How Bout Dem Bears?

padraig_f · 30-09-2015 7:18pm

gufc21 wrote: »

Why though? Is Fales ready? This is his first year on the roster. If he is well and good but can we expect him to be much better than clausan? I mean when was the last time California produced a good quarterback?

Because Clausen's performance was sub-standard even for a backup QB. They wouldn't be auditioning Fales to replace Cutler (by all accounts he doesn't have the arm talent to be a starting QB), but to replace Clausen as backup QB.

The Saints and Cowboys had their starting QBs out on Sunday too, but got good performances out of their backups, McCown and Weeden. It'll be interesting to see how Mike Vick gets on on Thursday night against the Ravens too, I suppose.

kennyb3 · 30-09-2015 8:05pm

@padraig f, agree re Seattle game. Screw the press and lack of entertainment. There were plenty of positives, more than I saw most of last season.

Goldman, Amos, McPhee, Sutton and Jenkins are all positives for this defence looking ahead. I'd like to see the ILBers be more active and aggressive and I'd like to see bit more from ego Ferguson too.

Guffy · 30-09-2015 11:32pm

padraig_f wrote: »

Because Clausen's performance was sub-standard even for a backup QB. They wouldn't be auditioning Fales to replace Cutler (by all accounts he doesn't have the arm talent to be a starting QB), but to replace Clausen as backup QB.

The Saints and Cowboys had their starting QBs out on Sunday too, but got good performances out of their backups, McCown and Weeden. It'll be interesting to see how Mike Vick gets on on Thursday night against the Ravens too, I suppose.

Ah fair enough. Weren't the pats after him last year too?

Surely vick is washed up at this stage?? (May Just be saying that so i don't feel bad about missing it really)

padraig_f · 01-10-2015 11:23am

gufc21 wrote: »

Ah fair enough. Weren't the pats after him last year too?

Were they, yeah? But I suppose he can't have been too much in demand if he cleared waivers recently.

I just saw yesterday the Clausen vs. Fales debate may be moot anyway:

@BearReport: "Gut? Yeah, I think he plays. Limited today was a good sign.

- You think Cutler plays sunday?"

Surely vick is washed up at this stage?? (May Just be saying that so i don't feel bad about missing it really)

I thought he was salvageable at least as a functional QB, but I dunno, we'll see over the next few weeks.

Guffy · 01-10-2015 12:17pm

padraig_f wrote: »

Were they, yeah? But I suppose he can't have been too much in demand if he cleared waivers recently.

I just saw yesterday the Clausen vs. Fales debate may be moot anyway:

@BearReport: "Gut? Yeah, I think he plays. Limited today was a good sign.

- You think Cutler plays sunday?"

I thought he was salvageable at least as a functional QB, but I dunno, we'll see over the next few weeks.

Ya i think that's why he was activated last year.

D9Male · 02-10-2015 1:08pm

Benjamin Allbright @AllbrightNFL

"For what its worth two contacts in Chicago have said Matt Forte is on the block...Jeffrey isn't."

I would not be happy reading this if I were a Bears fan.

kennyb3 · 02-10-2015 1:36pm

D9Male wrote: »

Benjamin Allbright @AllbrightNFL

"For what its worth two contacts in Chicago have said Matt Forte is on the block...Jeffrey isn't."

I would not be happy reading this if I were a Bears fan.

It's a couple of days old - Aaron Lemming has tweeted about this couple of times in the last few days.

This quote from elsewhere sums it up best for me

'Everyone is aware of the situation. He's a 30-year-old RB that is going to ask for a big contract. Forte is not the future and the Bears need to focus on the future. He deserves a chance to win and the Bears need to spend their money elsewhere. Forte has been a workhorse and mostly a class act, but it's simply time to move on and spend the money elsewhere.

No he won't be easily replaced and he has been great for the Bears, but the way the NFL is structured he won't be here beyond this year.He's a free agent at the end of the year. They aren't going to give a big contract to a 30yo running back.'

It's either take what you can get now or let him walk for nothing.

He's been brilliant for us - a total star - I'd be happy to see him get his shot with a contender if they do trade him.

I don't want to trade him per se, but you have to make the best long term decision.

Realt Dearg Sec · 02-10-2015 2:06pm

kennyb3 wrote: »

It's a couple of days old - Aaron Lemming has tweeted about this couple of times in the last few days.

This quote from elsewhere sums it up best for me

'Everyone is aware of the situation. He's a 30-year-old RB that is going to ask for a big contract. Forte is not the future and the Bears need to focus on the future. He deserves a chance to win and the Bears need to spend their money elsewhere. Forte has been a workhorse and mostly a class act, but it's simply time to move on and spend the money elsewhere.

No he won't be easily replaced and he has been great for the Bears, but the way the NFL is structured he won't be here beyond this year.He's a free agent at the end of the year. They aren't going to give a big contract to a 30yo running back.'

It's either take what you can get now or let him walk for nothing.

He's been brilliant for us - a total star - I'd be happy to see him get his shot with a contender if they do trade him.

I don't want to trade him per se, but you have to make the best long term decision.

Yeah he's the best thing about our team right now, but by the time we are in a position to win something, he will be well over the hill. Plenty of teams looking to win now will give big picks for Forte, so best to take advantage, and see if Langford has the ability lots of people think he does. Only problem is my only Bears jersey is a Forte one. Will they think about my situation when it comes to the crunch? I bet they won't.

By contrast I don't see what the benefit is in trading Jeffery. He's still a rookie, he should be part of the future of the team. And anyway with his injuries I don't think his trade value would be particularly good right now.

D9Male · 02-10-2015 2:24pm

Fair enough, I don't disagree with any of that. But it is depressing to think that Bears FO considers their future so bleak that mortgaging their best player is an optoin.

kennyb3 · 02-10-2015 2:24pm

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

By contrast I don't see what the benefit is in trading Jeffery. He's still a rookie, he should be part of the future of the team. And anyway with his injuries I don't think his trade value would be particularly good right now.

Lemming also tweeted they are looking to extend Jeffrey or at worst franchise him.

I'd perhaps even favour franchising him until he proves he is a true #1 and can stay healthy.

He was banged up for lot of last year, his rookie year and now is again. I don't want to be giving 5 year deal out under those circumstances. Equally we can't afford to lose him now.

kennyb3 · 02-10-2015 2:35pm

D9Male wrote: »

Fair enough, I don't disagree with any of that. But it is depressing to think that Bears FO considers their future so bleak that mortgaging their best player is an optoin.

They are 0-3, that gives them like a 2% chance of making the playoffs this year. Then you look at the schedule and the roster and you very quickly realise it's 0%. So this year is irrelevant.

The question then becomes do you a) extend him, b) let him walk or c) trade him now?

obviously has no long term value. So you are taking a) versus c).

I can see why you could think about extending him for 2/3 years if the price is right, but it likely won't be. History tells us handing out big contracts to 30yo running backs isn't the way to go.

I think the FO is a breath of fresh air - we've had 1 playoff in 10 years now - we've been declining steadily for years now as shown by our record. We lack talent and depth. We've handed out big FA contracts to useless vets. I think we are all sick of trying to patch things over and pretend we are any use.

This FO want to focus on the draft - accumulating picks and drafting well and building from within. Very hard to knock that.

Whether it will work or not will solely depend on whether they are good at drafting or not. It's the exact right idea, it just needs the execution. That is going to be the test.

The last few years have been bleak, I find this hugely refreshing and exciting. The fact we might build a sustainable base for success.

Again I'd point you back to 4 playoffs since 1995.

Realt Dearg Sec · 02-10-2015 2:36pm

D9Male wrote: »

Fair enough, I don't disagree with any of that. But it is depressing to think that Bears FO considers their future so bleak that mortgaging their best player is an optoin.

It's not so much the future that's bleak as the present. At least, if Pace turns out to be able to draft. He clearly is good at signing coaches though and is willing to make bold trades.

Incidentally I still don't think we're as bad a team as we're being made out to be right now. But we're by no means a good team either.

adrian522 · 02-10-2015 2:36pm

What do you think you could get for Forte? 5th round pick might be what you could reasonably expect, at that price I'm not sure it's worth it for Chicago.

kennyb3 · 02-10-2015 2:44pm

adrian522 wrote: »

What do you think you could get for Forte? 5th round pick might be what you could reasonably expect, at that price I'm not sure it's worth it for Chicago.

Very hard to know I've seen anywhere from 3rd to 6th mentioned.

A 3rd is fantasy imho.

A 4th or 5th sound right to me. Again it depends who it's too. You don't want a 5th from say a New England (to use a name and an example) as it's practically a 6th. You'd want a 4th from them.

You have to look long term though and the only argument (if we are assuming they won't resign him) is weighing up the value of him in helping Langford & Carey over rest of the year v's the pick value.

But even keeping him and him helping them you'll be taking snaps from them (massive amounts). So do you roll into 2016/17 not knowing what you have a running back?

Hence I'd probably trade him.

Anyway I'm still under the impression Fox has demanded he be kept and that, as you'd understand it's Pace who wants to trade him to help next year.

adrian522 · 02-10-2015 2:46pm

Don't forget if he leaves in Free Agency you are potentially looking at getting a compensatory pick depending on who else is signed by Chicago from other teams so not a complete waste.

I'd certainly do it for a 4th round pick, and he deserves a shot at a championship at this stage of his career.

kennyb3 · 02-10-2015 2:54pm

adrian522 wrote: »

Don't forget if he leaves in Free Agency you are potentially looking at getting a compensatory pick depending on who else is signed by Chicago from other teams so not a complete waste.

I'd certainly do it for a 4th round pick, and he deserves a shot at a championship at this stage of his career.

Yeah I'd read that elsewhere and I forgot it. Thing is despite the draft philosophy I can't see them not needing to make at least 1 or two FA signings. Just too many holes and you can expect all rookies to contribute right away, esp as many will be late round picks.

I'd do it in heartbeat for a 4th, I'd prob still do it for a 5th. Others will disagree but I think we have to take the long term view. We also need to see whether Langford & Carey work out.

I could see a situation where they wait to the deadline so Langford is more ready.

D9Male · 02-10-2015 2:57pm

OK guys, thanks for taking the time to respond.

Very interesting posts!

padraig_f · 02-10-2015 3:09pm

I watched Vick last night (well, condensed-view this morning)...not brilliant, not terrible. Made some nice throws, missed some throws. Which is what you want of your backup QB, you shouldn't be asking them to perform heroics, just to give the team a chance, which he did.

The problem with considering him as a starter, is that he leaves the pocket so quickly when the pressure comes, and you're never going to last a 16+ game season like that. But as a backup, where you only need him a handful of games, I think he can be effective.

Sounds like Cutler is genuinely 50-50 for Sunday and will be a gametime decision. If Clausen plays, it needs to be much better. This Oakland defense has given up a lot of yards....414/game...most in the NFL after 3 games.

padraig_f · 03-10-2015 10:43am

Small thing I saw on reddit during the week:

@ScottEklund: "Four Chicago Bears scouts here to watch the UW/Cal game...guessing that Cal QB Jared Goff is the big attraction...but I could be wrong"

Mel Kiper has Goff #7 on his 2016 big board:

[7] Jared Goff, QB, California Golden Bears

The system hands you numbers, but Goff is good enough to do damage anywhere. He has a cannon when he wants to really cut it loose, able to drill the ball down the field and into tight windows with ease, and he has effective movement skills and anticipation for a player with good length who seems to see the whole field. He can also move defenders with his eyes pretty well, and will continue to get better.

It's obviously a long way off at this stage, and the Bears probably just doing their due diligence as much as anything, but I'm going to check out this guy Goff. I notice they're playing at home to Washington State tonight, at 9pm Irish time.

kennyb3 · 03-10-2015 12:08pm

Defo they were in Seattle it would be remiss of them not to take a look in person.

Very early. Halliday put up great numbers in that system and went undrafted. They be also yet to play a team of note. I like his nimble feet and decent arm but it's very hard to assess him at present.

padraig_f · 03-10-2015 4:14pm

Watched Raiders @ Browns from week 3 on condensed-view today. Couple of takeaways...

- Really impressed with Derek Carr. Looks very accomplished in his 2nd year, threw with accuracy and made good decisions. The offense is very balanced, they run a good bit with Latavius Murray, but don't overdo it. Carr has the full keys to the engine, it's not a simplified offense. He stays in the pocket and works it well, and can make a wide range of throws. Didn't see much to exploit there, except I suppose with a young QB, you tend more towards blitzing.

They look a fun young team to watch between Carr, Murray and Amari Cooper (Michael Crabtree's a decent receiver too). It may have been the Browns, but it's a road game in the NFL, and the Raiders marched up and down the field.

- The secondary is awful, really bad. Josh McCown threw for 350 yards on them, on about 7 yards/attempt, with little assistance in the run game. If Clausen plays, they have to let him throw, it can't be a gameplan like last week. In fairness, I'm sure they'll recognise this and alter the gameplan. It'll be up to Clausen then to make the throws. If he doesn't perform well against this secondary, forget it.

Realt Dearg Sec · 04-10-2015 5:10pm

Cutler is expected to start today.

adrian522 · 04-10-2015 5:23pm

padraig_f wrote: »

Small thing I saw on reddit during the week:

@ScottEklund: "Four Chicago Bears scouts here to watch the UW/Cal game...guessing that Cal QB Jared Goff is the big attraction...but I could be wrong"

Mel Kiper has Goff #7 on his 2016 big board:

It's obviously a long way off at this stage, and the Bears probably just doing their due diligence as much as anything, but I'm going to check out this guy Goff. I notice they're playing at home to Washington State tonight, at 9pm Irish time.

A lot of buzz about this guy at the moment, seems to be breaking records all around him.

I'm sure he'll go early in the draft barring injury. Just not sure if he's the next Aaron Rodgers or the next Blaine Gabbert.

Oat23 · 04-10-2015 10:05pm

Broken Fibula for Montgomery. Bad news for an already struggling o-line. Time for the rookie Grasu to step up.

Nice win today. The defense is improving every week and the offense done some fantastic things today despite the players missing and losing Montgomery early. It's nice that we don't have to worry about 0-16 now, but I'm not sure how I feel about winning going forward as I really want the first pick. I can easily see this team competing most weeks and grabbing another 4-5 wins this year when Alshon is back, the line settles and maybe even White debuts (doubt it though).

kennyb3 · 05-10-2015 9:18am

Yeah agree with most of what you write Oat23;

- Happy to have a win as it's been too long. Enjoyed the nail bitter and I think a win is important for some of the younger players. You don't want to forget how to win.

- Not sure how many more i want us to win though. I suppose the next couple of games will tell more as to what's realistic.

- To win with that Oline is no mean feat. Leno Jr, Omameh and Ducasse! Wow that's staggeringly awful.

- The defense is really improving. nice to see Goldman get a sack. Jenkins & McPhee have been excellent. Goldman and Amos pretty good. All either FA or Pace draft picks which is encouraging. Carr's stat line wasn't too impressive compared to his previous weeks. Also we seem to be able to stop the run now pretty impressively.

- Our dline now looks like a strength and it will be great to have Ratliff back too. Overall Fangio seems to be doing a good job with minimal enough talent. Imagine if we had a realy #1 corner and a game changing ILB. I've been very impressed so far (arizona game aside which was mainly a penalties issue)

- We need to get another OLB in first couple of rounds next year so they can learn from McPhee & Acho.

I think Slauson will stay at centre though, Grasu was destroyed in preseason - pushed into teh backfield regularly even against 2nd & 3rd stringers. Think he'll need a full year in an NFL weights program.

kennyb3 · 05-10-2015 10:35am

In the last 2 weeks McPhee has

- 15 tackles, 3 tackles for loss

- 2 sacks

- 4 quarterback hits

- 1 interception

- 1 pass deflection

He's currently ranked 1st outside linebacker in PFF's in pass rush productivity (PRP)

If we'd another OLB who could generate decent pass rush it would help him even further (look at the Ravens last year or the Broncos this year).

padraig_f · 05-10-2015 12:33pm

Bit of a crazy game. Last few minutes was Cutler in a nutshell....throws the bad interception and you're wondering why he's throwing a 20-yard pass off his back foot. But then leads a great drive to win the game, making a couple of key passes while back-pedalling.

Oat23 wrote: »

It's nice that we don't have to worry about 0-16 now, but I'm not sure how I feel about winning going forward as I really want the first pick.

Yeah, I have some mixed feelings whether I want the team to win when you know you're not going to make the playoffs (I want to see positive performances, but not necessarily W's). Ultimately I was happy for the players, they didn't deserve to be 0-4....they're doing some good things and it's good for them to get that validation.

kennyb3 wrote:

- To win with that Oline is no mean feat. Leno Jr, Omameh and Ducasse! Wow that's staggeringly awful.

Yeah, and I think in the end you have to give Cutler credit, with the o-line and Slauson playing his first professional game as center. Also Cutler seemed to be still a bit hampered by his hamstring....couple of times he wanted to get out and run, but didn't or couldn't.

The defense continues to play well, and it's good to see some consistent performances there. It's sometimes hard to see the secondary in the TV-view unless they're making mistakes, but the coverage has to have been better as often Carr was often forced to decline his initial options.

kennyb wrote:

In the last 2 weeks McPhee has...

Looks like a great signing alright. Must've been an under-rated player, because I've heard multiple commentators mention how the Ravens' pass-rush has diminished this season, but not pointed to McPhee's departure (only Suggs' injury).

padraig_f · 05-10-2015 12:39pm

adrian522 wrote: »

A lot of buzz about this guy at the moment, seems to be breaking records all around him.

I'm sure he'll go early in the draft barring injury. Just not sure if he's the next Aaron Rodgers or the next Blaine Gabbert.

I caught some small bits of his game on Saturday, and I don't watch enough college football to give a proper assessment (difficult for the pro-scouts to project from college to NFL a lot of the time anyway). But optimistic on what I saw in that he was able to throw into some tight windows. Their next 3 games are against nationally ranked teams, so interesting to see how he fares against those...

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/25/california-golden-bears

kennyb3 · 05-10-2015 1:43pm

For anyone that likes PFF

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/10/05/oak-chi-grades-cutlers-return-dooms-raiders/

Great to see Goldman doing so well.

Oat23 · 05-10-2015 7:46pm

Kyle Long mic'd up 💕
http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/videos/Sounds-of-the-Game-Kyle-Long/9e5b0bc4-85b8-40cd-9527-6f04aee6c03a

How Bout Dem Bears?

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