UMFan83
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Everything posted by UMFan83
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Oof
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Cubs (Horton) vs Braves (Strider): 9/9/25, 6:15pm
UMFan83 replied to Brandon Glick's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
I wonder how or if these 2nd half slumps affect their offseason strategy. Seiya has 1 year left after this. If you can't feel confident that he's a middle of the order bat, you're going to need to find one. Especially if Tucker leaves which seems overwhelmingly likely. Busch is solid but unspectacular, PCA is young enough to improve but obviously his free swinging profile is always going to make it harder for him to succeed. Javy found a way but even at his best I don't think he could ever be the best hitter on a World Series team, he was a great number 2 though in 2018-2019. Overall 8 of the 9 starting hitters look locked in for next year, and the one that isn't locked in is your best overall hitter when healthy. It's gonna be tough to improve this offense unless one of the prospects steps up. Overall, I really don't feel great about the short term prospects of this team. The SP (Steele, Shota, Horton, Boyd) and defense will raise the floor of next year's team but I'm not sure how much we can raise the ceiling. -
Really good at making plays outside of the flow of the offense. It's not a surprise that Caleb seemed to excel most last year at 2 minute drills when he doesn't have to think and he is just going out there making plays, rolling out of the pocket, etc. The problem is, I'm not sure you can be a successful NFL QB if you struggle to throw with anticipation and play within the timing of an offense. Other elite QBs are also really good at making plays when things break down, but they are also able to get the ball out quickly after a 5 step drop. Maybe the issue is Caleb is still having trouble diagnosing defenses. That seems more fixable than being unable to identify receivers who are 'NFL open'. But either way he's simply taking too long to get the ball out right now.
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Yes because Poles would have picked a bust instead of Taylor otherwise. I mean Taylor might be a bust too but he's not an 'out of the league' bust yet.
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He did throw a couple of quick screens. I believe both were thrown poorly and ended up being losses. Yeah I've wondered for years why my teams don't throw more quick slants. Not sure why, but I trust that Ben Johnson knows what he's doing.
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Cubs (Imanaga) vs Braves (Elder): 9/8/25, 6:15pm
UMFan83 replied to Brandon Glick's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
Last 51 games: .231/.305/.384/.688, 3.9 runs per game All of those numbers would be bottom 5 in baseball over a full season. Obviously it's not a full season and they were very good in the first ~90 games but just to put the last 1/3 of the season in context. -
The one where DJ is waiving his arms for 2 seconds and the ball ends up out of bounds?
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Cubs (Imanaga) vs Braves (Elder): 9/8/25, 6:15pm
UMFan83 replied to Brandon Glick's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
8 games up with 18 to play. Very unlikely but with how this team is playing lately you never know. FG still has them at 99.6% -
You think so? Look at that first drive again, I saw Caleb holding the ball a long time and improvising when the protection broke down. It was no doubt successful but it didn’t feel like it was within the flow of the offense Ben Johnson wanted to run. I could be wrong but it’s something I noted at the time even though it was a TD drive
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sorry I don’t normally link to twitter but I didn’t see this angle of that 4th down botched throw. Just awful.
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Yeah I mentioned that. OK fine you sign Swift. Why are his complimentary backs guys like Roschon Johnson and Kyle M-whatever? He's never been a bellcow RB. He did his best in Philly in a 3 headed RB system and elite O-line. Just don't know why Poles had so much conviction that Swift was an above average 3 down back. Might as well have just spent for Jacobs or Henry if you're trying to get a guy you can confidently hand the ball to 200 times a year.
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I guess I just dont understand the rush to sign him when even with the Eagles he was not a 3 down back and it was maybe the deepest RB FA class in years with Jacobs, Barkley, Pollard, Henry, Aaron Jones, Ekeler among others available. I know the Bears were sniffing around Barkley so maybe there was more behind the scenes before they "settled" for Swift but seems strange to sign him so quickly and then not really give him a complimentary back to put him in the best position to succeed. Again far from the biggest issue and he did rip off a couple of solid runs in the second half, but you could see the game change when the Vikings started leaning on Mason and he kept having success, allowing JJ to settle in and make throws when needed.
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Swift was far from the biggest problem, but remind me again why Poles rushed to sign Swift 1 minute after FA opened a couple years ago?
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I cannot remember a new head coaching hire that was as highly regarded as Ben Johnson. No that doesn't mean he's a sure thing, but I consider him much more likely to succeed than someone like Brian Daboll.
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I had absolutely zero issues with that call. That aggressiveness is a big part of why he was successful with the Lions. And he called a play that had a guy open, the QB just missed him. I guess you could say that maybe you shouldn't go for it if your QB can't be trusted to make that throw, but if that's the case we have much much bigger issues than going for it on 4th and short in FG range.
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You must have dreamt it because we fired him in season last year lol
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Like what is it about the Bears? You come to the Bears and suddenly you're challenging to overturn a 1st and goal from the 1 yard line and end up "winning" the challenge with a turnover and touchback. Now this super smart dude comes in and can't execute basic head coaching functions in a 3 point loss. I get that it's his first ever game as a head coach, but I thought this guy was more HC ready than he showed tonight. Blah blah blah 1 game disclaimer
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it was not a good game but he was a lot better in the 2nd half (post pick 6). His first real game in 18 months, first NFL game, his pro bowl LT was out. He wasn't good but I'd be more encouraged coming out of this game as a Vikings fan with McCarthy than I would as a Bears fan with Caleb but I suppose that's not saying much.
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Agreed. There were several small things that happened that had an impact on the outcome. -Kicking off with 19 seconds left, no excuses to allow a FG there. Bears lost by 3 -Challenging that play...I don't know what the rule is with hitting the ball when a guy is down but not touched but he challenged it so quickly when chances were he touched the guy as he was punching the ball away. Bears could have given themselves 55 seconds at the end instead of 15. -Not doing everything possible to prevent a return. What is a touchback these days? 35 yard line? What's kicking it out of bounds? 40 yard line? Either way you're getting ****** field position if you stop them.
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Not to mention spent like 80% of their offseason resources giving him every offensive resource they could to make him successful. It’s one game but nothing looks different
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Back to the cellar where we belong.
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Wow great trickery Ben…
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9 seconds to go 50 yards and out of bounds for a FG. We got this
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It’s one game so prone to overreactions but Ben Johnson’s coaching seems just as big as any other reason we lost
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That timeout lost in the challenge that had no shot of being overturned is looming large. As is the 8 second FG drive at the end of the half…
