The end is nigh, Cardinals @ Bears

[minnesotacubsfan]

Throw a TD Justin plz

[Rex Buckingham]

Just now, minnesotacubsfan said:

Throw a TD Justin plz

Nah, can't throw the ball here. Run the ball, kick the FG

[minnesotacubsfan]

1 minute ago, Rex Buckingham said:

Terrell Smith made back to back nice plays there

Terrell Smith is a Gopher fyi

[Tryptamine]

Not sure I agree with that throw, but it worked out.

[Cubs420psd]

2 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

Terrell Smith made back to back nice plays there

Pretty solid 5th round pick.

 

Early returns on the 2023 draft are promising.

[Rex Buckingham]

2 minutes ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

Terrell Smith is a Gopher fyi

Seems like a good depth DB at minimum

[Tryptamine]

So even if we ignore, what was a pretty bad INT by Fields, I think he was merely solid to good. Against a team as bad as Arizona, that's kind of disappointing.

 

I suppose I should figure in that Moore was pretty much a decoy today and Kmet missed 2 and a half quarters. Even so, it just kind of felt OK. 

Edited December 25, 2023 by Tryptamine

[jersey cubs fan]

12 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

So even if we ignore, what was a pretty bad INT by Fields, I think he was merely solid to good. Against a team as bad as Arizona, that's kind of disappointing.

 

I suppose I should figure in that Moore was pretty much a decoy today and Kmet missed 2 and a half quarters. Even so, it just kind of felt OK. 

They had a chance to bury a bad team and they didn’t because Fields is incapable. He is capable of pulling off a surprise win and carrying a team here and there. He’s much better than his most vocal critics claim, but he’s not good. They need to get a good qb. 

[Hairyducked Idiot]

By Fields standards, it was a good game. The Arizona defense is butt and they gave him tons of the super-wide-open throws he loves to look for.

This is who we are now: Good enough to beat the worst teams.

[Soul]

Fields will make some amazing plays and some terrible plays.  He will play some good games and some bad ones.

if you choose to focus on the positive then you will lean towards promising/good. If you choose to focus on the bad ones, then you will lean towards flawed/bad.

it seems to me that the reality is, he’s mediocre.

[Wilson A2000]

44 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

They had a chance to bury a bad team and they didn’t because Fields is incapable. He is capable of pulling off a surprise win and carrying a team here and there. He’s much better than his most vocal critics claim, but he’s not good. They need to get a good qb. 

He doesn’t make anyone around him better

[minnesotacubsfan]

23 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

He doesn’t make anyone around him better

He’s made DJ Moore better in 3/4 of a season

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I wouldn't mind finishing ahead of the Packers

 

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

He’s made DJ Moore better in 3/4 of a season

He’s had similar numbers in Carolina. I think DJ Moore had made Fields better more than Fields has made Moore better. 

[UMFan83]

How do we feel about the defensive performance today? It seems like the defense lately has looked completely dominant for stretches of games, like a top 5 defense in the league but they continue to let teams back into games. 

[jersey cubs fan]

11 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

How do we feel about the defensive performance today? It seems like the defense lately has looked completely dominant for stretches of games, like a top 5 defense in the league but they continue to let teams back into games. 

It’s mid.

 

you can’t win with defense unless you have 11 studs and this team don’t have 11 studs 

[UMFan83]

With that Patriots win, I'm pretty sure that a Panthers loss in either of their 2 remaining games will virtually clinch the number 1 pick for the Bears.  Arizona is pretty far behind Carolina in SOS, so while I havent run the math it seems pretty unlikely.

I mean what an amazing insane stroke of luck.  I'm not used to the Bears having this kind of luck (yes yes I know they will screw it up)

[Irrelevant Dude]

3 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

With that Patriots win, I'm pretty sure that a Panthers loss in either of their 2 remaining games will virtually clinch the number 1 pick for the Bears.  Arizona is pretty far behind Carolina in SOS, so while I havent run the math it seems pretty unlikely.

I'm fairly certain there is no possible scenario where Carolina catches Arizona in SOS.  According to the tankathon site, Carolina is currently at .522 and Arizona is at .564.  I know SOS can shift quite a bit from week to week, but that is simply too big a gap with only 2 weeks remaining.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Irrelevant Dude

[PosterToBeNamedLater]

27 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

How do we feel about the defensive performance today? It seems like the defense lately has looked completely dominant for stretches of games, like a top 5 defense in the league but they continue to let teams back into games. 

When we were looking into hiring Eberflus, I seem to remember reading that even though his Indy defense finished top 10 or whatever it was, they were dead last in 4th quarter defense.  I don't know if that is due to playing a soft zone in the 4th trying to burn clock, just randomness, or something to do with his style of defense in general (I wasn't a fan of the Eberflus hire partly bc of the cover-2).  Maybe the farther a team gets into the game, they get more used to how to attack the zone? 

[BigbadB]

8 hours ago, username said:

Did they review the clock or something and put time back on?  Redzone cut away after the refs said it was game over after the clock ran out before they could spike it.  

They debated whether to put time back on the clock, but I'm sure one of the officials correctly explained that the snap actually occured before time ran out, but the spike itself did not, thus there was no time to put back on the clock. 

[BigbadB]

Another less than 200 yard passing game. I'm sorry, but teams have 2nd and 3rd string QB's that can walk into the huddle after their starter goes on IR and put up 300+. Mullens shredded the Lions D. Yeah, he threw 4 INT's as well.  I'm not advocating for any of them, I'm just saying that there is no reason that a Bears QB can't be putting up 300 yard games consistently unless there is something wrong with them.

I'm ready for a quick release pocket passer with a strong arm and the confidence to make throws. I think Williams is that guy, and with that New England victory tonight, that reality is coming closer to being possible. Poles did his haul for picks last year. I would be shocked if he did it again. And I think the only way he does it again is if he likes one of the other QB's. 

Apparently, Poles was hinting that he wasn't happy with coaching in an interview he did before the game. Nothing too blatant or damaging towards relationships or anything, but I sense new coaches and a new QB. 

[NorthsideAvenger]

. 

Edited December 25, 2023 by NorthsideAvenger

[BigSlick]

9 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Another less than 200 yard passing game. I'm sorry, but teams have 2nd and 3rd string QB's that can walk into the huddle after their starter goes on IR and put up 300+. Mullens shredded the Lions D. Yeah, he threw 4 INT's as well.  I'm not advocating for any of them, I'm just saying that there is no reason that a Bears QB can't be putting up 300 yard games consistently unless there is something wrong with them.

I'm ready for a quick release pocket passer with a strong arm and the confidence to make throws. I think Williams is that guy, and with that New England victory tonight, that reality is coming closer to being possible. Poles did his haul for picks last year. I would be shocked if he did it again. And I think the only way he does it again is if he likes one of the other QB's. 

Apparently, Poles was hinting that he wasn't happy with coaching in an interview he did before the game. Nothing too blatant or damaging towards relationships or anything, but I sense new coaches and a new QB. 

Fields's passer rating (and yes, passer rating is a junk stat) is now lower than his last years. His QBR (which factors in running and sacks) is 15 points lower than last season. Now - going by the eye test, I think he's playing significantly better than he did last season. But it's simply not good enough, for me, to sign him long term and pass on a top prospect at QB. 

Anecdotally, he also seems helpless when neither Kmet and Moore are on the field. Now, he's got a bunch of schlubs to throw to beyond them, but the vast majority of starting quality QBs can at least do something with schlub WRs. Fields hasn't shown that. 

It sucks because he's a good guy and he's still improving, but the circumstances are what they are. You got the 1st overall, you got a guy you have to make a decision on in the next few months. It's tragic, and there is of course the possibility it blows up in your face. There's no option where that isn't a possibility. 

[Brian707]

Almost certain now Bears are on the clock with the #1 pick. Poles has to draft his QB.  Maybe this game vs Atlanta will be an audition for Fields. I hope he has a great game in front of the Falcons 

[raw]

15 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

They had a chance to bury a bad team and they didn’t because Fields is incapable. He is capable of pulling off a surprise win and carrying a team here and there. He’s much better than his most vocal critics claim, but he’s not good. They need to get a good qb. 

While this is all very true, I will give him a pass on some stuff from yesterday. He lost Kmet and was playing with a 1/2 speed DJ Moore. And I think that was a big reason for the passing game falling apart.