Week 9 - Bears (4-3) @ Cardinals (4-4), 3:05 p.m. Sunday 11/3

[Brian707]

Cardinals are favored by a point.

 

Will the Bears put the Washington disaster behind them or is this the beginning of the end for Flus?

[jersey cubs fan]

I’ve never considered Flus to be a coach that will help you win playoff games. He’s a placeholder for whoever is going to ultimately get the most out of Williams. 
 

People think of Andy Reid as a guy with a reputation of not being able to win in the playoffs before Mahomes fell into his lap, but in reality he was a part of multiple playoff victories as an assistant in GB and won 7 playoff games in first 6 years with Eagles. 
 

Eberflus has been a part of 2 playoff wins in his career as an assistant. He probably won’t get an opportunity to win one this year. If he finishes with more than 7 wins he probably keeps his job but I think you’re handcuffing the team going forward with him leading the staff. 
 

If he stays he needs an extension, and it won’t be one year. That extension will take you through the vast majority of Williams rookie contract and to the point where the bulk of the defensive players will have to be replaced. It’s not ideal for Williams to have so much early turnover, but it’s better than frittering away his youngest seasons before finding the right guy. 
 

But can Poles identify the right guy? 

[CubinNY]

3 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

I’ve never considered Flus to be a coach that will help you win playoff games. He’s a placeholder for whoever is going to ultimately get the most out of Williams. 
 

People think of Andy Reid as a guy with a reputation of not being able to win in the playoffs before Mahomes fell into his lap, but in reality he was a part of multiple playoff victories as an assistant in GB and won 7 playoff games in first 6 years with Eagles. 
 

Eberflus has been a part of 2 playoff wins in his career as an assistant. He probably won’t get an opportunity to win one this year. If he finishes with more than 7 wins he probably keeps his job but I think you’re handcuffing the team going forward with him leading the staff. 
 

If he stays he needs an extension, and it won’t be one year. That extension will take you through the vast majority of Williams rookie contract and to the point where the bulk of the defensive players will have to be replaced. It’s not ideal for Williams to have so much early turnover, but it’s better than frittering away his youngest seasons before finding the right guy. 
 

But can Poles identify the right guy? 

You look at the schedule, and 7-10 is likely the best outcome. The offense played so poorly against Washington for most of the game. By now they should have identified what they do well and what they don't. 

[UMFan83]

5 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

You look at the schedule, and 7-10 is likely the best outcome. The offense played so poorly against Washington for most of the game. By now they should have identified what they do well and what they don't. 

I think they're better than 7-10 but not much better.  I am not sure if you would call the defensive performance poor...maybe you're right.  They gave up 430ish yards before the hail mary, and while you can say "bend but don't break" the fact is they got a bit fortunate in not allowing a TD until the final play...believe Ertz had a questionable catch/no catch call in the end zone, there was another catch in the end zone with the WR only getting 1 foot in, and another easy TD called back due to a penalty that I don't think affected the play (could be wrong).  It was actually the most yards Washington has gained in a game this year, but the least number of points they have scored.  Very strange.

Anyways getting off topic.  They'll win 1-2 of the games in the gauntlet and hopefully win the next 2 but I'm not confidently predicting a win in any game coached by Eberflus.  But I see 8-9 or 9-8 being our destiny.

[jersey cubs fan]

11 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

You look at the schedule, and 7-10 is likely the best outcome. The offense played so poorly against Washington for most of the game. By now they should have identified what they do well and what they don't. 

7-10 may be most likely, but it’s not likely the best outcome. AZ, NE, SEA @home are all winnable games. 1-5 in the division is very doable and they should be able to win 2. 9 wins is probably the best outcome at this point. 10 wins if Williams catches fire. 

[BigSlick]

Wait you think 7-10 is MOST likely? 3-7 down the stretch? 

[jersey cubs fan]

9 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

Wait you think 7-10 is MOST likely? 3-7 down the stretch? 

I’m assuming that’s the way the betting lines are looking. They are dogs in az, should be favored against NE and maybe SEA. Might not be favored in any divisional game depending on how the teams are playing and health at the time. But I would guess they have a chance of being favored in one of the home games. Of all the outcomes I think 7-10 may be most likely. Maybe 35/40%?  Just guessing 

[raw]

So far the formula for the Bears is: Feast on bad defensive coordinators. Bend but don't break against good offenses. Really need turnovers in their favor to beat teams without far inferior talent on the field.

That formula would means wins vs Arizona (bad defense), NE (bad defense, turn the ball over), and Seattle (mediocre D, turns ball over).

Other games:

SF with their injuries kinda levels out that talent matchup a bit, assuming the Bears get healthy by then. But they are a great D and don't give you the ball.

GB gives you a chance 2x, because Love will give you the ball. But it's Green Bay

Min, I still don't know what they are. Good defense/great DC, but they've allowed 29+ three of the last 4 games. Darnold is probably good for 1 turnover if you get pressure on him. Injured LT

Detroit looks like a juggernaut, so I don't even think the Bears can fall back on last year's performance against them. 

Obviously, things can change between now and when they actually play. And flukes apparently happen as well. But I'd go into AZ, NE, SEA expecting wins. I'd go into both DET games expecting losses. I'm expecting a loss at SF. That puts them at 7-6. I think they can get 1 from both GB and MIN, which puts them at 9-8. 

But every team either has a better record than them or are within 1/2 game record wise, except NE. They could also spiral and lose a bunch of these games.

[BigSlick]

If they're 6-3 after the next I would be shocked if they went 1-7 down the stretch. I mean, its possible, but even if the rest of the NFC North are the juggernauts they're supposed to be (and I dont think they are), I don't think we go down that bad. But Eberflus would surely be fired if that does happen. 

Of course I'm far from taking it for granted they're 6-3 after the next two weeks. 

[jumbo]

7 hours ago, CubinNY said:

You look at the schedule, and 7-10 is likely the best outcome. The offense played so poorly against Washington for most of the game. By now they should have identified what they do well and what they don't. 

I think your take is reasonable, but my concern from FA through the draft and now to the present is that their OL sucks. There is no cure for ****** OL, especially when they start getting injured. I'm glad that Borom and Bates are coming back, but their return along with losses of Braxton and maybe Jenkins have us treading water. Braxton was never really good enough, so downgrading/staying equal with Borom is just OK, same with Bates in place of Jenkins (to be clear I don't know that he's missing time, but until we know he's back I'm concerned). Murray was looking decent but he's gone now. 

There's just, no optimistic take going forward from this group....

[WrigleyField 22]

Feels empty from this staff.

 

[BigbadB]

25 minutes ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Feels empty from this staff.

 

That's right. Punish the entire team for some stupidity from the previous week. How stupid. There is no punishment worse than the shellacking Stevenson is taking on social media. And let some more fans boo him from the stands when he takes the field. If benching Stevenson for even one series and the Bears end up losing that game, I'll be ready to move on with an interim coach. 

At some point, I'm sure I thought benching a guy for stupidity was a good idea. But, having time to reflect, it would not be in the best interest of the team to put a better player on the bench.

The biggest problem I have with disciplinary action on Stevenson is Eberflus deserves the same disciplinary action for his NON actions in letting Washington come back and win that game at the end. 

[WrigleyField 22]

It's something Belicheck would do but I have little doubt he'd actually beleive it and stick to it. Or frankly, much smaller things would have kept him benched long before that.

 

Feels like it's guaranteed to be performative from this staff.  Like nearly the entire secondary does stuff where YEA I'm not surprised something like that happened evemtually.  But they are the best talent in the team.  So is it important or not?

[minnesotacubsfan]

what are Gordon and Briskers statuses? If they are both back, Tyrique can sit

[minnesotacubsfan]

23 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

 

But can Poles identify the right guy? 

boy I hope so, if not he's missing the obvious. It would be wildly odd to draft as well as he has and miss this:

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10141428-nfl-rumors-lions-ben-johnson-believed-to-have-eyed-bears-hc-job-after-2023-season

[BigSlick]

I really hope the coaching staff isn't just responding to media rancor about needing to punish Stevenson and getting caught in a whirlwind of emotion. If they determine that Stevenson needs to be sat down for some period of time to teach a lesson, great, do it. But don't do it because they feel the pressure to make an example of someone. 

I just hope the team is prepared, ready, and focused for Arizona, who have shown are not the pushover they were last year. This is a serious team, probably one roughly on the same level of the Bears (and the betting line bears that out). A huge gut check game, more so than last week. 

The thing I would most like to see is that offense go out, in a hostile environment, and look competent and capable on the first series of the game. No more inexplicable dysfunction for a series, a quarter, or a half. 

[mul21]

Apparently Waldron just doubled down on handing off to Kramer in that situation and said he'd do it again.  I just can't fathom the stupidity of this administration.

Edited October 31, 2024 by mul21

[NorthsideAvenger]

Brisker is still not practicing? I believe the Bears needs to draft his replacement.

[gflore34]

41 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Brisker is still not practicing? I believe the Bears needs to draft his replacement.

I agree, it's unfortunate, on his way to becoming a good player.

[Wilson A2000]

4 hours ago, BigbadB said:

That's right. Punish the entire team for some stupidity from the previous week. How stupid. There is no punishment worse than the shellacking Stevenson is taking on social media. And let some more fans boo him from the stands when he takes the field. If benching Stevenson for even one series and the Bears end up losing that game, I'll be ready to move on with an interim coach. 

At some point, I'm sure I thought benching a guy for stupidity was a good idea. But, having time to reflect, it would not be in the best interest of the team to put a better player on the bench.

The biggest problem I have with disciplinary action on Stevenson is Eberflus deserves the same disciplinary action for his NON actions in letting Washington come back and win that game at the end. 

I could be wrong, but I get the impression that vets and captains want Tyrique to be benched for a game. There has been a lot of talk about accountability and the only thing that can really make a player take notice is losing money or playing time. Tyrique has gotten chewed out for being lazy during last year’s training camp and has had multiple dumb personal fouls this year and then last Sunday’s episode. He’s clearly talented, but obviously the consequences he has experienced so far haven’t deterred him.

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, mul21 said:

Apparently Waldron just doubled down on handing off to Kramer in that situation and said he'd do it again.  I just can't fathom the stupidity of this administration.

Now why we know Eberflus hired him since they think alike. These Bears coaches won’t ever admit error even though the players themselves think the call was stupid. Are they worried about hurting Kramer’s feelings? 

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, mul21 said:

Apparently Waldron just doubled down on handing off to Kramer in that situation and said he'd do it again.  I just can't fathom the stupidity of this administration.

I doubt Waldron' cleaver and manipulative enough to be putting this out there simply to mess with defensive coordinators, advance scouting, etc.

[UMFan83]

It turns out the Bears would have been a much better choice for the in season version of Hard Knocks instead of the training camp version.  Camp was so drama free, but anything but once the season started.

[Sosa21MVP]

On 10/31/2024 at 9:48 AM, WrigleyField 22 said:

Feels empty from this staff.

 

Can we also get Eberflus and Waldron to bench themselves for a game?

[jumbo]

On 10/31/2024 at 12:03 PM, BigSlick said:

I really hope the coaching staff isn't just responding to media rancor about needing to punish Stevenson and getting caught in a whirlwind of emotion. If they determine that Stevenson needs to be sat down for some period of time to teach a lesson, great, do it. But don't do it because they feel the pressure to make an example of someone. 

I just hope the team is prepared, ready, and focused for Arizona, who have shown are not the pushover they were last year. This is a serious team, probably one roughly on the same level of the Bears (and the betting line bears that out). A huge gut check game, more so than last week. 

The thing I would most like to see is that offense go out, in a hostile environment, and look competent and capable on the first series of the game. No more inexplicable dysfunction for a series, a quarter, or a half. 

I would love to hear Eberflus say something like:

"Tyrique let his teammates down, and that's the worst thing you can do as a player in this league. This wasn't a situation where he was engaged and tried his best and the other team's player beat him. He has to prove to his teammates and the coaching staff that he is serious about football and focused on helping this team win."

I might add something like, "he will also find out that this kind of thing can follow you around into free agency and cost you some real money"