Rebuilding the Monster - Chicago Bears - (M17)

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Rebuilding the Monster
A Madden 17 CCM presented by K0ZZ

Settings:
Quarter Length: 12 Minutes
Difficulty: All-Pro
Sliders: To be changed as franchise goes
House rules: None at the moment, excluding no player rating edits, subject to change

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Historical Head to Heads

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Will be updated at end of season

Top Season Performers

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Will be updated at end of season

Draft Selections

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Will be updated at end of season

Accolades

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Will be updated at end of season

[K0ZZ]

Kevin White steals a huge pass from David Fales in Preseason action

Bears fizz out of Preseason

The Chicago Bears had an uneventful preseason that saw very little excitement getting generated for the upcoming season. Especially dismal considering how poorly last season had been for the Lakeshore Bears, who were hoping to spark some combative contests from Soldier Field. The preseason got so bad at one point, that all of the Bears quarterbacks didn't survive. The unit combined for 9 interceptions through the four preseason games. Brian Hoyer was responsible for six, subsequently leading to his release after the third game.

"It was a call we had to make for both sides. We had hoped Brian [Hoyer] would deliver a strong veteran workforce to the second unit, but sadly he didn't work well with our playbook. It is best for both sides to explore other options and we made the call to allow him to seek a new team through free agency rather than attempting to trade him." Spoke John Fox to the contingent of reporters the day following the Bears 20-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns in the third week of Preseason.

In response the Bears signed Bryce Petty, whom had been released by the New York Jets whom are in the midst of a quarterback exodus, as they are also presently shopping around Geno Smith. The Bears are firm with their gunslinger, Jay Cutler as their top option under center going into this season, and there really wasn't an option available otherwise to bring in young talent. The Bears opened negotiations with the Bengals for AJ McCarron but the Bengals asking price was too high for what the Bears were hoping, especially since McCarron would be a minimum, a year away from starting.

The Bears also added Brian Hartline prior to the start of the season to add another veteran option to the lineup to help ease Kevin White into the starting role, allowing White to get more rest time to prevent another injury, while also providing veteran leadership. Joining Hartline as an acquisition was Dee Milliner, Milliner a former first round draft choice for the New York Jets never lived up to expectations and will hope to revitalize his young career across from another young corner in Kyle Fuller.

One of the few shocks came from Deon Bush beating out the competition to secure the starting strong safety position for the team, while the Bears whom improved their front seven tremendously through the draft and free agency, will see a lot of their struggles coming from their secondary. If Bush can develop and become a force, this move could come out huge. The other rookie to start is Jonathan Bullard who beat out Mitch Unrein for the starting spot on the defensive end.

The Bears fell 1-3 through the Preseason and lost Brian Hartline with a broken hand for a minimum of another month unless he makes a huge recovery. Joining him was Hroniss Grasu who will miss the entire season with a complete ACL tear. Rookie Cody Whitehair will slide to the interior, playing Center for this season. The Bears are hoping to turn their poor fortunes around, with several years separating them and their last playoff birth, the hopes that the Bears can pull out a surprise this season seem farfetched. Experts tag this team as a top five draft pick squad, while a few pundits have them eking out a .500 season. Playoffs seem almost unreachable however, the offensive and defensive lines are far too weak and the secondary has no playmakers in the pass happy era the NFL has come to, this team will have to see a lot coming from their linebackers to turn the defensive tide.

Chicago Bears Depth Chart - 2016
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Alshon Jeffery	Eddie Royal	Daniel Braverman
TE	Zach Miller	Tony Moeaki	Rob Housler
LT	Charles Leno Jr	Jason Weaver
LG	Amini Silatolu	Ted Larsen
C	Cody Whitehair	Michael Brewster
RG	Kyle Long	Ted Larsen
RT	Bobby Massie	Mike Adams
WR	Kevin White	Marquess Wilson
QB	Jay Cutler	David Fales	Bryce Petty
FB	Darrel Young
HB	Jeremy Langford	JacQuizz Rodgers	KaDeem Carey
Base 3-4 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Jonathan Bullard	Mitch Unrein	Ego Ferguson
NT	Eddie Goldman	Phil Taylor	Ego Ferguson
RDE	Akiem Hicks	Ego Ferguson
LOLB	Pernell McPhee	Lamarr Houston
LILB	Danny Trevathan	Nick Kwiatkowski	Lamarr Houston
RILB	Jerrell Freeman
ROLB	Willie Young	Leonard Floyd	Nick Kwiatkowski
CB	Kyle Fuller	Brandon Boykin	Bryce Callahan
SS	Deon Bush	Harold Jones-Quartey
FS	Adrian Amos	Deandre Houston-Carson
CB	Dee Milliner	Tracy Porter
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Robbie Gould
P	Pat O'Donnell

[K0ZZ]

Brock Osweiler practices in Texans' camp

NFL Season ready to start

The offseason was abuzz as the reigning champions, Denver saw an exodus that sees them have major turnover heading into the 16-17 season. The biggest of which is under center, where Peyton Manning once slung with Brock Osweiler learning behind one of the greatest to ever play. Last season was Manning's final hurrah and the Broncos seemed to be readying themselves to transition to being Osweiler's team.

Until he opted to sign with the Texans.

That move altered the NFL landscape in a big way, blowing the AFC West wide open, with the Chiefs helmed by Andy Reid, the scrappy Raiders looking to their young gun slinger in Derek Carr, and Phillip Rivers and his Chargers always seem to randomly pop into the equation. The AFC favorites suddenly find themselves potentially being the fourth best team in their division and the Patriots look to capitalize as the East didn't seem to get much stronger in the offseason.

The NFC didn't see much power changes, as the Broncos diffusion mostly aided lesser teams such as the Chicago Bears, who still figure to be among the worst in their division, aided by the retirement of Calvin Johnson, the Bears might escape the cellar and allow the Lions to take their place, though it is yet to be seen. The Packers are the favorites, but if Teddy Bridgewater steps up, than the Vikings could certainly make things interesting and Adrian Peterson isn't getting any younger, the Vikings have been an enigma of a squad, featuring the most dominant rusher of this generation, but never being a true contender for a championship.

The new faces are the big story in the NFL this season, with the top two picks in the draft being quarterbacks. Carson Wentz nearly edged out incumbent Sam Bradford, but the former first overall pick retained onto his starting job after clearly stating his disdain over the Eagles selection int he offseason, a healthy campaign and a playoff birth are needed to salvage his career, as the Eagles will likely look to shed Bradford once they feel Wentz is ready to elevate to the top spot.

The Rams may have a new home but the team's misfortunes seem to have continued. In his first appearance in the preseason, rookie quarterback Jared Goff tore the cartilage in his knee and will miss the first month to a month and a half of playtime of his rookie campaign. The Rams will collectively hold their breaths once he returns, they invested a lot into the rookie signal caller and if he suffers another leg injury, they could be staring at a second Sam Bradford.

Else where in substantial injury news, LeSeasn McCoy of the Buffalo Bills will miss substantial playtime with a foot fracture suffered in the preseason, McCoy is expected to miss at least two months and it could slip further. Rex Ryan's seat must be feeling pretty hot on the banks of Lake Erie, and he needs Shady paired with Tyrod Taylor in order to be successful, this is a big blow to the Bills.

The quarterback controversy was seemingly averted in Denver was both Trevor Siemian and Mark Sanchez both went down with injuries, Siemian tore the cartilage in his knee while Mark Sanchez has a ruptured disk, forcing rookie Paxton Lynch into the spotlight, and it'll be his position to earn or lose in his inaugural campaign.

The Cleveland Browns cannot seem to catch any sort of break, with three players placed on IR through the preseason. Will Hill (SS), Desmond Bryant (LE) and Nick Hayden all are placed on injured reserve, while young speedster, Taylor Gabriel (WR) will miss the first month of the season, thinning out the Browns young receiver corps.

The Green Bay Packers did get unhappy news as well, putting a severe dent in their title aspirations. Aaron Rodgers fractured his foot in the final game of Preseason action on a scramble, and will miss the first two months of the season. At the very least, the Packers will get an opportunity to see how Brett Hundley can perform and see if he is a viable back up option for Rodgers, or even improve his trade value.

[K0ZZ]

David Fales would be sacked four times in the Bears loss

CHI 0 14 0 0 14
HOU 7 0 7 7 21

Bad News Bears: Cutler leaves with shoulder injury in Bears loss

(Houston, TX) The Chicago Bears battled the new look Texans in the opening week of the 2016 season, only to find every possible reason to lose this one, even when the Texans seemed to be handing the game over to them. The Bears had two field goal blocks, and a crucial fumble recovery inside of four minutes of a tied game and still managed to lose this one, a testament to their ability to drop games.

Things were bad early, as the Bears offense gained just 24 yards in the first quarter, while the Texans had over a hundred. The Texans lost Lamar Miller in the first quarter after just two plays, when he left with an undisclosed leg injury that was later revealed to be a minor sprain, though he was held from the game as a precautionary move.

Brock Osweiler hooked up with rookie Will Fuller on an out route for a touchdown fairly early into the first quarter that had Reliant Stadium at a roar, though the offense slowed down mightily and the tides even changed. Early in the second, the Texans managed to drive downfield again, though stalled deep in Bears territory and out came their field goal unit. Though Tracy Porter had other ideas as he leaped in front of the field goal attempt, giving the Bears possession back in a 7-0 game keeping it at one possession.

The Bears offense ignited as Jay Cutler hit pass after pass after an anemic first quarter, though on a scramble and throw, Cutler would take a rough shot from JJ Watt, and would be rolling on the ground. It would later be revealed that it was a minor shoulder muscle tear and won't hold him out likely more than a month, though it meant that David Fales would get his first meaningful action in his career.

Results weren't very good, though he completed his first pass, a short touchdown strike to to tight end, Zach Miller that tied the Bears up at 7 a piece. The Bears managed to orchestrate another scoring drive before the half, with Jeremy Langford who finished with game highs of 127 yards and a touchdown would skate to the outside and score.

The Bears held the lead going into the half, though the Texans would manage to strike back in the third, on a pitch and catch to Jonathan Grimes, the halfback skating into the end zone to tie the game. The fourth quarter would be a complete testament to both sides inabilities to capitalize, though the Texans would eventually emerge victorious.

The Bears would block a field goal and drive to midfield, only to turn the ball over on downs, on a fourth and one when Kevin White dropped his third pass of the day. The Texans in turn drove downfield, but the drive stalled near the thirty, with that the opportunistic Bears defense looked to turn a second blocked field goal, but Tracy Porter's dive went errant and tripped up Nick Novak who officially finished the game 0-4. The penalty put the Texans inside the ten, and on the next play, a run up the middle, Jonathan Grimes would be stripped and recovered by Chicago, four minutes remaining. Kevin White would pull down a long heave after beating his defender and be brought down just past midfield, the Bears next four plays went no where and the ball returned to the Texans.

This time the Texans drove downfield and Jonathan Grimes took a run to the outside, bouncing off defenders and ultimately scoring. The Texans claimed victory in an ugly contest that starts them out at 1-0, while the Bears fell to 0-1. Chicago wanted to start out on track, but couldn't but with uncertainty lurking in their next contest against Philadelphia with Jay Cutler's injury looming, and David Fales going just 3-14 in his first game of action, the Bears may need to turn to newcomer Bryce Petty.

Chicago Bears Team Leaders
Jay Cutler (QB) 7-10 83 PaYds 1 INT
Jeremy Langford (HB) 26 Car 127 RuYds 1 TD
Jerrell Freeman (MLB) 8 Tackles 2 FL 1 Sack

Houston Texans Team Leaders
Brock Osweiler (QB) 19-28 306 PaYds 2 TD
Jonathan Grimes (HB) 27 Ru 99 RuYds 1 TD 1 Fum 3 Rec 31 ReYds 1 TD
Jeremy Mincey (LE) 9 Tackles 2 FL 2 Sacks

(1) David Fales delivers a touchdown pass despite defensive presence
(2) Tracy Porter dives in front of a field goal attempt to block it
(3) Jonathan Grimes bounces to the outside for the game winning Texan touchdown

[K0ZZ]

Bryce Petty got first team reps this week

Petty to start Week 2 contest against Philadelphia

David Fales failed to impress in his first substantial regular season action going just 3-14, bringing newcomer Bryce Petty to the spotlight. Petty was signed off the New York Jets practice squad and was expected to battle Fales for the backup role throughout the season and allow the team to make a decision on one of the two youngsters in the offseason, though it seems that choice was made for them after Fales lackluster performance in the loss.

"David [Fales] was thrust into the spotlight rather abruptly, no one expected him to go in, week one, but he did and he tried his best. Some of his incompletions weren't on him, there were several drops, but Bryce [Petty] has done some things with the starters and we want to see how he adjusts to our system. Jay [Cutler] is feeling pretty good given the injury sustained and he may only miss one or two more games, we hope to have him throwing next week, but for now Bryce is our own, David is our two. We will evaluate weekly until Jay returns." Spoke John Fox to the news reporters that made their way to the lakeshore for the press conference.

The Bears made no other impactful depth chart changes this week, though a watchful eye will be placed on Kevin White, especially if drops remain an issue for the second year wide out. The Bears stay in Chicago this week where they battle the 1-0 Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are coming off a 28-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns, where they teed off on Robert Griffin III with four sacks. The Bears gave up five sacks last week, the offensive line needs to tighten up to protect Bryce Petty if the Bears hope to have a better offensive showing this week.

Across the NFL, it was Jason Witten who moved past Isaac Bruce on the list for all time receptions, Witten has put together a hall of fame career for the Cowboys, though sadly they haven't truly been super bowl contenders throughout his career with the team. Brett Hundley stunned the Jaguars en route to earning NFC player of the week honors, in his relief of Aaron Rodgers, Hundley managed to go 25-38 for 301 Pass yards with 5 touchdowns, while throwing just 1 interception and rushing for 41 yards, more impressively, he managed to do this despite getting sacked six times!

In injury news this week, Tyrod Taylor tore his quad and is expected to miss two months for the Buffalo Bills. Gerald McCoy dislocated his hip and will miss a month for the Buccaneers, Vernon Hargreaves escapes completely tearing his PCL, will likely only miss two weeks with a partially torn PCL. Lane Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles will miss serious time with a partial MCL tear, expected to miss two to three months. Ian Williams of the 49ers placed on injured reserve with a broken ankle. Matt Forte dislocated his hip and will miss potentially three months for the New York Jets. The Packers managed to beat the Jaguars without Aaron Rodgers and also losing tight end Richard Rodgers for two months to a partial ACL tear. Amari Cooper has a dislocated knee and could miss up to a month, further thinning the Raiders receiving corp. Case Keenum broke his collarbone in week one, sending the Rams to their third string quarterback. Lamar Miller will miss up to a month from his injury against the Chicago Bears.

Matchup Preview | January 1,
	@
Philadelphia Eagles (1-0, 0-0 Away)		Chicago Bears (0-1, 0-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 448 Total Offensive Yards 226 255 Passing Yards 101 132 Rushing Yards 125 28 Points Per Game 14 Defensive Stats Comparison 326 Total Yards Allowed 386 242 Passing Yards Allowed 281 84 Rushing Yards Allowed 105 14 Points Allowed 21 3 Sacks 3 2 Fumble Recoveries 2 1 Interceptions 0 Injury Report Lane Johnson (RT) Partial MCL Tear 7 Weeks Hroniss Grasu (C) Complete ACL Tear IR Nelson Agholor (WR) Broken Thumb 1 Week Jay Cutler (QB) Shoulder Tear 3 Weeks Matt Tobin (LT) Broken Thumb 1 Week Brian Hartline (WR) Broken Hand 3 Weeks Darren Sproles (HB) Shoulder Tear 1 Week

[GR5Noles]

let the Bryce Petty era begin!!

[K0ZZ]

Bryce Petty took a lot of hits, but was celebrating at the end of the game

CHI 21 0 3 7 31
PHI 7 3 0 13 23

Chicago defends home with explosive first quarter

Bryce Petty took his team out in front of the home crowd. Having earned the starting spot over David Fales, and put together a well enough game to lead the Bears past the Eagles. Petty started out tremendously, going 7 for 10 early on, while the Bears gained 373 offensive yards in the victory. Though Petty did slow down, finishing with 3 interceptions, though two were off deflections, John Fox was quite happy with what the young signal caller put together, further solidifying his spot upon the squad.

Petty got his first NFL touchdown when he drove his team downfield, and on third and goal ran to the outside and saw no one open, leaping past the pylon for a touchdown, his first and an early lead for the Bears. Though the Eagles would quickly respond when Ryan Matthews would break a run to the outside and take it all the way for a huge touchdown run that knotted the game at 7 a piece.

The Bears ran off with 14 straight to end the first quarter and would never look back. First the Bears drove on the Eagles with Bryce Petty hooking up with Alshon Jeffery, giving the Bears top option his first touchdown of the season and Petty's first regular season passing touchdown of his career. On the upcoming drive, Sam Bradford took a brutal shot and fumbled the ball, which was scooped up by Akeem Hicks who rumbled the rest of the way for the score.

Kickers were 0-4 going against the Bears coming into this one, and Caleb Sturgis made it 0-5 after a first quarter miss, in the second he would manage to knock one through rather easily making it the first conversion from a kicker against the Bears this season, which surprisingly took five attempts to do. Robbie Gould knotted one through for the Bears in the third.

It was the fourth where the Eagles and namely Sam Bradford started to show life, though it was too little too late. Bradford was punished for 7 sacks against an oddly ferocious Bears blitz, while Bryce Petty took five sacks, neither offensive line really posed any sort of threat against the opposition throughout this one. Though when Bradford could stay upright, as he did in the fourth he made some good throws.

Hitting his wide outs in stride, he helped drive his team downfield three times, though two only yielded Caleb Sturgis field goals to bring the game a little closer, 24-16 and in striking distance, before the Bears managed to get their ground game really going and Jeremy Langford churned out some big yards before pushing in for a touchdown and a 31-16 lead.

Bradford would get his troops downfield rather quickly before connecting with Jordan Matthews inside of a minute to score, and still holding three time outs, the onside kick was on, and even if they didn't recover their defense could still force a punt. Though the hands team for the Bears scooped up the recovery, than Jeremy Langford managed to force the ball past the markers on third and short to effectively end the game as the Bears picked up their first victory.

Chicago's victory gives them their first on the young season. The Bears open the season at 1-1 and travel down south to Jerryland to face the Dallas Cowboys after claiming the win on Monday Night Football. The Philadelphia Eagles couldn't keep their momentum going and allowing sacks has been a big theme for the Eagles who are past double digits after two games, Sam Bradford's health has been an issue historically and Carson Wentz may get forced into game action sooner than expected.

Chicago Bears Top Performers
Bryce Petty (QB) 14-21 210 PaYds 1 TD 3 INT 1 Car 3 RuYd 1 TD 1 FUM
Jeremy Langford (HB) 28 Carries 144 RuYds (5.1 YPC) 1 TD 2 Rec 17 ReYds
Alshon Jeffery (WR) 5 Rec 137 ReYds 1 TD
Eddie Goldman (DT) 3 Tackles 2 Sacks

Philadelphia Eagles Top Performers
Sam Bradford (QB) 23-33 186 PaYds 1 TD
Ryan Mathews (HB) 15 Car 100 RuYds (6.7 YPC) 1 TD5 Rec 25 ReYds
Fletcher Cox (DT) 9 Tack 2 FL 2 Sacks
Jameel McClain (MLB) 8 Tack 1 FL 2 INT

Scoring Summary
1 (5:31) CHI-TD; B.Petty, 3 Yd Run
1 (5:17) PHI-TD; R.Mathews, 74 Yd Run
1 (1:20) CHI-TD; A.Jeffery 1 Yd Pass from B.Petty
1 (1:08) CHI-TD; A.Hicks, returned fumble 18 yds
2 (0:01) PHI-FG; C.Sturgis, 56 Yd FG
3 (7:44) CHI-FG; R.Gould, 37 Yd FG
4 (7:40) PHi-FG; C.Sturgis, 44 Yd FG
4 (2:15) PHI-FG; C.Sturgis, 35 Yd FG
4 (1:57) CHI-TD; J.Langford, 6 Yd run
4 (0:48) PHI-TD; J.Matthews 5 Yd Pass from S.Bradford



(1) Sam Bradford is pummeled for one of his several sacks
(2) Jeremy Langford fights into the endzone for a touchdown
(3) Akeem Hicks celebrates with his teammate following his touchdown rumble
(4) Bryce Petty stretches the ball into the endzone for his first career touchdown