Bears defense had a tremendous first half....until Matt Nagy called timeout. It all went kinda downhill after that. But a fading defense as the game goes on has been a theme this season and that can't make you feel good. I hate the cute stuff sometimes but the Hicks TD made me smile and Cohen's touchdown pass was great. The OBJ touchdown pass was awful. What was Roquan doing? What was Prince doing? Just bad fundamental football there. What was Roquan doing was a theme yesterday....the rook didn't have a good game. Mack actually played well...got held a ton too. Got tackled hard once with no call. Bears need a better pass rusher opposite him because Floyd can't beat a single blocker. Even Floyd's sack was weak. I won't bag on Daniel much. He's a lifetime backup with barely any playing time for good reason. He's a glorified QB coach in a uniform. It isn't his fault the Bears paid him the amount of money he is making. He isn't supposed to be playing. That being said....fuck, he sucks. If you played a drinking game for every time he panicked yesterday then you would have been dead from alcohol poisoning. At half time Jordan Howard had 13 carries for 68 yards. 5.2 yards per carry. He had 3 carries for 8 yards the rest of the game. Great play calling Nagy. I love me some Tarik Cohen. But the running backwards and running prematurely out of bounds in infuriating. Cohen killed a few drives by shortening his run and going out of bounds when he could have kept going. We know it isn't because he's afraid to get hit. So why? Allen Robinson has made some sick catches this season. He needs more throws his way. Mizzell sucks. He's useless. Stop calling his number. He doesn't deserve to take carries away from Howard. Awful coaching job yesterday. Team came out flat...the game was lost on the first drive. Adjustments at half time we nonexistent and they got beat by a lesser team. Nagy keeps calling Mitch day to day. Today at his presser he refused to commit to Mitch playing next week. When you've already missed two games....you aren't day to day fuckhead. That's all I got.
Can we get a center that can be an actual NFL caliber center and not an MLB caliber closer trying to strike out the QB? Those were some of the worst snaps ever compiled for a single game. I get it, it was wet but damn WTF! They were all over the place location wise as well as rotation wise.
Our 4th down defense has been awful all season and yesterday the Giants got 10 points off 4th down conversions. The TD to Beckham was beyond embarrassing. Leave the best player on the field uncovered. Pressure on Eli was not enough. I do not think Mack had a good game. It wasn't a bad game, but he should have had several more hurries/hits than he did, even with the blatant holds. Mizzell should not be active unless no one else can dress. He's like a crappier version of Jeremy Langford. If we lose to the Rams I'm going to be pissed. That said I not only expect we lose but that it will be by 10+ points. Our D has piled up stats against bad offenses but really hasn't been as dominant as everyone makes them out. Rams are going to score 30+ points and won't need any pick 6s or special teams help. Did Trey Burton dress? Seriously he was invisible. Not sure how much of that was Chase not looking his way, but Trey has had 2 awful games in a row.
Having bitched at the start of the season about Whitehair playing C instead of the guy they drafted #39 overall, Whitehair's performance is ripe for me to bring this up again. But tbh, having watched Daniels start the last half dozen games its clear he still has a lot to work on at the pro level. Some guys are more ready than others out the gate and some develop faster than others, but i feel i have a better understanding now of why they were holding Daniels back that first half of the season. The right side is missing Long in a big big way. The cutback was on for a lot of the day cos the Giants often did a bad job of backside contain/pursuit. But the point is a lot of those runs weren't going where they were designed to go and thats cos they were getting mauled at the POA, particularly on the right. That may also have been why Nagy repeatedly tried to get Daniels over there on a pull block but his pulling needs a LOT of work. Massie isn't nearly good enough to help a young sub standard G next to him. Massie himself needs to go. What the hell is that Guard's name anyway? Is it Witzmann? Im gonna call him Switzer. He had a bad game, way beyond the usual missed play or two a game. I've been trying to figure this kid out. He seems to me to be playing the run way better than the pass at this point. With the game in front of him he looks fantastic at times. Great instincts. Multiple times its looked like he's been responsible for two gaps and he reads the play and hits the right gap seemingly every time. Much more physical than i was expecting coming out of college too. But in pass coverage he's been really up and down. He's got good range, its not his speed. I think maybe he diagnoses things slow sometimes. Maybe thats good cos its not a physical deficiency its something he can learn. But then i think of a guy like Bostic, who if he'd had a brain and could've learned where to go he would've been dangerous. Is Smith developing enough?
I wont harp too much on this week. We talked before the game about how it could be a trap game, and I didn't think it was a must win, but some of the lazy stuff was downright frustrating to watch. They were just good enough to lose. Running back. Mizzel's gotta stop getting the ball. I understand you're "seeing what you have," but what you have is garbage, and I have to wonder. You brought in Chancardrick West, the scheme guy from KC (now back with KC after Hunt's release). You were in love with that Oregon State kid Ryan Nall, so if now's the time for "give Tarik and Howard a rest while confusing the defense," lose Mizzel and promote Nall from PS to the 53 man and see what you have there. Oh, and find someone else for kick returns. BWW didn't say it, so I will again to continue to beat a dead horse. Stop running backwards, fucktards. Cohen turning a negative into +16 is an outlier, not something we should be frequently expecting. I'm in a touch of unknown territory with Nagy. Hated the field goal he just handed the Giants, which some argue let them back in the game. Defense cant be let off the hook on several lazy drives and, you know--leaving a top 3 WR in the game wide open in the end zone. Back to Nagy, his presser yesterday, also discussed on AM670, is that he doesn't believe in running the ball traditionally. His forward thinking offense isn't predicated upon that when statistically, running the ball hinders what he's trying to do. And his modern scheme is meant to stretch out a defense and make them defend the entire field, not just let them stack the box, and with Long being gone--seeing Jordan Howard being hit 2 yards in the backfield before he can even get going doesn't help. This is still foreign territory for me, as my entire bears life, running the ball has been essential. It just seems like a chore for Nagy. And that's fine, when his misdirection and scheming confuses the shit out of defenses, particularly the antiquated 4-3, which the bears saw a lot yesterday. And that's a shame. TE and WR and RB should have feasted on their linebackers. But, to my next point. Chase Daniel forgot how to protect the ball. And I'm guessing he skipped the scouting report on 6'4, hyper athletic Alec Ogletree. That will do it. I know he "knows the system," but his salary and Dion Simms' together can get you a pretty good player or two. Like Bobby Massie's replacement. Mitch was seen throwing on the sidelines before the game, and had 20 throws and evidently felt no discomfort. Which leads to me believing he was being rested for the Rams this upcoming week was the plan all along. Allen Robinson was a bright spot. I get Cody Whitehair is the leader/signal caller, but.....dude's a liability snapping the ball. For those who think he shouldn't be the center, this game gives their argument credence. On the bright side, Packers blew a lead and lost, Vikings lost. So divisional speaking, bears are fine. Like I mentioned, don't believe they're playing for a bye in the playoffs, so be smart with your guys. Need the saints or rams to choke hard to get a bye week, and though NO got pantsed by Dallas, can't see either doing that. Rams is an important game. Won't call it a must win, but the bears need to take at least 2 of the next 4. Vikes have it semi easy with Seattle, Miami, Lions, bears as their last 4. Bears get Rams, Pack, 49ers, vikes. Don't make last week of the season for the division. Put the Vikes away now.
I often say that there is never one single factor that is the sole cause for a teams loss. In this game, I also felt there were several factors that contributed to the loss. But unlike other games, in this game, Nagy deserves the blame for all 4. The first was not only the fact that he didn't start Trubisky, he actually deactivated him. In the pre-game, one analyst described Trubisky as a "healthy scratch". To be honest, I don't think anyone other than the medical staff, Trubisky, and the coaches know for sure if he could have played. But by all reported accuonts and the fact that he was throwing in practice, it seems he could have at least suited up. The second coaching blunder is how the team came out to start the game. I really felt they came out with a chip on their shoulder acting like they had already won the game and were insultd tha they had to play it. They took the Giants for granted and assumed they were going to roll over. There was no intensity. No sense of urgency. No focus. The first 6 or 7 plays of the game showed this. From the fumbled kick off, to the poorly designed (and obvious), and poorly execute run, to the pick 6, the team clearly showed they were not mentally prepared to play. The Giants exposed them. Getting a team into game mode is the coaches resonsibility. Nagy Failed. The third "what-the-fuck?", as you noted, was the timeout. Even after a really crappy start, the defense pinned their ears back and owned the Giants for 99% of the first half. The Giants offense basically gave up and their coaches waive the white flag. Our defense was ready to head to the tunnel and get ready for beating them up in the second half. The defense relaxed because the giants were content on letting the clock run out and taking a knee. So what does our genius do? He calls a time-out. Game changer. The fourth was something you alluded to: Second half strategy. We almost completely abandoned the run. But why? Most coaches do this when they are way down and have to throw to put points on the board quickly. But, we were not down. We were still up heading into the half. So what happened? Easy... Nagy panicked. he panickd and put the ball in his extremely inferior back-ups hands and asked him to win the game. The result was 4 more fumbles and another int... 3 of those fumbles came on the final drive. There is an arguable fifth head-scratcher and that was not going for 2 to win the game. I say it's arguable because had they gone for it and not made it, we'd all be saying "take the points and give your D a chance to win it even if you lose the coin toss." But the truth is, again, the Giants were on their heels. Had they quit? No. But emotionally they were defeated after giving up the on-side kick and the TD. So, yes, I would have gone for it and many of us said it at the time. Not to mention, Nagy's goal line play calling is... Actually really good. He choked. Nagy in the post game prssure said "6 fumbles, 2 interceptions, and we almost won." alluding to how good the team is. I say "5 massive game altering coaching blunders and we almost won."
The vikes play Seattle in Seattle. They are a 3 point dog on the road. Which is what we are at home... I'm saying this now. If we lose and the Vikes win this week, we will not win the division.
Nagy said yesterday he's "hoping" Mitch will be ready for the Rams game. So either Mitch is still not yet ready and could miss another game, or Nagy's just saying that to cover for deactivating him against the Giants. Games like the Giants and Miami are what we could be looking back on if that final game of the season is for the division. We have two "must win" games left, Packers and Vikings. People should not forget that the Packers could still mathematically win the division because of our failure against the Giants. And they might be more fired up with McCarthy gone. I would not have been saying that if we went for 2 and failed. It was a game we were lucky to even be in. On the road you play for the win, especially since literally everything fell our way in the last 2 minutes of the game. We got every flag, every bounce. If you play for OT, and even if you win the toss, you still are banking on Chase to lead you down the field. That's dumb. Should have gone for 2 and decided the game right there.
I agree. We're not beating the Vikings on the road, and (although I'm probably the only one in the world who thinks this) we're not beating the Packers either. Still not going to call the Rams game "must win", rather I want to call the Vikings game against the Seahawks as "must lose" for them.
This will be hands down the best offense they have faced , can't wait to see how the D plays Sun night . If they thought Barkley was hard to get down wait till they get a chance to chase down Gurley , right now he's probably the best overall back in the league so I hope Vic puts together a great game plan and the players execute it to it's fullest extent. The Rams D " can " be destructive at times , this will be a big challenge for them , just like Vic I hope Nagy get's the right game plan together and they execute it . I guess we will see if the Bears can make it a MUST win for the Vikes by putting a win together as they play Mon night in Seattle.
Bears magic number is 3. Any combination of Bears wins plus Viking losses that adds up to 3 equals a division title.
A magic number is the number needed for the team in 1st to clinch first place. So any combination of Bears wins or Viking losses that equal 3...Bears clinch the division. For example if the Bears win Sunday and the Vikings lose monday....1+1=2....3-2=1 so the magic number would now be 1. Get it? Good.
Every game that the bears win gets them closer to a division title. Every game that the Vikings lose gets the Bears closer to a division title. If the Bears don’t win another game then the Vikings would have to lose three for the Bears to Win the division. Any combination of the Bears winning and the Vikings losing three games gets the bears the division.
Ah. That helps a lot. Thanks gidion! I actually now understand what Bww said too. Sort of. Sadly his superior mind is always an issue for me ...
