Week 3: Chicago BEARS @ Atlanta Falcons

[raw]

Two weeks into the season, and our Chicago Bears are one of 11 remaining 2-0 teams. Couldn't ask for a better start! Unfortunately though, the Bears are who we thought they were. An inconsistent offense, led by an inconsistent QB, and dependent on a defense to hold teams in order to close out games. As usual, Bears fans can't agree on simple things about this team. I've seen social media arguments on whether the defense is good, whether the team is good or bad, and even saw a fan called a radio show and said he'd rather the team be 0-2 but putting up numbers like the Atlanta offense.

 

To be fair though, the Bears are a couple plays either way from having a completely different narrative around this team. Dropped passes from Graham and Miller would mean a couple extra TDs and a pair of 2 score wins where nobody would could complain much about the offense. Conversely, a dropped pass the other way would have led to a Week 1 loss. A bad DPI call on Jackson's pick 6, a missed DPI call against Robinson in the end zone, a snatched away INT, a couple of tipped passes here, a missed holding call there and the Bears season could be completely different.

 

I know a lot of teams have looked like well oiled machines, but the Bears have looked about how we expected. I think Trubisky has been much improved over last year. He's doing some things he hasn't been able to do in the past. He's looking off safeties. He's not relying on the checkdown. He's reading the defense. He still has accuracy issues, but overall he hasn't been an issue.

 

This week will be a "something's gotta give" game. The Falcons have given up 38 and 40 points in the first 2 weeks. They are also averaging 32 points per game, so it's imperative that the offense doesn't leave any points on the field this week against what will be the worst of the 3 bad defenses they face to open the season. The matchup of the week is strength vs strength so far this year. The Falcons had 3 WRs over 100 yards in Week 1. The Bears defensive backfield has played really well so far. Desperate team at home, only 1 game out in their loaded division, coming off a tough loss. The motivation will be there for Atlanta. Again, I imagined before the season that even a good Bears team would be 3-1 after week 4. This is winnable but would not be surprised with a loss.

[minnesotacubsfan]

3-0 would be fantastic. a 300 + yrd, 3 TD game by Turduckgoosky would be a nice add to the 3-0 start

[Bertz]

 

HUGE swing game for the playoff odds

[BigbadB]

I'm not as comfortable with Mitch as you are. But, I still don't like a lot of the play calling. Those two designed Trubisky running plays were WTF moments. The really slow developing gadget plays with Patterson don't work very well. He's powerful and fast enough to burst through a hole. Just run him like a normal RB out of the backfield. Cohen up the middle is just dumb. They need to utilize the TE's better, and at the first down marker rather than quick pitches or dump offs. Challenge the opposing team's ILB's. Graham and Kmet can get open. That also opens up the middle for a dump pass to Cohen. That's where Cohen can shine, sneaking behind the DLine like Kamara does.

 

Maybe it's the playcalling that frustrates me the most.

[UMFan83]

You said it raw, this team has played up to expectations. Talented but flawed team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They played 2 very beatable teams and they won both (barely). They are much better than the pundits were giving them credit for (way too many outsiders had them in the 3-5 win range), but they probably won't go 12-4 again. This is another winnable game...and honestly the next 4 are winnable depending on what you think of TB so far. If they can win 3 of 4 and start 5-1 they have some cushion going into the much tougher part of the schedule. 9-7 should make it in with 3 wild card spots.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Anyone else think maybe there's a rift between Pace and Nagy? Or maybe one is brewing? Cohen and Travathan played something like 32 and 46% of their unit's snaps. Neither is even a thought in the waning moments and for most of the 4th quarter. Neither TE has been utilized like one would hope they would be, especially with a QB that struggles working the boundaries. That's usually a position that is a security blanket for a mediocre QB. Kmet was supposed to be a plug and play guy.

 

Just a couple thought I've been having.

[raw]

I'm not as comfortable with Mitch as you are. But, I still don't like a lot of the play calling. Those two designed Trubisky running plays were WTF moments. The really slow developing gadget plays with Patterson don't work very well. He's powerful and fast enough to burst through a hole. Just run him like a normal RB out of the backfield. Cohen up the middle is just dumb. They need to utilize the TE's better, and at the first down marker rather than quick pitches or dump offs. Challenge the opposing team's ILB's. Graham and Kmet can get open. That also opens up the middle for a dump pass to Cohen. That's where Cohen can shine, sneaking behind the DLine like Kamara does.

 

Maybe it's the playcalling that frustrates me the most.

 

Playcalling has been near excellent so far, IMO. There's some weird short yardage stuff, but that's been about it. The rest of the plays have been designed perfectly to give Mitch easy reads, isolate good matchups, and they have moved the ball pretty well for the most part. Patterson has been getting the ball like a normal RB (especially in Week 1). Cohen up the middle is actually preferred. He himself believes he's more effective up the middle. Become very predictable if you only run Cohen outside or throw him the ball when he's on the field. Agree with the TEs. They were very involved week 1. Graham had a lot of targets. Kmet had at least 1 that I remember. Should've had a TD from Harris, but a bad Mitch throw. They were targeted again Week 2, but only 2 total catches. Pace is almost the same as the TE group's production last season after 2 games.

[BigbadB]

I'm not as comfortable with Mitch as you are. But, I still don't like a lot of the play calling. Those two designed Trubisky running plays were WTF moments. The really slow developing gadget plays with Patterson don't work very well. He's powerful and fast enough to burst through a hole. Just run him like a normal RB out of the backfield. Cohen up the middle is just dumb. They need to utilize the TE's better, and at the first down marker rather than quick pitches or dump offs. Challenge the opposing team's ILB's. Graham and Kmet can get open. That also opens up the middle for a dump pass to Cohen. That's where Cohen can shine, sneaking behind the DLine like Kamara does.

 

Maybe it's the playcalling that frustrates me the most.

 

Playcalling has been near excellent so far, IMO. There's some weird short yardage stuff, but that's been about it. The rest of the plays have been designed perfectly to give Mitch easy reads, isolate good matchups, and they have moved the ball pretty well for the most part. Patterson has been getting the ball like a normal RB (especially in Week 1). Cohen up the middle is actually preferred. He himself believes he's more effective up the middle. Become very predictable if you only run Cohen outside or throw him the ball when he's on the field. Agree with the TEs. They were very involved week 1. Graham had a lot of targets. Kmet had at least 1 that I remember. Should've had a TD from Harris, but a bad Mitch throw. They were targeted again Week 2, but only 2 total catches. Pace is almost the same as the TE group's production last season after 2 games.

 

According to the box score, there were 3 TE targets on Sunday. Although, I believe there was a 4th to Graham that ended up being a penalty and nullified the play.

[jersey cubs fan]

Anyone else think maybe there's a rift between Pace and Nagy? Or maybe one is brewing? Cohen and Travathan played something like 32 and 46% of their unit's snaps. Neither is even a thought in the waning moments and for most of the 4th quarter. Neither TE has been utilized like one would hope they would be, especially with a QB that struggles working the boundaries. That's usually a position that is a security blanket for a mediocre QB. Kmet was supposed to be a plug and play guy.

 

Just a couple thought I've been having.

 

This feels like looking for a story to me.

 

Nobody thought Kmet was a plug and play TE. He was never going to make an immediate impact. They targeted Jimmy Graham (who flailed badly twice) early. Trevathan is not playing as much because he hasn't been good. Cohen is doing the role expected of him. He's not a go to run the clock guy. Montgomery did a great job with that anyway. Cohen is a gimmick guy you hope has a couple explosive plays during the game, or somebody you might take a chance on late in the game, not the guy you feed in the 4th with a lead.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Anyone else think maybe there's a rift between Pace and Nagy? Or maybe one is brewing? Cohen and Travathan played something like 32 and 46% of their unit's snaps. Neither is even a thought in the waning moments and for most of the 4th quarter. Neither TE has been utilized like one would hope they would be, especially with a QB that struggles working the boundaries. That's usually a position that is a security blanket for a mediocre QB. Kmet was supposed to be a plug and play guy.

 

Just a couple thought I've been having.

 

This feels like looking for a story to me.

 

Nobody thought Kmet was a plug and play TE. He was never going to make an immediate impact. They targeted Jimmy Graham (who flailed badly twice) early. Trevathan is not playing as much because he hasn't been good. Cohen is doing the role expected of him. He's not a go to run the clock guy. Montgomery did a great job with that anyway. Cohen is a gimmick guy you hope has a couple explosive plays during the game, or somebody you might take a chance on late in the game, not the guy you feed in the 4th with a lead.

 

pretty much it, although I dont agree with Nagy's game plan (run the clock out) I do think they executed it for the most part fairly well. The drops raw mentioned hurt...hopefully they are symptomatic of a compressed preseason and work themselves out

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Will the Bears be the first team to score 100 against defensive mastermind Dan Quinn's team this season? I predict 9 TD's for Trubisky.

[Brian707]

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[minnesotacubsfan]

I lived in southern California back in the early '90's and worked for the Pasadena park dist. Doing so, I actually met Deacon Jones which was enough of a thrill. He was great to chat with, and when he found out I was a Bears fan, he really had one thing to say. It was something like:

 

"Gale Sayers. OOF. Trying to tackle him was like trying to tackle a ghost. I would come through the line, have him one-on-one dead to rights and before I knew it, I was on the ground and he was 20 yards down the field"

 

I always remember Deacon Jones calling Gale Sayers "..a ghost".

 

RIP Gale.

Edited September 23, 2020 by minnesotacubsfan

[David]

dead to rice

 

[minnesotacubsfan]

dead to rice

 

subsequent to your post, I had to google that and understand that for 40 some years, my partial hearing loss due to childhood trauma has led me to misunderstand that phrase. thank you

[CubinNY]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

My introduction to Sayers was the movie about Brian Piccolo, Brian's Song. I remember watching it in college with a bunch of other guys, who all thought we were big macho dudes and everyone trying to hide the tears.

[jersey cubs fan]

 

 

phew.gif

[UMFan83]

Interesting

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

We struck gold in Tulane before. Here's hoping we've done it again.

[BigbadB]

I wonder if they will let Riley Ridley suit up this week against his brother's team. Could maybe use another receiver to spell the other guys with these 9 TD's we are supposedly going to score against the Atl D.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I wonder if they will let Riley Ridley suit up this week against his brother's team. Could maybe use another receiver to spell the other guys with these 9 TD's we are supposedly going to score against the Atl D.

 

why? he cant seem to get on the field against any other team

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The Falcons aren't just any other team.

[minnesotacubsfan]

The Falcons aren't just any other team.

 

true, but why play down to your competition. play your best guys, so far it looks like Riley Ridley isn't one of them

[raw]

So, we have some interesting injury reports for these 2 teams this week. The Bears have a bunch of people on the injury report: Mack, Quinn, Robinson, Miller, Mooney and Kmet.....but all have practiced in full this week, except for Mack who has been limited, as he was last week. Additionally, a few guys had vet days off. So while the Bears injury report has a bunch of names, the only guy that's not gonna play this week is John Jenkins who is probably going on IR with torn ligaments in his thumb. The Bears signed 6-7, 350lb Daniel McCullers who will likely take his roster spot.

 

On the other side, the Falcons injury report has just as many names (if not more) but tons of important guys have not practiced yet this week with only tomorrow left on the practice schedule. The biggest name is Julio Jones who is nursing a hamstring injury. But also their RT, McGary is likely out this week. Neither of their starting DEs have practiced, and both backups have been limited though the backups (including 2nd round pick Marlon Davidson) are likely to play from what I hear. One of their starting safeties has also not practiced this week. Their nickel, LT and one of their starters at LB were all limited today after being out yesterday.

 

Another backup tackle against Mack/Quinn is happening. Julio, the safety and the 2 DEs are ones to watch if they practice tomorrow. A lot of fans are prematurely expecting 30+ points from the Bears offense against a terrible Atlanta defense, which doesn't seem like a wise bet with this offense. But if these guys are all missing, there's really no excuse for the team not to put up around the 27 points they did against the Lions.

[David]

fwiw, the other day, one of the beat guys (think it was fishbain but not positive) made it sound like the mack thing is nothing more than load management and saving his bullets for the games. he said he asked mack about it and mack said he was "learning to be a pro" or something like that.