Bears will play Ravens in Hall of Fame game

[MrPrettyBoyFancyLad]

unless you use it to sort out some of the scrubs.

[G08]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

[UOK]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

Agreed. They begin training camp a week early, so keep that in mind if you're going to attend.

The Bears Brothers podcast made a good point that the extra preseason game will help Nagy and his staff get a bonus week of acclimation to being the head coach on the sideline, navigating and coordinating communication with his crew, etc. It's a good thing.

The only bad thing is risk to injury to our depth.

[G08]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

Agreed. They begin training camp a week early, so keep that in mind if you're going to attend.

The Bears Brothers podcast made a good point that the extra preseason game will help Nagy and his staff get a bonus week of acclimation to being the head coach on the sideline, navigating and coordinating communication with his crew, etc. It's a good thing.

The only bad thing is risk to injury to our depth.

I expect the players that the coaches want to see more of (Jordan Morgan, etc) will be taking those reps. I like evaluating offensive/defensive linemen in these games. Their job is their job regardless of how vanilla the playcalls will be.

[HurricaneBear]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

Agreed. They begin training camp a week early, so keep that in mind if you're going to attend.

The Bears Brothers podcast made a good point that the extra preseason game will help Nagy and his staff get a bonus week of acclimation to being the head coach on the sideline, navigating and coordinating communication with his crew, etc. It's a good thing.

The only bad thing is risk to injury to our depth.

I expect the players that the coaches want to see more of (Jordan Morgan, etc) will be taking those reps. I like evaluating offensive/defensive linemen in these games. Their job is their job regardless of how vanilla the playcalls will be.

I agree with all of this. I am happy we got this game. And even in the fluke chance a starter does get hurt, well we aren't competing for the Super Bowl this year anyways, so the extra practices and prep will still be beneficial to the rest of the team. Get as much work in this year as possible so we can go after a championship in 2019.

[MrPrettyBoyFancyLad]

i don't mind risky depth getting injured in these types of situations. you never really get to see what they're about until they're in these types of situations. starters, 2nd stringers, that's a different story, but 3rd and 4th string, they need to sort that out and this is a good way to do it.

[BR0D1E86]

With the new offense being installed I’m fine with the extra week of practice. I’d prefer not see any starters play in the game though


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[Rusty Trombagent]

It's become such a funny pathology that bear's fans are just so fucking terrified of injuries now. It still blows my mind that last season so many people wanted to sit Trubs because they were afraid of him getting injured, and now when we're blessed with an extra week of practice and more snaps for our QB who desperately needs them, again half the board is "OH DONT PLAY ANYONE IMPORTANT THEY COULD GET HURT."

I am dead.

[MrPrettyBoyFancyLad]

for me, it's more about the extra week of practice that this game will afford. the game, not that important to me, but a real potential to get hurt because these scrubs will be playing their hearts out.

[Richie]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

Agreed. They begin training camp a week early, so keep that in mind if you're going to attend.

The Bears Brothers podcast made a good point that the extra preseason game will help Nagy and his staff get a bonus week of acclimation to being the head coach on the sideline, navigating and coordinating communication with his crew, etc. It's a good thing.

I expect the players that the coaches want to see more of (Jordan Morgan, etc) will be taking those reps. I like evaluating offensive/defensive linemen in these games. Their job is their job regardless of how vanilla the playcalls will be.

And even in the fluke chance a starter does get hurt, well we aren't competing for the Super Bowl this year anyways

I mean, we all agree that this is more than likely true.

However, we've all seen what can happen year-to-year with a young QB and a new staff. Goff came out of nowhere with a new HC and led the highest ranked offense in football on the way to a division title. Wentz went from having comparable numbers to Trubisky his rookie season, to playing at an MVP level. In 2016, Mariota in year #2 had Tennessee positioned to win the AFC South prior to breaking his leg.

I'd 100% be stunned if we were legitimately competing for a Super Bowl. However, playing meaningful December football and in the playoff mix around that time? I can't say it would be totally out of left field. We're just as likely to make a playoff run as LA was this past year.

[The Marshall Plan]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

Agreed. They begin training camp a week early, so keep that in mind if you're going to attend.

The Bears Brothers podcast made a good point that the extra preseason game will help Nagy and his staff get a bonus week of acclimation to being the head coach on the sideline, navigating and coordinating communication with his crew, etc. It's a good thing.

The only bad thing is risk to injury to our depth.

I expect the players that the coaches want to see more of (Jordan Morgan, etc) will be taking those reps. I like evaluating offensive/defensive linemen in these games. Their job is their job regardless of how vanilla the playcalls will be.

I agree with all of this. I am happy we got this game. And even in the fluke chance a starter does get hurt, well we aren't competing for the Super Bowl this year anyways, so the extra practices and prep will still be beneficial to the rest of the team. Get as much work in this year as possible so we can go after a championship in 2019.

Might as well not even play the games then huh?

You never know how the season will play out and it would not surprise me if we were a playoff team this year depending on how free agency and the draft plays out.

[MrPrettyBoyFancyLad]

I mean, we all agree that this is more than likely true.

However, we've all seen what can happen year-to-year with a young QB and a new staff. Goff came out of nowhere with a new HC and led the highest ranked offense in football on the way to a division title. Wentz went from having comparable numbers to Trubisky his rookie season, to playing at an MVP level. In 2016, Mariota in year #2 had Tennessee positioned to win the AFC South prior to breaking his leg.

I'd 100% be stunned if we were legitimately competing for a Super Bowl. However, playing meaningful December football and in the playoff mix around that time? I can't say it would be totally out of left field. We're just as likely to make a playoff run as LA was this past year.

i dunno about this. seems you're setting yourself up for disappointment. i don't see us making the playoffs this year with the vikings coming off of a great year and the pack being the pack. hell, detroit is still going to be a tough obstacle as well. i'm just sayin' there's going to be some turbulence early on when we install a brand new offense and it may be pretty ugly at times. 2019? maybe. i'm hoping. but i don't know about this year.

[HurricaneBear]

To me it's extra practices for a new coaching staff to get to know our players. Camaraderie will be huge, it's a major strength of Nagy and, from what I understand, Helfrich as well.

Plus, it's more time to install a brand new offense and more time for Trubisky to spend in the playbook. It's a good thing. The game itself is meaningless other than allowing Trubisky to call plays in the huddle on a live clock.

Agreed. They begin training camp a week early, so keep that in mind if you're going to attend.

The Bears Brothers podcast made a good point that the extra preseason game will help Nagy and his staff get a bonus week of acclimation to being the head coach on the sideline, navigating and coordinating communication with his crew, etc. It's a good thing.

The only bad thing is risk to injury to our depth.

I expect the players that the coaches want to see more of (Jordan Morgan, etc) will be taking those reps. I like evaluating offensive/defensive linemen in these games. Their job is their job regardless of how vanilla the playcalls will be.

I agree with all of this. I am happy we got this game. And even in the fluke chance a starter does get hurt, well we aren't competing for the Super Bowl this year anyways, so the extra practices and prep will still be beneficial to the rest of the team. Get as much work in this year as possible so we can go after a championship in 2019.

Might as well not even play the games then huh?

You never know how the season will play out and it would not surprise me if we were a playoff team this year depending on how free agency and the draft plays out.

You make it sound like I dont think we will be competing for the playoffs. I believe we will be in the wild card hunt in Dec. maybe we make it, maybe we don't. But that is a far ways off from competing for a super bowl. This season is about nagy finding his stride as a coach, the team gelling and taking the next step in learning how to win, and the building of a strong team foundation for the future

If all the planets and stars align and we happen to defy all the odds and win a super bowl ill be as happy as anyone. Last year was about finding what guys would fit moving forward, trubisky developing and being competitive. We achieved everything i hoped for last year . This year is the next step moving us towards being contenders butwe are not there yet. and their is nothing wrong with that . Just as their is nothing wrong with being super optimistic and thinking we could be like the eagles or rams. I wont stop you thats for sure

[Richie]

I mean, we all agree that this is more than likely true.

However, we've all seen what can happen year-to-year with a young QB and a new staff. Goff came out of nowhere with a new HC and led the highest ranked offense in football on the way to a division title. Wentz went from having comparable numbers to Trubisky his rookie season, to playing at an MVP level. In 2016, Mariota in year #2 had Tennessee positioned to win the AFC South prior to breaking his leg.

I'd 100% be stunned if we were legitimately competing for a Super Bowl. However, playing meaningful December football and in the playoff mix around that time? I can't say it would be totally out of left field. We're just as likely to make a playoff run as LA was this past year.

i dunno about this. seems you're setting yourself up for disappointment. i don't see us making the playoffs this year with the vikings coming off of a great year and the pack being the pack. hell, detroit is still going to be a tough obstacle as well. i'm just sayin' there's going to be some turbulence early on when we install a brand new offense and it may be pretty ugly at times. 2019? maybe. i'm hoping. but i don't know about this year.

I'm not setting myself up for disappointment, because I am not getting my hopes up.

I am simply saying that EVERY year, teams in our exact situation exceed expectations and make the playoffs. That's not really a debatable point.

i don't see us making the playoffs this year with the vikings coming off of a great year and the pack being the pack.

Again, this is where I would use the Rams as an example. You could basically replace Green Bay/Minnesota heading into 2018 with Seattle/Arizona heading into 2017. You could also do this with Philly (finished 7-9 in 2016) and Dallas/New York... with the Redskins barely missing the playoffs and being considered a "tough obstacle".

I am not saying we're going to make the post-season. However, ruling us out entirely and essentially saying that pre-season camp injuries wouldn't be a big deal... That's silly, IMO.

I think the narrative surrounding us is slightly changing, depending on what you think of Trubisky (if you think he's going to bust, obviously you think we're still incredibly far away as a team). I don't think suggesting that we'll be in the mix to win 9-10 games is going to be an insane/unfounded notion in the national media come August. I remember this past year, multiple analysts thinking we might make a little noise in the 2nd half. Following the BAL/CAR wins, and a decent showing at NO.

If we finally have good fortune with our health, competing for the wild card is certainly within the cards.

[MrPrettyBoyFancyLad]

i wasn't trying to give you a hard time. i guess my message to you is the same message i've been saying to myself over and over because i have set myself up for disappointment in years past, especially during the john fox years where we expected him to get us well into the playoffs come year 2 or year 3 of his coaching tenure, so hopefully i didn't make you feel defensive because that wasn't my intention.

so as the old saying goes, 'wish for the best, but expect the worse' and that mindset keeps me from polishing up my gun after each game and talking myself out of using it on myself.

[The Marshall Plan]

I think we're close to playoff contention and if the draft and free agency go well we'll get there. We did not have a 5-11 team last year. We got off to a bad start with Glennon and then Fox and Loggains compounded it with bad coaching. Fangio made chicken salad out of chicken shit by having a good defense with 0 pro bowlers. Our kicking situation was putrid.

There are a ton of opportunities to improve this team. We've got the coaching now. We're going to get another at #8 whether that's on defense (my preference is Smith) or if we go with an "eat your vegetables" type guy with Nelson. Pace will not sit on his hands regarding WR and OL. That will be addressed. And there's plenty of opportunity to increase our cap space by cutting Glennon, McPhee and others.

The Vikings will most likely win the division again, but the Pack can be had.

[Richie]

I think we're close to playoff contention and if the draft and free agency go well we'll get there. We did not have a 5-11 team last year. We got off to a bad start with Glennon and then Fox and Loggains compounded it with bad coaching. Fangio made chicken salad out of chicken shit by having a good defense with 0 pro bowlers. Our kicking situation was putrid.

There are a ton of opportunities to improve this team. We've got the coaching now. We're going to get another at #8 whether that's on defense (my preference is Smith) or if we go with an "eat your vegetables" type guy with Nelson. Pace will not sit on his hands regarding WR and OL. That will be addressed. And there's plenty of opportunity to increase our cap space by cutting Glennon, McPhee and others.

The Vikings will most likely win the division again, but the Pack can be had.

I was very disappointed to see that the entire Minnesota's D is under contract for the next couple of years.

Their QB situation is an odd one, though. I have no idea what they're going to do with all three guys due to hit the open market. Teddy was a healthy scratch for Bradford from their post-season roster... So, I think that says a lot about their thoughts on him being their franchise guy going forward.

I guess they still have a really, really good HC.

I hate the division we're in right now.

Right now, what division looks tougher 1-3 going into 2018? NFC South and West are the only ones with a case. IMO

[GSH]

if we beat the pack twice, im still good coming third in the division as sad as that sounds

[The Marshall Plan]

I think we're close to playoff contention and if the draft and free agency go well we'll get there. We did not have a 5-11 team last year. We got off to a bad start with Glennon and then Fox and Loggains compounded it with bad coaching. Fangio made chicken salad out of chicken shit by having a good defense with 0 pro bowlers. Our kicking situation was putrid.

There are a ton of opportunities to improve this team. We've got the coaching now. We're going to get another at #8 whether that's on defense (my preference is Smith) or if we go with an "eat your vegetables" type guy with Nelson. Pace will not sit on his hands regarding WR and OL. That will be addressed. And there's plenty of opportunity to increase our cap space by cutting Glennon, McPhee and others.

The Vikings will most likely win the division again, but the Pack can be had.

I was very disappointed to see that the entire Minnesota's D is under contract for the next couple of years.

Their QB situation is an odd one, though. I have no idea what they're going to do with all three guys due to hit the open market. Teddy was a healthy scratch for Bradford from their post-season roster... So, I think that says a lot about their thoughts on him being their franchise guy going forward.

I guess they still have a really, really good HC.

I hate the division we're in right now.

Right now, what division looks tougher 1-3 going into 2018? NFC South and West are the only ones with a case. IMO

I had to look this up to be sure, but I agree with you. The NFC North is not the place to be for an up and coming team. We will not win the division for 2 years at least, but I do think we can finish second and get a wild card.

[southdakbearfan]

IDK, Rodgers is just as likely to have another broken collar bone as he is a probowl season. Their defense and running game isn't exactly stellar as well.

The vikings are due for a step back and have no idea where they are going at QB. They are clearly #1 but there are a whole lot of guys on that defense that are going to get paid really soon, which means a lot will be getting paid elsewhere and their offense had about everything fall their way all year. They will get cook back at RB and he will be an improvement, but may not be 100% early.

The lions, idk, what have they done to ever believe in them. High priced QB and not much else.

[Richie]

IDK, Rodgers is just as likely to have another broken collar bone as he is a probowl season. Their defense and running game isn't exactly stellar as well.

The vikings are due for a step back and have no idea where they are going at QB. They are clearly #1 but there are a whole lot of guys on that defense that are going to get paid really soon, which means a lot will be getting paid elsewhere and their offense had about everything fall their way all year. They will get cook back at RB and he will be an improvement, but may not be 100% early.

The lions, idk, what have they done to ever believe in them. High priced QB and not much else.

While I agree that ruling us out of the division the next two years is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction... I wouldn't bank on Rodgers getting hurt again. He's had two collarbone injuries, but outside of that. I can only recall the hamstring thing in the 2014 post-season. Which he played through very well, and would have led them to the SB... if not for that Bostick character dropping an onside kick with no one around him.

Breaking a collar bone twice 4 years apart is just flukey. This isn't like Romo's situation, where he didn't allow proper healing time and rushed back. Collar bone breaks heal as efficiently as any other bone in the body. There is a short period of time, where the break location is even stronger than the rest of the surrounding bone. Before returning to normal and being no more/no less likely to break again than it was before.

Minnesota/GB has question marks... but so long as Rodgers is in GB, they're going to be tough. They can only get better so far as the supporting cast goes, as it has been brutal. Minnesota is such a well rounded team, and so complete on D... With such a good HC. It is difficult for me to see them straight up falling off.

Detroit is just whatever... I expect them to hover somewhere between mediocre to slightly above average as usual.

All it takes is us to finally have a year where we take care of business vs our own division. Even if we can just split with MIN/GB... it gives us a shot. We can't keep shitting the bed in these games. We sweep the damn AFC North, but go 1-11 in our conference. 0-6 in our division.

[Mikefive]

IDK, Rodgers is just as likely to have another broken collar bone as he is a probowl season. Their defense and running game isn't exactly stellar as well.

The vikings are due for a step back and have no idea where they are going at QB. They are clearly #1 but there are a whole lot of guys on that defense that are going to get paid really soon, which means a lot will be getting paid elsewhere and their offense had about everything fall their way all year. They will get cook back at RB and he will be an improvement, but may not be 100% early.

The lions, idk, what have they done to ever believe in them. High priced QB and not much else.

While I agree that ruling us out of the division the next two years is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction... I wouldn't bank on Rodgers getting hurt again. He's had two collarbone injuries, but outside of that. I can only recall the hamstring thing in the 2014 post-season. Which he played through very well, and would have led them to the SB... if not for that Bostick character dropping an onside kick with no one around him.

Breaking a collar bone twice 4 years apart is just flukey. This isn't like Romo's situation, where he didn't allow proper healing time and rushed back. Collar bone breaks heal as efficiently as any other bone in the body. There is a short period of time, where the break location is even stronger than the rest of the surrounding bone. Before returning to normal and being no more/no less likely to break again than it was before.

Minnesota/GB has question marks... but so long as Rodgers is in GB, they're going to be tough. They can only get better so far as the supporting cast goes, as it has been brutal. Minnesota is such a well rounded team, and so complete on D... With such a good HC. It is difficult for me to see them straight up falling off.

Detroit is just whatever... I expect them to hover somewhere between mediocre to slightly above average as usual.

All it takes is us to finally have a year where we take care of business vs our own division. Even if we can just split with MIN/GB... it gives us a shot. We can't keep shitting the bed in these games. We sweep the damn AFC North, but go 1-11 in our conference. 0-6 in our division.

Agree 100%.

[MrPrettyBoyFancyLad]

great post, richie. i'd give you a reputation point if we still had 'em.