Your 2016 Bears Record Predictions

Parkway Drive said:

I think the offense will struggle. That being said, Alshon isn't going to drop many passes, Kevin White will get better as the season goes, and Kyle Long is a difference maker up front for us. I don't think we will be as tragically bad as we saw a few days ago against KC. Furthermore, I actually think Jonathan Bullard and Leonard Floyd, mixed with exotic play calling by Fangio is going to stunt most QB's in this league.

We won't be a good team.... but unfortunately (bc of poor draft position which will make drafting a franchise QB nearly impossible) I think we actually squeak out 8 wins. Maybe even 9, if we are significantly healthier than a superior opponent late in the year. Rest assured, this will be the most lackluster 8 win team in the league, but I somehow feel we get there.

@ Hou L 17-24
V PHI W 24-20
@ DAL W 23-21
V DET W 20-19
@ IND L 21-28
V JAX W 22-18
@ GB L 17-31
V MIN L 10-20
@ TB L 24-27
@ NYG W 23-20
V TEN L 20-23
V SF W 31-10
@ DET L 20-28
V GB L 14-27
V WAS W 28-24
@ MIN (banged up and/or don't need the game) W 20-17

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Good angle on the min. game.... but makes me worry about the skins- are they fighting for their playoff lives in game 15?

Parkway Drive said:

Agreed 100%. That stretch in particular right before he got hurt was really the only time I have ever watched him play for an extended period of time where I thought "Damn, this is one of the better / best QB's in the game." Of course, that stretch was so short lived and really never returned.

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I never thought THAT highly of him but I at least had hope he could maybe be that "efficient" and non-turnover prone if he really bought in. Cutler has some pretty glaring mechanical and mental flaws in his game that will always prevent him from being one of the best. That was clear even back then. It was just trying minimize the errors and not letting him get outside of what he was good/best at.

ZenBear34 said:

Well they're wrong. And I'm not saying he was great, but he played smart football. He showed marked improvement in his pocket awareness and his mobility inside the pocket. He cut down on the mistakes. If Jeffrey can stay healthy and White can grow into his potential that's an upgrade over last year.

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Gase completely nerfed him. What Gase did so well last year was essentially not allow Cutler the chance to make mistakes. Hence the massive amount of short screens and quick hitters. Cutler last year when put in the same situations as previously in his career was the same yippy, nervous, shitty mechanical mess he had always been.

I didn't really see any "improvement" from Cutler himself, I just saw an OC calling a game to not allow Cutler to go to hell most of the time.

ZenBear34 said:

All in all, this is a better team then last year by a wide margin. And last year they were close in a lot of games.

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This is pretty absurd.

On offense I think we are clearly worse. Defense we will be better but the secondary is a train wreck.

11-5. Fox does it again.

@ Texans (L)
Eagles (W)
@ Cowboys (W)
Lions (W)
@ Colts (L)
Jaguars (W)
@ Packers (L)
Vikings (W)
@ Buccaneers (W)
@ Giants (W)
Titans (L)
49ers (W)
@ Lions (L)
Packers (W)
Redskins (W)
@ Vikings (L)

10-6 (7-1 @ home) (3-5 away)

Gotta have faith that John Fox and Fangio are gonna have these guys ballin this year and the offense will get their shit together!

FirstTimer said:

I never thought THAT highly of him but I at least had hope he could maybe be that "efficient" and non-turnover prone if he really bought in. Cutler has some pretty glaring mechanical and mental flaws in his game that will always prevent him from being one of the best. That was clear even back then. It was just trying minimize the errors and not letting him get outside of what he was good/best at.

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Yeah, I guess "One of the best" is probably hyperbole. Nevertheless, it was certainly the longest stretch he looked like a legitimate NFL QB. I have no hopes of that play being replicated this season, though- based on the small sample size we have seen in practice games, anyway.

Johnny said:

This times infinity. He cut back on multiple turnovers but wasnt "good". 21 TDs 11 INT. Not that good. He had a better year under Martz imo.

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Precisely. We all hear about the wonders Gase did with Cutler. I recall plain vanilla offense with predictable plays. An offense that struggled mightily. Of course, Cutler was throwing to practice squad guys, but let's not act like the season was some magic epiphany.

Double digit picks yet again. 21 TDS. Not very impressive. Big Ben had a down year. But 21 picks puts him right at middle of the pack. The guys who had fewer TDs than Cutler were either blah guys (Bridgewater, Bradford) or guys who didn't play full seasons.

21 TDs is nothing to get excited about. Didn't Rodgers throw for 21 TDs in a half against the Bears a couple of years ago?

dabears584 said:

@ Texans (L)
Eagles (W)
@ Cowboys (W)
Lions (W)
@ Colts (L)
Jaguars (W)
@ Packers (L)
Vikings (W)
@ Buccaneers (W)
@ Giants (W)
Titans (L)
49ers (W)
@ Lions (L)
Packers (W)
Redskins (W)
@ Vikings (L)

10-6 (7-1 @ home) (3-5 away)

Gotta have faith that John Fox and Fangio are gonna have these guys ballin this year and the offense will get their shit together!

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You have this team - THIS team - starting the season at 3-1 and then 7-3 after 10? I'd like to have a nice bong full of whatever you've got there.

ZenBear34 said:

Well they're wrong. And I'm not saying he was great, but he played smart football. He showed marked improvement in his pocket awareness and his mobility inside the pocket. He cut down on the mistakes. If Jeffrey can stay healthy and White can grow into his potential that's an upgrade over last year.

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Basically what you saw last year was a glorified version of Kyle Orton while he was a Bear.

onebud34 said:

Basically what you saw last year was a glorified version of Kyle Orton while he was a Bear.

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Orton Oven Mitts = Cutler Mittens

Hou: L
Phi: W
Dal: W
Det: W
Ind: L
Jax: W
GB: L
Min: L
TB: W
NYG: L
Ten: W
SF: W
Det: L
GB: L
Was: L
Min: L

7-9

Dallas and Indy could be flopped.

WindyCity said:

Hou: L
Phi: W
Dal: W
Det: W
Ind: L
Jax: W
GB: L
Min: L
TB: W
NYG: L
Ten: W
SF: W
Det: L
GB: L
Was: L
Min: L

7-9

Dallas and Indy could be flopped.

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We can beat the texans, Det twice, split with Minny, take Jax, Dal, Tampa, and Ten, SF, and Was.

I mean....this isn't exactly murderers row. As bad as we are, we have a chance.

WindyCity said:

Hou: L
Phi: W
Dal: W
Det: W
Ind: L
Jax: W
GB: L
Min: L
TB: W
NYG: L
Ten: W
SF: W
Det: L
GB: L
Was: L
Min: L

7-9

Dallas and Indy could be flopped.

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Might want to change that to 9-7 now that Bridgewater went down.

FatBabiesHaveNoPride said:

You have this team - THIS team - starting the season at 3-1 and then 7-3 after 10? I'd like to have a nice bong full of whatever you've got there.

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It's actually very possible Bears start out 3-1 Dallas has questions on their D line and at one LB position , Romo is out. Prescott has'nt made HOF yet. Detroit and Phil are beatable. So yes 3-1 is possible.

WindyCity said:

Hou: L
Phi: W
Dal: W
Det: W
Ind: L
Jax: W
GB: L
Min: L
TB: W
NYG: L
Ten: W
SF: W
Det: L
GB: L
Was: L
Min: L

7-9

Dallas and Indy could be flopped.

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No way in hell this team starts out 3-1....no way. 1-7 or 2-6 at best. Hopefully the team will rally in the second half, but I don't see us as a clear favorite in any of the first 6 games. Detroit is on the opposite curve as the Bears, as they are getting a lot of their players back, yet the Bears players are dropping like flies.

nc0gnet0 said:

No way in hell this team starts out 3-1....no way. 1-7 or 2-6 at best. Hopefully the team will rally in the second half, but I don't see us as a clear favorite in any of the first 6 games. Detroit is on the opposite curve as the Bears, as they are getting a lot of their players back, yet the Bears players are dropping like flies.

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Why not? Phi and Dallas have serious QB issues. Houston has a first year for them QB as well. Detroit? Maybe, only cause they know us which means always a chance but they lost their #1 weapon from last year. We could honestly be 4-0 to start, weird as that would be.

Expect the Browns to kick our ass too. Hue Jackson said that they were going to play their starters.

While I'm certainly far from enthused based on what I've seen in the preseason, I distinctly remember being enthused or discouraged by what I saw in years passed and not seeing that really reflect on what happened in the regular season. The one true and glaring concern to me is how ridiculously thin this team is on offense and in the secondary.

For those reasons I still think this team's ceiling is 10-6. This only happens if the Bears are able to stay much healthier than the average team and avoid key injuries to multiple positions on offense and defense. I don't see this as a likely scenario, but for the sake of optimism I'll make that my prediction.

This team's floor is harder to determine. There are a lot of reasons this Bears team may win only 4 games as opposed to 10. I'm more anxious about the opener than excited

5 -11 best case 7-9. To many holes on offense, and I see an epic Cutler meltdown this year.

This is my optimistic projection:

Texans: Loss - If everything went right, we might be able to beat this team. But I don't expect it on the road when we don't seem ready for the season yet.
Eagles: Win - Probably a tougher game than expected, but I really don't think the Eagles are that good.
Cowboys: Win - Romo was a big reason I would have put this down as a loss. But I think without him, their strength (line and running) play into our strength and we now have a much better chance to win this game.
Lions: Win - Their team is awful. Even worse than we are.
Colts: Loss - Luck is plenty enough to beat us.
Jaguars: Win - Yes, they improved. So did we. Or at least I hope we did. They don't have a great team yet and it's in Chicago.
Packers: Loss - Not likely to happen two years in a row.
Vikings: Win - Bridgewater injury might just be enough to get us a win at home against them.

Buccaneers: Win - They have some up and coming talent on offense, but still no offensive line and that plays heavily into our strength as well. Tough win, but I think we get it coming off the Bye.
Giants: Win - They improved the defense, but not enough. Offensively, Manning to Beckham could kill us. But I'll say we can hold on to a win against a team that I really don't see being that good overall.
Titans: Win - If we can't beat the Titans, I don't know who the hell we can beat.
49ers: Win - See above.
Lions: Loss - Because we can't seem to win up there lately and because we're the Bears.
Packers: Loss - Not likely to happen. Teams getting ready for the playoffs and solidifying playoff positions.
Redskins: Win - They have some good receivers and could again be trying to make the playoffs, but we are at home and I hope still trying to make the playoffs ourselves. So we find a way to squeak out the victory. How's that for optimistic?
Vikings: Loss - Unless Bridgewater really is out for the season and they've just given up, I can't see us beating them here.

Record: 10-6

I know we've looked pretty bad much of the preseason. But I keep reminding myself that so far we've played probably the three best teams in the AFC last season. They SHOULD be good teams and tough to beat.

(My pessimistic projection: 4-12 ... with additional losses to the Eagles, Cowboys, vs. Vikings, Bucs, Giants, and Redskins)