Week 1: Bears vs Vikings on MNF

[Brian707]

I know the offense sucked ass but what would the narrative be about Caleb and Ben especially if the defense didn't collapse in the 4th quarter?

Week 1 is always a clusterfuck all over the league, 

Edited September 10, 2025 by Brian707

[Soul]

11 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

Yeah I just… I understand being super deflated and disappointed but it was literally the first game of Johnson’s entire head coaching career and Williams’s first game in the system. 
 

I’m willing to give them like, 5-6 games minimum before I make any grand proclamations. The problem is every horsefeathers game they have is against a playoff team from last year. There are basically zero pushover games, which is insane for a 4th place schedule 

With a schedule like this, I'm ready to declare the "Xth place schedule" thing dead.  Maybe it's technically true but in practice it doesn't work that way.  For the Bears to have a tougher SOS than both the Packers and Vikings, including one more game against a playoff opponent (10 vs. 9) proves the point.

[gflore34]

10 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

Yeah I just… I understand being super deflated and disappointed but it was literally the first game of Johnson’s entire head coaching career and Williams’s first game in the system. 
 

I’m willing to give them like, 5-6 games minimum before I make any grand proclamations. The problem is every horsefeathers game they have is against a playoff team from last year. There are basically zero pushover games, which is insane for a 4th place schedule 

I wonder if it'll be longer than 6 games, maybe, 7 or 8, will Chicago and the media be able to handle waiting that long?  Probably not.

[BigbadB]

[We Got The Whole 9]

6 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

I know the offense sucked ass but what would the narrative be about Caleb and Ben especially if the defense didn't collapse in the 4th quarter?

Week 1 is always a clusterfuck all over the league, 

Caleb would have had about 160 yards and completed 40% of his throws since starting 10/10, bailed out by a pick 6. He'd still be getting ripped.

[Soul]

20 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Caleb would have had about 160 yards and completed 40% of his throws since starting 10/10, bailed out by a pick 6. He'd still be getting ripped.

The edge would be taken off a little, but I agree.

[Soul]

21 minutes ago, BigbadB said:

ChatGPT came up with a weird emoji for that YPA stat.

[PackLandVA]

35 minutes ago, Soul said:

With a schedule like this, I'm ready to declare the "Xth place schedule" thing dead.  Maybe it's technically true but in practice it doesn't work that way.  For the Bears to have a tougher SOS than both the Packers and Vikings, including one more game against a playoff opponent (10 vs. 9) proves the point.

Kind of a weird post.

The division teams all play essentially the same schedule. The only differences being three games.

The Bears play the "same place team" team (from the previous season standings) from the 2 NFC divisions the North doesn't play.  And then the one AFC team which also finished in 4th place.  So based on those 3 games only, the Bears play 3 games against last place/non-playoff teams.

So really, the Bears in that regard benefit from the fourth place schedule. Of course, those teams are based on last years results, and a fourth place team may have had an off year like the Niners (whom the Bears play).

The biggest reason the Bears strength of schedule is higher/harder than the Packers and Vikings is because the Bears SOS is based on the Vikings and Packers record from last year, So the Bears play a team with a 14-3 record twice while at the same time, those two games for the Vikings are against a 5-12 team Pretty significant disparity in factoring strength of schedules. 

Similarly, the Bears play two games against the playoff Vikings while those same two games for the Vikings are against a non-playoff Bears.

 

It's about as balanced of a schedule as you can get with a 17-game schedule.

[gflore34]

48 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Caleb would have had about 160 yards and completed 40% of his throws since starting 10/10, bailed out by a pick 6. He'd still be getting ripped.

Me too, probably not as vicious as it's been, after watching Jenkins' film review some of it is certainly warranted.  To my untrained eye it appeared the scheme is working, people are getting open, unfortunately, Caleb missed on nearly all of them.  They left a horsefeathers-ton of points on the field.

[Soul]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

Kind of a weird post.

The division teams all play essentially the same schedule. The only differences being three games.

The Bears play the "same place team" team (from the previous season standings) from the 2 NFC divisions the North doesn't play.  And then the one AFC team which also finished in 4th place.  So based on those 3 games only, the Bears play 3 games against last place/non-playoff teams.

So really, the Bears in that regard benefit from the fourth place schedule. Of course, those teams are based on last years results, and a fourth place team may have had an off year like the Niners (whom the Bears play).

The biggest reason the Bears strength of schedule is higher/harder than the Packers and Vikings is because the Bears SOS is based on the Vikings and Packers record from last year, So the Bears play a team with a 14-3 record twice while at the same time, those two games for the Vikings are against a 5-12 team Pretty significant disparity in factoring strength of schedules. 

Similarly, the Bears play two games against the playoff Vikings while those same two games for the Vikings are against a non-playoff Bears.

 

It's about as balanced of a schedule as you can get with a 17-game schedule.

When I hear "4th place schedule" I'm thinking 4th place related to all other divisions.  So, one division's 4th place team would play a similarly balanced schedule as the other 4th place teams.  Since that's not how it works (as you eloquently explained), it seems like the term itself is kind of weird.

[Brian707]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

Kind of a weird post.

The division teams all play essentially the same schedule. The only differences being three games.

The Bears play the "same place team" team (from the previous season standings) from the 2 NFC divisions the North doesn't play.  And then the one AFC team which also finished in 4th place.  So based on those 3 games only, the Bears play 3 games against last place/non-playoff teams.

So really, the Bears in that regard benefit from the fourth place schedule. Of course, those teams are based on last years results, and a fourth place team may have had an off year like the Niners (whom the Bears play).

The biggest reason the Bears strength of schedule is higher/harder than the Packers and Vikings is because the Bears SOS is based on the Vikings and Packers record from last year, So the Bears play a team with a 14-3 record twice while at the same time, those two games for the Vikings are against a 5-12 team Pretty significant disparity in factoring strength of schedules. 

Similarly, the Bears play two games against the playoff Vikings while those same two games for the Vikings are against a non-playoff Bears.

 

It's about as balanced of a schedule as you can get with a 17-game schedule.

I agree- the Lions,Packers, and Vikings get to play a 5-12 team twice. The Bears can't play themselves

[UMFan83]

[bukie]

It's nice that national NFL jump to conclusions week zeroes in on the Bears so well this year.

[jersey cubs fan]

2 hours ago, Soul said:

When I hear "4th place schedule" I'm thinking 4th place related to all other divisions.  So, one division's 4th place team would play a similarly balanced schedule as the other 4th place teams.  Since that's not how it works (as you eloquently explained), it seems like the term itself is kind of weird.

Seriously? Have you just started following the NFL? 

[Soul]

19 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Seriously? Have you just started following the NFL? 

Well, you know that's not true.  Also, I was right about Counsell and you were wrong.

[jersey cubs fan]

1 minute ago, Soul said:

Well, you know that's not true.  Also, I was right about Counsell and you were wrong.

What did we disagree on about Counsell? 

[Soul]

Just now, jersey cubs fan said:

What did we disagree on about Counsell? 

You don't remember the old ESPN boards?  This was a troll post.  I came in hot saying Counsell was a really good baseball player.  You posted a whole bunch of stats proving he was just a guy.  I wouldn't give up struggling to prove you wrong.

[minnesotacubsfan]

24 minutes ago, Soul said:

You don't remember the old ESPN boards?  This was a troll post.  I came in hot saying Counsell was a really good baseball player.  You posted a whole bunch of stats proving he was just a guy.  I wouldn't give up struggling to prove you wrong.

are you sure that wasn't just gooney and not his evil twin

[bukie]

 

[17 Seconds]

drew magary has become obsessed with caleb williams

[gflore34]

22 minutes ago, bukie said:

 

He did make the correct read, missed on the throws.  I saw on it Jenkins' film review, the skills are there, looking off DB's, processing, etc., film don't lie, just, for whatever reason, accuracy was way off.   I know the haters want to rip on Caleb focusing on all the bad, that's fine.  But there's also glimpses of really horsefeathers good, the challenge is increasing the good and decreasing the bad.

Edited September 11, 2025 by gflore34

[jersey cubs fan]

Moveon.org

[Wilson A2000]

Know your personnel and know the importance of only losing 5 yards versus losing a ton of time off the clock.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Yeah learn from it and adapt. Hopefully.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I like the to-the-point honesty