Jordy hurt, AR in bandages

[noonthirtyjoe]

Not that I want injury's but this div is close everywhere but QB. No AR no Div for GB.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Not that I want injury's but this div is close everywhere but QB. No AR no Div for GB.

We have no shot at winning the division. Even if the entire first string of the packers gets hurt, we will still finish below the lions and Vikings.

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

We have no shot at winning the division. Even if the entire first string of the packers gets hurt, we will still finish below the lions and Vikings.

Why? All we have to do is limit Cutlers turnovers to have a shot. Besides AR this div is wide open. Were gonna be dam respectable this year.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Why? All we have to do is limit Cutlers turnovers to have a shot. Besides AR this div is wide open. Were gonna be dam respectable this year.

We need to do a lot more than Cutler limiting his turnovers. This is a rebuilding year. We're going to suck.

We need an offense that can move the ball. With this offensive line, mostly inexperienced WRs, and an aging Running back that has struggled between the tackles his whole career, I doubt we'll be able to do that consistently.

We need a defense that can step up. The defense we currently have couldnt step up against a D2 college team.

You are being delusional about our chances. This is probably going to be the pinnacle of the rebuilding, meaning the teams quality will be hitting rock bottom.

 

[beardown07]

We will be better than the last two years, whether our record indicates it or not. Guaranteed.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

Rodgers is fine. Jordy, not so much.

While taking nothing away from Nelson, Rodgers is Rodgers and seems to thrive no matter what. I'd still pick GB to take the division, with Minn right behind. Lions we will see how stout their defense is. If our defensive front 7 outplays theirs, we could go for third.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

We will be better than the last two years, whether our record indicates it or not. Guaranteed.

Guaranteed? If they don't, what's the guarantee? Do I get the time back that I spent watching the Bears? I only ask because that's an awful thing to make a guarantee on. They could easily be worse with the coaching overhaul. We might see flashes of a very good team, but altogether I could see a worse record than last year.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

ah guys, worse than last year? It's possible, but I doubt it. Sitting here right now, this is a 7-9 team with 11-5 as an insane upside and 4-12 at the low end.

Main reason for, uh, "confidence." The coaching staff. Although I felt like a lot of the Tucker criticism was misplaced, and Trestman was a weirdo who was easy to blame (partially deserved, partially not), I don't think there's any question we have an excellent coaching staff. I was a little miffed when Fox was hired, but that was before I thought we had a snowball's chance in hell on either Gase or Fangio. The fact that we got both, two of the best minds in the modern league, that was simply a major league coup. This offseason may have it's warts and imperfections, and we aren't taking a Lombardi trophy home in January, but this was a great offseason for that reason alone. Fox is the perfect guy to delegate and not micromanage the necessary real geniuses.

I know some of you think it's all talent and coaching is more or less irrelevant, I've never, ever agreed with that. Football is a game of strategy. Mismatches make up for the (mostly) minor differences in talent (JJ Watt, I am not talking about you...I said "mostly"). Exploting those mismatches is why some coaches are good, and others aren't. Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin (really, Dick LeBeau) for a reason....they are masters, even with shitty talent. Those of you who want to just chalk up Belichick's success to "cheating", go suck on it you know nothing about football. Nothing. It wasn't cheating to put Aqib Talib on Jimmy Graham. That was nothing short of pure, simple, fucking genius. Something even the brilliant Sean Payton didnt'tee soming.

These Bears won't be awful. They aren't the most talented team in the division (outside of QB, that award belongs to Minnesota), but they are adequate. The crucial key is getting the defensive front 7 to play, and of course Jay Cutler. I doubt very, very much that Cutler can keep doing his Alex Smith impersonation in the regular season. Especially if we lose a couple right out of the gate. He has way too much money on the line to get dropped/cut by this team, the pressure (which he is not exactly legendary in his handling of) will get to him to make big plays too often. But who knows, maybe he surprises all of us. If so, you can thank the coaches.

 

[beardown07]

Guaranteed? If they don't, what's the guarantee? Do I get the time back that I spent watching the Bears? I only ask because that's an awful thing to make a guarantee on. They could easily be worse with the coaching overhaul. We might see flashes of a very good team, but altogether I could see a worse record than last year.

Dude, we fielded the two worst defenses in team history the last two years. Can you honestly think it will be worse!?

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Dude, we fielded the two worst defenses in team history the last two years. Can you honestly think it will be worse!?

Yeah, teams going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 style defense usually causes the defense to struggle more. Having said that, I see the offense struggling too with the departure of brandon Marshall and his replacement (White) getting injured. You can also add on the fact that we completely overhauled our coaching staff. They all may be upgrades from the old staff, but it will still cause growing pains.

I also want to point out the fact that we had our two worst defenses in history partially because of aging vets (Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, etc.), but an even bigger part of that statistic is the fact that offenses in the NFL are becoming unstoppable. Weve had a very good defense during all of the years that rule and scheme changes catered to passing (causing several Qbs to pass for 5,000 + yards). Now that we're crap again, we're playing against 4,000 yard passers almost every weekend, whereas the last time our defense sucked they would rarely see 4,000 yard passers. Instead of getting shredded for 250 yards passing to the average NFL QB, we are getting shredded for 400 yards passing to an even better average NFL QB. We may have had our statistically worst defense the past two year, but in reality they weren't the worst ever.

 

[beardown07]

I guess we'll have to see. I say the D will be better and so will the O, despite Marshall. I do however think we have a tougher schedule than the last two years, so there's a chance the record might not be indicative of the actual improvement. (Tho I actually think they'll have a better record than last year still).

 

[leomaz]

Funny how we get a tougher schedule after being worse

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

We need to do a lot more than Cutler limiting his turnovers. This is a rebuilding year. We're going to suck.

We need an offense that can move the ball. With this offensive line, mostly inexperienced WRs, and an aging Running back that has struggled between the tackles his whole career, I doubt we'll be able to do that consistently.

We need a defense that can step up. The defense we currently have couldnt step up against a D2 college team.

You are being delusional about our chances. This is probably going to be the pinnacle of the rebuilding, meaning the teams quality will be hitting rock bottom.

This team is looking much better then expected and I now think WC is possible. The O is strong and the game plan is to run more and limit Jays mistakes, the D is getting pressure and takeaways, the STs look special. I fully expect 8 - 10 wins. I think we are in a WC hunt. If AR went down we could be in a div leader fight. We are not as bad as last year made us look. This team is gonna be worth watching.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

This team is looking much better then expected and I now think WC is possible. The O is strong and the game plan is to run more and limit Jays mistakes, the D is getting pressure and takeaways, the STs look special. I fully expect 8 - 10 wins. I think we are in a WC hunt. If AR went down we could be in a div leader fight. We are not as bad as last year made us look. This team is gonna be worth watching.

Ahhhh, the time of year when everyone is incredibly optimistic. Last year at this time we were super bowl contenders. Happens every single year in the preseason. This year is no different.

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

It's not the time of the year thing, it's I see a team that is trying hard and putting out the effort. I just think we'll be better then I thought a few weeks ago. SB no. Compete with most teams yes.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

Ahhhh, the time of year when everyone is incredibly optimistic. Last year at this time we were super bowl contenders. Happens every single year in the preseason. This year is no different.

Last year I had us down as an 8-8 team. You're right, that was definitely optimistic. We will see if 7-9 is too much for this year.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

It's not the time of the year thing, it's I see a team that is trying hard and putting out the effort. I just think we'll be better then I thought a few weeks ago. SB no. Compete with most teams yes.

THIS is exactly why I don't watch the preseason games. I draw more wrong conclusions than anything. Yes I know I draw enough bad conclusions as it is...trust me, I would be even worse if I were tuning in now.

 

[blh7068]

Why? All we have to do is limit Cutlers turnovers to have a shot. Besides AR this div is wide open. Were gonna be dam respectable this year.

I guess improvement on the defense allowing ~4 tds per game over the last 2 seasons is of no concern? YMMV, but Id say thats the starting point for improvement.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

Our offense is down to 11th in the league in cap space consumed, and our defense is up to 14th in the league. So yes the offense still needs to perform, but this year the defense should be expected to step it up.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

incidentally, in spite of Marshall, we are down to 25th in dead money. At least in that respect, the Emery years weren't a total disaster.