Chicago Bears 2023-2024

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#776      
Roundball Sage
Ramrod2010 said:
This franchise is seemingly always two years away from being two years away.
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In the year following 2024... this Franchise will be FORTY years away!

Since '1985' -The last two or three generations of Bear fans waiting for the next draft... the next head coach... the next QB... the next reason to still be a Bears fan.

Too bad the Cardinals left the South Side. Hope they come back when they get tired of the desert... to give Chicago a choice (of sub-par teams to watch).
 
#777      
champaignchris
You can basically divide the Bears’ history into 6 chunks.

48 seasons from 1920-1967 - The Halas Years - 40 winning seasons, 12 Championship appearances, winning 8 of them.

16 seasons from 1968-1983 - 2 winning seasons. 0 playoff wins.

8 seasons from 1984-1991 - The Ditka Years - 7 winning seasons. Super Bowl win plus two more NFC Championship appearances.

13 seasons from 1992-2004. 3 winning seasons. 1 playoff win.

8 seasons from 2005-2012 - The Lovie Years - 5 winning seasons. Super Bowl appearance plus an NFC Championship appearance.

11 seasons from 2013-now. 1 winning season. 0 playoff wins.
 
#778      
Illiniaaron
Roundball Sage said:
In the year following 2024... this Franchise will be FORTY years away!

Since '1985' -The last two or three generations of Bear fans waiting for the next draft... the next head coach... the next QB... the next reason to still be a Bears fan.

Too bad the Cardinals left the South Side. Hope they come back when they get tired of the desert... to give Chicago a choice (of sub-par teams to watch).
Click to expand...
Well, they're coming back this weekend.
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#779      
Mr. Tibbs
champaignchris said:
You can basically divide the Bears’ history into 6 chunks.

48 seasons from 1920-1967 - The Halas Years - 40 winning seasons, 12 Championship appearances, winning 8 of them.

16 seasons from 1968-1983 - 2 winning seasons. 0 playoff wins.

8 seasons from 1984-1991 - The Ditka Years - 7 winning seasons. Super Bowl win plus two more NFC Championship appearances.

13 seasons from 1992-2004. 3 winning seasons. 1 playoff win.

8 seasons from 2005-2012 - The Lovie Years - 5 winning seasons. Super Bowl appearance plus an NFC Championship appearance.

11 seasons from 2013-now. 1 winning season. 0 playoff wins.
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“we stinks” - words of Carlos Zambrano
 
#782      
Bucktown
champaignchris said:
You can basically divide the Bears’ history into 6 chunks.

48 seasons from 1920-1967 - The Halas Years - 40 winning seasons, 12 Championship appearances, winning 8 of them.

16 seasons from 1968-1983 - 2 winning seasons. 0 playoff wins.

8 seasons from 1984-1991 - The Ditka Years - 7 winning seasons. Super Bowl win plus two more NFC Championship appearances.

13 seasons from 1992-2004. 3 winning seasons. 1 playoff win.

8 seasons from 2005-2012 - The Lovie Years - 5 winning seasons. Super Bowl appearance plus an NFC Championship appearance.

11 seasons from 2013-now. 1 winning season. 0 playoff wins.
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Lovie had his issues, but as a casual Bears follower I always scratch my head at the way the Chicago sports media ran Lovie out of town in a 10-6 year. My take is the keep Eberflus and lose Fields.
 
#783      
Roundball Sage
jamarvelous31 said:
I'll never get the Ditka love. The man had 6 HOFers, including a top RB of all time all to win 1 championship.
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FIrst of all, he was a personality. He played that up and Chicago ate it up.

Chicago was once seen as a hard working town of people from humble roots. Much of Chicago views Ditka as being sort of a Daddy figure who embodied those qualities of hard work and being a regular guy. Chicago goes for those kind of Daddy-figures. Many of Chicago’s Mayors have also fit that bill. The Daddy-looking guy (years ago, anyway) who wasn’t afraid to throw his weight around and get things done - one way or another.

Ditka had a Team of the Ages in 1985. Maybe the best of all time. A terrific group of talents and attitudes. And all of them fully embraced that, too. And Chi-Town just ate it up.

Now that forty years have gone by with the Bears having little to show for it – people long for that old-style Ditka snarl and swagger and a team that wins and punishes the opposition.

And you have to remember that Ditka played on the 1963 Bears Championship team as well. Won it as a player and as a coach in his time. In Chicago, that makes you up at deity-level.

And also... he’s known as Iron Mike due to his being raised in a Steel Town. Chicago and Northwest Indiana were once HUGE steel-making areas with many thousands of steel workers. That didn’t hurt Ditka’s image either.

Chicago has changed. The Bears have changed. But the losing for almost forty years has endured. And Bear fans keep on hoping.
 
#784      
Grandpa
Bucktown said:
Lovie had his issues, but as a casual Bears follower I always scratch my head at the way the Chicago sports media ran Lovie out of town in a 10-6 year. My take is the keep Eberflus and lose Fields.
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I'd bet that Eberflus is gone. I don't think many Bears fans would bet against me.
 
#786      
Big Jack
I have been a Bears fan since the 60s. Seen this story to many times. Only way things change for us is if and when they run the rest of the Halas family out of ownership. Halas was a legend great coach and founding owner but his children and grand children have ruined the team. They need to sell the team take their money and get the hell out of Chicago and let someone with a brain buy it and take the reins. Nothing will change until they clean out everyone and anyone connected to the past 40 years.

I really really believe with the right OC Fields has the talent to be our best QB since Jim. But he does need to work all off season on his grip.
 
#787      
Grandpa
Big Jack said:
I have been a Bears fan since the 60s. Seen this story to many times. Only way things change for us is if and when they run the rest of the Halas family out of ownership. Halas was a legend great coach and founding owner but his children and grand children have ruined the team. They need to sell the team take their money and get the hell out of Chicago and let someone with a brain buy it and take the reins. Nothing will change until they clean out everyone and anyone connected to the past 40 years.

I really really believe with the right OC Fields has the talent to be our best QB since Jim. But he does need to work all off season on his grip.
Click to expand...

Jim was a pretty poor QB. No Bears season did he complete 60% of his passes. Rating very low. Put him on this team and he wins no more games than Fields.

Edit: IMHO
 
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#788      
GrayGhost77
#789      
Roundball Sage
Big Jack said:
I have been a Bears fan since the 60s. Seen this story to many times. Only way things change for us is if and when they run the rest of the Halas family out of ownership. Halas was a legend great coach and founding owner but his children and grand children have ruined the team. They need to sell the team take their money and get the hell out of Chicago and let someone with a brain buy it and take the reins. Nothing will change until they clean out everyone and anyone connected to the past 40 years.

I really really believe with the right OC Fields has the talent to be our best QB since Jim. But he does need to work all off season on his grip.
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Almost your entire post applies to the White Sox as well. What did Chicagoland ever do to get team owners like these? And whatever it was... haven't we a;ready 'done our time' for it?

Owning an NFL franchise is like printing money or winning the lottery every year. Makes it hard for any owner to give that up. And fans are never part of the consideration.
 
#790      
Illwinsagain
Big Jack said:
I have been a Bears fan since the 60s. Seen this story to many times. Only way things change for us is if and when they run the rest of the Halas family out of ownership. Halas was a legend great coach and founding owner but his children and grand children have ruined the team. They need to sell the team take their money and get the hell out of Chicago and let someone with a brain buy it and take the reins. Nothing will change until they clean out everyone and anyone connected to the past 40 years.

I really really believe with the right OC Fields has the talent to be our best QB since Jim. But he does need to work all off season on his grip.
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I have heard that Virginia won't sell, but the family will have no choice after she passes, due to estate taxes.
 
#791      
Emerson Bigguns
Big Jack said:
I have been a Bears fan since the 60s. Seen this story to many times. Only way things change for us is if and when they run the rest of the Halas family out of ownership. Halas was a legend great coach and founding owner but his children and grand children have ruined the team. They need to sell the team take their money and get the hell out of Chicago and let someone with a brain buy it and take the reins. Nothing will change until they clean out everyone and anyone connected to the past 40 years.

I really really believe with the right OC Fields has the talent to be our best QB since Jim. But he does need to work all off season on his grip.
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This is a pipedream. The team is estimated to be worth over 6 billion dollars. They generated over 550 million in revenue last season, when they had the worst record in football... Who the heck sells the family legacy/cash cow?
Illwinsagain said:
I have heard that Virginia won't sell, but the family will have no choice after she passes, due to estate taxes.
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I can't imagine this will be a real issue. If they aren't liquid enough to cover the taxes, surely, they can get a loan based on their 6-billion-dollar asset.
 
#792      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
I've said it on here before and I'll say it again. Bears fans need to get away from this whole idea of the McCaskey's selling the team and that being what will improve things for the franchise. The issues that this franchise has run much deeper than just that. Heck, if you wanna see how bad things can be after an ownership, take a look at how things are going on in Carolina right now.
 
#793      
Big Jack
Grandpa said:

Jim was a pretty poor QB. No Bears season did he complete 60% of his passes. Rating very low. Put him on this team and he wins no more games than Fields.

Edit: IMHO
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Jim knew how to win and gave those teams everything he had. Was he a stat stuffer? No! We was just a guy who did whatever was needed to win and he did win.

I think Fields has that ability but the surrounding cast is just to week more so the coaching side.
 
#794      
illinistephen
Grandpa said:

Jim was a pretty poor QB. No Bears season did he complete 60% of his passes. Rating very low. Put him on this team and he wins no more games than Fields.

Edit: IMHO
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Two of his contemporaries, John Elway and Boomer Esiason, never had a season in the 80's with a 60% completion % either and were still able to win the MVP in 1987 and 1988. Terry Bradshaw won the 1978 MVP with 20 int's and less than 60% completion % he never completed 60% of his passes in a season either.
 
#795      
KBLEE
Bucktown said:
Lovie had his issues, but as a casual Bears follower I always scratch my head at the way the Chicago sports media ran Lovie out of town in a 10-6 year. My take is the keep Eberflus and lose Fields.
Click to expand...

Several of the losses this year have been squarely on Eberflus. His time / situational management is below average. He needs to go.
 
#796      
Grandpa
illinistephen said:
Two of his contemporaries, John Elway and Boomer Esiason, never had a season in the 80's with a 60% completion % either and were still able to win the MVP in 1987 and 1988. Terry Bradshaw won the 1978 MVP with 20 int's and less than 60% completion % he never completed 60% of his passes in a season either.
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I looked up a few also. People are just wasting their time comparing different eras with different rules. <60% completion didn't mean bad back when defense was more free to do what they wanted. In those days offense couldn't grab a jersey to block regardless of if the hands were inside the pads. DBs, LBs could pound on receivers until the ball was in the air.

I apologize to McMahon, Big Jack, yourself, and Bear fans everywhere. His pedestrian seeming numbers today were actually average for the time.

I would posit that McMahon should be the poster boy for people who want Poles to trade down and build a powerhouse team that will carry Fields to the superbowl. McMahon was definitely not the strong point of that team. He is down the list of guys mentioned when you talk about the superbowl champion Bears.
 
#797      
EyeoftheIllini
Grandpa said:

Jim was a pretty poor QB. No Bears season did he complete 60% of his passes. Rating very low. Put him on this team and he wins no more games than Fields.

Edit: IMHO
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You’re going to use completion percentage as a measurement of effectiveness for a QB in the 1980s? Joe Montana led the league with 61% in 1985 I think that would have finished 25th last year with QBs with 300 or more attempts. Passing game and offenses have changed so dramatically. I do think Jim benefits from winning the Super Bowl and the myth around the ‘85 team, and he might not have been the best pure passing QB, but “pretty poor QB”? No.
 
#798      
Grandpa
Bears playing Arizona, Atlanta, Green Bay. They all suck. Bears could win out, especially if GB is eliminated before that last game of the season.
Being the Bears they may also go 0-3.

Arizona is playing much better with Kyler Murray back. He may want to show how good he actually is.

I'll be rooting for them to win, but not too upset if they tank.
 
#799      
champaignchris
EyeoftheIllini said:
You’re going to use completion percentage as a measurement of effectiveness for a QB in the 1980s? Joe Montana led the league with 61% in 1985 I think that would have finished 25th last year with QBs with 300 or more attempts. Passing game and offenses have changed so dramatically. I do think Jim benefits from winning the Super Bowl and the myth around the ‘85 team, and he might not have been the best pure passing QB, but “pretty poor QB”? No.
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A couple passing stats that have remained pretty constant across NFL history have been Yards/Attempt and TD%.

TD% has run from a little above 5% in the 40s to just above 4% over the last 20-ish years, while Yds/Att has stayed at or just below 7 since the 40s.

On the basis of those two stats, McMahon was a bit above average at TD% at 4.4 and close to elite at 7.4 yards per attempt while with the Bears. He was significantly worse at both stats - 3.1 and 6.6 - after he left the Bears.

If he’d been able to carry those stats with him for the rest of his non-Bears career he’d have been top 90 all time in TD% and top 40 all time in yards per attempt.

ETA - Among Bears QBs with at least 1500 attempts, McMahon is behind only Luckman and Cutler in TD% (Luckman is NFL best of all time) and behind only Luckman in yards per attempt (Luckman is 2nd in NFL all time behind only Otto Graham).
 
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#800      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Grandpa said:
Bears playing Arizona, Atlanta, Green Bay. They all suck. Bears could win out, especially if GB is eliminated before that last game of the season.
Being the Bears they may also go 0-3.

Arizona is playing much better with Kyler Murray back. He may want to show how good he actually is.

I'll be rooting for them to win, but not too upset if they tank.
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Arizona's defense, especially their rush defense, is absolutely horrendous. I'd be shocked if Fields and whichever RB they decide to run with don't have HUGE days.

I am gonna be curious to see how many no-shows there will be for the game on Sunday. Late kickoff (that 95% of the country won't see because Cowboys/Dolphins is on at the same time) on Christmas Eve. The weather won't be horrible on the lakefront but I wouldn't be surprised if people with tickets decided to go to Christmas Eve mass instead.
 
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