The Bear’s Den: December 8, 2017

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!

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BEARRRSSSS

Zeglinski: In a tight bind: Bears favoring veterans to a fault - The Rock River Times - Under John Fox, ineffective veterans are afforded all of the leeway to make mistakes for the Bears, while rookies sit on the sideline forever biding their time.

Lifschultz: Bears Wide Receivers Hampered By Poor Coaching – Bears Barroom - Currently Dowell Loggains’ offense is ranked last in passing yardage per game and overall yardage per game. I find it hard to believe that a team with running backs Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen can be ranked last in yardage. The passing game continues to struggle from poor play calling. The Chicago Bears passing attacked has been subpar from a combination of coaching (shocking right?) and wide receivers failing to get open or create separation in coverage.

Dickerson: Bears' Tarik Cohen draws inspiration from Devin Hester - ESPN - Rookie Tarik Cohen's performance on special teams is drawing comparisons to another Chicago returner with top-end speed.

Cap Space Tracker For The Chicago Bears For 2018 - Over The Cap - Chicago will make some obvious cuts this off season, leaving the team a ton of cash available to sign free agents and extend current players.

LeGere: 13 weeks in, Bears still trying to find playing time for WR Wheaton - Daily Schedule - Thirteen weeks in, unrestricted free agent wide receiver Markus Wheaton still has 1 catch for 9 yards. He played one snap last week.

LeGere: No wow factor in Chicago Bears' offense - Daily Herald - When it comes to explosiveness, the Chicago Bears' offense has been a dud. As a result, they're now last in total yards, passing yards and first downs, and they're 30th (out of 32) in scoring and 28th in third-down efficiency.

Stankevitz: Projecting what holes the Bears will have to fill on their 2018 depth chart | NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears have a handful of core players on which to build in 2018, but have numerous needs at multiple positions.

Hoge’s 10 Bears Things: 10 NFL Draft Prospects To Watch During Bowl Season - WGN Radio - Locked in a five-game losing streak with negativity permeating every corner of Halas Hall, there’s really only one cure for your Bears sadness: NFL Draft talk.

Lombardi & Frazier: Unwrapping Some Week 13 Woes - The Ringer - Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier analyze the violent Steelers-Bengals matchup & the Giants and Bears situation. Ken's Note: Skip to about 15 minutes in. Pretty salty stuff.

Edholm: Should Ryan Pace continue as Chicago Bears general manager? - Pro Football Weekly - Hits and misses, Pace has delivered a mixed bag but one with some promise

Cox: Bears rookies not grading well by Pro Football Focus this season - Bears Wire - The Pro Football Focus grades for the Chicago Bears rookies this season have not been spectacular though 13 weeks.

Chicago Bears 2018 NFL Free Agents Tracker - Spotrac - Tracking the status and signings of 2018 Chicago Bears free agents.

Mayer: Nugent eager to make Bears debut Sunday - ChicagoBears.com - Veteran kicker Mike Nugent, who played for the Bengals from 2010-16, is excited about making his Bears debut against his former team Sunday in Cincinnati.

SUN TIMES

Jahns: Have the 2017 Bears turned into the 2010 Panthers? - Fox essentially is in the same situation as he was in 2010: He is struggling to win with a rookie quarterback and could be dismissed because of it.

Potash: Bears just don’t match up in quest for explosive plays on offense - The Bears gained 147 yards against a 49ers defense that ranked 28th in the NFL in total yards (374 per game), 30th in rushing and 26th in passing.

Potash: Mike Nugent’s opportunity with Bears a timely one — vs. Bengals Sunday - In four games with the Cowboys, Nugent was 7-of-9 on field goals — including two 48-yard kicks — and 8-for-8 on PATs.

Finley: Has the Bears’ losing season worn down Mitch Trubisky? - Mitch Trubisky’s expression showed exasperation from the team’s struggles Wednesday - sullen and quiet, not as engaged with the media as in the past.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Rosenbloom: Come for the Bears' latest Ryan Pace-John Fox pantsing, stay for the shot at the McCaskeys - Dreaming of a white Snarksmas: This is rich. This is perfect. This is so Bears. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said he’s trying to find a role for free-agent wide receiver Markus Wheaton. Now, that might seem innocent enough for the worst offense in the NFL. The thought sounds earnest enough...

Biggs: It's time for Bears QB Mitch Trubisky to air it out - The last quarterback the Bears drafted in the first round, Rex Grossman, had such a swagger about him that eventually a phrase was associated with him, the origins of which might not be traced back to anything that actually came out of his mouth. Sanitized for this family newspaper, it went like this: “To heck with it, I’m going deep!”

Wiederer: Bears’ futility to be extreme and prolonged - Prince Amukamara was sounding it out as best he could. The veteran cornerback was still processing the Bears’ 15-14 loss to the 49ers on Sunday and working to articulate the frustration.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Curl: Trubisky Watch - Biscuit impresses in limited attempts vs 49ers - Windy City Gridiron - Mitchell Trubisky only completed 12 passes against the 49ers. But he only attempted 15.

Wiltfong's T-Formation Conversation: Memo to Bears coaches -PLAY THE KIDS - Windy City Gridiron - In Lester’s latest T Formation Conversation podcast, he discusses a possible in-season coaching change for the Chicago Bears and also goes over some young players that he’d like to see play more.

Householder's NFL Week 14 Game Preview: Chicago Bears-Cincinnati Bengals - Windy City Gridiron - The Bears hit the road to take on the Bengals

FANPOSTS

FanPosts - Recent - Windy City Gridiron - Here's a link to our FanPost section, where YOU have the opportunity to contribute to Windy City Gridiron. Take a few minutes and write a post about what you are thinking about regarding the Chicago Bears, and there's a chance it will be linked right here in the Den.

THE RULES

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