Playoff chances are currently at 71%

[SteelersPride]

So 2 games is the difference between a tough schedule and an easy schedule?

I mean, yer in here acting like the Bears have a cakewalk schedule, whereas you and Minnesota's are other-wordly er' some shit?

Bears have the 32nd ranked sos

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

As others have already stated, you play the schedule they hand you. It's not our fault that it just so happens that four of the sub-.500 teams we've beaten just so happen to be that at the time we played them. Seattle, Buffalo, and Detroit all posted winning records last year. And AZ finished with a .500 record. Based on those standings would you have claimed at the start of the season we had that same cakewalk schedule? I suspect not.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

And speaking of last year, has anyone noticed that we've already scored more points after game 9 than we did in the entire 2017 season?

 

[beardown07]

Bears have the 32nd ranked sos

It was the 8th toughest at the beginning of the year. The NFL is fickle, and week-to-week...a team that was shit in week 2, can be one of the best in week 9.

Sos is a stupid metric, particularly when being used by a team's fan that is in the same division.

 

[SteelersPride]

It was the 8th toughest at the beginning of the year. The NFL is fickle, and week-to-week...a team that was shit in week 2, can be one of the best in week 9.

Sos is a stupid metric, particularly when being used by a team's fan that is in the same division.

I agree. When looking at the whole season . I also think who gives a fu’ because once in the playoffs anything can happen.

I personally find it a metric that I personally like to use to rate teams. I know not everyone does

 

[antone112]

The schedule has been favorable. The next 3 (home- Vikes, away- Lions, away- Giants) are must wins as well. The last 4 (Home -Rams, Home- Pack, Away- 9ers, Away- Vikes) will be tough.

 

[wood20ks]

Should the Bears protest the NFL for their schedule? You can only beat who's put in front of you. As it is, we let the Packers off the hook in the first game of the season, lost a close one to Miami in the sweltering heat where a missed kick could've won it for us anyway and lost by a yard to the Patriots at home. Otherwise, we've blown out almost every opponent we've had. That bodes well for better opponents coming up as this team, with a brand new coaching staff, offensive playbook and entirely new receiving core, continues to learn what they hell they're doing together.

Keep out the underlined and I agree 100% with what you said...….The underlined is cause I hate excuses...….we just flat out got beat with dumb mistakes on both sides that equaled out.

 

[wood20ks]

Yup.

The Eagles and Jags benefited greatly last year from a soft schedule. Both teams are sitting under .500 again this year now that they don't have a "last place" soft schedule to navigate.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Bears are a team on the rise, I just don't think they're as good as their current standing indicates yet. And if the Bears do win the division this year, they'll get the "benefit" of playing the Rams and Saints in those variable conference games next year...

The Eagles won the SB last season and it was not because of a soft schedule...…...They manhandled a very tough Minnesota team was on a definite high from the week before by beating NO in a last second hail mary.……..That soft schedule had nothing to do with them winning the SB...….

The jags nearly beat NE with that outstanding defense last seaon…...if they had a better qb than Bortles,Jags very well could have been in the SB...……...That soft schedule had nothing to do with that either...…

You can make that claim for some teams making the playoffs,but when you make the playoffs,youre playing playoff caliber teams,not a soft schedule....……

that game vs you guys still haunts the shit out of me,cause we actually had that in our grasp...……
The Miami game,we actually could not stop Osweiler….we got just got beat plain and simple...…….and I will not play the mistake game we had,cause Miami had the very exact same mistake...….

NE game,yes we played them tough,but yeah,thats the way it goes...…..

And Im thinking we go 5-2 in the last 7 games...…...being we lose to the LAR and at Minn...……

Take the soft schedule argument for what it is...…..don't care for we are gonna finish ahead of you,and our future looks brighter than yours...…..but good luck on our next game.

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

If you're only beating teams at the bottom of the standings and only losing to teams .500 or better, 7-9 is a fair assessment of how good the team actually is until proven otherwise. That's pretty straightforward common sense analysis.

Not really. We are a young team with new coaches and a new system. We are getting better weekly, we are not the same team we were 6 games ago and won't be the same team as now 6 games into the future. The facts are, we are getting better every game. Were not staying the same.

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

Saying we "lost by a yard to the Patriots" is gigantically misleading considering it was due to a very lucky hail mary catch by a receiver who's otherwise been invisible the entire season. And oh btw, that one yard would have only tied the game.

lol Are you forgetting the free 14 points we gave them???

 

[BsGenius]

lol Are you forgetting the free 14 points we gave them???

Will you just stop? We lost to the Pats because they were better that week. What do you mean "free 14 points"? STs is part of the team.

While you are at it, hey lets take away those 2 INTs by Trubisky. Brady can then take away his from INT he gave us. Then they'll take away that hail mary completion. Then they take away the 3 fumbles they had. etc etc

Idiot bear fan making excuses and grading on a curve, again.

 

[richig07]

If you're only beating teams at the bottom of the standings and only losing to teams .500 or better, 7-9 is a fair assessment of how good the team actually is until proven otherwise. That's pretty straightforward common sense analysis.

Not really. The Bears have the 4th best point differential in football. It would be one thing if they were simply getting by these teams. However, they are completely battering them. Their losses were all last second in games they held double digit leads in as well. Two of those on the road as well.

I understand suggesting that they still have to prove themselves with a trademark win. However, to suggest they're a sub .500 team is just silly.

 

[richig07]

As others have already stated, you play the schedule they hand you.

I will actually point something out here.

You can only play the schedule in front of you. However, that does not mean you deserve the same praise for beating Buffalo as you do for say... beating Kansas City or LA.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I will actually point something out here.

You can only play the schedule in front of you. However, that does not mean you deserve the same praise for beating Buffalo as you do for say... beating Kansas City or LA.

Of course, whoever said otherwise?

 

[richig07]

Of course, whoever said otherwise?

A lot of people defending our poor SOS by saying "well, you can only beat whose in front of you" or "why would you punish the Bears for playing the schedule they were dealt?"

Even though I think our point differential nullifies any short comings in SOS. It's not unfair to criticize us for it. No one is saying the Bears can do anything besides beating whose in front of them. More so... they're just not giving us credit for our record at face value. Due to who we have/haven't beaten.

When evaluating teams/contenders... not all wins are created equal. Which is fair.

If we win Sunday Night. It will silence a lot of this.

Every Bears poster knows what this team is capable of. We've seen the growth and how far we've come. However, the nation's perspective of the Bears is still largely derived from those first two nationally televised games of the season. Where our offense looked quite unimpressive and a lot of sloppy play went down. The same can be said with the NE game. Which was also seen by many and Trubisky had a pretty poor game throwing the ball.

It doesn't worry me. Point differential is the most accurate metric for predicting team success and we have a great one. I think every SB team (not just to win - but to appear as well) besides the Ravens over the past decade were top 3 in point differential or something.