The bears dominated the first half. The kick off TD to open the second half changed the game.
Nor here, nor do the Colts and Jets also strugg-a-ling displease me.
Neither team played well, but I don’t think you can say the Bears “dominated.” They punted every possession (of both halfs). They stayed in the game, I’ll give them that.
Not only did the Bears punt every possession, they only crossed to 50 once.
If that’s the standard for dominance, then then Lions (who also suck) must seem otherworldly to Bears fans.
I don’t know how bad Jimmy Clausen really is, but they did not let him do anything. If they have so little faith in him, whey didn’t get a legit backup QB?
Cam Newton has had a good start to the season. Still has issues with his mechanics, but what he is doing with the this group of receivers is fairly impressive so far. Granted, the competition hasn’t been great, but wins are wins. He has developed a little more touch on his passes and seems to be going through his progressions better. The defense played pretty poorly yesterday, particularly the D line, but they should be able to shore that up because they have some talent. If they can beat the Bucs on the road next week (and really, who can’t?) they can go into their BYE at 4-0.
And… speaking of the D line…the Panthers acquire Jared Allen from the Bears? Haven’t seen what they are giving up yet, but they are only on the hook for $823,000 of salary.
I suppose you are right. But the Bears dominated yards and TOP in the first half. FTR im a Raiders fan so I have no bias here. Hope they play as well next week. 
Conditional 6th rounder is the report I saw. Good move for the Bears and the Panthers. Allen might have somehing left, but definitely not in a 3-4 scheme. The Bears save a couple bucks on an already sunk investment and get a modest pick back to aid in the rebuild.
The Bears also traded Jon Bostic to the Patriots for 6th rounder as well. Another positive move for both sides. Bostic will probably end up being a major contributor for the Pats be cause, you know, Belichick. The Bears get something back and save some money on a guy that wasn’t adding any value.
Claussen isn’t good, but I think that game plan was more about the Seattle defense and the Seattle home crowd noise. Limited prep time, lots of injured WRs and a generally new system aren’t a recipe for success.
The failures on Special Teams are maddening but all things considered I was not embarrassed by the performance. This isn’t a talented football team but the coaches are as good as billed. That we hung in as long as we did is a credit to the ultraconservative game plan.
We really need an upgrade at LT and RG and the defense is thin as heck but they are a more respectable team than last years.
At the end of week 3, I put some numbers together[sup]*[/sup]. Perhaps this belongs in one or all of the threads dedicated to the topic, but I thought I would drop this here:
[ul][li]Extra point percentage: ~94.5 ( 1.3% of those are blocked, one every week).[/li][li]2-pt attempts: 9.3% of conversions (the usual 50% success rate).[/li][li]6-pt TD rate: 9.7% overall.[/li][/ul]
Anyone have any idea how that compares to previous years? Is there an increase in 2-point attempts? How has the move to the 15 affected the 2-ptr, given that teams are likely to be less inclined to try a fake kick?
*I cannot guarantee the accuracy of these numbers. Use them at your own peril.
The Bears have a #1 pick in their sites? Not even sure which QB is worth it at this point. Maybe Goff. Wonder if we’ll see any more mid-season trades from them.
Well, who? The talent pool is shallow. A lot of teams have backup-grade QB’s *starting *as it is.
To be honest, the Browns’ 3rd string QB, Austin Davis, might be the best on the team. But I don’t think we’ll find out until McCown and Johnny both get hurt, which is not so unlikely.
Wouldn’t be shocked to see Willie Young and/or Lamarr Houston getting moved and maybe Kyle Fuller. Ultimately it depends what they can get back, I think they’ll want more than a 6th rounder for any of those guys.
I also don’t think #1 overall is really in the cards. They aren’t making the playoffs, but Cutler will be back soon (and he’s moved the ball well when playing) and they’ve played hands-down the toughest opening slate of games against 3 Super Bowl contenders. They’ll probably be top 10, but I think they can finish better than the Brownies, Texans, Bucs and maybe the Lions right now.
Kyle Fuller, really? I thought he was a good DB; am I thinking of his brother? And isn’t this only his second year?
Anyways, we need corners in Detroit, but there’s no way an in-division trade would happen.
I was thinking even Alshon Jeffery if they’re really throwing in the towel. He’s in the last year of his contract.
He was very good in his rookie year, though he apparently tailed off late in the year, and hasn’t been nearly as impactful this season. I get the sense that the team was expecting more from him than they’re getting.
The biggest scheme change was the defense, going to 3-4. The offense wasn’t retooled that much. Jeffery is clearly a piece for the future, unless they want to go all the way back to square one.
He was very good for two games (Week 2 v. SF, Week 3 v. Jets) against Kaepernick and the horrible Geno Smith. After that, he was quite bad. He ended up having the second worst coverage grade of all Cornerbacks in the NFL last year (PFF), behind only Corey White of the Saints. He gave up 841 yards and 5 touchdowns. He was the 14th player selected in Round 1 of the 2014 draft, and ended up being the last ranked rookie CB. He’s doing better this year, he’s only the 93rd worst out of 100 CB so far. He’s allowing 60% completion rate against and gave up two touchdowns.