn around the bad play the Oline showed last year.

WRs

   The WR core hasn't looked better since 2013 with Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey were the one-two punch, even so this position can get better and should. Allen Robinson is the X receiver no doubt but the Y should be battled between Anthony Miller and either Javon Wims or Riley Ridley, then there is the slight issue at the speed department. With Taylor Gabriel gone, there is a lack of speed to make secondarys cover deep. Cordarrelle Patterson could maybe help but hasn't been that deep threat in his career, not constantly. Tarik Cohen is the other that can help and has had some good deep catches but he would need to get better at route running and then there is the size thing. There is size on this team with Robinson, Wims and Patterson but Mitchell Trubisky doesn't really take advantage of this, when throwing deep he doesn't throw consistent 50/50 balls to his receivers, usually they are 1 step ahead of the receiver, maybe a speedster can help him get better at the deep ball but that doesn't mean he shouldn't get better with his accuracy, he needs to get reps with these guys until his arm drops off. Still speed is the name of the game lately and a name really doesn't ring when watching the list of WR free agents, the only one I know that was drafted because of his deep threat ability was Breshad Perriman, he is still young and can maybe get better as a player and has the measurements not expected from a speedster.

   Losing Gabriel isn't a big hit, I believe his drops and injuries took a toll in the decision to let him go but now Ryan Pace has to find new legs that can beat coverage and call the attention of the safeties to to help the others exploit one on ones.

TEs
   Last years roller coaster of TEs was seemingly what hurt Matt Nagys offense the most, Trey Burton was a no show with multiple injuries, Adam Shaheen disappears on the field, Ben Braunecker is just a guy, J.P. Holtz and Jesper Horsted are very raw. Dax Raymond is still on trial to see if he sees the field as a Bear. So yeah, there is need here.

   Demetrius Harris gets to be the first move on free agency for the Bears and I don't see him be more than someone to push the other new guys to compete. On free agency the top candidate has to be Austin Hooper but he will get payed big time by someone, so chances are slim for Pace to get him. If they ignore the medical issue, Hunter Henry could come cheaper with same kind of talent. Even cheaper but a tad older could be Tyler Eifert, hes no sure thing but can be worth a shot.

   I believe the Bear will take a shot to get Hooper, this position hurt the Bears badly last year and Pace has to make a splash to help Nagy get back on track and if a TE is what he needs then he has to try and get him the best guy possible. The other road to take is the familiar one which is stick with Burton and hope he returns healthy for 2020. I would rather get some insurance on this years pool of free agents.


Oline
   I didn't expect the Oline to play so lost, so poorly, it took me some weeks after Kyle Long started missing games due to injury to consider that maybe he was part of the reason they were playing so bad and it made sense they switched Cody Whitehair back to center and move James Daniels to LG, I thought it was because Daniels wasn't strong enough to anchor the C position, but then I heard that it probably was because Daniels was to raw with the play calling and having to inexperienced players together being Daniels and RG Rashaad Coward, well it made sense, Long being the most experienced of the group wasn't there to prepare Daniels pre-snap or clean up some mistakes he would do as a rookie. Coward is to inexperienced to be a starter, Massie is getting old, Leno is just good enough in a position you want someone great, with Daniels and Whitehair still learning, it's understandable but I just didn't imagine it was going to be so awful.
   The Bears no question need a RG, Massie should be thanked for his services and be let go, Leno can keep his job if there is no one better to push him to the bench were he would be an exceptional backup. I was pleading for the Bears to give Alex Bars a crack at a starting position, it didn't happen, he got into the field but just as a situational player, he can be an option to be an answer to either right side position need but it would be best if he could anchor the RT spot because it is "easier" to find a good guard at the draft with a second round pick. To upgrade the LT position will be almost imposible this year, Ryan Pace would have to strike gold with one of his draft picks, it is more posible to get help at free agency and wait for next year, this pool has some interesting options for the RT position Pace wants to go that way like Jack Conklin or Halapoulivaati Vaitai but I would be asking Jason Peters for his services, he has tons of experiences and can still play very well, the Bears could use the las bit he has on the tank to protect Mitchell Trubisky.

2020 WR position

   The WR core hasn't looked better since 2013 with Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey were the one-two punch, even so this position can get better and should. Allen Robinson is the X receiver no doubt but the Y should be battled between Anthony Miller and either Javon Wims or Riley Ridley, then there is the slight issue at the speed department. With Taylor Gabriel gone, there is a lack of speed to make secondarys cover deep. Cordarrelle Patterson could maybe help but hasn't been that deep threat in his career, not constantly. Tarik Cohen is the other that can help and has had some good deep catches but he would need to get better at route running and then there is the size thing. There is size on this team with Robinson, Wims and Patterson but Mitchell Trubisky doesn't really take advantage of this, when throwing deep he doesn't throw consistent 50/50 balls to his receivers, usually they are 1 step ahead of the receiver, maybe a speedster can help him get better at the deep ball but that doesn't mean he shouldn't get better with his accuracy, he needs to get reps with these guys until his arm drops off. Still speed is the name of the game lately and a name really doesn't ring when watching the list of WR free agents, the only one I know that was drafted because of his deep threat ability was Breshad Perriman, he is still young and can maybe get better as a player and has the measurements not expected from a speedster.
   Losing Gabriel isn't a big hit, I believe his drops and injuries took a toll in the decision to let him go but now Ryan Pace has to find new legs that can beat coverage and call the attention of the safeties to to help the others exploit one on ones.
 

2020 RB position

   The running game in 2019 was a thing of horror, David Montgomery as a rookie took the role of lead back and excelled at it although he didn't put the numbers to back it up. Even when there was no hole in front of him, he produced yards just by sheer will, strength and determination to not go down and not get pushed back. Not everything was clean, his vision can improve a bit but it was a slight issue because he needed to create his own running lanes instead of waiting for his Oline to open them up for him. Tarik Cohen took a step back and even worse I saw little to no willingness to attack the hole, running east-west and getting out the sidelines to often, again this is an issue with the Oline but this tells me that Cohen is not a pure running back and depends on his speed and agility alone to make defenders miss and can't sustain to many hits or doesn't want to. Cohen needs to be more involved on screens and the passing game and limit his snaps by how he played las year, two years ago it was the contrary, showing what a dangerous player he was with the ball coming off the backfield, but again, is it all the Olines fault? Is the running game broken because the Oline can't execute Matt Nagys playbook? It is a possibility and would be easier to fix, that is if the coaches know how to use their current players.

   This position doesn't need that much attention, Montgomery should get better with better all around offense. It's time to see how good Ryan Nall is as a backup change of pace RB while getting Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson on some situational plays. There isn't really someone on free agency that could make an impact aside maybe Matt Breida or a returning Jordan Howard to back up Montgomery if the team is still doubting Nalls potential. All is futile if the team can't turn around the bad play the Oline showed last year.

2020 QB position

   The QB will always be the first position to be evaluated and get the majority of the blame, in this case... yeah Mitch Trubisky needs to get it together next year, he shows flashes of talent but then shows you boneheaded decision making that makes me understand why fans and critics want him out. What Jimmy Garopollo and others showed me this postseason is that when your team is struggling they will turn to the QB to give them hope of victory with their play and leadership, the ones that respond are the called elite, Trubisky is a QB who the team can win with but not one that wins because of him, he is not elite but average at best right now, the little tape he has accumulated doesn't show hes on the path to being one and will continue to show more inconsistency if the Oline, TE position and coaching are not fixed and upgraded. Coaching was the first to get purged and renewed with the hireing of OC Bill Lazor, QB coach John DeFilippo, OL coach Juan Castillo and TE coach Clancy Barone. Lazor is the one that is creating more noise in the league for his connections with the Bengals when he was their OC with Andy Dalton on his offense who is on the trading block or some say he is, some critics say the Bears should take a shot at getting Dalton and be their starting QB for this coming season, well I'll get to that  in a bit.

   Chase Daniel is a free agent and I believe his work with the Bears is done, he has shown what he can do as a backup QB and as a mentor to Trubisky for some years now and I believe there is better value at FA to get upgraded at backup QB, meaning I still believe Trubisky should get the nod in 2020. Competition to push Trubisky is needed no question about it, bringing someone like Dalton or Derek Carr by trade would be tempting but they would be taking the starting job, not competing for it. I don't think they are sure things to push the Bears to the next level and it would cost draft stock that the Bears are lacking, I would prefer to use cap space to fill the need. Top prospects Drew Brees and Tom Brady would break the Bears bank, although they would most probably upgrade the position, there is no telling for how long. This would kill any chance for Trubisky to come back from his 2019 performance and make him a bust pick. If Brady or Brees pan out with some playoff appearances then Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy keep their jobs and the search for the future QB for the Bears continue on their hands. Same thing happens if they go for Teddy Bridgewater, a less probable upgrade but with promise, I would pass on him. Realistic option for me would be Marcus Mariota, he would come in and compete and if he wins the job it's because the coaching staff sees something that Trubisky didn't show and I would be OK with that. Ryan Tannehill or Case Keenum would be options as well, even if Tannehill took a step forward this season doesn't mean he is an automatic starting QB in my eyes and should be treated like Nick Foles with the Eagles and  not pay for him like the Jaguars. These two should be quality back ups that could earn the dollar Chase Daniel was paid. Tyler Bray is a big question mark, he could be called up from the PS for the backup job, if he is not then it's time to search for another QB this year to polish, but in what round? there is not enough ammo to spread around to fill all the holes on the roster and still have some to strengthen other positions.

   The offense needs to be reworked and reloaded, there is not enough cash to take the "easy" road unless there are some drastic moves made by Pace, the road I would take is go all in with Trubisky but then again my job isn't on the line.