Post by JABF on Nov 27, 2016 8:47:10 GMT -6
It will be very interesting to see where we end up in the draft order. I thought this was interesting: "The last time the Bears had a legitimate shot at the No. 1 overall pick was in 1997, when they were 1-10 after 11 games but won three of their next four (against the 8-3 Buccaneers, the 6-7 Bills and and 4-10 Rams) and finished 4-12 and picked fifth overall. Had they finished 2-14, they would have had the No. 1 overall pick — and a chance to draft Peyton Manning."
Browns (0-11)
49ers (1-9)
Jaguars (2-8)
Bears(2-8)
Browns (0-11)
49ers (1-9)
Jaguars (2-8)
Bears(2-8)
LINK
First-and-10: Bears don’t even have to tank for top-3 pick now
Jay Cutler’s latest injury could put the Bears on a course that many Bears fans have been waiting for — a legitimate shot at losing out to get a top-3 draft pick.
The Bears finish their season with the Titans (5-6) and 49ers (1-9) at home; the Lions (6-4) on the road; the Packers (4-6) and Redskins (6-3-1) at home; and the Vikings (6-4) at home.
If you cede the No. 1 overall pick to the winless Browns (0-11), the Bears still have a good shot at the No. 2 pick at 2-14. The only teams in contention are the 49ers (1-9) and the Jaguars (2-8). If the Bears lose to the 49ers on Dec. 4 — they couldn’t beat them at home last year even with Cutler — the 49ers could finish no worse than 2-14. And the Bears currently own the draft-order tie-breaker — strength-of-schedule — over both teams. Bears opponents currently are 83-77-1 (.519) — worse than the 49ers (82-74-4, .525) and Jaguars (86-76, .531).
And the Browns being at No. 1 isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Both teams are looking for quarterbacks, but the Browns’ history of evaluating quarterbacks is so poor, the odds of them getting the right guy are not that great. Last year the Brown traded down from the No. 2 pick instead of drafting Carson Wentz. They took Johnny Manziel in 2014, Brandon Weeden in 2012 and Brady Quinn in 2007.
Of course the Bears won’t “tank” to get the No. 2 or No. 3 draft pick. But that’s the beauty of this scenario: with Cutler out they don’t have to. With the 31st-ranked scoring offense in the NFL (14.3 points per game), they can play a decent game against even the 49ers and lose.
2. The Bears haven’t had a top-5 draft pick since 2005, when they took Texas running back Cedric Benson fourth overall. They haven’t had a top-3 pick since 1972, when they drafted Southern Illinois offensive tackle Lionel Antoine third overall. They had the No. 2 pick in 1970 — after losing a coin-flip with the Steelers for the No. 1 pick (Terry Bradshaw) — but traded it to the Packers for three players (Elijah Pitts, Lee Roy Caffey and Bob Hyland) who lasted one year or less with the Bears.
2a. The last time the Bears had a legitimate shot at the No. 1 overall pick was in 1997, when they were 1-10 after 11 games but won three of their next four (against the 8-3 Buccaneers, the 6-7 Bills and and 4-10 Rams) and finished 4-12 and picked fifth overall. Had they finished 2-14, they would have had the No. 1 overall pick — and a chance to draft either Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.
3. Jay Cutler’s 128.0 passer rating in the first half was the highest of any of the Giants’ 10 opponents this season, when he completed 11-of-14 passes for 126 yards and a 19-yard touchdown to tight end Zach Miller as the Bears took a 16-9 lead. That’s better than Dak Prescott (92.9), Drew Brees (79.4), Aaron Rodgers (54.8) and Carson Wentz (49.0).
But it was a different story in the second half. Cutler was 6-of-13 for 126 yards, no touchdowns and an interception that sealed the Bears fate with 1:11 to play. The Bears were shut out in the second half for the third time this season. (That’s not the most in the league — the Jets have been shut out in the second half four times already).
3a. If the Bears’ 22-16 loss to the Giants turns out to be Cutler’s last game with the Bears, it was a fitting finale for a Bears career that had promise dashed by disappointment from start to finish.
Cutler’s 128.0 passer rating in the first half was the highest of any of the Giants’ 10 opponents this season, when he completed 11-of-14 passes for 126 yards and a perfectly thrown 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Miller as the Bears took a 16-9 lead.
But it was a different story in the second half. Cutler was 6-of-13 for 126 yards, no touchdowns and an interception that sealed the Bears fate with 1:11 to play. His second-half passer rating was 48.9. And you couldn’t pin it all on Cutler. Not only was he without top targets Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White, but Miller missed most of the second half with a broken foot. He was playing behind a makeshift offensive line that lost Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton in the third quarter. And he probably was injured on the final, fatal throw.
But that is part of the Cutler predicament — too many extenuating circumstances. Unfair as it might be, the Bears need a quarterback with better luck.
4. Matt Barkley, the presumed starter Sunday against the Titans if Cutler can’t play, struggled in his only appearance this season — 6-of-15 for 81 yards and two interceptions for an 18.3 rating in place of injured starter Brian Hoyer against the Packers on Oct. 20. But that was a worst-case scenario. Barkley had not played in an NFL game since 2014 and had thrown just one pass in a game since 2013.
Quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone is confident it will be different with a chance to prepare.
“The best thing about what Matt did against Green Bay was he didn’t blink. It wasn’t too big for him,” Ragone said. “He was calm. You could feel it in his movements in the pocket. His eyes were up. There were a lot of [positive] things that a stat line would not produce. But the coaching staff, no confidence was wavered when he was in there. He did things he can build on for the next time.”
First-and-10: Bears don’t even have to tank for top-3 pick now
Jay Cutler’s latest injury could put the Bears on a course that many Bears fans have been waiting for — a legitimate shot at losing out to get a top-3 draft pick.
The Bears finish their season with the Titans (5-6) and 49ers (1-9) at home; the Lions (6-4) on the road; the Packers (4-6) and Redskins (6-3-1) at home; and the Vikings (6-4) at home.
If you cede the No. 1 overall pick to the winless Browns (0-11), the Bears still have a good shot at the No. 2 pick at 2-14. The only teams in contention are the 49ers (1-9) and the Jaguars (2-8). If the Bears lose to the 49ers on Dec. 4 — they couldn’t beat them at home last year even with Cutler — the 49ers could finish no worse than 2-14. And the Bears currently own the draft-order tie-breaker — strength-of-schedule — over both teams. Bears opponents currently are 83-77-1 (.519) — worse than the 49ers (82-74-4, .525) and Jaguars (86-76, .531).
And the Browns being at No. 1 isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Both teams are looking for quarterbacks, but the Browns’ history of evaluating quarterbacks is so poor, the odds of them getting the right guy are not that great. Last year the Brown traded down from the No. 2 pick instead of drafting Carson Wentz. They took Johnny Manziel in 2014, Brandon Weeden in 2012 and Brady Quinn in 2007.
Of course the Bears won’t “tank” to get the No. 2 or No. 3 draft pick. But that’s the beauty of this scenario: with Cutler out they don’t have to. With the 31st-ranked scoring offense in the NFL (14.3 points per game), they can play a decent game against even the 49ers and lose.
2. The Bears haven’t had a top-5 draft pick since 2005, when they took Texas running back Cedric Benson fourth overall. They haven’t had a top-3 pick since 1972, when they drafted Southern Illinois offensive tackle Lionel Antoine third overall. They had the No. 2 pick in 1970 — after losing a coin-flip with the Steelers for the No. 1 pick (Terry Bradshaw) — but traded it to the Packers for three players (Elijah Pitts, Lee Roy Caffey and Bob Hyland) who lasted one year or less with the Bears.
2a. The last time the Bears had a legitimate shot at the No. 1 overall pick was in 1997, when they were 1-10 after 11 games but won three of their next four (against the 8-3 Buccaneers, the 6-7 Bills and and 4-10 Rams) and finished 4-12 and picked fifth overall. Had they finished 2-14, they would have had the No. 1 overall pick — and a chance to draft either Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.
3. Jay Cutler’s 128.0 passer rating in the first half was the highest of any of the Giants’ 10 opponents this season, when he completed 11-of-14 passes for 126 yards and a 19-yard touchdown to tight end Zach Miller as the Bears took a 16-9 lead. That’s better than Dak Prescott (92.9), Drew Brees (79.4), Aaron Rodgers (54.8) and Carson Wentz (49.0).
But it was a different story in the second half. Cutler was 6-of-13 for 126 yards, no touchdowns and an interception that sealed the Bears fate with 1:11 to play. The Bears were shut out in the second half for the third time this season. (That’s not the most in the league — the Jets have been shut out in the second half four times already).
3a. If the Bears’ 22-16 loss to the Giants turns out to be Cutler’s last game with the Bears, it was a fitting finale for a Bears career that had promise dashed by disappointment from start to finish.
Cutler’s 128.0 passer rating in the first half was the highest of any of the Giants’ 10 opponents this season, when he completed 11-of-14 passes for 126 yards and a perfectly thrown 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Miller as the Bears took a 16-9 lead.
But it was a different story in the second half. Cutler was 6-of-13 for 126 yards, no touchdowns and an interception that sealed the Bears fate with 1:11 to play. His second-half passer rating was 48.9. And you couldn’t pin it all on Cutler. Not only was he without top targets Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White, but Miller missed most of the second half with a broken foot. He was playing behind a makeshift offensive line that lost Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton in the third quarter. And he probably was injured on the final, fatal throw.
But that is part of the Cutler predicament — too many extenuating circumstances. Unfair as it might be, the Bears need a quarterback with better luck.
4. Matt Barkley, the presumed starter Sunday against the Titans if Cutler can’t play, struggled in his only appearance this season — 6-of-15 for 81 yards and two interceptions for an 18.3 rating in place of injured starter Brian Hoyer against the Packers on Oct. 20. But that was a worst-case scenario. Barkley had not played in an NFL game since 2014 and had thrown just one pass in a game since 2013.
Quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone is confident it will be different with a chance to prepare.
“The best thing about what Matt did against Green Bay was he didn’t blink. It wasn’t too big for him,” Ragone said. “He was calm. You could feel it in his movements in the pocket. His eyes were up. There were a lot of [positive] things that a stat line would not produce. But the coaching staff, no confidence was wavered when he was in there. He did things he can build on for the next time.”
