raw

We'd be scraping Fields' corpse off the field if he was still here. But yeah, it's a nice change and it's even changed from Week 2 down in Houston. Of course, Houston not only had unblocked blitzers, they also had unblocked guys on the front 4, so I'm good with some excuses there, especially considering Caleb's 2nd game and all

Wow, this happened! And they actually still left points on the board. Clipping call took away 4 points. A botched 4th and short again and a DJ Moore drop late took away at least 3 points as well. A missed PAT, a missed 2pt conversion. The Bears were legitimately close to putting up a 50 burger. This is the way you beat teams like the Panthers. Edit: I guess the run game didn't have the efficiency. But to be fair, they had 6 plays where they needed and tried to get 2 yards or less. And typically, if you only try to get 1-2 yards, you will only get 1 or 2 yards at most (and obviously can only get 1-2 at the 1-2 yard line). If you take out those plays 6 carries for 3 yards and the 3 kneeldowns from Bagent, That takes them to 29 carries for 129, over 4 ypc, though that does include Caleb's yards.

If there was ever a game for the offense to have a breakout performance........it would have been the Colts game. Oh or the Rams game. Or this week vs Carolina. And if that doesn't work out, the offense is certainly due to break out in London vs Jacksonville, or coming off a bye vs Washington, or vs Arizona, or certainly against the Patriots. Obviously, this offense is a work in progress with a rookie QB learning his weapons. An offensive line learning how to block guys that either rush straight through them (Jones) or don't rush straight (everyone else). And an offensive coordinator learning his ass from a hole in the ground. But this is an unprecedented run of 7 straight games against bottom 10 defenses in EPA per pass play. Most are also bad against the run as well. In some ways, the Bears are getting close to looking like a legit offensive team. The Bears went from a 0 offensive TD game that they won, to score 1 TD and having a chance late despite 2 INTs, to a 395 total yard outburst....while only scoring 16 points, to a season's best 24 points all on offense.....while only gaining 265 total yards. But last week's 265 did feature a strong 4.7 yards per carry and a turnover free checkdown fest of efficient offense. Maybe it's something to build on going forward. Or maybe it's just another game in a choppy rookie season for a mediocrely coached team. The Panthers defense does nothing well. They have given up the 4th most rushing yards per game, the 5th most passing yards per game, and a whopping 32.3 points per game, easily the league's worst. They only have 4 turnovers in 4 games. They have 5 sacks in 4 games, with 3 of them coming with a loss of 3 yards or less. So, their 1 sack per game isn't even necessarily a drive killer. On offense, the Panthers are actually, low key, pretty tough. While their overall numbers aren't very good, it's worth noting that the change from Bryce Young to Andy Dalton has made a world of difference. They went from 120 yards passing, 175 total yards and 6.5 points per game to 270 passing, 400+ total and 30 points per game with the QB change. And certainly if the Bears allow them to play with the Dalton level offense, they will have a tough time winning this game. The Panthers spent a TON of money on the interior of their OL, and it's worked wonders. After Young got sacked 6 times in the first 2 games, they've only allowed 2 since, including 0 last week (though the Bengals have the worst pass rush I've ever seen). They are also running the ball pretty well with their top RB, Chuba Hubbard averaging a whopping 5.4 yards per carry, despite starting the season with a 6 carry, 14 yard Week 1 performance. The Bears have gotten a lot of good stuff from their interior DL of Dexter and Billings, but their work will be cut out for them this week facing like $200M worth of interior linemen. The DEs will have to squeeze inside on the run game and most importantly, the LBs will need to step up and make plays. This is obviously a game the Bears SHOULD win. They are at home, they are facing an inferior team. Said team is not as desperate as they would have been had they not gotten that Week 3 win. If the Bears can combine the opportunistic defense of Week 1, with the efficiency and run game of Week 4, and the big pass play explosion of Week 3....we can finally see the full potential of this team. But most likely, we will be frustrated by the first half and the halftime adjustments allow the Bears to squeak out a much closer game than this should be.

Yeah, he has a back injury that has been nagging him since camp started. There were concerns that it was becoming too much this week and there were plans discussed (Amegadjie at RT or Pryor at RT, Davis at RG) if he had to miss this past Sunday. He's definitely frustrated more with the playcalling than the QB. There isn't a ton of Caleb missing him on routes (he was open for a TD on the play Rome got held with no call in the end zone), but his route tree has been really lacking. They are using him like they should use a guy like Velus. A lot of screens and short stuff to let him make a play after the catch, when he's really good before the catch as well. Week 1 was heavily focused on Keenan as the 1st read. Week 2 was just a bloodbath from the OL. Weeks 3 and 4 was even more of the short stuff. I think after Getsy, DJ is just sick of terrible playcalling....hence the offensive captains meeting with Waldron last week.

The Bears will be favorites in 3 of those 5 games, I'm assuming. Maybe if they lay an egg vs Carolina and the Jags get a W vs the Colts that may change, but they also maybe get a boost by coming off their bye before going to Washington for Caleb's homecoming. Of course, Washington has a pseudo bye vs Carolina the week before.

LETS GOOOOOOOO!

This one wasn't in question. C said after the game the guard tapped him to snap it and it was too early.

The C snapped it before he was supposed to

I think this is actually a favorable matchup for the Bears. The Rams are another bad defensive team, but are traveling to Chicago for a 10am start their time instead of being home in a must win (for playoff hopes couldn't start 0-3) against a division rival last week. The Rams have been bad at stopping the run. Worse at stopping the pass. Of course, the Bears couldn't take advantage of the worst run D last week, but I do think you'll see a bit more success this week. The Bears should also be able to throw the ball against this team. The Rams do put decent pressure on the QB, with Jared Verse and Braden Fiske the top 2 rookies in pressures and Byron Young can also get after it. But they have combined for just 4 sacks at a team, so they are either getting pressure late in the snap or not finishing. Obviously, the Bears have made lesser defensive fronts look like stars in recent years, but the Rams are very young upfront, which can be manipulated by good pocket movement and keeping them off balance with enough run production. The Rams DBs aren't much to speak of. They have allowed a 100 yard WR every week so far, which include career games for all of Jameson Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr and Juwan Jennings. They have done a decent job holding down Amon-Ra and Aiyuk, but haven't been very tough on TEs either. With Keenan Allen likely back this week, I expect Caleb to have a plethora of weapons available at his disposal with 4 guys that should be able to win consistently, if given enough time to throw. Stafford is one of those good, pocket QBs that the Bears have typically struggled against under Flus. Stafford won't necessarily give the ball away like Levis or Richardson, but I have to think down his top 2 WRs and going against a really good Bears DB group will be enough to at least not let sit back there and pick the defense apart. The Rams OL also has quite a few injuries, so I'd like to think the Bears can generate some pressure with the front 4. LA's OL injuries have also led to a pretty slow start in the run game. Kyren Williams, last year's breakout RB, is down 2 whole yards per carry from last year's 5.0. They've had a tough time getting push up front and he's not quite the magician that Jonathan Taylor is at finding creases and breaking big runs. I'm not expecting a big breakout party for the Bears offense or anything, but I do think they have enough to beat a battered roster, at home, that's not particular good at anything, traveling 2 timezones for an early kickoff, that doesn't have the desperation that they had to win last week.

The scheme actually had Kmet AND Marcedes Lewis on that DE. Lewis was there and just pushed Latu to the outside which left Kmet alone, while also helping propel Latu to turn the corner and beat him for the sack.

Found this funny.......Only QBs with no INTs are: Josh Allen- early MVP favorite for 3-0 Bills Then there's: Jayden Daniels- a rookie not known for his accuracy who also leads the league in completion % Joe Burrow- of the 0-3 Bengals, who look mostly terrible as a team and his arm looks weak Jacoby Brissett- who is last in the league in passing yards per game for QBs who have started 3 games.

He threw a pick on Sunday. Tried to drill it in a tight window like 7 yards away and it bounced in the air and was picked by a defensive tackle, I believe. He has also fumbled 2 snaps, I don't think they lost either. IIRC, 1 was his fault, 1 wasn't

Yeah, when people were saying "oh he's just like Fields" when there was a debate on what the Bears should do with #1, I remember saying on Twitter, if they are the exact same QB at reading defenses and lack of anticipation (they aren't), that Caleb would be an improvement simply because his quicker release allows the ball to get there that 1/2 second sooner.

It was a joke. The OL has been fine blocking guys straight up (except for Darnell Wright vs the Texans), they just can't handle games or stunts up front. Coincidentally, the Colts didn't run any stunts that I remember?

It was a joke

Daniels was pressured 4 times all game. Caleb gets pressured 4x per pass

Hard to say he "left points on the table" when his OC called 4 run plays inside the 5. That's not Caleb leaving points on. Granted, there were other drives. He threw an INT that blew a potential FG. The step forward is really nice. That being said, its' called a learning "curve" because it goes up and down. He will lay other eggs. He will probably throw for a game or two again with over 270 and without the turnovers. This is what should have been expected from Caleb. The issue is you also expect the run game to average 2 yards per carry. You expect the defense to be able to stop the run when they need to. You expect an OL with 4 of 5 returning starters to not all regress to a man.

You know, they can still go 10-7 right? Last year's team got much better down the stretch. There's no reason a better roster can't get better with the excuse of learning a new offense and a new OC learning new personnel. Not that I necessarily think the Bears WILL go 10-7, but this league has been a mess this year. 30 of the 32 teams have won a game so far, with the other 2 having a chance to win tonight. Saints destroyed the Cowboys, as the best offense in the league, get shutdown by Philly who gave up a 6 point lead in 50 seconds last Monday. The Patriots went from looking very competent to like the worst team in the league. The Cardinals went from blowing a 17-3 lead, to a 30 point win, to a 13 point outing at home vs Detroit The Panthers went from looking like the worst team in the league, to a juggernaut offense w/ Andy Dalton Tampa looked like a playoff team and lost by 3 scores to previously 0-2 Denver Texans got destroyed by Vikings. Ravens destroyed Dallas after being 0-2.

Well we kinda got option 2, a week late. Didn't get the points. Got the INTs and a crucial fumble, but got a assload of yards and a couple big drives to keep the team alive with 0 run game.

If you are confident at all, this is correct. Not that they can't and shouldn't win. Just that they haven't shown they actually will with any confidence yet.

Good point regarding the run game. I was looking at it more like the Bears have historically been able to run the ball, and 4 of 5 OL are the same as last year. And that the Colts have struggled so much to stop the run, which their losses are direct results of. Didn't watch much, but I'm sure they sold out against the run with Malik Willis playing QB last week, which obviously didn't work. So, I get what you're saying and that probably makes more sense.

This game kind of scares me. Obviously, the Bears defense can probably keep them in a game with anyone at this point. They are just clicking on most cylinders, especially in the 2nd halves of games. The offense's lack of execution also keeps the Bears defense needing to keep them in every game. The Colts look like a team you should be able to run against. They have been run against at will for 2 weeks, including against a team that had no QB last week. But are the Bears capable of taking advantage? If Waldron is still calling slow developing runs and Swift is still dancing in the backfield trying to wait for a sliver to get to the edge of the defense, then the run game still isn't going to be any good. And you'll run into the same issues you had vs Houston. If there was ever a game for Herbert and Roschon to get a bunch of carries, it's this one. On the Colts' side, I would expect them to sell out vs the run, overcorrecting their struggles of the past 2 weeks. When the Bears do pass out of it, they haven't shown that A) they can block any extra pressure of games upfront and B) that Caleb is accurate enough to beat them down the field for a big play. A big factor to me is also the desperation factor. The Colts were a 9-8 team last year that was in playoff contention until a win-and-in game in Week 18. They fancy themselves a contender, I'm sure. If they go 0-3, all contention is out the window. They are home, they are desperate, and they are certainly capable. Tough for me to pick this team because IDK who either of these QBs are yet. Levis was Levis and won the Bears the game, as I expected. Stroud was Stroud and didn't allow the Bears defense to steal the game, as I expected. Richardson hasn't been erratic as Levis, with of course, the exception being last week vs. Green Bay and the 49th best QB in the league. But he hasn't shown he can sustain drives and make key, accurate throws like Stroud. If Waldron doesn't commit to the downhill running game, this may be the best test so far for Caleb to go out and win a game with his arm, against a team that is very beatable with his arm. I do expect better from the offense this week. I'd love to win because of the offense, but I won't believe it til I see it. The Bears very well may still win this game either way, but if there was ever a time..........

Gerald Everett looks like the worst player on this offense. And that's back to preseason when they tried to force feed him the ball. He used to be an after the catch demon. He's been tackled by the first guy every time he actually makes a play to catch the ball.

I feel like Caleb's biggest issue right now is he doesn't know when to throw what velocity. I feel like he throws some too hard, and some he puts too much air under. There were a few times he was able to beat the blitz (miss to Carter on corner route, deep one to DJ that was slightly out of bounds but I think DJ should catch, I think the one Rome dropped in the endzone was also vs the blitz). I think if he hits a couple of those, Houston backs off a little bit. But the key here is staying out of obvious passing situations. The blueprint for any QB (not just a rookie), that isn't an absolute assassin (Mahomes, Rodgers) is to send pressure when you know a pass is coming. The sacks? Sack 1- 3rd and 9, from edge of FG range Sack 2- 3rd and 9 Sack 3- was a 0 yard scramble w/ nobody open Sack 4- 3rd and 1, but at edge of FG range Sack 5- 3rd and 7 Sack 6- 1st and 10, but with 4:00 left down 6, it was the last of 9 straight drop backs Sack 7- 1:07 left in the game, 0 timeouts Caleb also had 3 scrambles where he was rushed out of the pocket almost instantly those came on: 3rd and 14, 3rd and 9, 3rd and 18

Any concern that Rome Odunze looks pretty terrible? I know he was not 100% last night, but he was last week and still was terrible. Just looks like he wasn't paying attention in camp at all