Systems of Football: The All-Purpose Bears Game Thread

[CBStew]

I see that the Tribune's poll about wanting Cutler back is exactly 50/50 after almost 18,000 votes. That sounds about right.

Cutler can be frustrating and I don't think he's as good as SKO has built him up to be in his prickly, strawmen-busting brain (love you anyway, Kyle), but I don't see another reasonable option besides bringing him back unless you don't care about next season. Because what's even more frustrating than Cutler is a genuinely bad QB, which is probably what they'll have next year if Cutler is elsewhere.

I guess I'd lean toward franchising him, drafting a QB fairly early and seeing how it plays out with that development. An extension wouldn't bother me either, I suppose.

If you draft a QB fairly early and franchise Cutler, when will the draftee play?  My thinking is that if you are going to expend that first round pick on a QB (or any other player) that player should be on the field immediately.

If you let Cutler go, that's when you draft a QB early; otherwise, it'll be a wasted season for that player.

Alternatively, you could franchise Cutler and then draft a QB in the second or third rounds (or even the fourth) and then let him develop.

He was selected in the first round (24th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Packers.[4]
After backing up Brett Favre for the first three years of his NFL career, XXXXX became the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback in 2008 and led them to a win in Super Bowl XLV after the 2010 NFL season;

Who is Aaron Rodgers?

He and Chris Conte are both from Cal.

[Slaky]

I see that the Tribune's poll about wanting Cutler back is exactly 50/50 after almost 18,000 votes. That sounds about right.

Cutler can be frustrating and I don't think he's as good as SKO has built him up to be in his prickly, strawmen-busting brain (love you anyway, Kyle), but I don't see another reasonable option besides bringing him back unless you don't care about next season. Because what's even more frustrating than Cutler is a genuinely bad QB, which is probably what they'll have next year if Cutler is elsewhere.

I guess I'd lean toward franchising him, drafting a QB fairly early and seeing how it plays out with that development. An extension wouldn't bother me either, I suppose.

If you draft a QB fairly early and franchise Cutler, when will the draftee play?  My thinking is that if you are going to expend that first round pick on a QB (or any other player) that player should be on the field immediately.

If you let Cutler go, that's when you draft a QB early; otherwise, it'll be a wasted season for that player.

Alternatively, you could franchise Cutler and then draft a QB in the second or third rounds (or even the fourth) and then let him develop.

He was selected in the first round (24th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Packers.[4]
After backing up Brett Favre for the first three years of his NFL career, XXXXX became the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback in 2008 and led them to a win in Super Bowl XLV after the 2010 NFL season;

Who is Aaron Rodgers?

He and Chris Conte are both from Cal.

Apparently he's very gay. http://www.queerty.com/super-bowl-mvp-winner-aaron-rodgers-allegedly-outed-by-rumored-boyfriend-20131228/

[Saul Goodman]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

[Slaky]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

[InternetApex]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

[CT III]

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I also find this curious, since the WSCR guys had no problem beating the shit out of Hub back when he was doing color for Bears' games and giving Dick Jauron weekly on-air handjobs at WBBM.  But now HE'S TELLIN IT LIKE IT IS and is apparently the smartest football man alive.

[Slaky]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

[Saul Goodman]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

[SKO]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

Hoge's fine, Durkin's great, I like the new Suntimes kid, Adam Jahns, as well. The New Guard of the Bears beat is generally stats-friendly and smart.

Kyle Long definitely wasn't a top 5 guard in the NFL this year like he was in the preseason, but for the most part he graded out positively as a run blocker and steadily improved in pass protection. Outside of the Philly game I believe he graded positively in nearly every game in the second half, including a +3.3 from PFF against GB. There's no reason to think of Kyle Long as anything other than a guy who is going to be a quality starter and potentially a perennial Pro Bowler at that position.

Garza actually had a surprisingly good year, as well, although I think a lot of that comes from him having the best pass protector on the team (Slauson) to the left of him and the best run-blocker on the team (Long) to the right. Garza had help no matter what he was trying to do.

Basically after a half-decade of sadness that offensive line looks like a team strength going forward, and Hub can go fuck himself.

[Saul Goodman]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

Hoge's fine, Durkin's great, I like the new Suntimes kid, Adam Jahns, as well. The New Guard of the Bears beat is generally stats-friendly and smart.

Kyle Long definitely wasn't a top 5 guard in the NFL this year like he was in the preseason, but for the most part he graded out positively as a run blocker and steadily improved in pass protection. Outside of the Philly game I believe he graded positively in nearly every game in the second half, including a +3.3 from PFF against GB. There's no reason to think of Kyle Long as anything other than a guy who is going to be a quality starter and potentially a perennial Pro Bowler at that position.

Garza actually had a surprisingly good year, as well, although I think a lot of that comes from him having the best pass protector on the team (Slauson) to the left of him and the best run-blocker on the team (Long) to the right. Garza had help no matter what he was trying to do.

Basically after a half-decade of sadness that offensive line looks like a team strength going forward, and Hub can go fuck himself.

Do you think Long stays there long-term, or can he eventually handle left or right tackle?

[SKO]

Do you think Long stays there long-term, or can he eventually handle left or right tackle?

I don't see any reason to move him tackle. In this scheme guard is more important. The zone running game revolves around having athletic guards, and the pass protection is mostly designed around short passes. As Kromer's said, they build pass protection from the inside out. If you are only calling a handful of deep balls a game you can give that tackle protection, or have him run the DE to the outside and have the QB step up in the pocket. The one thing that'll fuck this scheme (and Philly did it consistently) is getting pressure up the middle. If Long's your best lineman, leave him there. That's where you need him.

For instance, Jordan Mills ended the year with a -31.3 grade from PFF. That's bad. In fact, it's 2011 J'Marcus Webb bad, in theory. He gave up a ton of pressures, but where as the previous regime's offensive scheme required seven step drops and the DE would have gotten past Mills to Cutler in the backfield, in this offense Cutler just steps up behind the Slauson-Garza-Long wall and gets the ball out. If they can get through the entire season giving up just 30 sacks on 645 dropbacks with a guy like Mills giving up that much pressure, clearly tackle's not your priority when it comes to pass protection.

[Gilgamesh]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

Is Underscore a reference to Bernstein?

[InternetApex]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

Is Underscore a reference to Bernstein?

Is it the alias he's using to throw off Derrick Rose's people who want to take him out?

[Saul Goodman]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

Is Underscore a reference to Bernstein?

His Twitter handle is @dan_bernstein, and when he says it on air it sounds like his middle name.  That's all there is to it, really.

[Eli]

(Totally Unlistenable tie-in)

According to genius should-be GM Steve Stone Hub Arkush, Kyle Long didn't improve after Preseason Week 1 whatsoever and everyone should calm down about Alshon Jeffery.  His "Look, I think really highly of ______ and we get along great" then shitting all over everything ______ does schtick is getting really frickin' old.  I wish the Score would find a new NFL expert.

Or, actually find an NFL expert to start with.

Hub is shit

Adam Hoag, who covers the Bears for The Score took him on a little bit regarding Long. He said he disagreed with Hub's statement that he "peaked in the preseason game against San Diego." He also said he graded him out better than Roberto Garza. Hub got indignant about that assessment and demanded to know who had graded Long better than Garza. Hoag stood his ground and said that he himself had done so and Hub, finally aware of what a tool he was being, kind of politely disagreed. I never really had any use for Adam Hoag other than some breaking updates that he has access to because he's embedded with the Bears but this was a positive in my book.

Even Matt Bowen refrains from smacking Hub down on the air when he definitely could. People around The Score treat Hub like he's Papa Bear or some shit. I don't get it.

I don't get it either. They're one big family of waterheaded dopes.

That said, Hoge published a fairly comprehensive look at the Bears heading into the offseason and I enjoyed it. He's definitely not Hub, that's for sure.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/30/hoges-2013-eulogy-start-of-something-special-for-bears/

Another cool story: that DJ Durkin guy who also covers the Bears took to Twitter to shoot down some of Hub's just plain wrong assertions regarding the Peppers situation and I replied "wait hub got something wrong?" and he favorited it. That's some passive-aggressive Hub hatred from that dude who I now like.

I now like Durkin as well.  I think Hoge's been fine in his first year on the full-time beat.  And I like Zach Zaidman.  Underscore fancies himself a guy who doesn't tolerate fools and is always first in line to call out wrong people on their wrongness, so it's especially odd that he's so fond of Hub.

Is Underscore a reference to Bernstein?

His Twitter handle is @dan_bernstein, and when he says it on air it sounds like his middle name.  That's all there is to it, really.

Your whole persona reeks of effort, man.