The Bear’s Den, July 6, 2018

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

BEARRRSSSS / DRAFT / FREE AGENCY

Cox: Anthony Miller reacts to his Madden 19 rating ‘Did you guys watch me?’ - Bears Wire - Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Anthony Miller wasn't happy about his 74 overall rating in Madden 19.

Cox's Bears 2018 training camp preview: Wide receivers - Bears Wire - The Chicago Bears depth chart at wide receiver is loaded with new faces trying to prove themselves at training camp.

Medina: The Matt Nagy Hype Continues - The Ten-Yard Line - Well here's a familiar take and some unusual language.

Medina: Jordan Howard Confirms It's Mitch Trubisky's World and We're Just Living In It - The Ten-Yard Line - Mitch Trubisky is the unquestioned leader of the pack heading into the 2018 season.

Mullin: 'Rebuilding?' Tanking by any other name… . Bears set a better example - NBC Sports Chicago - Some teams in Chicago have gone through recent seasons of "tanking," but the Bears have followed a different ideology in past years.

Gabriel's Bears Positional Breakdown: Offensive Line Has Potential, Question Marks - 670 The Score - The Bears have tasked Harry Hiestand with taking the line to the next level.

Eurich: 5 bold predictions for the Chicago Bears defense in 2018 - 247Sports - The Chicago Bears defense is ready to take it to another level in 2018.

Eurich: Leadership talk continues to surround Bears QB Mitch Trubisky - 247Sports - Mitch Trubisky has fully embraced being a leader for the Chicago Bears.

Eurich: Bears to honor Jason Seaman who helped stop a school shooting - 247Sports - The Chicago Bears are set to honor the home-state hero.

Young: Manheim Central grad Matt Nagy aims for Super Bowl with Chicago Bears - lancasteronline.com - This just in: Terms like “rebuilding” and “five-year plan” are no longer acceptable in the NFL, if indeed they ever were.

Mayer: Howard, Cohen give Bears a strong backfield - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears boast one of the NFL’s most talented backfields, featuring the 1-2 punch of productive veteran Jordan Howard and dynamic second-year pro Tarik Cohen.

Ranking divisions by quarterback: NFC North, NFC West top list - NFL.com - Which division will boast the best collection of quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL season? The worst? Adam Schein reveals his pecking order, 1 through 8.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Playoff odds have Patriots the heaviest favorites, Cardinals the longest long shots – ProFootballTalk - The New England Patriots are heading into the 2018 season in a familiar place: Overwhelming favorites to make the playoffs. Playoff betting odds are available for every team, and the Patriots are incredible -1500 favorites to make the playoffs.

KNOW THY ENEMY

Adding athletes gives Packers’ defense options with how they stack the box - Acme Packing Company - Mike Pettine has the chance to get creative with how he deploys Green Bay’s personnel given the flexibility of Josh Jones and Oren Burks.

How former Packers execs John Dorsey and Eliot Wolf remade the Browns’ roster - Acme Packing Company - A few Ted Thompson disciples teamed up this winter, unleashing a torrent of trades and free agent signings in Northeast Ohio.

PFF gives Lions, Packers same probability to win NFC North - Pride Of Detroit - The Vikings are the clear favorite, but who is No. 2?

2018 NFC North preview: Ranking the division’s linebackers - Pride Of Detroit - Can the Lions compete with some of the league’s best linebackers within their own division ?

Rotoworld’s Josh Norris talks about how the Minnesota Vikings use analytics - Daily Norseman - A short podcast, but an interesting one

Vikings among NFL’s best at limiting “dead money” - Daily Norseman - Not a lot of waste on the Vikings’ salary cap

Vikings heavy favorites to return to playoffs in 2018 - Daily Norseman - The odds are out, and they look favorable for the purple

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Link's 2018 Chicago Bears Preview: The sneakiest most important Bears for 2018: No. 7 - Adrian Amos - Windy City Gridiron - Unsung heroes will help make or break the Bears’ 2018 season. Big-hitting, strong safety Adrian Amos has a part to play.

Zeglinski: Hedging bets - Bears tied for fifth-worst 2018 NFL playoffs odds - Windy City Gridiron - There’s not much betting belief in Matt Nagy’s group breaking a seven-year playoff drought.

Sunderbruch: Nate Jackson Reinvents Football, A Review - Windy City Gridiron - Former UDFA Nate Jackson wrote a piece about how to make football safer, and it is novel in the fact that instead of protecting players more, it opens up the strategic options for the game.

Wiltfong's 10 Most Important Bears of 2018: #6 What should we expect from Kyle Fuller? - Windy City Gridiron - For the 10th straight year, I’m bringing you who I believe will be the ten most important Chicago Bears for the upcoming season. Checking in at number six is cornerback Kyle Fuller.

Berckes & Curl: Fantasy Football Preview - Running Bears - Windy City Gridiron - We kick off our fantasy football previews with a major question - which Bears back is best for your squad?

Infante: Bears linebacker Roquan Smith ranks as best defensive rookie in “Madden NFL 19” - Windy City Gridiron - Chicago’s first-round pick is going to be a blast to play with in "Madden" this year.

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

2 Minute Drill - Website - iTunes - Andrew Link; Steven’s Streaming – Twitch – Steven Schweickert; T-Formation Conversation - Website - iTunes - Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; WCG Radio - Website - Robert Zeglinski

THE RULES

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The Bear’s Den Specific Guidelines – The Bear’s Den is a place for Chicago Bears fans to discuss Chicago Bears football, related NFL stories, and general football talk. It is NOT a place to discuss religion or politics or post political pictures or memes, and any posts that do this will be deleted and the poster will be admonished. We do not allow comments posted where the apparent attempt is to cause confrontation in the community. We do not allow gender-directed humor or sexual assault jokes. The staff of WCG are the sole arbiters of what constitutes “apparent attempt to cause confrontation”. We do not allow the “calling out” of other members in any way, shape or form. Posts that do this will be deleted on sight. Bottom line, it’s fine to debate about football, but personal jabs and insults are strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you keep beating the same dead horse over and over and fail to heed a moderator’s warning to stop, you will be banned.

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WCG Contributors: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Andrew Link; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Robert Zeglinski; Like us on Facebook.