Random NFL talk

[Clayton]

The Vikings have a better D than the Bears though - a much stronger front 7 especially. And the Vikings have a talented O, Jefferson is the best receiver in the NFL IMO, Addison and Hockenson are good targets as well, Jones is a good RB, really the Vikings only major question mark is how JJ will do at QB - obviously QB is the most important position and JJ is an unknown, but all of the pieces are in place for him to have success.
The NFC North is a loaded division, and I think the Bears have the weakest roster of the 4 teams, that doesn’t mean they are a weak team, I think they’ll be decent, but it will be an uphill battle for them to get to the playoffs.

Just a cursory glance at the division and it seems like turnovers are massive in this division. Vikings were 1st in takeaways, Packers 4th in takeaways, and Bears and Lions both 10th in takeaways. I dont know how sustainable what the Vikings did last year actually was but it was an historically good division last year in the regular season. It would be weird to think of someone winning it without a QB

 

[Xeliou66]

Just a cursory glance at the division and it seems like turnovers are massive in this division. Vikings were 1st in takeaways, Packers 4th in takeaways, and Bears and Lions both 10th in takeaways. I dont know how sustainable what the Vikings did last year actually was but it was an historically good division last year in the regular season. It would be weird to think of someone winning it without a QB

I don’t think you can win it without a good QB but JJ has the potential to be as good as Goff, Love and Williams - not saying he will be, just that it’s possible and the Vikings have all of the pieces in place on O for him to succeed.

 

[jarntt]

Is "Not Carolina" an option?

I'll say the Jets but I think I'm on an o'fer 14 streak with them...
Really most likely Chi or Atl? If I thought Atl would get even half way competent QB play I'd say them

 

[Xeliou66]

Is "Not Carolina" an option?

I'll say the Jets but I think I'm on an o'fer 14 streak with them...
Really most likely Chi or Atl? If I thought Atl would get even half way competent QB play I'd say them

You don’t think Penix will be a “halfway competent” QB? That’s an odd take. He looked pretty good in the 3 games he started at the end of last season and I think he’ll be a very good QB for us. Our main concern is D, which should be improved this season. I think we should definitely have a winning record and be in the playoff race.

 

[jarntt]

You don’t think Penix will be a “halfway competent” QB? That’s an odd take. He looked pretty good in the 3 games he started at the end of last season and I think he’ll be a very good QB for us. Our main concern is D, which should be improved this season. I think we should definitely have a winning record and be in the playoff race.

No

 

[Xeliou66]

No

Did you watch our last 3 games of last season? And did you watch Penix in college at all?

 

[Clayton]

I don’t think you can win it without a good QB but JJ has the potential to be as good as Goff, Love and Williams - not saying he will be, just that it’s possible and the Vikings have all of the pieces in place on O for him to succeed.

He does but at some point if Caleb Williams doesnt turn into a top 10 QB then it has to be a massive failure for the Bears rebuild. Vikings never really had a top 5 pick or a multi year tank so them getting JJ....they can move on from him if he doesnt hit his potential. I dont think the expectations there are the same at all

 

[Xeliou66]

He does but at some point if Caleb Williams doesnt turn into a top 10 QB then it has to be a massive failure for the Bears rebuild. Vikings never really had a top 5 pick or a multi year tank so them getting JJ....they can move on from him if he doesnt hit his potential. I dont think the expectations there are the same at all

Oh I agree that the expectations are much higher for Caleb than for JJ. I think Caleb is going to be good, people have been too quick to dismiss him because of his underwhelming rookie year, not every rookie QB can do what Daniels did last year or what Stroud did in 2023, I think Caleb will be good but yeah he’s got a ton of pressure on him, no argument there

 

[Clayton]

Oh I agree that the expectations are much higher for Caleb than for JJ. I think Caleb is going to be good, people have been too quick to dismiss him because of his underwhelming rookie year, not every rookie QB can do what Daniels did last year or what Stroud did in 2023, I think Caleb will be good but yeah he’s got a ton of pressure on him, no argument there

I do agree that the Vikings have a better overall roster. Caleb Williams is just interesting because in college he was seen as anywhere near the next Patrick Mahomes to the next Jameis Winston depending on who you asked. Chicago is also a market that isnt known for QBs so if he ends up being good then the Bears have to win. Although the Bears fanbase has shown to be patient.

 

[Moab]

I'll mildly disagree....to a point. I know a lot of my fellow Bears fans are pumped for a postseason appearance this year, but a reality check is in need here. They still play in the league's toughest division, meaning 6 games right there. It's been mentioned a lot that they have the 2nd toughest strength of schedule this year, based of course on last year's records, something that is a bit debatable in terms of difficulty. But nonetheless, it's far from a cakewalk schedule by anyone's standards.

The point of all my babbling is the Bears can miss the playoffs, hell not even reach .500, yet not have it be a dire situation, such as a call for cleaning house and all that. For instance, if they were to go 8-9, which is my early prediction so far, yet play a lot of their losses really close, this would be considered a respectable season on which to build. Remember, they were 5-12 last year. Winning 3 more games would at the very least be interpreted as a step in the right direction. Now OTOH, let them go something like 4-13 and then there'll likely be a bazillion calls for trashing the roster/management and starting from scratch.

Imo, the expectations of the NFC N teams from highest to lowest should be:

1) Lions
2) Packers
3) Bears
4) Vikings

I think if you perceive this to be the toughest division in the NFL or close to it then that means at least 8 wins. The expectations with the Vikings seem to be based mostly around KOC being a QB wizard. If JJ McCarthy hits as a QB then it is what it is for the Bears and likely the other NFC N teams, too, as the Vikings immediately become a contender. Caleb Williams should be expected to outplay whichever QB the Vikings go with, though.

edit - forgot the Vikings coaches name

The Vikings have a better D than the Bears though - a much stronger front 7 especially. And the Vikings have a talented O, Jefferson is the best receiver in the NFL IMO, Addison and Hockenson are good targets as well, Jones is a good RB, really the Vikings only major question mark is how JJ will do at QB - obviously QB is the most important position and JJ is an unknown, but all of the pieces are in place for him to have success.
The NFC North is a loaded division, and I think the Bears have the weakest roster of the 4 teams, that doesn’t mean they are a weak team, I think they’ll be decent, but it will be an uphill battle for them to get to the playoffs.

I would just like to point out that I believe the Packers, Vikings and Lions records were a bit inflated last year because of the divisions they played last year. Some of it was timing of when they played but the AFC south and NFC west were both not strong collectively. I will say the Packers and Vikings got some breaks more than the Lions, but we'll see how it shakes out this year as they don't get the easier divisions this year.

 

[jarntt]

Did you watch our last 3 games of last season? And did you watch Penix in college at all?

Yes I saw a couple of those games and I saw him in College. You asked me a question and I answered. I'm not trying to convince you otherwise. I don't think he is that good and I don't really think he played that well. I don't think he is going to be an accurate thrower of the football and I think when you come out a little older you need to come out better than everyone else because you have less time to improve. He is the same age as Trevor Lawrence and all I read on here in the other thread was how people have already decided Lawrence is a disappointment.

 

[Xeliou66]

I do agree that the Vikings have a better overall roster. Caleb Williams is just interesting because in college he was seen as anywhere near the next Patrick Mahomes to the next Jameis Winston depending on who you asked. Chicago is also a market that isnt known for QBs so if he ends up being good then the Bears have to win. Although the Bears fanbase has shown to be patient.

The Bears have never had a 4000 yard passer which is amazing. I’m pretty sure Caleb will get to that mark if he stays healthy.

Yes I saw a couple of those games and I saw him in College. You asked me a question and I answered. I'm not trying to convince you otherwise. I don't think he is that good and I don't really think he played that well. I don't think he is going to be an accurate thrower of the football and I think when you come out a little older you need to come out better than everyone else because you have less time to improve. He is the same age as Trevor Lawrence and all I read on here in the other thread was how people have already decided Lawrence is a disappointment.

Fair enough, I disagree with you, I think Penix will be very good. Only time will tell though as to how good he is. I don’t get the Lawrence comparison whatsoever though, Lawrence has started for 4 seasons, Penix has started 3 games. And Penix looked pretty good to me in those 3 games last season, we lost two of them (both in OT) because of bad D, not Penix.

 

[jarntt]

The Bears have never had a 4000 yard passer which is amazing. I’m pretty sure Caleb will get to that mark if he stays healthy.

Fair enough, I disagree with you, I think Penix will be very good. Only time will tell though as to how good he is. I don’t get the Lawrence comparison whatsoever though, Lawrence has started for 4 seasons, Penix has started 3 games. And Penix looked pretty good to me in those 3 games last season, we lost two of them (both in OT) because of bad D, not Penix.

Just pointing out the age

 

[UK Cowboy]

Did you watch our last 3 games of last season? And did you watch Penix in college at all?

I think Penix will be fine. He has a back he cam hand it to 300 times to lean on a a good group of receivers

 

[Moab]

I think Penix will be fine. He has a back he cam hand it to 300 times to lean on a a good group of receivers

We all get to see how it plays out. I chuckle to myself when guys proclaim they know what a player can do, like he'll be elite or a bust, like they're somehow this savant of a talent evaluator. I don't see the point and don't know what I'm looking at until I actually see them play. whatevs

 

[UK Cowboy]

We all get to see how it plays out. I chuckle to myself when guys proclaim they know what a player can do, like he'll be elite or a bust, like they're somehow this savant of a talent evaluator. I don't see the point and don't know what I'm looking at until I actually see them play. whatevs

He played pretty well as a rookie in a big spot. It only figures after getting the reps this offseason that he will be fine

 

[Moab]

He played pretty well as a rookie in a big spot. It only figures after getting the reps this offseason that he will be fine

He did ok and we'll all find out if he has it or not. He did fine at UW his last year and has a chance, but we will see if he can handle the game or not as now teams have film of him in the NFL. The NFL as a league will expose your warts if you have them, it's actually ruthless in that way.

 

[UK Cowboy]

He did ok and we'll all find out if he has it or not. He did fine at UW his last year and has a chance, but we will see if he can handle the game or not as now teams have film of him in the NFL. The NFL as a league will expose your warts if you have them, it's actually ruthless in that way.

That's true, but we've already seen this kid in a high pressure spot and he played well. I think thats different than the folks touring Sanders because he's completing passes against air or firemen and waiters

 

[Clayton]

I don't see the point and don't know what I'm looking at until I actually see them play. whatevs

He has played, though.

Im also not sold on him being elite but i don't blame Falcon fans for wanting to be optimistic

 

[PDay8810]

I don't blame Falcon fans for wanting to be optimistic

I don't blame a fan of any team for being optimistic.