Week 1 - Packers @ Bears - Soldier Field - September 10th 3:25PM

[gflore34]

To all those GB fans huffing and puffing that was a false positive yesterday, played a clearly unprepared terrible football team yesterday.  There may a dose of reality when they play in real NFL game against a real NFL team.

[raw]

2 minutes ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

Looking where you're supposed to look and not getting rid of it *is* the processing problem.

He's clearly studied the playbook thoroughly, understands pre-snap reads and what his progressions are.

What he has always struggled with is that whatever part of his brain is supposed to trigger and say "that's it, that's what we're looking for, throw it" doesn't trigger consistently unless the receiver has extremely visible separation, which won't always be there in the NFL.

People have argued before that he couldn't go thru progressions. Or if he could, he couldn't go thru them fast enough. I agree with you that he's always had trouble with pulling the trigger with anticipation. So, I wasn't thinking of that as "processing" necessarily, but yeah it's part of it.

But he has seemed to be able to anticipate on vertical routes or "moving" routes. Like the slant to DJ, the fade TD to Mooney. 

[raw]

55 minutes ago, BigbadB said:

Yes. Olsen was 100% correct. Fans pay hundreds of dollars to see professional athletes try their best to win every game and until the clock says 0:00, you play your heart out. Who cares if the odds of winning is less than 1%, there is a lot that can be accomplished with time left on the clock. Hurry up offense is something that needs to be practiced, and during an actual live game is the best time to work on hurry up offensive drills, if not for that game but for future close games. Time management is extremely important to understand and execute. 

I was mad as hell when they were huddling up late in the game. I knew the game was over, but it showed a lack of care that they were losing to huddle up and waste time on the clock. They looked bad the entire game, but looked even worse when waving the white flag against a division rival with a lot of time still on the clock. 

Eh. I couldn't care less about any of this. The only reason to go fast late in the game when it was over, was if you felt Fields was more comfortable going faster. 

They can't use the excuse that 2-minute offense needs to be practiced, when they had a change to practice things in the preseason and refused to for competitive advantage or whatever. They had a chance to in the 1st half but played scared (granted, they were also backed up in their own end). 

[Soul]

37 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

To all those GB fans huffing and puffing that was a false positive yesterday, played a clearly unprepared terrible football team yesterday.  There may a dose of reality when they play in real NFL game against a real NFL team.

It may be different or maybe not.  For Packer fans the answer should still be they don't really know what they have.  A better team could be on the other side of the ball and they have the capacity to handle it.  Or they just collapse.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Love if/when there aren't the clean pockets he had yesterday.  But who knows, he does have some mobility to work with.

[Outshined_One]

This is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day.  We have an athletically gifted young QB whose weaknesses are primarily mental who has now gone through two comically inept offensive coaching staffs that have been unable to come up with a game plan designed to emphasize their strengths while also being unable to make improvements to those weaknesses.

I get the feeling Fields is going to get run out of this town on a rail and the cycle is going to start again next year or in 2025.  Hopefully he ends up somewhere that can actually unlock his potential, because it sure isn't looking like it will happen here.

[minnesotacubsfan]

9 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

This is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day.  We have an athletically gifted young QB whose weaknesses are primarily mental who has now gone through two comically inept offensive coaching staffs that have been unable to come up with a game plan designed to emphasize their strengths while also being unable to make improvements to those weaknesses.

I get the feeling Fields is going to get run out of this town on a rail and the cycle is going to start again next year or in 2025.  Hopefully he ends up somewhere that can actually unlock his potential, because it sure isn't looking like it will happen here.

the Bears would have ruined Patrick Mahomes, lets not kid ourselves. They are a crap organization with crap leadership

[gflore34]

10 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

This is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day.  We have an athletically gifted young QB whose weaknesses are primarily mental who has now gone through two comically inept offensive coaching staffs that have been unable to come up with a game plan designed to emphasize their strengths while also being unable to make improvements to those weaknesses.

I get the feeling Fields is going to get run out of this town on a rail and the cycle is going to start again next year or in 2025.  Hopefully he ends up somewhere that can actually unlock his potential, because it sure isn't looking like it will happen here.

By no means am I defending the coaching staff, however, with Fields it's also a possibility there isn't a coaching staff anywhere who could unlock his potential.  Perhaps, the best is try to put him in a position to succeed.  What that is I, and it certainly appears this coaching, don't know.

[UMFan83]

1 hour ago, raw said:

And I don't think Fields' problem is reading the defense, per se. It's all about anticipation to me. There were some plays there if he would just grip it and rip it. Maybe that is part of processing, not seeing it quick enough, but he's looking right at WRs right as they gain leverage and are clearly about to be open for a long enough window to throw cleanly into. He seems to be too worried about what will happen if the WR isn't ready.

This is what is pointed out constantly whenever I see a video with an analyst breaking down Fields games. Always situations where Fields has to rip it as a WR is coming free but he either waits too long and throws it when the window is closed or waits too long and never throws it and ends up being sacked, scrambles or dumps off. 
 

fields has never been considered a good anticipation throw QB and that was why everyone said Nagy was a bad fit for him. 

[gflore34]

4 minutes ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

the Bears would have ruined Patrick Mahomes, lets not kid ourselves. They are a crap organization with crap leadership

I was wondering that the other day, had they drafted Mahomes or, for that matter, Watson, would either have turned out any good?  Once again, going back to our only hope is new ownership, because these clowns are never going to get it correct.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I think there's probably some cultural component to the bears' problems.  McCaskeys interview executives and want to hear about tough, traditional Bears football. Those executives hire GMs and coaches.  We place too much value on the run game, on toughest, etc.

But we didn't ruin fields.  We took a QB who fell hard in the draft because some scouts saw a fatal flaw and hoped we could fix or overcome the flaw.

[gflore34]

The one thing I won't fault Poles on is drafting Wright, sure Carter had a good game, but, in time, Wright will turn out to be just as good an NFL player.

Edited September 11, 2023 by gflore34

[raw]

1 minute ago, gflore34 said:

The one thing I won't fault Poles on is drafting Wright, sure Carter had a good game, but, in time, Wright will turn out to be just a good an NFL player.

Agreed. But that's the thing that happens when you "punt" a whole season. I get the justification for NOT drafting Carter. You don't have the lockeroom/system in place for that guy to thrive without the pressure of being the best player on the defense.

But nobody forced them to be in that position. Poles had every chance to put his team in position where they A) weren't desperate for a RT because he didn't address the position for 2 FA cycles or B) had defensive leadership and talent to make Carter a possibility.

On a side note, I've seen people all offseason talking about how the Bears DTs are set with the 2 rookies because they will get better. But neither of them projects to be the dominant 3T, like Carter, that this defense needs. Even if Wright, Jones, and healthy Jenkins get it together this year and the back 7 on D step up, DT is still a big enough need to take a guy in the 1st round. Plus, they lose Billings and Jones (maybe already lost Jones, did anyone see him yesterday?) this offseason.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

11 minutes ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

I think there's probably some cultural component to the bears' problems.  McCaskeys interview executives and want to hear about tough, traditional Bears football. Those executives hire GMs and coaches.  We place too much value on the run game, on toughest, etc.

But we didn't ruin fields.  We took a QB who fell hard in the draft because some scouts saw a fatal flaw and hoped we could fix or overcome the flaw.

I’m afraid the pick-6 early in the fourth quarter is emblematic of why the coaching staff doesn’t let Fields throw down the field.  They’re trying to win and save their jobs, not make it easier for the fans to look forward to the 2024 draft.

[gflore34]

1 minute ago, Have a seat, Neifi said:

I’m afraid the pick-6 early in the fourth quarter is emblematic of why the coaching staff doesn’t let Fields throw down the field.  They’re trying to win and save their jobs, not make it easier for the fans to look forward to the 2024 draft.

That doesn't make sense, their only shot at winning is all out aggression, a constant stream run, run, screens is not going to work - ever.  I'd rather take shots with Fields, who the horsefeathers cares if throws interceptions, than this mainly three yards and a cloud of dust nonsense.

[raw]

Just now, Have a seat, Neifi said:

I’m afraid the pick-6 early in the fourth quarter is emblematic of why the coaching staff doesn’t let Fields throw down the field.  They’re trying to win and save their jobs, not make it easier for the fans to look forward to the 2024 draft.

Nah. They let him throw down the field last year.....when they let him throw at all. But they were ultimately justified not letting him throw too much because there was nobody to protect him or catch the ball from him. 

I'm really not all that upset about the INT. Granted, he did every bad thing a QB can do (stare down a WR, throw late over the middle of the field, not see underneath coverage in zone), but he tends to only do those things in garbage time. Six of his 11 INTs last year were when they were down by a TD or more in the last 4 minutes of a game. That wasn't last 4 minutes, but obviously the game was over before that throw.

[jumbo]

13 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

If I’m a highly prized QB and the Bears are in the position to take me I’d tell my agent to send out signals that I won’t play for Chicago. Irrational or not it’s a QB graveyard. Doesn’t matter the FO or coaching staff you’ll be a bust if you end up in Chicago. Actually if im a highly prized QB and the Bears are zeroing in on me, I might start to doubt my own worth as a QB. 

I keep thinking about the comments about Fields not looking excited enough after being drafted by the Bears. I mean, all the top QB's surely had an understanding of each team in the league and I can't imagine any of them really wanted to go to Nagy and the Bears.  

[Rex Buckingham]

If it all falls apart this year and the plan is to take a QB with either top pick that we have, Poles and Eberflus need to go.  We don't need another, "well, maybe this guy needs to draft his own QB" because they could have done that this year and chose to roll with Fields.  If he sucks, it's an indictment of their evaluation/coaching skills and they both need to go.

[Old Style]

The most depressing thing is that I cannot think of one positive to come from yesterday's game. 

[raw]

5 minutes ago, Old Style said:

The most depressing thing is that I cannot think of one positive to come from yesterday's game. 

Roschon Johnson runs hard. The CBs were mostly OK. 

[gflore34]

3 minutes ago, Old Style said:

The most depressing thing is that I cannot think of one positive to come from yesterday's game. 

Uh-mm,  the weather?  Although unrelated, the Cubs finally managed to handle the crap Arizona put on the mound?

[CubinNY]

5 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

If it all falls apart this year and the plan is to take a QB with either top pick that we have, Poles and Eberflus need to go.  We don't need another, "well, maybe this guy needs to draft his own QB" because they could have done that this year and chose to roll with Fields.  If he sucks, it's an indictment of their evaluation/coaching skills and they both need to go.

I agree, but that's not how the Bears will operate. I refuse to believe that someone within the NFL couldn't have taken what Fields had when he was drafted and built on it. I have a real hard time believing that he never would have developed or at least he would look like the same player he is today. 

If you take the same 53 players and put them with a good quality staff, they are not going to look like they did yesterday. The talent disparity in the NFL isn't that wide. 

[UMFan83]

18 minutes ago, Have a seat, Neifi said:

I’m afraid the pick-6 early in the fourth quarter is emblematic of why the coaching staff doesn’t let Fields throw down the field.  They’re trying to win and save their jobs, not make it easier for the fans to look forward to the 2024 draft.

I think the only coach (or important coach) that may be trying to save his job is Getsy.  Eberflus is a defensive coach, was hired by the current FO regime, and its his 2nd year.  If Fields craps his pants on the field, ultimately Getsy or someone on his staff will be the scapegoat.  Eberflus can survive a QB he inherited not working out as long as his defense and overall team are not a disaster (whoops).  Poles will survive a QB he inherited not working out.  If Eberflus wants Fields throwing more downfield to see if he sinks or swims, he'll make sure Getsy falls in line.

[UMFan83]

11 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

If it all falls apart this year and the plan is to take a QB with either top pick that we have, Poles and Eberflus need to go.  We don't need another, "well, maybe this guy needs to draft his own QB" because they could have done that this year and chose to roll with Fields.  If he sucks, it's an indictment of their evaluation/coaching skills and they both need to go.

I do agree that by not taking a QB they absorb some of the responsibility of Fields that they didn't have before, but I also think Poles specifically set things up so that the commitment they made is for this year only.  I don't think they evaluated him and said 'yep he's our guy', they said 'Not a fan of these QBs in this class and next year looks awesome so Fields is our guy....for now'

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If I were an NFL coach trying to save my job and reputation here, I would give Fields maybe 1-2 more games to show he can play like a normal QB, and when that inevitably fails, pivot into the full "run-first QB" offense and hope to get half a season out of that before defenses catch up and/or he gets hurt.

[UMFan83]