Post Draft 2017

This was not a draft for the fans, this was Ryan Paces draft for the future that will give us nightmares at least until the season starts. I didn’t want a QB with the 3rd overall pick, I hated the idea, so when I see Pace trading up to get Mitchell Trubisky with the 2nd overall I just felt my stomach turn waiting to know what was given for the move, although I didn’t care to know at the same time because any pick lost to that was a punch in the nuts. I don’t hate Trubisky I consider him a good prospect but wasn’t my favorite, I  could say that I wouldn’t have cared if they had gotten him at mid to late round but the reality is that he wasn’t going to be there watching teams going up for Mahomes and Watson at 10 and 12. The night was ruined for many of us, it took me until the end of the first round when I stopped reading tweets about the pick because I feared for my health and started watching the interviews on youtube (doesn’t sound like it was a better idea as I write it). On came Paces press conference and the one thing that I heard that made me feel better was the part where he said (not quoting) he really wanted the guy and was going to do everything possible to get him because he believes in his talent, and then he said something I will quote, “I don’t want to be average around here, I want to be grate”. He really doesn’t have a choice but to convince everyone that this is the right choice, but at least he does say it convincingly. Like I said, I don’t think he could have gotten him later on the day so he did what he needed to do to get the guy he wanted, even if he gave a 3rd rounder for next year’s draft when it should have been a 4th, it just shows how much he wanted this QB although his "best player available" philosophy does not show in this draft at all, after this trade every other pick felt like a reach. Now the trade up was because, as the rumor goes, the 49ers told the Bears they were going to trade down with another team, I won’t go as far as to say the niners told them the team was drafting Trubisky, I believe that was the logical chain of thought for the Bears war room so they jumped to get their guy, so I don’t know if it’s a tool to make other teams react like that with rumors or false information but if it really is this is a business tactic well I would have to give kudos to the 49ers war room and shame to the Bears war room, but if this is cheap trickery then I give the middle finger to John Lynch.

   With nothing else to do but to swallow the reality that we will have less chances to strike a promising player, but the rest of the draft shows us something else. In the second round the Bears trade down to get back a 4th rounder and ad a 6th rounder we didn’t have and another 4th for next year in exage for the 2nd and 7th pick this year, weeeh! Right? Well, it didn’t last long for the happy rollercoaster to go swishing down.

With the 45th pick Pace gets Adam Shaheen, the big and athletic TE form a small school. This fell a bit like a reach only because there were some other players available in areas of bigger need. The reality is that this is a promising talent that if he pans out should contribute immensely and because we lacked a 3rd round pick there was a chance that he would not be there in the 4th round so it’s another pick for the future of the franchise. Fists, second and maybe even third round players are picked with the thought that they should contribute as starters on the year they were drafted, but in this case with the 2 picks that we finished having this year made this a draft for the future, the tools these two players have are top notch but they aren’t ready to play day 1 because they lack experience to play at their best and it’s hard to digest the idea that our two top picks are going to start on the bench and will have to wait for them to develop to what Pace thinks will be great players. So, charge up your patience pack because this could take a while.

   We go to day three of the draft and don’t have to wait too long because here comes Pace lunging forward 5 spots to get his man, giving up the 6th pick we got on the trade down. Picking with the 112 slot we get Eddie Jackson, YES! Although he is also considered a reach I don’t care, I like it, gives us a promising center fielding safety with good coverage and ball skills, a poor man’s Malik Hooker maybe and that’s fine by me because we are poor at this moment. So here comes the roller coaster back up again, seven picks later and I can’t really see the bottom anymore. With the 119 pick we get Tarik Cohen, WHO?! I see his stats and immediately think that pace misses Darren Sproles so he picks his mini me. A RB that destroyed his division with speed and agility maybe because nobody could bend that much to get him, but if he plays anything similar to Sproles I don’t care what he measures. Experts say this is a reach and I agree this time, Josh Reynolds went to the Rams two picks earlier and was my last best choice on offense and Desmond King was still there I would have preferred him or even a developing OT like Julie’n Davenport or Will Holden, but that wasn’t the case so let’s move on.

   With the final pick, the 147 on the 5th round we get a guard for some reason, Jordan Morgan from a small school. King and Holden were still there, but we got a guard who is promising but as I watch the result of this draft I see that Pace drafted players at positions that are already set, I could say that we just solidified the positions, not necessarily made them better which that is yet to be seen but there is depth now, there isn’t much to do in these areas but to wait and see who is the better player.

   I can see the CB position as already filled with promise but I can’t say the same on the other positions like the OTs, DL and WRs. Ryan Pace really put a target on his back with this draft and could now be in the hot seat with John Fox if this season turns to be a bad one. I really like Pace as GM and would give him time to see the development of his draft picks, but with some big contracts given to average players as some experts see and now with a questionable draft, they cant end with a top 5 pick next year because it would mean they gave up way to much for Trubisky, they would positioned themselves to have gotten a better prospect or even a starting QB next year as viewed by scouts and that would just show how poor Paces decisions on this draft were.

2017 NFL Draft Prospects

   If Chicago stays put with the 3^rd overall pick there’s just too many options, the easy/logic decision would be to go with Jonathan Allen or Solomon Thomas because you should start solidifying the line but I don’t like Allen’s medical record and both him and Thomas size bugs me a little not really convinced they can dominate at the 5 tech. What I would love to see is going for Jamal Adams, I believe he is a complete player at safety and his leadership is a plus. The only thing that bugs me is not him as a player, but the need on the team where I believe that, if Malik Hooker is who he and everybody else says he is, then a centerfielding cover safety is what the Bears lack, but he is raw and has medical issue’s and that is a risk that I don’t see in Adams. Other players I can consider is Marshon Lattimore who has the same ceiling and issues as Hooker and O.J. Howard who is just an animal but the pick may be too high for the position with other needs.

   QB I would prefer they go for on the mid to late round if he’s still there, DeShone Kizer. He’s big, strong, athletic, big arm, has played pro system, reads defenses, doesn’t have to play day one so he can be polished.

   On day two we get anything that drops from the first round, seeing this draft is full on talent. Some prospects I like in order are Chris Wormley, Jordan Willis, Zach Cunningham, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Zay Jones, Antonio Garcia, Budda Baker, Desmond King, Eddie Jackson, Curtis Samuel and Tre’Davious White. Again, if any of these guys drop to the third round take him. 

   If Kizer get to the bottom of the first round or goes to day 2 of the draft and the Bears want him then go get him, if not I would wait to round 3 and see if Nate Peterman is there or if the team really wants him they could reach for him with the second pick. Other than these 2 QBs, I feel unsure with the rest of the bunch especially Deshaun Watson, he may be a winner but so was Vince Young. Mitchell Trubisky isn’t a bad prospect but I believe Kizer has more upside than him with better physic and knowledge of the game. Patrick Mahomes and Davis Webb have a better arm than Peterman but they are more erratic, Mahomes mechanics are all over the place and the tape on Webb against Washington is awful especially his decision making, they feel like Cutler clones so I don’t see them going for either of them although I do see some Tony Romo in Mahomes but I do believe that would be his ceiling. Brad Kaaya is intriguing but he really does look like he has the yips or something and his character a big negative for him. Chad Kelly is a big “NO” with ups and downs with his game and life in general. Other two I may be ok with Chicago targeting are Joshua Dobbs and Jerod Evans on day three but I don’t see them being more than backups, I would prefer getting talent on other positions with the picks.

Other players I consider for round 3 through 7:

Jarrad Davis ILB 3rd

Raekwon McMillan ILB 3rd

Adam Shaheen TE 3rd

Chris Goodwin WR 3rd

Josh Reynolds WR 3rd

Adoree Jackson DB/RS 3rd

Amara Darboh WR 4th

Malachi Dupre WR 4rd

Carlos Henderson WR 4th

Taylor Moton OT 4th

Julie’n Davenport OT 4th

Jaleel Johnson NT 4th

Carlos Watkins NT/5T 4th

Montavious Adams NT 4th

Fabian Moreau DB 4^th

George Kittle 5th

Michael Roberts TE 5th

Jake Butt TE 5th

Stacy Coley WR 5th

Jehu Chesson WR 5th

Will Holden OT 5th

Dion Dawkins OT 5th

Fish Smithson S 5th

John Johnson S 5^th

Corn Elder DB 7th

Damontae Kazee DB 7th

Shaquil Griffin DB 7th

Darius English OLB 7^th

Deatrich Wise OLB 7th

Pre-Draft 2017 Free Agent Signings

   With the 2017 draft just 2 days from starting Im ready to give my opinion on the top free agents that the Bears signed with Ryan Pace on the helm. Since I don’t really know how to evaluate a good contract or how to evaluate the cap space going forward, I won’t get to much into that.

   So, Mike Glennon got signed with a contract that reflects he is the starting QB for the Bears this year, giving Jay Cutler the boot out of town. For starters, I don’t see this as an upgrade and the contract for his first year on the team shows he gets more money than Cutler would have got so that’s a negative for me. Glennon deserves a chance to start no doubt as he received a lot of hype the last 2 years as Tampa Bay’s backup QB although now you hear that he isn’t that good to be a starter, so make up your minds already, as for me I say he has enough to get a chance. What I don’t like about him is his zero mobility and therefore needs a good O-line that the Bears lack of in consistent tackles, that is scary as this draft lacks talented plug & play tackles, so the only option I see is to game plan this weakness so he doesn’t have the ball for more than 5 seconds in the pocket, something that a more agile Cutler usually would do. And for those who say that Jimmy Garoppolo would have been a better option because his less of a risk I say nay! because why is he less of a risk? Because of his better stats in 1 and a half games agaist Glennons average stats in 21 games? At the time of the signing, Glennon was cheaper and more experienced than Garoppolo who was sold at a cost of a franchises future with a promising high ceiling.

   So, bottom line is that the Bears organization get what they wanted; a battle tested, good guy, promising starting QB who they can mold in to their system at a “reasonable” price, getting rid of Cutler who they didn’t want any more let it be because he wasn’t liked, didnt fit on their system, injury prone or/and getting old. This gets them a chance to get a young QB to polish whether its Connor Shaw or one at this year’s draft. This is where it gets… interesting.

   If they pick a QB with the 3^rd overall pick, it’s going to be a long 3 months for me. I may scream hell I may even shed a tear or two I don’t know what to expect so I really hope they DON’T DO IT! Only way I can accept drafting a QB in the first round is if they trade down to wherever and get a 2^nd rounder and even better if they use that 2^nd rounder to get back and select a QB they really want instead of using the 1^st pick.

   Back to the free agent signings, I like that they picked up 2 good promising experienced corners with Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper they have good size and have looked good on the field, but to get rid of Tracy Porter was a little surprising for me although I understand that the team is filled with young talent at the position but there is no sure #1 CB. Our best shot is Amukamara although he is as injury prone just as Porter is. Good thing this draft is loaded with promising DBs but how much raw talent can we get on a team and pick the right starters out of the bunch? I believe this is going to take 1 more year to solidify the position but it looks we will get there.

   Quintin Demps will try to do the job that Antrel Rolle couldnt do when he was on the team, to be the experienced, sure tackling leader at the safety position. I feel we will have two SS on the field if Demps gets that assignment and Adrian Amos get the FS spot because I see him more as a punisher that a cover guy so I expect it to be the other way around. If DeAndre Houston-Carson or Deiondre Hall don’t step up I don’t see a deep cover FS on the team.

   I like to think Pace went to the market to get some speed on the WR spot with Markus Wheaton and Kendall Wright who are still young and can play slot and outside with good rout running, something we are not getting consistently out of Eddie Royal because of various injuries throughout his 2 years as a Bear. Needless to say, I like these signings, because the speed is needed so that Glennon gets rid of the ball faster. Just hope Wheaton is worth those $11 million, that contract looks awfully like the contract Royal got.

   My favorite signing was Dion Sims who in my eyes looks like a big young menacing double threat TE who got payed yes but I believe it was the fact that Miami didn’t want him to leave thus Chicago broke the bank a bit to persuade him to join the team. I imagine Sims and Zach Miller on opposite ends of the line and I get goose bumps, I love it.

   The rest will battle for positions like re-singed Deonte Thompson against Benny Cunningham for return duties, Tom Compton will have a swing at the swing tackle position (see what I did there?). Chris Prosinski, Sam Acho and Christian Jones get a crack at special teams and backing up at safety, OLB and ILB respectively. Johnthan Banks and John Jenkins will battle for backup duty at CB and DE. B.W. Webb is there too don’t know why really and lastly Mark Sanchez… whatever.

Free Agency 2017

   It’s almost time for March madness and my prediction of Jeffery sticking with the team is most likely about to be incorrect and I can say I don’t care not because I got it wrong but because of what looks like is going to happen at the QB position for the Bears. It looks like the Cutler era is coming to an end leaving us with 1 QB signed as of now being Connor Shaw who is a raw talent at best, they could bring back Matt Barkley or maybe some other experimental QB free agent, getting back Brian Hoyer isn’t a bad idea if he comes cheap but this is what makes my stomach turn, Hoyer would be the starting QB most likely at that sucks because (as I’ve said before)  he is not better than Cutler in which he doesn’t have the tools to win and that’s why it would bother me to lose Jeffery, he would be used to his strengths as a physical possession receiver who is not fast but plays the deep rebounding guy. For a time there was the consideration of trading for Jimmy Garoppolo which I would mind if it was for a second round pick but for me that would mean that in this draft you don’t draft a QB because you would be using to picks for a QB and I don’t like that when you’re still in the process of filling up your whole team with talent in every position specially when losing your #1 receiver, I wouldn’t mind if it’s for next year’s first pick thou. Now there’s rumors that were all in for Mike Glennon, who is probably going to get Cutlers paychecks for the remainder if his soon to expire contract and I say… sure why not. I don’t have anything against Cutler but I do believe that it’s fair to say that the present team of coaches don’t want him or don’t know how to use him, he is to banged up and he isn’t getting any younger and if they like the tools that Glennon bring to the table then what the hell, let’s see this new blood which will play a crucial role for John Fox and Dowell Loggains jobs, I’m not throwing in GM Ryan Pace here yet because he should be evaluated more with his draft and contract decisions. If Glennon is going to be on board, I believe Chicago will be drafting a QB in this year’s draft with their 2^nd or one of their 4^th rounder’s. All of this doesn’t really matter on who get the QB1 reigns if the tackle positions don’t get upgraded, moving along.

   I can see the Bears going deep in free agency, I got a list of possible players they can get but can’t say if they can get them all not really knowing what value they deserve so I’ll just write the here and see what happens it the next days to come.

WRs: Cordarelle Patterson (KR)*

Kenny Stills (slot)

Anquan Boldin (reliable, cheap?)

TEs: Dion Sims, Mychal Rivera, Gavin Escobar (the one that blocks better should be singed*).

OT: Ricky Wagner RT

Kelvin Beachum LT (if he comes with a discount)

RB: Latavious Murray (if he comes cheap, I believe he can be a 3^rd down back catching the ball and blocking)

ILB: Gerald Hodges, Zach Brown, Kevin Minter (the one the team sees more potential or comes cheaper).

OLB: Datone Jones, Nick Perry (cheapest backup).

CB: Logan Ryan, Stephone Gilmore (cheap is todays word).

S: Micah Hyde (versatile, solid)*

Bradley McDouglad (box SS, special teams? Cheap?)

Tony Jefferson (maybe to $$)

NT: Bennie Logan (run stuffer, depends $)*

Brandon Williams, Johnathan Hankins (maybe to $$)

DE: Calias Campbell ($$ worth it, depends on the other needs)*

QB Mike Glennon (better than Hoyer I guess…)

* Refers to the players I really want on the team

Bears 4th qtr 2016 season

The season is over for the Bears (for a while now...) and the ride wasn’t pleasant, finishing with a mediocre 3-13 record and 18 players on the IR list… eesh.

Resuming the final stretch in a nutshell is that we came empty at the helm fot the starting QB position where Matt Barkley imploded throwing for 10 interceptions in 3 games, although he toughed it out at the end of the Packers game almost getting the win but couldn’t finish it with a TD on the last drive, the next 2 games were just horrible performances trying to do too much with bad ball placement. So, we’re back at having no sure thing at QB for next season and it’s not as simple this time just to bring everyone back because I don’t think you can evaluate more than 4 QBs to see who starts next season. Barkley lost big because Hoyer’s play is better suited as a backup QB where Barkley is more like a development QB like Connor Shaw would be if he’s signed back and if one is drafted this year then I believe you have one to many projects at QB. Hoyer CAN’T be our starting QB so the question is if there’s anyone better at FA for the backup role or even for the starting role where I believe its Cutler’s job to lose one more time next season if no one better is signed.

Focusing on how the other areas of the team on offense finished the year, it’s great that Jordan Howard got called to play at the ProBowl because he deserves it, just come back to us healthy please… really, please. With Jeremy Langford backing him up, the RB position is looking good.

Cameron Meredith played like a pro, great routs and run after catch, needs to focus on catching the ball because he can make really thought catches, he’s a very good WR2. Right now, Jeffrey is our only WR1 and I wouldn’t pay him as one of the top 5 WR in the league, he could argue he’s a top 10 player but durability hits his stock hard, with this said I expect for the Bears to present him with a better contract option that the one they handed to Matt Forte last offseason. One who shouldnt get the chance to finish his contract is Eddie Royal because, as it is for Jeffrey, health is not on his side playing less than half the games in the last 2 seasons. Same could be said about Zach Miller but his game has impacted more and has played more games that Royal, still it’s a good idea to search for talent at the TE position for when Miller can’t go and like Marquess Wilson they have finished 2 season on IR because of the same broken foot and that is a durability concern. Letting go of Royal leaves the slot spot wide open with really no one good enough to take a hold of it, we need speed and that spot gives the Bears a chance to go get someone to fill the position and I believe there are good options in this year’s draft.

Erick Kush played good ball in place of Kyle Long and should be re-signed thus giving the boot to Ted Larsen. The times I was watching the games and not yelling Bobby Massie’s name I realized he got better but I’m not sold on him as I am with Charles Leno Jr. who I would not blame the team to search for better players at both tackle positions, the depth at the interior O-line makes it easier to focus on that.

As for the defense, the front seven looks promising but can’t say the same of the secondary, but in general there is still much work to do. The biggest problem I saw was in week 15 against the Packers where Ty Montgomery sliced through the defense like nothing, I noticed the impact and importance of not having Eddie Goldman on the field. In all the games he didn’t play I saw the run defense succumb to the run, some games more than others, Goldman made Akiem Hicks and Jerrell Freeman play better and more disruptive. Getting another body at NT with Goldman’s run stopping talent to rotate or step in when he’s not available should be a good idea or going for a more talented 5-tech to replace Mitch Unrein who was silent most of the season. I’m hopeful that Jonathan Bullard gets better for year 2 of his career, we could use his explosiveness to harass the QB more often.

Leonard Floyd´s two concussions in his first season is a big concern for me and can’t focus just on his great stats which point in the right direction, he must focus on taking care of himself more by tackling properly. The OLB position looks old and banged up, Willie Young can be considered at his prime, Sam Acho is a backup and Pernell McPhee has health issues and has been a rotational player lately and Lamar Houston is in his second trip to IR in 3 seasons with the Bears. Some youth is necessary here.

The opposite can be said about the ILB position with Freeman being the stellar player this season just to get band 4 games for PEDs and with Danny Threvathan on IR… in come the youngling's Nick Kwiatkoski, who got necessary experience and played decent, and John Timu, who is a backup at best. With Kwiatkoski, Christian Jones and Jonathan Anderson there is some projects here to see how they develop.

The secondary… well it just gives me nightmares. Is it young or old? Theres young talent but not enough was shown to be sure if someone is going to step up like Amos did the previous season. Is Porter going to play forever? who’s going to replace him? Is he on the team right now or in FA or the draft? There are tons of options and possibilities, decisions must be made to pave way for the next squad that will be playing next season. I really like Callahan but he get injured to often, I dislike LeBlanc he's not a sure tackler and get burned a lot but I'll admit he doesn't forgive QBs when they throw a bad ball and he can blanket a receiver but he can also get beat real bad, many have high hopes for him but just not me. Amos didn't have a good year as any of the others that played beside him. In defense,  the secondary squad playing on the field gave plenty of time for the front seven to get to the QB lots of times. But as pressure didn't get there much, neither did they take advantage when the did, making QBs throw bad balls and not resulting in turnovers.

This year's draft is loaded with promising DB's and pass rushers so that's good.

Free agency on the other hand doest look as promising, I don't think the big name players are going to be left free by their present team so Ryan Pace will have to make due with another good draft.

Looking at next year's opponents makes me think that, if this season was tough, next season is going to be loads more. Taking on the AFC NORTH and the NFC SOUTH, both very competitive so will be the Eagles that are on the rise. So a good way of putting it it's that it's going to be a challenging season and getting to the playoffs would speak volumes of the team but another season like this one and we could be experiencing a change in direction for a Bears team that will have to take the long road to get things right. So leaving this year behind, let's enjoy the ride to another season and watch closely what's to come. Bear Down.

Bears 3rd qtr 2016 season

So Bears finish the 3rd quarter of the season with a 3-9 record leaving us with no believable shot at the playoffs, a long list of names on IR and waiting to see what high draft pick were gonna get next year.

  Recapping last 4 games, coming off the bye getting key players back going with confidence after beating the a strong Viking defense, the Bears looked poised to begin a playoff push and I felt the Bucs stole that from us and became that team after beating the crap out of us. I didn’t expect to get beat like that but what I couldn’t believe was the way the team looked on the second half of that game which was still winnable but they couldn't find the way to get back to it, they looked unprepared. Cutler still looks like a man with a curse going to the 4th qtr against the Giants down by 6 with plenty of time and Loggains or himself putting everything on his shoulders trying to get the first down on every play even if it’s more than 10 yards away because of constant penalties while not even trying a screen, an option or a draw play giving no sign of trying to game manage the clock, just Cutler forcing the ball with what we would later find out was an injured throwing shoulder that didn’t put enough on the ball falling to a defender and getting the ending interception. After this game, I thought that Loggains had to go just because he consistently refuses to continue with the run game that is supposed to be Fox´s playstyle.

  Now we enter the QB carousel again and in comes Matt Barkley but this time with more reps and time to grasp the playbook better or that's what i believe because although he has won the same number of games as Cutler and Hoyer, he looks better that Hoyer as of now. Although he threw two interception against the Titans which both where mental mistakes, one was just bad placement not really giving the receiver a chance to make the catch instead of just throwing it away and the other he didn't see the defender or tried to squeeze it in on a well placed ball to the receiver which Barkley showed almost in every throw, he has accuracy and would have given the Bears a win if not by a plethora of drops by the receivers, he showed poise and control in that last drive, something Hoyer did not show. Against San Francisco the game was played as it had to be played especially because of the weather giving the ball to Howard and Barkley moving the chains when necessary not turning the ball over to the defense. I'm very intrigued to see the last four games with Barkley at QB, if he does well i believe that Hoyer will not return to the team and Cutler should be retained one more year to compete for the position because i still remember that, although it was the preseason, Connor Shaw played well and should get a shot as well. This would be a great scenario which doesn't necessarily erase the idea of not picking a QB with the first pick next year if they see one they really like, and i don't think he would start anyway because i don't believe any of them are ready to play yet, but it gives the Bears options and depth in the position to see who wants it more and be the QB of this team that is getting better at the defensive side of the ball and if Cutler accepts the challenge, as a GM, you gotta love having him as possible trade bait. Then again this could have a setback if the OC is changed once again, so maybe getting rid of Loggains right now isn't the way to go.

  But this only has a chance to happen if Barkley keeps it going and if he plays a good game against Green Bay, like Hoyer had his shot to “cement” himself as THE QB for the Bears in week 7, we would have something to look forward to at the final quarter of the season and what's to come.

  Didn't post this in time before the Lions game where Barkley played good but didn't get enough support by his teammates, doesn't matter really because BARKLEY PLAYED GOOD so are some of the rookies so next is Green Bay and every Bears fan wants to see them give us a good performance especially against the Packers so we can get something to cheer about these last three games and have a better feeling for next year.

Bears 2nd qtr 2016 season

   The 3rd quarter of the season started this past weekend where the Bears had their bye week ending the 2nd quarter with a 2-6 record giving away 2 games more to the woeful AFC south teams leaving us all with shattered dreams of playoff hopes. But for us optimistic fools, we still see a chance of more football on January. But first, recapping the last 4 horrifying games of the Brian Hoyer era.

So, there goes the efficient but not so effective Hoyer who threw more than 300 yards in all the 4 games he started and finished… against teams that were down in the mud (except for Dallas) losing all but one game. Its arguable that the offense left too many points on the field and sometimes settled for FG when reaching the red zone and that the defense was to banged up or was just outplayed by the game plan or themselves that they couldn’t sustain a win with so few points scored by the offense. But the Colts and Jaguars games where there for the taking and they couldn’t be more different scenarios and what the team needed was for Hoyer to be clutch and finish those games in the final minutes, the receivers where there and the defenses were average at best but he couldn’t make the necessary throws. 

   Honestly I thought after the win against Detroit that if Hoyer kept playing like that and sustain those numbers with no turnovers, he was finishing the season as the starter and not because I thought he was better than Cutler but because he was more efficient on that offense, I couldn’t comprehend how you lose games with the numbers Hoyer made in those games and how the Oline got better with him playing but I knew that if he played like that against Green Bay he was going to be set, the coaches weren’t going to turn back to Cutler… and then BAM he gets hurt, lost for the season, and in comes the backup Matt Barkley who was not ready, not even close. Then “magically” Cutler is ready to play, which I looked at it as he was available if needed since after the Jacksonville game, if Hoyer started to play badly he would have started at Green Bay but now, like he stated, Fox didn’t have a choice. I see coach John Fox as somewhat lost on what to do with this team but I do believe he has good coaches working for him and are showing that with time they will know how to handle the players they have, I’m excited to see Howard, Meredith and Callahan grow into starting caliber players, it’s just a shame it took some games to know they could play and contribute, I wouldn’t be surprised if Deon Bush gets a crack at safety soon and plays well. 

   So, in comes Jay Cutler just in time to face another good defense if not the best in the league because Hoyer got to play the soft part of the first half… immediately I think Cutler is going to get hammered without his two starting guards and reporters are going to bash him like always. I can only thank the Eagles for showing Vic Fangio the way to destroy Sam Bradford and Dowell Loggins for protecting Cutler with bootlegs and read options which wouldn’t be possible if not for the great play of Jordan Howard, even better was that the Oline didn’t miss a beat. Now I must admit that Cutler could have given this game away but he got lucky when he threw the ball to Jeffery in the first quarter and almost got picked by Xavier Rhodes which would possibly resulted in a pick six but you need this kind of luck and it´s fair to get this lucky once in a while which Cutler rarely gets, for the rest of the game he played good enough mistake free football (except for that pass that hit Jeffery in the back of the helmet… what was that all about?) and the defense showed they can get to the QB when the Oline is a bad one, that helps players like Leonard Floyd to get the confidence they need to produce against better units.

   In short, Hoyer didn’t get far enough to show he could win against good teams, Cutler is and should be in command again but this time with no one to back him up and that is troublesome, good thing were starting to establish and believing in the run game so here’s hoping the Oline gets better with the return of Sitton and Long which I really don’t know how they got better in the first place, thank you football gods (or coaches, whatever).

    As for the record of 2-6 well, it’s going to be hard to get to 8-8 but with what I’ve seen of this team I still believe they can make it with the return of key injured players to the roster and I can even go further to believe they can get to the playoffs just because there aren’t that many dominant teams in the conference and Chicago isn’t playing any, the only teams who are contenders on their schedule are the divisional rivals and the Giants, winning those four are crucial if they want to go to the postseason. Next quarter is against Tampa Bay, Tennessee, NY and SF, Bucs and 49ers should be easy wins, Titans aren’t that good and Giants get hot & cold so winning 3 games at least gives them a chance to get labeled as an underdog for the final strech of the season, less than that and we can start waiting for the 2017 season which I believe does not have a good QB class, so until Ryan Pace doesn’t select a QB to groom, I would stick with Cutler and wait for the Bledsoe/Romo effect. The DB and EDGE group looks loaded with promising prospects and that’s good for the Bears who I think will part ways with Kyle Fuller, who just didn’t play enough to show progress because of injuries, and at OLB you can never have too much young speed on your defense.

And congrats to the Cubs, here’s hoping the Bears get some motivation and fighting spirit out of that excellent world series.