At least the Bears are doing well

[TheSuzerain]

People often compare Mahomes and Biscuit but I wonder what Mahomes would look like had he lost a year under Fox. Biscuits a year behind in pretty much the same offense.

Mahomes looks like a special passer.

I don't think Trubisky has elite passing talent, but he very well may have enough when coupled with his excellent running ability for a QB.

[Chi town]

People often compare Mahomes and Biscuit but I wonder what Mahomes would look like had he lost a year under Fox. Biscuits a year behind in pretty much the same offense.

Mahomes looks like a special passer.

I don't think Trubisky has elite passing talent, but he very well may have enough when coupled with his excellent running ability for a QB.

Not only a 2nd year in the offense but Kareem Hunt instead of Howard.

Money Mitch will be a top 5 QB. Bears are going to be contenders for the next 5 years.

[RedBulls23]

Sorry to do this, but there is a Bears message board. I think people should go there to talk about them. Let's give that board some traffic if we want to talk about them, so with that in mind I'm going to move this thread over there. Thank you.

[johnnyvann840]

Sorry to do this, but there is a Bears message board. I think people should go there to talk about them. Let's give that board some traffic if we want to talk about them, so with that in mind I'm going to move this thread over there. Thank you.

I was going to suggest this. It would be nice if we could get some traffic over here other than just minor in game threads.

[dice]

lol at the discussion that Mack wasn't worth it.

Changed this franchise for the next DECADE with that trade.

you're aware that the team improvement this season is mainly due to trubisky, right? i said after the mack trade that this season was all about trubisky significantly improving. which has happened to a degree that nobody could have anticipated. presumably it's not a total mirage

the bears defense has been excellent with our without mack. it was good LAST season. it's just been that much better with him. which is to be expected from a guy who just got paid to be one of the best defenders in the league

the bears had a lot of money to spend. they spent it on mack rather than multiple other players. the problem is that in order to spend it on mack they gave up valuable draft picks, which they wouldn't have had to do had they wisely spent the money on other fair value FAs. and this season mack is on a discount. won't be the case starting next season. this combination of factors means that it will be hard to improve the team going forward. at least personnel-wise. like this year's team? it might be as good as you're gonna see. hard to imagine trubisky being more productive than he has been this season. better hit on those lower draft picks

this was gonna be an encouraging season for bears fans with or without khalil mack. that's pretty apparent at this point

if there's a player that will change the bears for the next decade, it's very clearly trubisky. at least for the next few years assuming this season hasn't been a fluke. at the very least he looks like a legit NFL starter, which makes him a value contract for the length of his rookie deal. after that he'll need to be elite. 'cause elite QBs, unlike elite market value players at other positions, tend to be value contracts

no question mack is an elite player. but because he will be paid to be just that, he will be inconsequential to team success unless he gets injured, in which case his contract will be a liability. that's the reality of a hard salary cap. if every player on your team is paid what they're worth you're a 7-9 team

the bears have been good this season because they have a clutch of players on value deals. including mack and especially trubisky, whose play to date has made him FAR AND AWAY the best value contract on the team and thus far and away the primary factor contributing to team success

[dice]

nfl.com has bears-vikings as the current projected wildcard matchup (division-winning bears hosting #6 vikings). season starts getting real on sunday night. good that both teams are at full strength (the vikings are too, right?)

[johnnyvann840]

lol at the discussion that Mack wasn't worth it.

Changed this franchise for the next DECADE with that trade.

you're aware that the team improvement this season is mainly due to trubisky, right? i said after the mack trade that this season was all about trubisky significantly improving. which has happened to a degree that nobody could have anticipated. presumably it's not a total mirage

the bears defense has been excellent with our without mack. it was good LAST season. it's just been that much better with him. which is to be expected from a guy who just got paid to be one of the best defenders in the league

the bears had a lot of money to spend. they spent it on mack rather than multiple other players. the problem is that in order to spend it on mack they gave up valuable draft picks, which they wouldn't have had to do had they wisely spent the money on other fair value FAs. and this season mack is on a discount. won't be the case starting next season. this combination of factors means that it will be hard to improve the team going forward. at least personnel-wise. like this year's team? it might be as good as you're gonna see. hard to imagine trubisky being more productive than he has been this season. better hit on those lower draft picks

this was gonna be an encouraging season for bears fans with or without khalil mack. that's pretty apparent at this point

if there's a player that will change the bears for the next decade, it's very clearly trubisky. at least for the next few years assuming this season hasn't been a fluke. at the very least he looks like a legit NFL starter, which makes him a value contract for the length of his rookie deal. after that he'll need to be elite. 'cause elite QBs, unlike elite market value players at other positions, tend to be value contracts

no question mack is an elite player. but because he will be paid to be just that, he will be inconsequential to team success unless he gets injured, in which case his contract will be a liability. that's the reality of a hard salary cap. if every player on your team is paid what they're worth you're a 7-9 team

the bears have been good this season because they have a clutch of players on value deals. including mack and especially trubisky, whose play to date has made him FAR AND AWAY the best value contract on the team and thus far and away the primary factor contributing to team success

Not really true about Mack. Two of our three losses came with him out in one game (Patriots) and we gave 31 pts with him hobbling around and severely limited in another (Miami) . And when he was banged up the defense did not look at all the same. It's safe to say that we would be 8-1 right now if Mack didn't get injured. He is that big of a difference maker.

I do agree that Mitch's play is a major reason why we are better than most thought we would be, but Mack is the biggest reason. He makes a good defense a GREAT defense. He makes everybody around him that much better. He's a rare player that can change a franchise from that side of the ball.

[Susan]

lol at the discussion that Mack wasn't worth it.

Changed this franchise for the next DECADE with that trade.

you're aware that the team improvement this season is mainly due to trubisky, right? i said after the mack trade that this season was all about trubisky significantly improving. which has happened to a degree that nobody could have anticipated. presumably it's not a total mirage

the bears defense has been excellent with our without mack. it was good LAST season. it's just been that much better with him. which is to be expected from a guy who just got paid to be one of the best defenders in the league

the bears had a lot of money to spend. they spent it on mack rather than multiple other players. the problem is that in order to spend it on mack they gave up valuable draft picks, which they wouldn't have had to do had they wisely spent the money on other fair value FAs. and this season mack is on a discount. won't be the case starting next season. this combination of factors means that it will be hard to improve the team going forward. at least personnel-wise. like this year's team? it might be as good as you're gonna see. hard to imagine trubisky being more productive than he has been this season. better hit on those lower draft picks

this was gonna be an encouraging season for bears fans with or without khalil mack. that's pretty apparent at this point

if there's a player that will change the bears for the next decade, it's very clearly trubisky. at least for the next few years assuming this season hasn't been a fluke. at the very least he looks like a legit NFL starter, which makes him a value contract for the length of his rookie deal. after that he'll need to be elite. 'cause elite QBs, unlike elite market value players at other positions, tend to be value contracts

no question mack is an elite player. but because he will be paid to be just that, he will be inconsequential to team success unless he gets injured, in which case his contract will be a liability. that's the reality of a hard salary cap. if every player on your team is paid what they're worth you're a 7-9 team

the bears have been good this season because they have a clutch of players on value deals. including mack and especially trubisky, whose play to date has made him FAR AND AWAY the best value contract on the team and thus far and away the primary factor contributing to team success

Mack sets the tone for the entire team. We're a top 5 defense without him, we're the best defense in the NFL with him.

Mitch has made great strides but he's also had a few clunkers. He's been really good but he's not as impactful as Mack just yet.

Regardless, this entire thing is moving into special territory. Having an elite pass rush is pivotal, having an elite QB/offense is pivotal just as much and between Pace, Nagy, Fangio, Trubisky and Mack there's been some incredible foundational pieces being set the past two months. Mitch's development makes sense when you look at the fact that they've put in an elite offensive mind at HC, brought in ARob, Miller, Gabriel and Burton and then have the best defense in the NFL so there's not as much pressure on him to perform. That's the perfect mix all brought together by Pace to make Mitch's development come together.

[petebraun0]

I had very low expectations for the Bears this year, thinking the new coaching staff and head coach would need a year to get acclimated and figure things out. boy was I wrong, and glad that I was. We really have a special coaching staff. Too bad we did not win winnable games in Green Bay and Miami. Both losses I do blame on the inexperience of our coaches. And inexperience of our quarterback. Glad that we are at least entertaining and relevant this year. Keep it going Bears.

[dice]

lol at the discussion that Mack wasn't worth it.

Changed this franchise for the next DECADE with that trade.

you're aware that the team improvement this season is mainly due to trubisky, right? i said after the mack trade that this season was all about trubisky significantly improving. which has happened to a degree that nobody could have anticipated. presumably it's not a total mirage

the bears defense has been excellent with our without mack. it was good LAST season. it's just been that much better with him. which is to be expected from a guy who just got paid to be one of the best defenders in the league

the bears had a lot of money to spend. they spent it on mack rather than multiple other players. the problem is that in order to spend it on mack they gave up valuable draft picks, which they wouldn't have had to do had they wisely spent the money on other fair value FAs. and this season mack is on a discount. won't be the case starting next season. this combination of factors means that it will be hard to improve the team going forward. at least personnel-wise. like this year's team? it might be as good as you're gonna see. hard to imagine trubisky being more productive than he has been this season. better hit on those lower draft picks

this was gonna be an encouraging season for bears fans with or without khalil mack. that's pretty apparent at this point

if there's a player that will change the bears for the next decade, it's very clearly trubisky. at least for the next few years assuming this season hasn't been a fluke. at the very least he looks like a legit NFL starter, which makes him a value contract for the length of his rookie deal. after that he'll need to be elite. 'cause elite QBs, unlike elite market value players at other positions, tend to be value contracts

no question mack is an elite player. but because he will be paid to be just that, he will be inconsequential to team success unless he gets injured, in which case his contract will be a liability. that's the reality of a hard salary cap. if every player on your team is paid what they're worth you're a 7-9 team

the bears have been good this season because they have a clutch of players on value deals. including mack and especially trubisky, whose play to date has made him FAR AND AWAY the best value contract on the team and thus far and away the primary factor contributing to team success

Mack sets the tone for the entire team.

i don't buy the idea that khalil mack is to any tangible degree responsible for the massive offensive improvement of the chicago bears. even a brilliant pregame pep talk from a coach only goes so far. getting hit on a football field focuses a guy on his job a lot faster than all the other stuff combined. i guarantee that once mitchell trubisky takes the snap and has several opponents coming at him full speed he ain't thinking about khalil mack

We're a top 5 defense without him, we're the best defense in the NFL with him.

by the numbers thus far that may be true, but let's not forget that the bears have faced the softest schedule in the entire league. still some proving to be done

[transplant]

IMO, the offense's improvement has more to do with its inherent brilliance than anything else. This is not to say that Trubisky's progress isn't critical to this success. This said, I take issue with the idea that Trubisky's progress is extraordinary or unexpected. Trubisky is coming along nicely, but he hasn't broken the learning curve like Mahomes has.

As for Mack, dice is right about him being a bargain right now. It's undeniable. We should enjoy it. Another thing we should enjoy is how healthy the team has been this season. Kyle Long is the only started lost for the season due to injury. A blessing.

[dice]

now, i know that some people think that because i despise the mack trade that i am somehow anti-mack or anti-bears, neither of which is true. nor am i interested in "winning the argument" by providing shoddy evidence. if i wanted to do that i would point out that the offense is scoring 13 more ppg this season and the defense is only allowing 1 less ppg...and hope that nobody noticed the fatal flaw of that argument, which is that scoring is way up this season. but out of curiosity i did a slightly deeper dive into the production of the offense and defense as compared to a season ago. the results are very interesting, but do nothing to further the mack trade discussion

2017 bears ranked 24th in yards per drive and 30th in points per drive. 2018 bears are only 20th in yards per drive but way up to 9th in points per drive. controlling for league-wide increases, i compared the 2018 numbers to THIS YEAR'S 24th and 30th ranked offenses in yards per drive and points per drive, respectively. the results:

2018 bears offense is up only 0.9 yards per drive but up a whopping 0.91 points per drive

using similar analysis, 2018 bears defense is giving up 5.2 yards less per drive but only 0.21 points per drive less

so while the most important result (points per drive) has the offense improving substantially more than the defense has improved, in yards per drive the DEFENSE has actually improved substantially more. weird

[CjayC]

Trubs is on pace to put up Newton-ish MVP numbers his 2nd year. Mahomes putting up video game stats and breaking 50 year old records shouldn't detract from what Mitch is doing from a developmental standpoint. I know the standard of QB play has been insane this year(and of late for that matter), but a lot of the franchise top 15 or so guys were either pure butt or not doing anything close to what he's doing year 2. Only recently with Goff, Wentz, Watson playing well year 1-2 has there been some kind of expectation that you can plug in young QB's early and succeed. It used to be you didn't know what you had with a young QB until about 30 games or 3 full seasons in; and Mitch was considered behind more than most because of his lack of NCAA experience and being drafted on traits.

Shouldn't be unexpected I agree, they traded up and picked him #2 overall for a reason. Within the context of the history at that position I'd say its a pretty amazing year 2.

[RedBulls23]

Trubs is on pace to put up Newton-ish MVP numbers his 2nd year. Mahomes putting up video game stats and breaking 50 year old records shouldn't detract from what Mitch is doing from a developmental standpoint. I know the standard of QB play has been insane this year(and of late for that matter), but a lot of the franchise top 15 or so guys were either pure butt or not doing anything close to what he's doing year 2. Only recently with Goff, Wentz, Watson playing well year 1-2 has there been some kind of expectation that you can plug in young QB's early and succeed. It used to be you didn't know what you had with a young QB until about 30 games or 3 full seasons in; and Mitch was considered behind more than most because of his lack of NCAA experience and being drafted on traits.

Shouldn't be unexpected I agree, they traded up and picked him #2 overall for a reason. Within the context of the history at that position I'd say its a pretty amazing year 2.

I'm happy with the progress Mitch has made, but one thing should be acknowledged is that QB numbers are up across the league this year. Will be interesting to see how much of it levels out by seasons ends, but as it stands there are about 19 QBs that are projected to throw over 4000 yards. You also have 14 QBs that currently averaging over 100 passer ratings.

That will he absurd if any of those hold up.

[transplant]

Trubs is on pace to put up Newton-ish MVP numbers his 2nd year. Mahomes putting up video game stats and breaking 50 year old records shouldn't detract from what Mitch is doing from a developmental standpoint. I know the standard of QB play has been insane this year(and of late for that matter), but a lot of the franchise top 15 or so guys were either pure butt or not doing anything close to what he's doing year 2. Only recently with Goff, Wentz, Watson playing well year 1-2 has there been some kind of expectation that you can plug in young QB's early and succeed. It used to be you didn't know what you had with a young QB until about 30 games or 3 full seasons in; and Mitch was considered behind more than most because of his lack of NCAA experience and being drafted on traits.

Shouldn't be unexpected I agree, they traded up and picked him #2 overall for a reason. Within the context of the history at that position I'd say its a pretty amazing year 2.

I'm happy with the progress Mitch has made, but one thing should be acknowledged is that QB numbers are up across the league this year. Will be interesting to see how much of it levels out by seasons ends, but as it stands there are about 19 QBs that are projected to throw over 4000 yards. You also have 14 QBs that currently averaging over 100 passer ratings.

That will he absurd if any of those hold up.

Yup, everything is relative and the best way to evaluate Trubisky's performance is against other QBs this season. He's middle of the pack and given his limited experience, this is encouraging enough.

[Chi town]

Money Mitch is ahead of schedule and seems to be figuring it out. Let’s see what he does under pressure in big games the rest of the way.

[bearadonisdna]

Gonna head over to bears forum soon to post this but, mack has been compared to Lawrence Taylor.
Mack literally appeared the role imo, but on from the left side.

He got 2 sacks from the RIGHT side last week, but generally ,Mack has looked more dominant from the left side imo. Beating double and triple teams.
I guess he still looks good off the right side but not LT.

Its more about jump starting Floyd. The dropoff from moving Floyd to the other side is a lot lower than having Floyd try to play on the right side.

There can be other factors involved.
Addressing your statement, my opinion is that the pass rush is weaker with the flip, flop ,negating its value in that respect.

Thats where things like run support come to play and where that fits into the switch? The best excuse imo is that Fangio is just not showing his entire hand which is understandable.
Its just calculable risk at that point.

[johnnyvann840]

[MalagaBulls]

Gotta bump this thread to mention how giddy this D is making me feel. I think they can shut down either of the other 2 high flying circus O's in the Sainte & Chiefs. Once Trub and the O catch up look out!!

[Susan]

Gotta bump this thread to mention how giddy this D is making me feel. I think they can shut down either of the other 2 high flying circus O's in the Sainte & Chiefs. Once Trub and the O catch up look out!!

BEAR DOWN MY FRIEND!