Week 16: Bears vs Packers Saturday 7:20pm on FOX

[minnesotacubsfan]

26 minutes ago, Soul said:

Most likely because they aren’t really 50/50.  If you have 1 on 1, and the receiver has a height advantage, the QB can expect better than 50% completion or draw a PI. The real advantage is created by getting the right 1:1 matchup.

UNLESS you have a healthy #1 in the blue and orange

 

then he only has 1/2 the field to look at

 

[PackLandVA]

3 hours ago, Soul said:

The biggest difference between Love's first and second half performance yesterday was the Broncos pressure.  They seemed to figure out a way to get more pressure, and Love was affected by it.

It would be nice if the Bears could figure that out, at least to some degree.  The Packers will likely try to get creative with the pass rush Saturday now that Parsons is out.  We'll see if Allen can dial up a few good stunts of his own.

The best O-lineman (Zach Tom) went out after 25 snaps. Kinnard played okay, but he's not even close to Tom's ability as Tom is one of the league's best. So this certainly played into it.

But, yes, the Broncos were able to generate pressure with 4 defenders.  This allowed the Broncos to play zone for 75% of the snaps. And the Packers struggled yesterday with zone in the second half. Watson going out certainly didn't help.

 

[PackLandVA]

2 hours ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

you stop it with a pass rush. Since the bears cant do that with 4 dl, expect lots of blitzing

Jordon Love is the highest rated QB in the NFL against the blitz.

The Broncos hardly blitzed but were able to get pressure with their front four in the second half.  Love struggled (yesterday) with zone D.

[Derwood]

I will be in the middle of the Caribbean Sea while this game happens. May have to belly up to a bar and ditch the family

[Soul]

16 minutes ago, Derwood said:

I will be in the middle of the Caribbean Sea while this game happens. May have to belly up to a bar and ditch the family

Yeah I watched the Packers loss from St. Kitts.  It’s a fun scene, random fans of whatever team huddling around the TVs.

[Thurman Merman]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

Jordon Love is the highest rated QB in the NFL against the blitz.

The Broncos hardly blitzed but were able to get pressure with their front four in the second half.  Love struggled (yesterday) with zone D.

I hope if the bears learned anything from the last game against gb, it's that blitzing gb doesn't work out all that well.

[Derwood]

What a difference a year makes:

[Old Style]

The OL has been such a breath of fresh air as the season has progressed but Caleb still takes too many sacks when he’s got wide open receivers he either doesn’t see or refuses to make throws for whatever reason. The positive is that he’s getting better and will continue to do so. 

[raw]

13 minutes ago, Old Style said:

The OL has been such a breath of fresh air as the season has progressed but Caleb still takes too many sacks when he’s got wide open receivers he either doesn’t see or refuses to make throws for whatever reason. The positive is that he’s getting better and will continue to do so. 

No he doesn't. He had 1, maybe 2 on Sunday that was from holding the ball too long. And he has only been sacked multiple times 4x since Week 2. 

I don't think many Bears fans realize how huge it is to NOT take sacks and also NOT throw INTs. Caleb is the cause of very few bad plays. He's always limited INTs in his career (fewest INTs thru 1000 throws in NFL history). If he's not taking negative plays on sacks, then there's no reason this 9th ranked scoring offense shouldn't be at it's lowest point in his and Ben's tenure together.

[raw]

14 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

While I absolutely want the Bears to start fast and don’t stop, the last 2 weeks the Packers have faltered at the end of the game. Bears were outplaying them when the game ended. Packers got lucky to hold on. Broncos took over late too. I think if the Bears keep it close at half the coaches will figure out how to win this one in the second half. For the first time in years, I have confidence in the coaches to have a game plan that works after half time. I also have confidence in the QB to score late. 

While I completely agree, that's a defensive issue. I'm not worried about the Bears being able to score on their defense. More about the Bears D being able to stop their offense. They can't rush the passer (without a rookie QB and 4 backup OL playing) and they can't afford to blitz Love or count on him giving them the ball. They are going to have to make good ol fashioned stops in this game, which has been hard to come by.

[Old Style]

2 hours ago, raw said:

No he doesn't. He had 1, maybe 2 on Sunday that was from holding the ball too long. And he has only been sacked multiple times 4x since Week 2. 

I don't think many Bears fans realize how huge it is to NOT take sacks and also NOT throw INTs. Caleb is the cause of very few bad plays. He's always limited INTs in his career (fewest INTs thru 1000 throws in NFL history). If he's not taking negative plays on sacks, then there's no reason this 9th ranked scoring offense shouldn't be at it's lowest point in his and Ben's tenure together.

He was sacked 3 times and by your own admission, two of those were (or arguably were) because he held the ball too long so how is that still not a problem? He’s in his 2nd year in the league and his first with a real offense/HC. It’s OK to say he still has issues to fix. 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Soul said:

Yeah I watched the Packers loss from St. Kitts.  It’s a fun scene, random fans of whatever team huddling around the TVs.

I love the Caribbean. I've been to Isla Roatán, Costa Maya, and Cozumel twice on cruises. I've always met the most interesting people on them. Some of them are rather smart and I was able to have great conversations with them. Others, not so much. But the reason why I went there was to speak Spanish, and the locals always appreciated it when I spoke in their language.

Derwood, are you going on a cruise? Where will you be? I know a lot of locals depending on where you are!

[Soul]

20 minutes ago, Old Style said:

He was sacked 3 times and by your own admission, two of those were (or arguably were) because he held the ball too long so how is that still not a problem? He’s in his 2nd year in the league and his first with a real offense/HC. It’s OK to say he still has issues to fix. 

The sacks have dramatically decreased from his first to second years.  It’s been an incredible improvement not just incremental.  Sure, improvement is always welcome but there has already been improvement.  I expect it to continue but it sounds like you are unhappy and I can’t understand why.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

17 minutes ago, Soul said:

The sacks have dramatically decreased from his first to second years.  It’s been an incredible improvement not just incremental.  Sure, improvement is always welcome but there has already been improvement.  I expect it to continue but it sounds like you are unhappy and I can’t understand why.

Aha, but by your own admission, he hasn’t completely eliminated all sacks from his game!
 

[Banedon]

1 hour ago, Old Style said:

He was sacked 3 times and by your own admission, two of those were (or arguably were) because he held the ball too long so how is that still not a problem? He’s in his 2nd year in the league and his first with a real offense/HC. It’s OK to say he still has issues to fix. 

Every quarterback takes sacks sometimes dude.  I mean, the guy on the other side of the line is gonna break the all time sacks record this year.  Maybe that had something to do with it.

[gflore34]

3 minutes ago, Banedon said:

Every quarterback takes sacks sometimes dude.  I mean, the guy on the other side of the line is gonna break the all time sacks record this year.  Maybe that had something to do with it.

Believe he may be getting at Caleb' taking too long to process or see the field, I do not believe that's the problem.  I think Caleb is always hunting the big chunk, always looking for 20+ plus on every throw, sometimes it does not materialize hence, the sacks.  He's having trouble with realizing it's time to take the check down because, it's against his nature.

[raw]

1 hour ago, Old Style said:

He was sacked 3 times and by your own admission, two of those were (or arguably were) because he held the ball too long so how is that still not a problem? He’s in his 2nd year in the league and his first with a real offense/HC. It’s OK to say he still has issues to fix. 

Because it's 2x in 31 drop backs? I said it wasn't a problem, I didn't say he had perfected the art of not holding onto the ball.

[raw]

2 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Believe he may be getting at Caleb' taking too long to process or see the field, I do not believe that's the problem.  I think Caleb is always hunting the big chunk, always looking for 20+ plus on every throw, sometimes it does not materialize hence, the sacks.  He's having trouble with realizing it's time to take the check down because, it's against his nature.

Again "having trouble" is relative. I wouldn't say 2 of 31 drop backs is having trouble. I'd say it's not perfection. Literally every QB holds onto the ball at times. And there's nothing excessive about the amount of times Caleb holds onto the ball. He's at a solid balance of playing in structure and making a superhero play. It can and will get better in structure. 

Also, I don't think there are as many checkdowns as a lot of offenses. I feel like Ben has kinda said "F the checkdown" and let Caleb just push the ball. If there are checkdowns, they are coming off of guys chipping or preparing to stay in a block for a blitz that never happens. There aren't really a lot of natural checkdowns in the play design. 

[BigSlick]

This is actually a very easy debate to settle: Caleb Williams 4.77% sack rate is 9th best in the league. He went from the worst QB in taking sacks to being in the top 10. He turned his biggest weakness last year into a strength. 
 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2025 by BigSlick

[gflore34]

Watching some of the film review, DJ was pretty damn good last Sunday.  Chipping on Miles Garrett, two TD's, sure didn't look like a player not giving maximum effort.

[Banedon]

Also, part of the reasons for Caleb's completion percentage issues is that he's throwing the ball away more often when there's nothing there.  But then he gets roasted for that too.  

[BigbadB]

2 hours ago, Old Style said:

He was sacked 3 times and by your own admission, two of those were (or arguably were) because he held the ball too long so how is that still not a problem? He’s in his 2nd year in the league and his first with a real offense/HC. It’s OK to say he still has issues to fix. 

This is your takeaway from that game? Did you actually watch the game?

[WrigleyField 22]

Rofl what a sequence of posts.  Classic nsbb type horsefeathers. We're so back baby. 

[Brian707]

1 hour ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Rofl what a sequence of posts.  Classic nsbb type horsefeathers. We're so back baby. 

It's almost Festivus

[Old Style]

8 hours ago, BigbadB said:

This is your takeaway from that game? Did you actually watch the game?

No, that wasn’t my takeaway from the game. I was responding to a post about how many sacks he’s taken this season compared to last. I’m not unhappy in the slightest about this season. Well, I’m pissed about losing to the Packers, but I’m having a blast. And I still don’t think my original post was that negative at all. People are reading too much into one slightly negative thing I said about Caleb thinking I hate him or something which couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

Edited December 17, 2025 by Old Style