Week 15 Bears vs. Vikings, MNF

[UMFan83]

One thing about Fields - he seems to struggle early on most games and then improves as the game goes on. Not every week but we've seen it in several games now. Not sure if he needs time to get into a rhythm or he succeeds because the conservative Nagy game plan breaks down when the Bears start trailing, but its interesting to see him figure it out as the game goes on.

[champaignchris]

Nagy declined to kick field goals - 32 and 27 yards - on two consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, giving it up on downs.

 

Kick those field goals and then a 2-point conversion at the end ties the game.

 

The defense was playing great and the Vikings were doing nothing on offense. Take the freaking points!

[jersey cubs fan]

yeah, i heard that, and while the specific criticisms about the sacks/ball security are valid, thought it was a strange take.

 

did he miss all those drops?

He was pretty bad in the 1st half. Loved some of the stuff he did but there was plenty to criticize.

[minnesotacubsfan]

One thing I learned: Graham should start the remainder of the year.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Anthony/status/1473288086767509506?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[jersey cubs fan]

Nagy declined to kick field goals - 32 and 27 yards - on two consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, giving it up on downs.

 

Kick those field goals and then a 2-point conversion at the end ties the game.

 

The defense was playing great and the Vikings were doing nothing on offense. Take the freaking points!

They needed touchdowns.

[David]

Nagy declined to kick field goals - 32 and 27 yards - on two consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, giving it up on downs.

 

Kick those field goals and then a 2-point conversion at the end ties the game.

 

The defense was playing great and the Vikings were doing nothing on offense. Take the freaking points!

no

[UMFan83]

Every week I talk myself into the possibility of Nagy getting fired even though I know our conservative prideful (ironically) franchise won't do it because that's not what they did in the 30's. Every week I'm a bit disappointed because things keep getting worse with Nagy and its clear he's not going anywhere. It's basically sabotage in multiple ways to let him finish the season. Such a dumb franchise.

 

Anyways, due to Nagy meeting with reporters right now its clear he's here to stay (for 3 weeks).

[raw]

One thing about Fields - he seems to struggle early on most games and then improves as the game goes on. Not every week but we've seen it in several games now. Not sure if he needs time to get into a rhythm or he succeeds because the conservative Nagy game plan breaks down when the Bears start trailing, but its interesting to see him figure it out as the game goes on.

 

Seems to be all about the gameplan to me. Super conservative early in games. Consistently try to establish Montgomery early to predictability. And like has been mentioned, there seems like there'll be a big 3rd down conversion on a 10+ yard pass and then they go into wildcat. It takes until the Bears are inevitably down until they actually start trying to score points. Then they're just not good enough at it for it to matter.

[gflore34]

So, what does McCaskey need to right? I believe he needs to get one thing correct - President of Football Operations or whatever the position is called. Hire a football guy to do the football work, if McCaskey can get this right everything GM, HC, etc. should flow from that point.

[UMFan83]

One thing I learned: Graham should start the remainder of the year.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Anthony/status/1473288086767509506?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

 

I agree that at this point its stupid to get angry about Graham not playing until now because this staff will be gone, but it still frustrates me because I was so high on him coming out of the draft and couldn't understand why he wasn't playing. You can say its just one game, but it wasn't like he played decent or good, he had a legit terrific game. Jaylen and Graham as the CBs of the next 4-5 years sounds appealing.

[raw]

Nagy declined to kick field goals - 32 and 27 yards - on two consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, giving it up on downs.

 

Kick those field goals and then a 2-point conversion at the end ties the game.

 

The defense was playing great and the Vikings were doing nothing on offense. Take the freaking points!

 

What? You don't kick FGs down 17-3 in the 4th quarter. 17-3, you need 2 scores. 17-6, you need 2 scores. You have to play to minimize the number of times you need to score when the time is not on your side.

[UMFan83]

So, what does McCaskey need to right? I believe he needs to get one thing correct - President of Football Operations or whatever the position is called. Hire a football guy to do the football work, if McCaskey can get this right everything GM, HC, etc. should flow from that point.

 

Even more critical because a President of Football Operations is probably going to have more rope than the subsequent GM and coach that are hired. You are giving this person at least 5-7 years to figure things out.

[raw]

 

I agree that at this point its stupid to get angry about Graham not playing until now because this staff will be gone, but it still frustrates me because I was so high on him coming out of the draft and couldn't understand why he wasn't playing. You can say its just one game, but it wasn't like he played decent or good, he had a legit terrific game. Jaylen and Graham as the CBs of the next 4-5 years sounds appealing.

 

To be fair, he was pretty lackluster in preseason and training camp (from what I hear). But I don't know what Xavier Crawford showed and I know he doesn't have the pedigree of Graham Jr., so who knows the logic involved in that decision. Also of note that he played outside CB all night. Many people had him pegged in a slot role. So nice to see him handle himself well on the outside with a bunch of snaps against Jefferson. Bears played him outside all camp, so technically they kept Artie Burns over him, which I guess is more understandable w/ him being a former 1st rounder with a bunch of experience....but not like he had experience being good, and coming off a torn ACL.

[gflore34]

One thing I learned: Graham should start the remainder of the year.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Anthony/status/1473288086767509506?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

 

I agree that at this point its stupid to get angry about Graham not playing until now because this staff will be gone, but it still frustrates me because I was so high on him coming out of the draft and couldn't understand why he wasn't playing. You can say its just one game, but it wasn't like he played decent or good, he had a legit terrific game. Jaylen and Graham as the CBs of the next 4-5 years sounds appealing.

 

When you consider guys like Crawford, who did not appear to know that those guys lined up wide are receivers and it might be a good idea to try and cover them, played in his place, its even more frustrating. In addition to all his of short comings Nagy also has Dusty Baker qualities in that he prefers to play veterans regardless of how much they suck. He'll always defer to them, I'm convinced he wanted to go with Dalton all along and was ordered to start Fields.

[minnesotacubsfan]

One thing I learned: Graham should start the remainder of the year.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Anthony/status/1473288086767509506?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

 

I agree that at this point its stupid to get angry about Graham not playing until now because this staff will be gone, but it still frustrates me because I was so high on him coming out of the draft and couldn't understand why he wasn't playing. You can say its just one game, but it wasn't like he played decent or good, he had a legit terrific game. Jaylen and Graham as the CBs of the next 4-5 years sounds appealing.

 

 

but who made that decision? Doesn't Desai have any input? And if it was Nagy, it makes you wonder how much unrealized potential gets sidelined for the Jimmy G's, the Nick Foles, Gipsons on the roster, veteran guys brought in to fill holes who end up holding back the organization

[raw]

So, what does McCaskey need to right? I believe he needs to get one thing correct - President of Football Operations or whatever the position is called. Hire a football guy to do the football work, if McCaskey can get this right everything GM, HC, etc. should flow from that point.

 

Even more critical because a President of Football Operations is probably going to have more rope than the subsequent GM and coach that are hired. You are giving this person at least 5-7 years to figure things out.

 

Yeah, I don't necessarily care about the President role all that much. I'm not one to bitch about Ted Phillips. Getting the coach right is honestly my biggest concern. The right coach will maximize Justin Fields. If Fields is the stud we know he can be, the GM is going to look good and in turn, the president will look good.

[Bertz]

One thing about Fields - he seems to struggle early on most games and then improves as the game goes on. Not every week but we've seen it in several games now. Not sure if he needs time to get into a rhythm or he succeeds because the conservative Nagy game plan breaks down when the Bears start trailing, but its interesting to see him figure it out as the game goes on.

 

Yeah I think this has happened in damn near every game. The glass half full interpretation is that he's seeing so much stuff for the first time, and adjusting pretty quickly. The glass half empty is that this team is so bad that generally in the second half they're losing convincingly and the defenses get softer.

[WrigleyField 22]

So, what does McCaskey need to right? I believe he needs to get one thing correct - President of Football Operations or whatever the position is called. Hire a football guy to do the football work, if McCaskey can get this right everything GM, HC, etc. should flow from that point.

 

Even more critical because a President of Football Operations is probably going to have more rope than the subsequent GM and coach that are hired. You are giving this person at least 5-7 years to figure things out.

I mean most GMs get 5-7 years. There doesn't need to be a separate role called Pres that's different than the GM for that.

 

But if whoever comes in needs 5 to 7 years they probably suck. Fields alone should make any job much easier. This isn't the tear down Pace embarked on.

 

I generally don't think they need a separate guy as "Pres" over GM. Like most often people are talking about

1. A personnel type guy, so really just the same role you already expect from GM

2. Just like a clout type hire. Someone with no NFL FO experience or even semi related experience, but clout.

 

If its a new business person to replace/supplement Phillips that makes sense. And they don't necessarily need a football background IMO. That person doesn't need a football specialist to just go out and hire a Uber talented GM or HC to lead football Ops.

 

I mean every "Pres" role on a current NFL Tema has either solely or mostly a business background. Really there's only one who is arguably more football than business and that's Elways and its kind of a weird situation there. But even he has some business background from his post playing days, although most seem to think his role is semi-retirment advisory like anyways. No other team seems to complicate it so much. I know, McCaskeys and all are special, but...

 

Maybe the closest setup is actually Cleveland where Depodesta is "Chief Strategy Officer" and appears to have no direct business responsibility. He did play college football (Harvard), but probably isn't considered by most a football guy since he was an MLB personnel guy for 20 years. They're also investing heavily into many areas of their org like analytics that he seems to oversee and it also seems clear he probably doesn't compete with the GM role, although he hired both GM and HC.

 

TLDR: titles don't need to be so complex. They definitely need someone other than Phillips to support their HC or GM of they're a first time hire in that role. If one/both of those is an experienced hire, I don't even think they necessarily need that. For the right candidate just hand them the keys to the football empire and let them hire out and delegate appropriately.

[champaignchris]

Nagy declined to kick field goals - 32 and 27 yards - on two consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, giving it up on downs.

 

Kick those field goals and then a 2-point conversion at the end ties the game.

 

The defense was playing great and the Vikings were doing nothing on offense. Take the freaking points!

 

What? You don't kick FGs down 17-3 in the 4th quarter. 17-3, you need 2 scores. 17-6, you need 2 scores. You have to play to minimize the number of times you need to score when the time is not on your side.

 

Cutting the deficit to 11 with 8:40 to go and assuming you get the ball twice more when your defense is shutting the other team down and your offense is moving the ball isn’t the absurd choice you’re making it out to be.

[WrigleyField 22]

Nagy declined to kick field goals - 32 and 27 yards - on two consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, giving it up on downs.

 

Kick those field goals and then a 2-point conversion at the end ties the game.

 

The defense was playing great and the Vikings were doing nothing on offense. Take the freaking points!

 

What? You don't kick FGs down 17-3 in the 4th quarter. 17-3, you need 2 scores. 17-6, you need 2 scores. You have to play to minimize the number of times you need to score when the time is not on your side.

 

Cutting the deficit to 11 with 8:40 to go and assuming you get the ball twice more when your defense is shutting the other team down and your offense is moving the ball isn’t the absurd choice you’re making it out to be.

Even with that factored in, you're pretty close to the endzone. You need at least one TD and you're in a position to get it. 9 yards out. That's a great spot to get the one or two TDs you need.

[David]

https://twitter.com/JustinIsMyQB/status/1473298642370842624?s=20

[UMFan83]

 

What? You don't kick FGs down 17-3 in the 4th quarter. 17-3, you need 2 scores. 17-6, you need 2 scores. You have to play to minimize the number of times you need to score when the time is not on your side.

 

Cutting the deficit to 11 with 8:40 to go and assuming you get the ball twice more when your defense is shutting the other team down and your offense is moving the ball isn’t the absurd choice you’re making it out to be.

Even with that factored in, you're pretty close to the endzone. You need at least one TD and you're in a position to get it. 9 yards out. That's a great spot to get the one or two TDs you need.

 

Especially for a team that, while moving the ball well in the game, is allergic to scoring TDs. You have to try to score a TD whenever you get that close in that situation IMO

[David]

[gflore34]

 

As I understand a big part of the Packers scheme is getting Adams open via picks does anyone know if picks are big part of the Chiefs and Rams schemes as well? Whereas our wonderful Bears do a lot of curl routes this and Robinson, when he has played, being terrible, may account for a lack of open WR's.

[Bertz]

 

Realistically, what do we need to add for next year to feel like we're putting Justin in a real position to succeed? Something like this?

 

- 2 starting caliber WRs

- 1 starting caliber TE

- A starting caliber Center

- A starting caliber guard (ideally just extend James Daniels)

- A tackle (these last few weeks to determine how good he needs to be)

 

With the cap space open this offseason, that's probably actually doable? You're left bargain hunting on defense, but I'd be happy to finally have a team that can win games 34-27.