What a Horrible Night for a Curse: Week 7 Review

Every so often, generally at night, and generally during some kind of cosmic shift, Red and I become something... unholy. Something wrong. We succumb to our basest instinct and turn into... meatheads. What follows is a horrifying conversation we had after far too much Nyquil and a marathon 24 hour session of ESPNNEWS.


49ers 13, Seahawks 6


Code Red: You talk about defense! Discipline! Smashmouth football! Is this the best division in football (despite the rapidly sinking Cardinals, the Seahawks inability to win games on the road or score 20 points against Non-Patriot defenses, or the fact the Rams can only beat other teams that don’t have offenses)? DEFENSE

Iggins!: I been so used to you damn kid’s “spreads” and “zone-reads” and hippity-flippity that I thought my NFL died with America’s manhood! But here we have two teams willing to run the ball right into the teeth of the defense, fail to achieve point totals higher than many baseball games, and generally look incompetent. THAS FOOTBAW.

Packers 30, Rams 20

Code Red: Clearly the Packers have re-established themselves as the dominant team in all of football.

Iggins!: I have to disagree here, y’see that Packer offense is too gattdamned gimmicky to win anything. Thirty points?! This ain’t basketball, Packers! I’ll take the mediocre offense and strong defense of the Rams any day! Even when they lose!

Colts 17, Browns 13

Code Red: Boy, this Andrew Luck. You see him running it. You see him throwing it. Might as well slap his name on that rookie of the year trophy now!

Iggins!: Too flashy! 53.6% completion percentage? Stop showing off, son! I’ll take Trent Richardson’s 3.4 yards per attempt this year any day! WORKMANLIKE.

For the Record: Week 7 Review, Jay's Delicious Ribs, and the Abomination that is Weekday Football Edition

This damnable bye week drags on for a few more hours of hellish torture. The skies darken and swell with the tears of the Gods as we await the return of Bears football. Why, cruel schedule makers? Whyyyyyyyy??


Lots of things happened this weekend. STUFF. Let's get to it:

-NFL first. The Packers predictably let the Rams get a bit close for comfort but Rodgers was patient and shredded the second dominant secondary in as many weeks. The Packers still have a weak defense, but... man they're scary when Rodgers is doing his thing. Hopefully he can't sustain his current level of play for the rest of the year. The Vikings rode AP to a win and Ponder had a terrible, terrible game against a good secondary. They'll probably get into the playoffs by picking off every bad team on their schedule and losing to the good ones. The Bengals are last year's Bucs, and they want you to remember that. The Steelers still suck. The Patriots are... mediocre. That's odd. They really should address that whole pass defense thing. I can foresee Miami @ New England for the AFC East in Week 17. How sad is that? The Ravens would like you to remember that yes, they are the Ravens, so PASSPASSPASS ignore Ray Rice Joe Flacco is so great isn't he? The Giants are still the Giants, the 49ers are kind of lame... if Chicago gets a good win tonight they have to be the team to beat in the NFC.

-NCAA second. Why, Iowa, would you not at least try to bench Vandenberg? He is clearly awful now. It's inexplicable, yes, but it is how it is. He will never be as good as he was last year again. I'm not saying Rudock or Sokol would be better. I have no idea if they would or wouldn't. But at least they'd be different! They need to try something. In other news, South Carolina hates road games, Alabama is to this season what Kentucky basketball was to last season: we'll keep thinking up new potential challengers so we have something to talk about, but we all know it's inevitable. Kansas State is pretty damn good. What else happened? Nothing really seems important in NCAA football after watching Bama.


I see literally no reason to believe the Packers are any different than they were last year. The only difference is that their defense hasn’t generated the absurdly high total of interceptions that it did last year, so instead of turnover differential getting them to 15-1 they’ve actually let a few teams hang with them this year. This is both bad and good news. Bad, because oh hey they’re still really good and frightening and will probably beat almost everyone left on their schedule (really hoping they lose @Giants, @Bears, and maybe one more upset to at least put them on the bubble) but good because they have clearly defined weaknesses that hopefully someone will exploit (and maybe the Bears someday if they ever go into one Green Bay game with the idea of running the ball until Green Bay actually proves they can stop it).

I’m still incredibly unimpressed by the Vikings. I’ve done the math time and again and I think their best case scenario is 8-8. It’s going to be a long hard fall. I don’t know that the Bengals are as bad as last year’s Bucs, but we knew they wouldn’t repeat as a playoff team. Then again, the Ravens are sinking fast so it’s not unthinkable in the conference where clearly 9-7 will get you in. And yeah, that Joe Flacco….I’m sure people accuse us of being hypocrites for criticizing Flacco when he’s posted similar numbers to Cutler over his career, but Flacco’s been given everything he could ever want for his entire career and just never goes anywhere with it.

Hey, David Haugh Gets Paid by the Word, Alright?

Today, I plan to carry on a proud SKO tradition by mocking a Chicago Tribune reporter’s outright idiocy in debate form. For my first foray into this territory, I’ve chosen my personal least favorite, noted scribe David Haugh.

In his column, “In the Wake of the News,” on Thursday, Haugh took on the futile and seemingly unnecessary task of defending Jerry Angelo’s tenure as GM for the Bears. The most outstanding question about this, in my opinion, is “why bother?” but that’s beside the point.

 As is custom, Haugh is in italics, I’m in regular font.

Bears 13, Lions 7- These ARE Your Father's Lions

The box score will tell you this game was close, but it really wasn't. The Lions never stood a chance of winning this game, no matter how many unnecessary roughness penalties they racked up (2), or how badly they tried to knock Cutler out of the game. This Bears defense proved once again tonight that they'll shut down anyone, anywhere, and they will punch your balls out repeatedly.

The Bears move to 5-1, maintaining control of the division, while the probably-fucked Lions dropped to 2-4, proving that, hey, Detroit is still Detroit after all. I mean, there was a time in the 90s when the Lions weren't consistently awful. They were just awful the year after meaningless playoff appearances. Welcome back:

Onto the specifics:

THE GOOD:

Jay Cutler: The numbers weren't there, but anyone who saw the game will know why he's up here first. I've certainly argued against the "Jay Cutler is a wuss" crowd in the past, but even if it wasn't already the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard before tonight, after tonight I hope to never hear it again. As long as #6 is the quarterback of the Bears, I'll be happy, because he's a bad-ass mother fucker.

Matt Forte/Michael Bush: 28 rushes, 132 yds, 4.7 ypc. This combo works, and I'm glad they committed to it, even if they forgot it at the goal line (more on that later).

Julius Peppers: He had another sack, but disrupted the Lions on many plays, including Stafford's game-clinching interception. He's got more help than ever now, but he's still the star of the show.

The Rest of the D-Line: They finished with three sacks, but Stafford was hurried and harassed most of the night, and it showed. Shea McClellin had a half a sack, because fuck Hub Arkush.

Charles Tillman: He blanketed Megatron again, holding him to just 34 yards receiving. He broke up a touchdown pass right before a turnover that kept Detroit off the board. He punched a ball out (even if the fumble went out of bounds) because Charles Tillman is very good at football.

THE BAD:

Gabe Carimi: I'm getting really tired of putting him here. At some point you've got to be able to block SOMEBODY in pass protection, Gabe. Please don't be Gabe Colombo.

Stupid Penalties: Several of them killed drives, drove starting field position back to the shadow of the endzone, and made the f*&king Lions look disciplined. Unacceptable.

Mike Tice: Christ, Mike. We've been over this. His name is Michael Bush. He's a fucking battering ram. Detroit showed no interest in stopping him at all tonight. Just give him the ball when you're at the fucking 3 yard line and it's 17-0 Bears and Jay can rest his ribs for an extra quarter.

Ndamukong Suh: Okay. That hit may not have been illegal, but fuck you. Overrated sack of shit.

Matthew Stafford: Stafford was seconds away from picking a fight with DJ Moore's back all night, as he was clearly flustered and frustrated that P'Nut once again took away his favorite toy. Nice turf-face, Bitchford.

That's all for now. Others will say "it wasn't pretty." Maybe you think so if you don't enjoy watching Lovie's defense rack up takeaways at an absolutely epic rate. I, personally, thought it was fucking beautiful.

Go Bears.

Why Do They Hate Jay Cutler?

Good morning everyone. Or afternoon depending on your time zone, I suppose, but as I just woke up I'm calling it morning. Those of you who frequent the Shoutbox know me as Erik, because that's my name and I'm the kind of guy who posts under his real name. So keep that in mind when you go to make death threats.

The good folks here at SKO have invited me to contribute to the site occasionally, so I'll be popping up now and again with cutting insight into just why the sports media is so stupid (and sometimes other things). I'm a writer by trade, so forgive me if I tend to rant. I'm doing it now, aren't I? Damn. Well, without further ado, enjoy or despise my first attempt at matching SKO's quality:

Why Do They Hate Jay Cutler?

After their most recent attempt to bait Jay Cutler into saying something outrageous, it’s become clear that, as tired as everybody else is of hearing about it, the sports media world is sticking to their guns on the “Jay Cutler is an asshole” thing.

For those too lazy to click the link, basically what it boils down to is this. Phil Simms recently said something to the effect of “I like Jay Cutler. He’s got a strong arm and he gets mean. Being mean is an important part of being a good NFL quarterback.”

Reporters at a press conference Wednesday asked Jay what he thought of Simms saying he was mean. To his credit, Jay responded by telling them to stop taking things out of context, but they’ve clearly crossed the line from stringing a narrative together to actively writing it.

In a column he wrote on October 9^th, poet laureate David Haugh wrote about Lovie Smith’s success in Chicago. One of the things he pointed out was Lovie getting rid of Martz and transitioning to Tice, a move pretty much everyone agreed with because Martz was never going to run an offense that worked with the talent he had on the field and Tice will. What Haugh said instead of that, though, was that Tice’s “flexibility and affability made him ideally suited to run an offense impetuous quarterback Jay Cutler leads.”

Why did he need to bring Jay into it at all? The problem with Martz wasn’t Cutler’s attitude, and Tice hasn’t had a whole lot to say about his “impetuous quarterback.” So why is it that even the home team feels the need to tear Jay down at every opportunity? Well, as a journalist and a rabid Cutler supporter, I may have a few answers.

1) He doesn’t need them

As a writer, it can be one of the most frustrating things in the world to have an uncooperative interviewee. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to write “The police officer who responded to the call was unavailable for comment because he’s a big sack of dicks,” but that’s not being professional.

Sportswriters, however, are the big pampered babies of the journalistic world. They have regular access to some of the biggest celebrities in the country, and they’re used to those celebrities taking every opportunity they can to please the crowd and, indirectly, the writer.

They’re used to Tom Brady, who puts on a handsome smiley face and laughs for the camera, but calls his teammates “fucking bitches” on the sideline when they settle for a field goal. The idea that a quarterback not only doesn’t want to talk to them, but actively resists presenting a media-friendly image is unconscionable to them.

So instead, they tear him down. They turn him into a media pariah and have a feeding frenzy every time he looks grumpy on the sideline so that, someday, he’ll come back to them looking to revamp his image and they’ll get what they wanted in the first place.

2) He doesn’t fit their model

This one is more applicable to the Chicago crowd (Haugh, Telander, Morrissey) than ESPN as a whole, but it’s ESPN’s fault in the first place. They started the “elite quarterback” conversation that has made it so hard for a number of young QB’s to get the recognition they deserve.

When it comes to “elite quarterbacks,” writers tend to cherry-pick their stats to fit that image. Take Eli Manning, who has okay-to-bad first halves all the time and looks like he’s about to crash, but turns into the Incredible Hulk in the fourth quarter and brings it back. That’s his story, right? That’s what makes him elite.

Well then, would it surprise you to know that Jay Cutler is the best 4th-quarter QB in the league right now?

But he doesn’t have a ring, and that’s become one of the defining characteristics of the elite QB, so nobody talks about it. Five years ago, Eli was “the other Manning.” I’m not necessarily saying that Jay is better than Eli, just that the sports media will actively rewrite the story on the field if the person throwing the ball has won a Super Bowl.

Want a better example? How about Brett Favre, a man whose every flaw was on painfully public display for literally his entire career. But once he got a ring, his attitude and his inconsistencies became part of the legend. The “gunslinger attitude” people criticize Cutler for was Favre’s signature “greatness.” Not only did the commentators praise him for it while he was winning, they’re still praising him for it today.

They’ve convinced themselves that not having a top-5 quarterback makes you a bad team, even though 27 teams have to play without a top-5 quarterback every year. The 49ers and the Texans are the toast of the NFL this year, and neither of their QBs is even close to the top 5. But until he wins a Super Bowl, Cutler will never be able to break into that club and have his flaws forgiven by a fawning Chris Collinsworth. 

3) LeBron James

Now, you might say, “What?” And you’d be right to do so, but bear with me.

In 2010, LeBron James made a big show of doing something dozens of people do every year: entering free agency and going to another team. While he was a big dick about it, at its core it was a roster move.

The media ripped him to pieces over it. He became the biggest villain the NBA has ever seen; it was like something out of professional wrestling. Commentators went on and on about how Jordan and Bird would never do such a thing, and how LeBron was ruining the game of basketball. The owner of the Cavaliers made a brash, untenable promise (in Comic Sans, no less) that Cleveland will win a championship not in spite of, but because of LeBron’s betrayal. The mayor of Cleveland made the team that beat LeBron for the championship honorary citizens of his city.

And that Christmas Day, the Lakers-Heat game had a 45% ratings increase from the previous year.  People were discussing nothing but the NBA in fucking July. It was the biggest story and most compelling narrative we’ve seen in basketball since Michael Jordan retired, and all it took was a villain.

For an NFL-related example, Favre’s return to Green Bay in a Vikings jersey drew more viewers than game 4 of the World Series, which aired the same night. It was the most-watched Sunday Night Football game in 14 years. I doubt the Packers’ or Vikings’ fan bases expanded appreciably that year. It was the chance to see a man who had deceived and betrayed the town that loved him (even though that’s not what really happened) beaten by his successors in front of the home audience.

And that’s why the media needs Jay Cutler to be an asshole, and will rewrite history to make him look like one. If he has a B+ game and afterward says “Yeah it was okay. We won, and I had a pretty okay night,” the story ends there. We don’t talk about it. We don’t click through to more stories and keep refreshing to see if he’s retorted yet.

But if he grumps at Mike Tice when they fail on 3^rd and long, the whole sports world is talking about Jay Cutler, whether they’re cursing him or defending him. And we have that conversation in their papers, on their web pages. They sell more issues, get more pageviews and more advertising dollars, get higher ratings for every segment of SportsCenter that talks about his “outburst.”

They need a story, so they pick somebody with a grumpy face and try to turn him into a monster. And who wouldn’t believe, when you only get a 10-second view of one sideline incident, that a guy with a face like Jay’s was mean to his teammates?

None of this excuses their behavior, but at least it helps to understand why, regardless of what he does, it’s not going to stop until he wins a championship. Once he gets that ring, the “elite QB” thing will go away, and the people who spontaneously ejaculate when an ’85 Bear speaks will have to quit mocking him the same way they had to glorify Jim McMahon.

No doubt, they would say he’ll lose that game on purpose just to spite them.

Prognostication Bukakke, NCAA Week 8

#3 Oregon @ Arizona State

Iggins!: DIE TODD GRAHAM DIE. Oregon wins.

Code Red: Why do you hate him so much? Man just wanted a better job. This is America, commie. Oregon wins.

Iggins!: Which is understandable, but when your resignation affects the lives of an entire class of students you brought in based on your lies about being fully committed, then all you give them is a text when you leave? You're a fuck.

Mrs. Code Red: Oregon.

Virginia Tech @ #19 Clemson

Code Red: Going to hope that Clemson's got all of the Clemson out of their system for the year. Clemson wins.

Iggins!: Have to take Clemson to win.

Mrs. Code Red: Clemson wins.

#24 Iowa State @ Oklahoma State

Iggins!: So many reasons ISU won’t win this game. 1) They’re ranked. Not sure why. Because they beat TCU? 2) They hate winning games they’re favored in. 3) Oklahoma State probably remembers the whole “You kept us out of the National Title Game” thing. Oklahoma State wins.

Code Red: 4) They're probably a vastly superior program to Iowa right now. Has no relevance on this game. Just like saying it to you. Oklahoma State wins, because Stillwater is a rough place for a team like Iowa State to win on the road.

Iggins!: Nuh-uh!... oh wait... shit.

Mrs. Code Red: Iowa State wins. 

 

#6 LSU @ #18 Texas A&M

Code Red: That Texas A&M defense may very well make LSU's offense look average. LSU wins.

Iggins!: Just setting up another Alabama versus other SEC team title game here, nothing to see. LSU wins.

Mrs. Code Red: LSU wins.

#17 Texas Tech @ #23 TCU

Iggins!: Seems like a good spot for Texas Tech to lose after that big win against WVU. TCU wins.

Code Red: Sigh. Hate picking Tuberville, but can't help meself. Texas Tech wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Religion over science, I guess. TCU wins.

#7 South Carolina @ #2 Florida

Code Red: Have to continue to ride the horse that got me here, but I'd nay be surprised if Spurrier came out on top here. Florida.

Iggins!: Picking against Florida has caused me nothing but pain this year, and South Carolina isn't the same on the road. Florida wins.

Mrs. Code Red: South Carolina wins.

 

Nebraska @ Northwestern

Iggins!: Nebraska hasn’t looked great. Of course, neither has Northwestern, but they have looked at least as good, and they managed to beat Nebraska last season. Hoping the curse has transferred. Northwestern wins.

Code Red: I turn my back on you, Nebraska. I do it myself. Northwestern wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Uhh...Nebraska?

#4 Kansas State @ #13 West Virginia

Code Red: Please, Holgo. Right the ship! America needs you to keep your title hopes alive! WVU wins.

Iggins!: Kansas State is good. Their defense is great and their offense can put up enough to keep up with WVU. Sadly, I'll take Kansas State here.

Mrs. Code Red: Kansas State.

#1 Alabama @ Tennessee

Iggins!: This was a fun game last year, and Tennessee almost ruined everything for Bama (which means Tennessee is the reason for that awful title game last year… goddamn you Tennessee). Tennessee gon Tennessee. Alabama wins.

Code Red: Saban hasn't forgotten that, and this is definitely going to be a slaughter. Bama wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Alabama.

#14 Florida State @ Miami (FL)

Code Red: FSU has also hopefully gotten the FSU out of their system. FSU wins.

Iggins!: Florida State on the road against a mediocre ACC team? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. But I'm playing it safe. Florida State wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Florida State, because my good friend Abby goes there, and it'd be ludicrous to roll with G-reg's boys in this one.

Prognostication Bukakke, NFL Week 7

NCAA:

Mrs. Code Red: 39-21

Code Red: 37-23

Iggins!: 35-25

NFL:

Code Red: 53-37

Mrs. Code Red: 51-39

Iggins!: 48-42

Total:

Code Red: 90-60

Mrs. Code Red: 90-60

Iggins!: 83-67

Seahawks @ 49ers

Code Red: Seahawks are a totally different team on the road, 49ers won't lose two in a row at home. 49ers win.

Iggins!: Agreed. 49ers win.

Mrs. Code Red: 49ers win.

Saints @ Buccaneers

Iggins!: The Chiefs make everybody (except Baltimore) look good, and I think Breesus is going to will this team to 8-8. Saints win.

Code Red: The Buccaneers are shitty. Saints win.

Mrs. Code Red: Saints.

Cowboys @ Panthers

Code Red: Hmm. Both equally disappointing teams. Well, the Cowboys are disappointing to fans and pundits, anyway. I find their yearly failures enjoyable. Still, I'm flipping the coin and thinking they're more likely to win this one than Carolina. Cowboys win.

Iggins!: Until Cam shows that he's out of this slump, I'll take the Cowboys to win.

Mrs. Code Red: Cowboys win.

Cardinals @ Vikings

Iggins!: The Cardinals are so bad, and the Vikings are good enough to take care of bad teams. Vikings win.

Code Red: Jared Allen seems to be warming up just in time for the world’s worst offensive line to make an appearance in the dome. Vikings win.

Mrs Code Red: Vikings win.

Titans @ Bills

Code Red: Oh, lord. The Bills are terrible and are going to have a winning record, aren't they? Bills win.

Iggins!: I don't want to take the Bills. You can't make me take the Bills! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-Bills win.

Mrs. Code Red: Bills win.

Redskins @ Giants

Iggins!: The Giants showed the 49ers weakness last week more than they showed their strength, but Eli should be able to slice and dice the Redskin secondary. Giants win.

Code Red: The Giants are capable of beating anybody, but the inverse is often true as well. Still, the Redskins defense allowed 352 yards to Pennington the Younger. Giants win.

Mrs. Code Red: Giants win.

Browns @ Colts

Code Red: For all of the splooging over Andrew Luck (and I don't mean to discredit him, since he's played very well in spots and certainly seems likely to be the guy we all thought he'd be), Brandon Weeden's posted very good numbers (for a rookie at least) since his opening day debacle against Nnamdi Asomugah, and his team has more talent than their 1-5 record. Browns win.

Iggins!: The Colts at home are very different than the Colts on the road. Richardson may be out. I'll take the Colts to win.

Mrs. Code Red: Colts win.

Ravens @ Texans

Iggins!: The Texans made some schematic mistakes last week which I hope they fail to do this week. Stopping the Ravens shouldn't be very difficult for Houston if Baltimore forgets they have Ray Rice. And they always forget they have Ray Rice. So Houston wins.

Code Red: Even if the Ravens remember Ray Rice is there, the Texans have Arian Foster, and now that the Ravens defense is absolutely devastated there’s no way Joe Flacco could pull an Aaron Rodgers and beat the Texans. Texans win.

Mrs. Code Red: Texans win.

Packers @ Rams

Code Red: The Rams will pressure Rodgers and ensure that there'll be another week of “What's wrong with Green Bay's offense!?!” even after Rodger's pummeling of Houston, but I can't see the Rams scoring enough to win. Packers win.

Iggins!: The points are the issue. I can see the Rams holding Green Bay to 20 but only being able to score 13. Packers win.

Mrs. Code Red: Packers.

Jaguars @ Raiders

Iggins!: The Raiders seem to play to the level of their competition. Home team here. Raiders win.

Code Red: Carson Palmer vs. Blaine Gabbert. A guy who once was, but isn’t, versus a guy who never has been and never will be. Raiders win.

Mrs. Code Red: Jaguars win.

Jets @ Patriots

Code Red: The Jets won with Mirerez throwing for 82 yards. Not a bad formula, really, but they're not going to beat New England. Patriots win.

Iggins!: Yeah Shonn Greene can probably only do that against the Colts. Patriots win.

Mrs. Code Red: Patriots win.

Steelers @ Bengals

Iggins!: The Steelers are in need of some rebuilding. They're getting old at several key spots, are beset by injuries... etc. Even though they're so damn mediocre, I'll take Cincinnati to win.

Code Red: I foresee a shootout, but a Steelers victory. Steelers win.

Mrs. Code Red: Steelers win.

Lions @ Bears

Code Red: There aren't many teams you can really feel Lovie Smith's hatred for. He's usually so tight-lipped and respectful toward everyone, but his enmity for the Lions and everything about their big-talking, cheap-shotting, undisciplined style of play is obvious. Last year the Lions hit two big plays thanks to Brandon Meriweather and Chris Harris to win in Detroit. Once the Bears worked Conte and Wright into the lineup and righted the ship on defense they shut Detroit up quick with a 37-13 demolition that wrapped up all of the Lions shortcomings with a neat little bow. This year will be no different. They can't run the ball against the Bears front seven, meaning they'll force Stafford to drop back and throw 40+ passes against the Bears defensive line that, mind you, is much better and deeper than the overrated Ndamukong Suh and Co. Their secondary can't cover worth a damn and Jay Cutler has a 10-1 ratio and a glistening 105 passer rating against the Lions in his career. The Bears are 5-1 in the last six years coming out of the bye, and they're 8-2 in Lovie's career on Monday Night Football. I don't mean to rant, but they will destroy these shitheads. Bears 34, Lions 17.

Iggins!: You don't mean to rant? You ALWAYS mean to rant. Bears win 248 to -3. (See how I showed my disgust for Detroit there so quickly?)

Mrs. Code Red: Bears 34, Lions 10.

Goodbye, Chris Williams

The Bears announced this afternoon that they've terminated the contract of 2008 first round pick Chris Williams and also brought back perpetual disappointment CB Zack Bowman. Bowman is undoubtedly simply a special teams move, since Williams obviously can't contribute in that department and the Bears are extremely deep and talented at corner right now. The story here, then, is that yet another Jerry Angelo first round pick has wandered off of the reservation. The only Angelo top rounder left is his last, Gabe Carimi, who hopefully will overcome his poor play of late before fans like me wake up and realize hes' been more of the problem than J'Marcus Webb, who has actually played well in four of five games.

Williams was a guy who just seemed cursed from the very beginning. He missed almost all of his rookie year with a back injury (that Jerry Angelo totes knew about, so you go whistle dixie and don't ask anymore questions, reporter man) and was therefore fighting to shed the bust label before he even took the field. He struggled in 2009 at right tackle before the absolute disaster that was Orlando Pace forced the team to move him to the blind side. He played very well down the stretch at that spot, shut down Jared Allen in one of the more exciting upsets in Bears history, and went into 2010 with some considerable hype. Williams killed that hype immediately by allowing four sacks in one preseason game to Kamerion Wimbley, then looked miserable in the opener against the Lions and in a few series against the Cowboys before he suffered a hamstring injury and left the lineup. When he returned, the Bears moved him to left guard, where he slowly improved throughout the second half of 2010 and the first half of 2011, but an injury sidelined him yet again for the second of last year. Given one last shot at redemption, he lost a competition for the left tackle job that, to be fair, was clearly rigged in Webb's favor. Williams has been inactive for most of the season behind recently signed tackle Jonathan Scott, who has more experience at both tackle positions and doubles as the backup long-snapper.

It was clear from all of this that William's departure after the season was inevitable, but his immediate release is somewhat surprising. It works well for both the Bears and Williams, as the Bears can use the roster spot for someone who can actually contribute on special teams and Williams can hopefully find work with any of the offensive lines currently struggling around the league (like you, Arizona. I mean, come on, can he possibly be any worse than what you've got? The Bears just released Kahlil Bell, too. Sign 'em both and buy your NFC West Champion t-shirts right now). The big question now, however, with yet another Angelo first round pick gone, is which of Angelo's many failures was worst?

To refresh your memory, here's a brief recap of Jerry's first round picks as Bears GM:

2002, 29th Pick, Marc Colombo, OT, Boston College: Colombo was a promising LT from Boston College who got hurt just 10 games into his career and missed most of the next two years before getting his release in 2004. He later played decently for the f*&king Cowboys.

2003, 14th Pick, Michael Haynes, DE, Penn State: Haynes, a one year wonder at Penn State, was a poor fit as a run-stuffing DE in Lovie's speed-based defense. He was moved to DT, where he did nothing, and bounced out of football in two years.

2003, 22nd Pick, Rex Grossman, QB, Florida: The second half of the two-for-one 2003 special was Mark Sanchez before it was cool to be Mark Sanchez, letting his defense and his performance in a few blowouts of bad teams carry him all the way to a Superbowl that he botched in epic fashion. Turned the ball over like Todd Marinovich on heroin, desperately trying to rid himself of the bugs crawling all over the football. Currently the inactive 3rd quarterback of the Redskins behind two rookies.

2004, 14th Pick, Tommie Harris, DT, Oklahoma: Dominating three technique when healthy, suffered a series of injuries in 2006 and 2007 that limited his effectiveness. Sadly just lost his wife less than a year after their wedding. Much beloved by one-time SKO contributor Apex.

2005, 4th Pick, Cedric Benson, RB, Texas: F*&king f*&khead who held out for more money and missed training camp, thus missing out on a starting job the Bears were prepared to hand to him (missed training camp due to injury in 2006 when Bears were AGAIN going to hand him a starting job), fumbled in Superbowl, failed miserably as starter in 2007, bitched incessantly, arrested often. Released by Bears to make room for Matt Forte, claimed Bears regretted cutting him despite the fact that both his predecessor and his successor were infinitely better than him. Played a few games for the Packers before getting hurt again.

2007, 31st Pick, Greg Olsen, TE, Miami: Extremely athletic receiving tight end who was often misused and underutilized in Chicago and also couldn't block a damn thing. Currently being misused and underutilized in Carolina while still not blocking a damn thing. Fumbled a lot.

2008, 14th Pick, Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt: See above.

Now that your memory is jogged, go vote up top on the pick that disappointed you most. 

When Should the Jaguars Give Up On Blaine Gabbert?

Those of you who read this site often know that there are certain quarterbacks that I frequently criticize, if for no other reason than the fact that I thought they'd suck before they ever even arrived in the NFL and continue to point out their suck at every available opportunity. Rico Mirerez is a notable example, but more recently I've spent a lot of time ragging on Blaine Gabbert.

Now I'm not going to pretend I'm alone in pointing out how much Blaine Gabbert sucks. Everyone's doing it because it's true and it's fun. That said, I've noticed many people still saying things like "it's too early for the Jaguars to give up on Gabbert." This group can range from usual simpletons like Hub Arkush, who of course thought Gabbert would be better than Cam Newton and says you can't judge Blaine yet after 19 starts (but who also all but dismisses Shea McClellin with a wanking motion despite his good production so far as a pass rushing specialist because Hub still totally told you he couldn't be a three down, run stuffing 4-3 end on a team that didn't draft him to do that and has no need for him to do so at the moment) to more scientific sources like Pro Football Focus. While the PFF guys do nothing to defend Gabbert's play, they still say it's "too early" to give up on him. Is it really?

The old standard for measuring a QB's progress was to give them three years. After three years the idea was that you knew what you had in a guy. Drew Brees was a notorious example of a guy who took three years to hit his stride. Even with quarterbacks like Roethlisberger, Flacco, Ryan, Newton, Dalton, RGIII, and Luck impressing from day one, the idea that you need to give some guys three years to develop holds some weight. I'm not going to disagree with this, but there's also a difference between waiting three years for a dynamic but inconsistent top prospect to flatten out his peaks and valleys and become a franchise guy and simply waiting for a guy like Gabbert to do something, anything, to justify his draft stock. It's not like Gabbert is a guy who has flashed a ton of potential and simply forces too many throws or takes too many risks. He's shown no measurable progress or any real potential for greatness. He's never had a 300 yard or 3 TD game. QB rating is a flawed stat, but even then Gabbert has had just 5 career starts with a passer rating of over 80, three of which were games where he had less than 20 pass attempts or 200 yards, or both.

My argument, then, is that the Jaguars should give up on Gabbert now because the likelihood that he'll develop into a reliable starting quarterback in the NFL is damn near miniscule. In order to prove this I've decided to compare Gabbert's stats to other quarterbacks taken in the 1st or 2nd round since 1999 in order to show what company Blaine is actually in.

The stat I've chosen to look at for this comparison is what Pro Football Reference calls "Adjusted Yards Per Attempt." Basically, this stat adjusts a player's YPA with bonuses for TDs and deductions for interceptions. After 19 career starts, Gabbert's AYPA sits at 4.9. The only two passers that managed an AYPA lower than that in their first years in the league? Alex Smith and Joey Harrington. The bottom five? JaMarcus Russell, Kyle Boller, Gabbert, Smith, and Harrington. Drew Brees, the poster boy for the three year model, had an AYPA of 5.28, but had also had four 300 yard games and several 3 TD games. Brees' had a regular YPA of 6.4 during that time period, and also averaged 10.8 YPC during that time, meaning he, unlike Gabbert (5.4 and 10.0 respectively) showed some proclivity for making big plays and had many more of the usual "young QB" struggles, rather than a sheer inability to run an NFL offense.

At this point, the Jaguars are basically banking that the best case scenario (and one could could argue that Alex Smith is a historical anomaly, given that few quarterbacks survive as many unproductive years and as many coaching changes as he has) is a 20% chance that Gabbert may one day be Alex Smith. The far more likely scenario is that he's Kyle Boller or JaMarcus Russell. The suck isn't just going to one day transform into something else. The Jaguars should move on now, just two years into the experiment. The Raiders did that with Russell, and I bet the Ravens wish they would have with Boller. Even a move to Chad Henne (AYPA through first 19 starts: 5.86) would be a better move for the franchise.

Quarterly Review: Quarter Numero Uno

If you're a Bear fan you should know by now that Lovie Smith only sees NFL seasons one quarter at a time. So we here at SKO have decided to follow along and chart team's success over these quarter seasons. For quarter number one we are comparing each team's success to how they played last year.

AFC East:


Patriots:

Code Red: They can now run the ball and they can stop the run. Their passing game is less explosive now and their pass defense still sucks. PUSH

Iggins!: WORSE. They can't run the ball, damnit, they've run the ball against bad run defenses. They're the same team but teams now cover Gronkowski and Hernandez is hurt.

Bills:

Code Red: How are they so bad on defense? I mean, is Mario Williams just dead? Are they doing a Weekend at Bernies thing with him each week? WORSE

Iggins!: PUSH. They finished last season this same way. People know their offense and their defense is pretty bad. When Mario was out last year the Texans were still dominant. Should've been a bad sign.

Jets:

Code Red: LOL Rico Mirerez. WORSE

Iggins!: WORSE. Yargh. They need to start Tebow or something. Just a hot mess.

Dolphins:

Code Red: Hmm. It appears that perhaps Ryan Tannehill may not be a bust. He’s only really looked absolutely dreadful against the Texans, and that’s hardly fair to judge a lad in his first game against them. Their defense looks improved. I say BETTER, since they went 6-10 last year and with the Bills and Jets in their division 7-9 seems possible.

Iggins!: BETTER. Reggie running at full tilt and a surprising competency from Tannehill. The Tannehill thing won't last, but right now they're better.



AFC West:

Broncos:

Iggins!: BETTER. Trading Tebow for PeyPey pretty much guaranteed they'd be better.

Code Red: Better overall, worse on defense. Their secondary can’t stop anything. Still should win them that division.

Chargers:

Iggins!: PUSH. And they will continue to PUSH until they fire Norv Turner.

Code Red: Definitely PUSH. 8-8 all over that.

Raiders:

Iggins!: WORSE. Not sure how. Run DMC has been less effective and Carson is just ass.

Code Red: WORSE. They had to cut their best defenders (Stanford Routt and Kamerion Wimbley, who weren’t even THAT good) because of cap issues, so the defense is worse, and the offense is naturally worse with Palmer another year older and dead-er. I can’t even watch him anymore. So sad.

For the Record: Bye Week Madness, Mistakes Made With Vanderbilt, and Questionable Coaching Hires Addition.

Well, that was a good week five, I’d say. I give the Jaguars credit. It was hot and miserable and they played some excellent man coverage and disrupted the routes the Bears wanted to run in the first half. The Bears had nearly 200 yards of offense and little to show for it. Unfortunately for Jacksonville, the second half came and the Bears adjusted quite well. Amazing to think they’d end up with 41 points and over 500 yards of offense for the first time since 1989 after 3 points in the first half. This team is scary when it puts it all together. Brandon Marshall is some kind of superhuman. I know we both love Marcus Robinson, but clearly we’ve never seen a guy who can just take over a game at receiver before. 292 yards for Cutler, 107 yards for Forte, 144 yards for Marshall, 52 combined yards and a kickass hurdle from Michael Bush…that’s what you want to see against a team like Jacksonville. Just complete domination. Also, Blaine Gabbert is hilariously bad at the footballs. Seriously.

On defense, it’s amazing to think that Urlacher is clearly not 100% and the defense has responded by playing like they don’t need him. Hard to expose Urlacher if Briggs, the secondary, and the d-line are all dominating like they’ve been. This is the defense Lovie has wet dreams about. They’ve scored 35 points this year and allowed 54 if you take the special teams TD by Green Bay and the pick six by Indianapolis. Fucking ludicrous.

Now it’s the bye week followed by a Monday Night game proving that the schedule makers fucking hate us. Not the Bears. They love this time off, but we, the fans, must wait like FOREVER to see our Bears again. That’s cruel and unusual punishment after a 3 game winning streak.

Now around the NFL…..HA, Green Bay. HA. I watched that happen from 21-3 to the finish and I’m still in shock. So awesome. So very awesome. I think people can concede that we’re not homers when we say the Bears are, despite their loss to Green Bay, the better team. They just have to figure out how to fix their matchup nightmare Against Green Bay, but if Green Bay loses this week to the Texans to drop to 2-4, they could actually be facing the dream scenario (and you did call this, so kudos) where the Bears don’t have to beat Green Bay or worry about them in the playoffs at all. C’mon Arian Foster. Shred them!

Elsewhere around the league….wow, Buffalo. How does that team get that much WORSE on defense? 600 yards to the 49ers after what happened against the Patriots? More importantly, how is Chan Gailey not fired? I normally disapprove of in-season firings, but c’mon! Also, poor RGIII. I fear these shots will keep coming. Don’t be Mike Vick, son. Slide! We love you too much to see that!


Great game indeed. I'm in disagreement about that first half. There was a lot of hate but I kept saying the offense was doing great. They had 3 points due to circumstance more than anything. The defense struggling to get pressure on third down was troubling, but the damn defense adjusted and decided to blitz to create pressure. Are these the Bears? When did the coaching get so competent?

Also, Mike Tice has clearly gotten it. Run with Forte. Run with Bush. Play-action on running downs in the second half. Win. You covered the offense pretty well there, so I'll express something I've noticed these first few games. There has been one possession in the third quarter of every game this year where Michael Bush plays exclusively. At first I thought it was stupid because this drive is ALWAYS the drive where the Bears pass-pass-pass and Forte is a dominant pass-catching RB. But teams don't realize this is "that drive" so they basically react like this:

Prognostication Bukakke, NCAA Week 7

#15 Texas vs. #13 Oklahoma:

Iggins!: Everyone looks competent against WVU’s defense, Texas, but I don’t like Landry Jones one damn bit. Grumble. Flipping coin… Texas wins.

Code Red: Texas' defense is legitimately good. Geno Smith is just at that level. They'll confuse Landry Jones into mistakes. Texas wins. 

 

Mrs. Code Red: Oklahoma. 

 

Wisconsin @ Purdue:

Code Red: Oh God. The awfulness. The horrible, no-good, very-bad conference. My eyeballs are bleeding as I look at this. Purdue? God. Am I really picking Purdue over Wisconsin? Purdue. The horror.

Iggins!: Wisconsin struggled against Illinois, so, I mean… Purdue wins?

Mrs. Code Red: Purdue....with a question mark?

Utah @ UCLA:

Iggins!: UCLA got all Jim Mora last week and Utah decided they would put up a pretty good fight against USC. I’ll take the Utes to win, and promptly watch Jim Mora drop 700 points.

Code Red: Utah benefitted from turnovers, mostly. I'm not confident that Utah could put up many points against Illinois. UCLA wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Utah.

#17 Stanford @ #7 Notre Dame:

Code Red: They're good. What are we going to do?! NOTRE DAME IS ACTUALLY GOOD AGAIN. WHO LET THIS HAPPEN? Notre Dame wins.

Iggins!: This needs to stop, but I can’t take Stanford here. God save us all from Touchdown Jesus. Notre Dame wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Notre Dame.

#10(!) Oregon State @ BYU:

Iggins!: Yeah, that’s the number 10 next to the Beavers there. Wow. Picking against them seems like a bad idea, so Oregon State wins.

Code Red: Except word comes in now that Sean Mannion needs shoulder surgery. That blows. BYU still looks like shit, though. Oregon State wins. 

 

Mrs. Code Red: Oregon State.

#4 Florida @ Vanderbilt:

Code Red: Oh you damned fool. Now you must pay for your stupidity. Florida wins.

Iggins!: I’m a gonna ride this here pony to death. It already died? Oh well. Vanderbilt wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Florida.

#11 USC @ Washington:

Iggins!: USC got that one weird loss out of the way, it seems. On the other hand, Washington does that to USC as well. It would be just humorous enough to see Washington win this, have victories over USC and Stanford, then not matter at all in the Pac-12 title picture. Washington wins.

Code Red: Very odd for you to gamble like this. USC wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Washington.

TCU @ Baylor:

Code Red: Nice job, Casey Pachall, costing your team a big game with your stupid suspension. Even with him back I still like Baylor's improving offense. Baylor wins. 

 

Iggins!: Paul Rhoads does that to people. Baylor wins.

Mrs. Code Red: TCU.

#3 South Carolina @ #9 LSU:

Iggins!: Can’t tell if South Carolina is that good or Georgia is that bad. Seemed like the perfect storm of good fortune for the other USC. Still, until LSU finds an offense, I’ll take South Carolina to win.

Code Red: Can't trust LSU's offense at all, and I think SC's defense is legitimately that good. South Carolina wins.

Mrs. Code Red: South Carolina.

#22 Texas A&M @ #23 Louisiana Tech

Code Red: Should be one hell of a game. About time LA Tech got some love. Have to trust A&M's defense to be slightly better in this one. TAMU wins.

 

Iggins!: Tempted very badly to take LaTech at home. Texas A&M hasn’t exactly looked great against inferior competition this season either. FINE. Let us dance the dance of risky picks this week! Louisiana Tech wins.

Mrs. Code Red: Texas A&M.

Prognostication Bukakke, NFL Week 6

Standings:

NCAA:

Iggins!: 33-17

Mrs. Code Red: 33-17

Code Red: 31-19

NFL:

Code Red: 48-29

Mrs. Code Red: 46-31

Iggins!: 43-34

Total:

Mrs. Code Red: 79-48

Code Red: 79-48

Iggins!: 76-51

Steelers @ Titans

Code Red: Poor Titans, they looked mildly promising on offense before Locker went down. Steelers win.

Iggins!: If the Tits had Locker, I’d take them. Unfortunately, they do not. Steelers win.

Mrs. Code Red: Steelers.

Rams @ Dolphins

Iggins!: The Fins have a surprisingly effective rookie QB and Reggie Bush, which is good, because the Ram pass defense is much better than their run D. The Fin defense has even been stepping it up. I’ll take Miami to win.

Code Red: Yeah, the Dolphins are getting pressure and they should be able to put up more points than Sam Bradford. Dolphins win.

Mrs. Code Red: Dolphins.

Lions @ Eagles

Code Red: This is a tough one. Vick is on his last legs, but I think the Lions defense is bad enough that he'll be okay against them, and Stafford could make some big mistakes against that secondary. Eagles win.

Iggins!: Vick’ll probably finally get knocked out in this one, but Foles won’t be the biggest downgrade ever. If the Eagles would just hand the damn ball off they’d be fine. Just fire Andy Reid, Philly! Get a coach who likes to run the ball! Eagles win because Detroit is damn bad.

Mrs. Code Red: Lions. Vick'll cost them this one.

Bengals @ Browns

Iggins!: The Browns are right on the cusp of being a good team and the Bengals are on the downswing (13 points against Miami last week is troubling). This game is always weird. Browns win.

Code Red: I just can't gamble on Cleveland yet. Bengals win.

Mrs. Code Red: Bengals.

Chiefs @ Buccaneers

Code Red: Woof. Bad teams. The Bucs defense has been good, at least, except against the pass, which the Chiefs are not good at. Bucs win?

Iggins!: Can I make a conditional pick? If Cassel plays, Chiefs lose. Doesn’t play, Chiefs win. No? No conditional picks? Fine. Bucs win, because God hates Kansas City for some reason.

Mrs. Code Red: Buccaneers.

Colts @ Jets

Iggins!: Just start Tebow already, Jets. Colts win.

Code Red: It's really the only thing that'll make you watchable. Even if it won't make you better. Colts win.

Mrs. Code Red: Colts win.

Raiders @ Falcons

Code Red: Yeah, well, okay. Falcons win.

Iggins!: The great thing here is that the Falcons just don’t play anyone of note almost all year. They could go 16-0 and their best win would be against Denver or the Giants. They don’t play Houston, Chicago, New England, Green Bay, San Francisco, Baltimore, etc. It’s incredible. Falcons win.

Mrs. Code Red: Falcons win.

Cowboys @ Ravens:

Iggins!: The battle of inconsistency! Please just run the ball, Ravens. This Joe Flacco shit is killing me. Ravens win.

Code Red: Should be one of those “no, YOU win, we don't want to games”. Ravens win.

Mrs. Code Red: Cowboys.

Patriots @ Seahawks

Code Red: Could definitely see the Patriots falling into the same trap that snared the Packers, but their protection is better and their run defense (aka, the only part you need to be concerned about against the Seahawks) has been pretty decent. Patriots win.

Iggins!: Yeah, this could end up being pretty low-scoring, but Seattle may not be able to put any points at all. Patriots win.

Mrs. Code Red: Patriots.

Bills @ Cardinals

Iggins!: Cardinals at 5-1? Cardinals at 5-1. Cardinals win.

Code Red: Woof. Cardinals at 5-1. Cardinals win.

Mrs. Code Red: Cardinals.

Vikings @ Redskins

Code Red: If RGIII is healthy, I want to take the Redskins here. But he clearly was concussed and I can't imagine the NFL allowing him to start. Vikings win.

Iggins!: Why would you take the ‘skins if RG3 wasn’t hurt? The Vikings have a great defense and Ponder+Harvin+Peterson are moving the ball very effectively. Vikings win.

Mrs Code Red. Vikings.

Giants @ 49ers

Iggins!: The 49ers like to play from ahead… and the Giants keep falling behind in games… 49ers win.

Code Red: Meh. Giants.

Mrs. Code Red: Giants.

Packers @ Texans

Code Red: the Packers offensive line is just allowing teams to destroy Rodgers right now, and it's hard to imagine them suddenly going off against that Texans defense. Texans win, Green Bay in trouble.

Iggins!: hehehehe Packers at 2-4? Is there any greater joy? Texans win, and, by proxy, Bears win.

Mrs Code Red: Texans.

Broncos @ Chargers

Iggins!: Peyton is tired of having to mount comebacks. The Broncos have the capability to destroy every AFC West team they play. I’ll take Denver to win.

Code Red: I imagine the Chargers will go up 14-0 on Ryan Matthews TDs before Matthews cracks an inappropriate joke and Norv benches him for 6 games to think about what he's done. Peyton leads comeback. Broncos win.

Mrs. Code Red: Broncos.

Bears 41, Jaguars 3- Second Half Team?

I don't think any of us would have been surprised if we were told before the game that this would be the final. But the way the Bears went about getting there was interesting to say the least. In the first half they gained 191 yards of total offense but bumbled their way to to a 3-3 tie thanks to a dumb interception, several dumb penalties, and failures on third down. On defense, we all fell for the stupid trap of ranting against the Bears defensive line when they failed to get pressure on Gabbert after the Jaguars starting in the quick passing game, but they, of course, kept the Jaguars from threatening to score any TDs and eventually forced Jacksonville to take chances, which, of course, led to Gabbert turnovers.

In the second half, however, just like last week, the Bears started with a long drive on offense, got two defensive scores, and then simply dominated on offense the rest of the way. In the end they finished with over 500 yards of offense, a 100 yard rusher, a 100 yard receiver, 41 points, two defensive touchdowns, 3 sacks, and just 189 yards allowed on defense. Those are the kinds of numbers you want to take into a bye week, where the Bears will sit tied atop the standings with Minnesota. Oh, and Green Bay blew a 21-3 halftime lead to lose to the Colts. Eat shit, Cheeseheads.

To the breakdown:

The Good:

Offensive Linemen not Named Gabe Carimi: Webb, Rachal, Garza, and Louis allowed no sacks, had just 1 penalty, and paved the way for 500 yards of offense and 214 yards rushing. Good job, guys. Amazing what this offense can do when these guys keep Jay clean.

Brandon Marshall: 12 receptions, 144 yards, 1 TD. He's got 496 yards receiving and is currently on pace for over 1500 yards and 10 TDs. We've never seen anything close to this guy.

Matt Forte and Michael Bush: the thunder and lightning combo combined for 133 yards rushing (107 by Forte) and averaged over 5 yards per carry. They also had 46 combined receiving yards, including one awesome first down by Bush where he hurtled a defender. Props to Armando Allen (c'mon, you thought that was Garrett Wolfe, too) for his touchdown run as well.

Charles Tillman: The all time leader in defensive touchdowns for the oldest franchise in NFL history. Nothing more needs to be said.

Lance Briggs: a sack, an interception, a TD for the straight week. He's kind of good at this.

Corey Wootton: Another couple of sacks for Corey, who has 3.5 this year. His development has really helped this team. If you can take out Peppers and Idonije and still throw Wootton and McClellin at teams, that's tough to stop.

Jay Cutler: After a brutal interception on the first pass of the game, Jay settled down nicely. He struggled with communication with his receivers in the first half, but in the second half, for the second straight week, he was dominant, completing 13 of 19 for 182 yards and 2 TDs. Nice way to go into the bye. Hopefully he can start out hot in two weeks against Detroit.

The Bad:

Gabe Carimi: After all of the grief we've given Webb this year, it's time to acknowledge that Carimi hasn't exactly been stellar in pass protection. He gave up the only sack today and killed a drive with back to back penalties. Have to be better than that, Gabe.

Blaine Gabbert: I've been railing about how bad Gabbert is since before he even came out of college, but man, he's even worse up close. He's scared, he hurries throws for no reason, never seems to step correctly into throws, and looked lost anytime they asked him to throw more than 5 yards downfield. He finished 17/33 (51.5%) for 142 yards (4.3 YPA), 0 TDs, 2 INTs, and a 37.7 rating. Woof.

That's all for now. Hopefully Alshon Jeffery is okay since he had to leave the game with a hand injury (nice job hanging on for the TD anyway, Alshon), but all in all the Bears enter the bye in generally good health, off of three big wins (by the way, those blowouts of the Rams and Colts are looking a bit more impressive now, aren't they?) with all of the momentum in the world and a spot at the top of the standings. Things don't get much better than this.

Go Bears.