Week 1/NFL Kickoff - Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears - Thursday 9/5 at 7:20 on NBC

[minnesotacubsfan]

........

 

The most frustrating thing to me is that I feel like they've done a really good job with this rebuild, but they picked the wrong QB and basically nothing else matters.

 

this is the hardest thing for me to reconcile, that in a team sport one player, one position can absolutely make or break a team

[Soul]

........

 

The most frustrating thing to me is that I feel like they've done a really good job with this rebuild, but they picked the wrong QB and basically nothing else matters.

 

this is the hardest thing for me to reconcile, that in a team sport one player, one position can absolutely make or break a team

I hate it too, but you can’t escape the reality.

 

Job 1 for any GM/coach is to find and develop a star QB. The rest still matters but that’s got to be the most consistent separator between success & failure of a regime.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

........

 

The most frustrating thing to me is that I feel like they've done a really good job with this rebuild, but they picked the wrong QB and basically nothing else matters.

 

this is the hardest thing for me to reconcile, that in a team sport one player, one position can absolutely make or break a team

Pretty much exactly how I feel. The word I keep coming back to for last night's game is demoralizing. It's just demoralizing to have a team that is so strong and so deep in so many areas but which is held back by (for better or worse) the only position that ultimately really *really* matters at the end of the day in the NFL: quarterback. The Bears have a done a lot right in the draft and via trade (less so in free agency) the last 3 years or so, but I'm now resigned to the fact that the miss at QB may just be too big to overcome.

[Soul]

They got QB wrong no question. Kind of felt that way when the pick happened but you know - hope springs eternal.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

Sucks, because we're going to have to start over @ QB *again*

 

But yeah, Mitch is a huge part of the problem. There's no scenario I can see where he suddenly develops consistently good decision-making and hits on all the throws he needs to. Looks great on a few plays, but it's just not enough to be a good QB in this league. Most guys can show "flashes." So what? That's not the definition of a great QB and there's no reason to believe it will progress further than that.

 

Combine that with Nagy's laughable playcalling in key situations, and you've got last night's joke of a performance. I know the defensive players won't say anything, and they shouldn't, but wasting great performances like that has to be frustrating as heck.

Strongly agree with the portion in bold. A common thread from the various articles, podcasts, and other NFL "content" I've consumed is that pretty much every QB in the NFL *can* make "all the throws" or whatever. In other words, it's not a question of whether they can or can't do it at all; it's just a question of *how often*. Brady, Rodgers, Brees, etc. make those 2nd and 3rd down throws to the sidelines, down the seams, etc. every []ing time. Mitch will do it...sometimes? And many (too many) other times he'll lock on to one WR and throw a near-INT or take off and run before the route develops at all. It's not a question of talent; it's a question of repetition and consistency. Sadly it just doesn't look like he'll ever get there.

[Old Style]

The offense looked better under Lovie Smith led by Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman. Let that sink in.

[jersey cubs fan]

And another thing, if you go out of your way to dress up all fancy like for the 100 year thing to walk into the stadium, have the balls to keep that get-up on the sideline and ditch the lame ass visor.

[BigbadB]

There were plenty of stupid play calls last night, and many have already been mentioned in this thread. The one that put me on tilt was the 3rd and half a yard fairly early in the game and they lined up in shotgun formation. That turned into a really slow developing play on 3rd and half a freaking yard. Trubisky could have sneaked it, jumped forward above the line, handed off to a back and helped push the line forward, or rolled out. Instead, shotgun and a handoff that was executed even slower than the play call itself.

 

It's like they weren't even trying to win a ball game last night. I really hoped that Trubisky was going to turn the corner this season, but last night let all of the air out of my sales. Nagy was even worse than Trubisky. The most embarrassing part of this is that they didn't play in the preseason at all and then treated an actual real game like it was preseason. I'm actually cool with protecting your team from injuries. However, this offense has been practicing against the best defense in the entire league all preseason and what did that get us?

 

I saw Patterson and Gabriel out there a lot more than I saw Miller, also. I trust that's because Miller isn't fully healthy yet and not that they think Patterson or Gabriel is better than Miller. Actually, if this is what we can expect from Trubisky every week, then it really doesn't matter. This team is sunk.

[jersey cubs fan]

I've always assumed that Mitch busting means Pace is gone by 2020/2021 and a new GM would come in and hire a new HC.

 

However, I think the Bears desperately want to be more like the Steelers staying consistent with the head coach. If they can manage to avoid a truly disastrous season, winning 8-9 games, I think that Pace/Nagy has done enough with the rest of the team that it is possible they may actually give them a shot to replace Mitch. This would push off the next organizational overhaul to 2024 or beyond.

[raw]

There were plenty of stupid play calls last night, and many have already been mentioned in this thread. The one that put me on tilt was the 3rd and half a yard fairly early in the game and they lined up in shotgun formation. That turned into a really slow developing play on 3rd and half a freaking yard. Trubisky could have sneaked it, jumped forward above the line, handed off to a back and helped push the line forward, or rolled out. Instead, shotgun and a handoff that was executed even slower than the play call itself.

 

It's like they weren't even trying to win a ball game last night. I really hoped that Trubisky was going to turn the corner this season, but last night let all of the air out of my sales. Nagy was even worse than Trubisky. The most embarrassing part of this is that they didn't play in the preseason at all and then treated an actual real game like it was preseason. I'm actually cool with protecting your team from injuries. However, this offense has been practicing against the best defense in the entire league all preseason and what did that get us?

 

I saw Patterson and Gabriel out there a lot more than I saw Miller, also. I trust that's because Miller isn't fully healthy yet and not that they think Patterson or Gabriel is better than Miller. Actually, if this is what we can expect from Trubisky every week, then it really doesn't matter. This team is sunk.

 

I was watching Miller a bit, after I realized he didn't have a touch or target midway thru the game. He wasn't healthy at all. He wasn't running at normal speed. He didn't have his typical agility. Probably shouldn't have been out there.

[Chocolate Milk]

I've always assumed that Mitch busting means Pace is gone by 2020/2021 and a new GM would come in and hire a new HC.

 

However, I think the Bears desperately want to be more like the Steelers staying consistent with the head coach. If they can manage to avoid a truly disastrous season, winning 8-9 games, I think that Pace/Nagy has done enough with the rest of the team that it is possible they may actually give them a shot to replace Mitch. This would push off the next organizational overhaul to 2024 or beyond.

In a weird way, Trubisky flaming out spectacularly might be a better outcome than a slight improvement and an ill advised 100 million dollar contract.

[raw]

I've always assumed that Mitch busting means Pace is gone by 2020/2021 and a new GM would come in and hire a new HC.

 

However, I think the Bears desperately want to be more like the Steelers staying consistent with the head coach. If they can manage to avoid a truly disastrous season, winning 8-9 games, I think that Pace/Nagy has done enough with the rest of the team that it is possible they may actually give them a shot to replace Mitch. This would push off the next organizational overhaul to 2024 or beyond.

 

Yeah, it's a pretty interesting decision if Mitch is bad, but the rest of the team is good....as it's basically all Pace's doing. I honestly think both Pace and Nagy stay and they work together to pick another QB. Because remember, this was just a Pace move under John Fox, who was rumored to not even know they were picking him.

 

That being said, it's going to be pretty hard to be 9-7 a few times with bad QB play. Defense will regress a little and will suffer injuries and cap casualties. And I think we're all in on Mitch for at least the next 3 years. Obviously this year, but still on rookie deal next year. They are going to pick up the 5th year option, unless they luck into another QB (like a vet being traded/cut) and trade Mitch....5th year options of QBs who aren't complete disasters always get picked up. I mean, Bortles had his option picked up. Winston and Mariota did. Guys like Dalton and Tannehill got extensions in lieu of the 5th year.

 

I was hoping Mitch was more Goff than Bortles, but Bortles did have 1 pretty good year and in another led his team to a 4th quarter lead in the conference championship. Mitch has the talent around him to have both of these things happen. But as of right now, I no longer feel that he can be a guy they give a 2nd contract to.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I've always assumed that Mitch busting means Pace is gone by 2020/2021 and a new GM would come in and hire a new HC.

 

However, I think the Bears desperately want to be more like the Steelers staying consistent with the head coach. If they can manage to avoid a truly disastrous season, winning 8-9 games, I think that Pace/Nagy has done enough with the rest of the team that it is possible they may actually give them a shot to replace Mitch. This would push off the next organizational overhaul to 2024 or beyond.

In a weird way, Trubisky flaming out spectacularly might be a better outcome than a slight improvement and an ill advised 100 million dollar contract.

 

thats not weird, thats definitive. weird, however, is exactly what we'll get: a slight improvement and a huge contract to Mitch

[jersey cubs fan]

That being said, it's going to be pretty hard to be 9-7 a few times with bad QB play. Defense will regress a little and will suffer injuries and cap casualties.

 

Multiple 9-7s may be tough, but Lovie won 7+ with Orton/Griese/Grossman repeatedly. I guess it's theoretically possible Mitch can reach Cutler levels and the Lovie/Cutler combo was well above .500 overall. The whole point in moving on from Lovie was they were done with being respectable and wanted to actually go for broke and try to be great. That didn't work out too well. Pace and Nagy are positioned to keep this organization respectable (although the lack of picks is going to hurt), and I think ownership would kill for a string of respectability again.

[raw]

[jersey cubs fan]

Nationally televised games tend to be against tougher opponents.

[WrigleyField 22]

Through a half of rewatching offensive plays and Mitch was probably the 4th or 5th "best" offensive player (low bar) last night after AR, Montgomery, Whitehair, and probably Cohen. Maybe Davis was better too, but the rest of the line, the other WRs and the TEs all sucked.

 

Nagy takes the cake for suckiness though above them all.

[WrigleyField 22]

Nationally televised games tend to be against tougher opponents.

Plus a 96 passer rating in the favorable sample side split is pretty average in today's NFL.

[raw]

Nationally televised games tend to be against tougher opponents.

Plus a 96 passer rating in the favorable sample side split is pretty average in today's NFL.

 

Half of those games are in John Fox's offense as a rookie though. Not really trying to make an excuse for Mitch, but I would take those non-primetime numbers over a full season in a heartbeat. "Pretty average" is better than bottom 1/4 QB.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Counterpoint to all the playcalling complaints:

 

Running the ball is dumb and pointless and you should only do it to run out the clock when you're winning. Passing is awesome and wins games, if you're good at it. And if you're not, you deserve to lose anyway so who cares.

[raw]

Through a half of rewatching offensive plays and Mitch was probably the 4th or 5th "best" offensive player (low bar) last night after AR, Montgomery, Whitehair, and probably Cohen. Maybe Davis was better too, but the rest of the line, the other WRs and the TEs all sucked.

 

Nagy takes the cake for suckiness though above them all.

 

 

Nagy definitely was the worst, considering it was his idea NOT to play the starters at all. And he had 8 months and 2 games of film vs. the GB defense (albeit different players) against his offense to look at for the last 8 months and comes out and leads a team that puts up 3 points. The OL didn't look cohesive or prepared enough. The QB obviously didn't. I re-tweeted someone's tweet last night that said Nagy called 30 straight drop backs last night to end the game. Three handoffs after halftime. Montgomery for no gain, first play of the half. Next drive, Davis had an 8 yard run on the first play, 1 yard on the 2nd. Then tried to throw on 3rd and less than a full yard, and never called another run play the rest of the game, down by no more than 1 score and never threatened with time until the final drive with under a minute left.

[BigbadB]

Counterpoint to all the playcalling complaints:

 

Running the ball is dumb and pointless and you should only do it to run out the clock when you're winning. Passing is awesome and wins games, if you're good at it. And if you're not, you deserve to lose anyway so who cares.

 

It wasn't about just running it more. Many of the pass plays that were called were of basically the same concept. Look 10 yards down the field. If that pass isn't available, force it anyway or dump it. There was no attempt to spread the field in the entire first half. The safeties were leaning forward on every play call because every play that was called was in front of them. You brag about having all of this amazing speed (Cohen, Gabriel, Patterson) and you do absolutely nothing with it. Maybe the coach knows more about Trubisky than we do, and that spreading the field is just not an option with this QB. If that's the case, it's going to be a long season.

[raw]

Counterpoint to all the playcalling complaints:

 

Running the ball is dumb and pointless and you should only do it to run out the clock when you're winning. Passing is awesome and wins games, if you're good at it. And if you're not, you deserve to lose anyway so who cares.

 

It wasn't about just running it more. Many of the pass plays that were called were of basically the same concept. Look 10 yards down the field. If that pass isn't available, force it anyway or dump it. There was no attempt to spread the field in the entire first half. The safeties were leaning forward on every play call because every play that was called was in front of them. You brag about having all of this amazing speed (Cohen, Gabriel, Patterson) and you do absolutely nothing with it. Maybe the coach knows more about Trubisky than we do, and that spreading the field is just not an option with this QB. If that's the case, it's going to be a long season.

 

If that's the case.......you need to run more.

[WrigleyField 22]

Counterpoint to all the playcalling complaints:

 

Running the ball is dumb and pointless and you should only do it to run out the clock when you're winning. Passing is awesome and wins games, if you're good at it. And if you're not, you deserve to lose anyway so who cares.

 

It wasn't about just running it more. Many of the pass plays that were called were of basically the same concept. Look 10 yards down the field. If that pass isn't available, force it anyway or dump it. There was no attempt to spread the field in the entire first half. The safeties were leaning forward on every play call because every play that was called was in front of them. You brag about having all of this amazing speed (Cohen, Gabriel, Patterson) and you do absolutely nothing with it. Maybe the coach knows more about Trubisky than we do, and that spreading the field is just not an option with this QB. If that's the case, it's going to be a long season.

Pack dropped 7 and rushed 4 most of the time in the first half. If they're getting decent pressure with those 4, which they did, any offense is going to struggle, but Nagy definitely didn't come up with an answer to it in the second. Rushing more probably would have been a reasonable option though.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Counterpoint to all the playcalling complaints:

 

Running the ball is dumb and pointless and you should only do it to run out the clock when you're winning. Passing is awesome and wins games, if you're good at it. And if you're not, you deserve to lose anyway so who cares.

 

It wasn't about just running it more. Many of the pass plays that were called were of basically the same concept. Look 10 yards down the field. If that pass isn't available, force it anyway or dump it. There was no attempt to spread the field in the entire first half. The safeties were leaning forward on every play call because every play that was called was in front of them. You brag about having all of this amazing speed (Cohen, Gabriel, Patterson) and you do absolutely nothing with it. Maybe the coach knows more about Trubisky than we do, and that spreading the field is just not an option with this QB. If that's the case, it's going to be a long season.

 

I'm not nearly enough of an expert to assign an exact percentage live, but I'm pretty sure that not going down the field wasn't playcalling but rather a combination of the offensive line not giving him any time and Trubisky panicking and checking down too early.