Morning after thoughts *Week 14 I don’t feel so well this morning but it’s worth it edition*

Well...that was fun.

It sounded like the crowd was rabid. Love that.

The Bears absolutely needed to take away the run and that’s exactly what they did.

I said shut down Gurley, take the ball away a couple times, and play mistake free on offense and you win. They shut down Gurley. They took the ball away 4 times. They were far from mistake free on offense but they got away with it.

Trubisky wasn’t good. Not sure if it was rust, the weather, or the defense he faced. He was a first read QB all night and when his first read was open it was mostly good results but when his first read was covered it was really bad. His INTs were brutal Cutler like stuff. His deep ball was pathetic. Thankfully the Bears defense played a full 60 minutes.

Oh look you actually commit to using Howard for a full game and it paid off. What a crazy idea.

Love me some Tarik Cohen. That being said...I’m tired of seeing him go backward and really tired of him going out of bounds on every run. Walter Payton is looking down on that and getting really pissed off.

Floyd had one of his best games. Still does a lot of stuff that pisses me off. That failed tackle on Gurley was so weak. He just doesn’t have aggression...that bothers me. But he actually played really well overall.

Hicks and Goldman were awesome. Mack with a strip of the ball...huge surprise.

Before last season I ranted about the secondary....especially the cornerbacks...and how not seeking upgrades was a mistake because Fuller and Prince weren’t gonna cut it. Boy...was I wrong. Fuller has really turned his career around and he’s a legit NFL #1 corner. And Prince has been no slouch. Mix in some Callahan, who hopefully is okay with the injury he had, and that’s a pretty good group. On the top of the defense EJax is playing at an All Pro level and while you don’t hear his name a lot...Amos is pretty damn good.

Trevathan and Smith combined to have a really good game...again. Smith has some mistakes but he also made quite a few stellar plays. His closing speed is sick.

Major kudos to the Bears offensive line. Didn’t think they could handle that Rams front and they started a little shaky. They weren’t perfect but got to say I was impressed with Daniels for the first time all season and Whitehair did really well. Bobby Massie....still sucks.

Special teams continues to frustrate. I want a new kicker next season....might not get one based on the contract Parkey signed. While he’s had a few good punts this year...I’m tired of O’Donnell. Our special teams are special in a bad way.

Goff doesn’t suck. But he is dependent on Gurley a lot and he’s more a part of a system than he is a QB that can just sit back and pick you apart. Last night...he couldn’t handle the Bears.

Really great win. I feel like shit this morning but at the same time I feel awesome. That was fun and it was a statement. I’m sure it’s a lot different if the game was in September or in Los Angeles...but that was a great game to watch. I said on the thread that it reminded me of the Sunday night game from the Lovie years when Michael Vick and the Falcons came to Soldier Field with a really good offense on a cold winter night and Brian Urlacher and the Bears simply shut them down and made it hurt. Good ole fashioned Bear football style.

Bring on the Packers. Let’s dick slap Rodgers.

 

No opposing running back has more than 40 yards rushing against the Bears defense at Soldier Field this season.

 

A signature win and all-time performance from the D. Goff and the rest of their offense looked like they didn't want to be anywhere near the field as the game progressed. Some of that was the weather, most of that was our D.

Nagy got ultra-conservative in the 4th quarter. He had to. He had to play not to lose because his QB was definitely going to lose it.

Mitch was shit but got no help from his receivers. AR dumb penalties, Burton can't hang on to the ball. We haven't played well offensively in a month.

James Daniels deserves credit, the best game of his career.

Parkey sucks. That last FG attempt was a barf-like shank.

Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley, two of the best players in the NFL were total non-factors. Whatever Nagy did to scheme against Donald worked but also again James Daniels and the interior line played well.

Does Kyle Long comeback ready to go for the playoffs?

The stage keeps getting bigger. If we can beat the Packers we will not only clinch the division (Vikings will lose tonight) but eliminate the Packers as well. The team that scares me more in the entire NFC is still the Packers. Erin was sizzling yesterday and they are fired up with McCarthy out of the picture. REMEMBER THE LESSON LEARNED FROM 2010 FINALE and put that fucking team away!

 

The defense turned in an all-time performance. We're talking about one of the best offenses in the league scoring 0 TD's - and given the short field position they had several times, that's an even more impressive accomplishment. Add a safety that deflated the Rams right out of the gate in the second half, and holding off any surge late in the game...

I mean, those are the games that you remember.

Kudos to the guys on offense who did just enough to get them over the finish line. Offensive linemen, in particular, get the nod.

What a game. Gotta find it recorded somewhere, because that's one you're gonna want to watch again.

 

So it turns out that the trick punt the Bears were going to run was cancelled because the sideline judge was run over by Massie. In general, Massie was complete crap again yesterday.

 

I saw that (watched the game with the sound off, for the most part, due to streaming difficulties). I didn't hear the explanation, but fuck - that guy stayed down for fucking ages, based on when the play was called off. It's not hard to get back up again. Guy stayed down like he had been mortally wounded. I mean, you get paid for this job, right?

 

He had his eyes towards the play while he was on the ground too and just kinda sat there.

It was crap.

 

Not that it really matters but I heard it was going to be called off regardless of Massie plowing the ref ... personally I would have liked to see them run the fn ball and get the first down and be done with it .


Terry McAulay

✔@SNFRules
On the 4th down punt substitution, Chicago would not have been allowed to quick snap. The rules allow the defense to complete their substitutions to include getting everyone in position for the punt. The LJ was correct to shut everything down when he got knocked down. #LARvsCHI

9:59 PM - Dec 9, 2018

 

The crowd sounded rabid and at the beginning of the broadcast, Al/Chris said 57000 in the building (out of 63 and change Soldier Field holds), and at the beginning of the 2nd half, there were shots of the upper seats being empty. Sounded like a crazy college game in Michigan or Columbus. Loved it.

Mitch, oy. I hope it was rust. Guys got open, he had them, some passes he sailed, some passes he forced. Can't do that next week, even though the Packers are not the Rams.

It was nice to see diversity in the running game. It was nicer to see it working.

The Bears Oline wont get enough credit. Aaron Donald was a nonfactor, much in part to a rookie, albeit with a lot of help.

Really did not like the 4th and one official's timeout but I understand it. The refs have right to call that at that point. But the rams were otherwise entirely unprepared that play. Massie has some responsibility there.

And Massie had a shit game. He got constantly pantsed by Dante Fowler Jr. The replay where Fowler went "high-low" and ducked underneath Massie's shitty attempt of a block and he got to Mitch for a partial sack nauseated me.

Leno for the most part was okay. We didn't hear Michael Brockers' name called a lot and Leno had him on a decent amount of plays.

The bears were better coached and better prepared (goes without saying with the defense). It's kinda funny the meatballs and pundits are blaming the weather. 25 and wind wasn't blowing much at all. I didn't know that the OC/Nagy in the bears' offensive playcalling case, but he only has access to talk to QB through headset in Mitch's helmet until 15 seconds on play clock. Goff looked lost a lot. And the bears hit him a lot.

Fangio made McVay his bitch. The bears defense won the trenches. Roquan Smith looked damn good again, as did everybody. Secondary won their battles, lbs won theirs, Dline theirs. Gurley knew it postgame. McVay did, Goff did.

Sherrick McManis stepped in bigly for Callahan.

Mongo needs to be shithouse drunk for every bears gamethread.

Offense is going to need to get its head out of its ass to bury Green Bay.

 

Forgot about McManis....he did a really nice job at the end.

Something about guys from Northwestern....

 

He lead the team with 7 tackles go figure .

 

Can't wait till someone comes out with a "negged" gif on this. He looked like a flipped turtle.

 

I haven’t been so proud of my Bears since 1985. We’ve seen some classics since, like when Arizona ‘crowned our asses’ but this game will be forever in my heart right at the top. Yep, I love defense.

Fangio, from behind the curtain as DC, controlled that game inspite of Nagy and STs.

Even my local small-town sports guy on the radio gushed endlessly on this morning’s sports roundup and claims it’s the best defensive performance he’s ever witnessed. (He’s about 30) Especially the ability to shut down Gurley and his surprise (and mine) that the Bears’ mediocre O-line managed to neutralize Suh and Donald. It warmed the cockles of my heart as they say.

The other 31 NFL teams sure took notice last night including the entire NFL fanbase. You can bet Erin had nightmares all last night.

As a Bears diehard, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

 

This team, man. They sure know how to F with you. After a loss like last week's, to come out and pull off a win like that. Wow.


- Im not sure it gets any better than that from a Defense. And no, im not giving the cold much credit. It may have played a small role but its just way down the list. They escorted the best back in the league clean out of the game. They dominated the LOS. They got Goff & McVey so turned around they didn't know what to do. The Defense outplayed their opponent all over the field, it was an outright demolition. And i LOVED it! I mean holding the Rams O to just 6 points, outstanding.


- That said, im getting extremely concerned about what the Bears defensive coaching situation will be like next year. And im not just talking about Fangio. Ed Donatell has done an amazing job with the secondary. He managed to coach up average level play from straight up bums in 2015-16. Now he should have not just one but TWO of his unit going All-Pro! He's surely gonna get interviews in the offseason.

This is how the NFL works, if you have success as a team, you lose coaches. But what the Bears can't have happen next year is to lose both Fangio and Donatell. If pushed to keep only one id lean towards Fangio personally. But whatever, one must be retained. If Fangio walks, promoting Donatell is a move that would make sense. It would ensure you retain him, plus having come from SF with Fangio, he knows this defensive system inside out. Its about as seamless as coaching transitions get.


- Nagy, man. I spend a portion of pretty much every game wanting to punch him in the face. Some of his playcalling i HATE and he's made, imo, some really bad mistakes, even for a rookie HC. He is undoubtedly responsible for at least 2 of the team's 4 losses this season imo. BUT, one thing i have to say is this team plays for him. No doubt.

There's an energy around this team, and i must admit i think it starts with Nagy. And its not just the players that seem to feel it, that crowd was nuts last night. I mean Soldier has never been one those super-loud stadiums that teams dread travelling to, but dammit if it didn't feel like that.


- I think the interior OL is officially entering enigma territory. They got bitchslapped by the Giants last week, and punished by the Lions the week before that. Two DL's they should've beaten. And all they've done is bookend those horror shows by punching way above their weight against two of the best non-Bears DL's in the league. Its mystifying actually.

Switzer had his best game as a Bear by far, in fact i might have to look up his real name if this continues. And Daniels....yeah has lot to work on, mostly on move plays imo, but damn, when that guy faces a bull rush and drops anchor...its over!


- Speaking of which, the power rush that Bullard put on to force Goff's first pick may have been one of the better plays of his career. I mean that wasn't some chump he pulled that on, it was 4x pro bowler Andrew Whitworth. Dude went all-pro just last season.

And did anyone notice the particulars of Bullard's pass rush move? Initial wide move to feint outside rush before straightening, sinking and driving into a straight-arm, one armed bull rush and walking the LT right back into the QB. Now who does THAT sound like?! Just another added benefit of havng an elite player join your team. Other players get to watch them every week in practise and learn.


- The Bears should actually be 12-1 right now. That sounds bizarre in a way but its true. They've flat out pissed away 3 games this year in unbelievable fashion. And they haven't stole a single game all year. The closest to that you get is Arizona and they didn't steal that game. They came out slow and lost the 1stQ before owning the other 3.

The Bears should be 12-1 right now and front runners for home field advantage...


- Trubisky..... man. You know when you get food poisoning? And you bring up all your food, then you bring up assorted random liquids, and then finally cos your body is in purge mode you bring up the bile that lives right at the bottom of your stomach? Thats what Trubisky was last night, a bile spew. That one-read horrible shit was the kinda thing he was doing at the start of the season, and it needs to not happen again the rest of this ever. Without a Defensive performance for the ages this would've been an ugly loss.

The 1st & 3rd picks were just Cutler-esque horrible airmails. But the second pick is the one that worries me. Cos that just can't happen. I don't actually know how Trubisky didn't see he couldn't throw that. So bad.


- What does Jordan Howard have to do to get 20carries in a game? Besides his line winning in run blocking, playing well himself and his QB playing the worst game of his career.....


- Could the real Trey Burton please come back. And quick. Cos this guy i don't like and the way its going im gonna start thinking this is the real Trey Burton.


- Packers next to win the division and end their season. The Falcons game only pissed me off more that they fired McCarthy. Im with blang, its them that worry me the most. Erin has owned the Bears, and she knows she owns the Bears. And her teammates know she owns the Bears. There's a psychological disadvantage to overcome to win this game.

Time to start a new era. I want to see the division champ Bears standing over their cold, playoff-dead corpse next sunday.


Go Bears!!

 

Cousins playing like crap. Glad the Queens are stuck with him and his contract for 3 years. Magic # inching ever so closer to 1...

 

I thought I heard/read that McVay lines them up early, because HE dictates some of the audibles at the line. And I think the biggest win here was two factor.

1. The Bears being disciplined enough to line up more or less randomly, not tipping their hand until the Rams were set.
2. The crowd noise was so bad, you could see Goff wasn't getting the adjustment at the line. I think this is why they had the two timeouts in the second half, because McVay is normally in complete control.

Also, no way was the cold the reason. Goff looked flat out SCARED, that has nothing to do with the temp and everything to do with intimidation. As I said early on the game thread, he kept throwing ducks rather than take sacks, THATs why he threw ints.

Now longer term, I think the Bears will struggle with them in LA, which is probably the most likely scenario for that playoffs as it stands, and the Bears win their home game. The crowd was HUGE in this game.

Some other random thoughts.

1. The Bears oldest player is Kyle Long at 29 years old. The good pieces here are ALL young, this team has a very '84 Bears feel to it.
2. Ev points it out so well, this team is so much closer to 12-1. No games have been stolen, in fact, most of the games the Bears were dominating but did a very Bears thing (or perhaps, a young/inexperienced thing) in blowing them.
3. Trubs is a work in progress but I'm willing to chalk it up to rust right now. For the most part, the decisions weren't bad (outside of a few real headscratchers) but the throws were just horrific. Probably his worst game as a Bear.
4. Nagy is going to give me a heart attack with the cutesy-ness, even though I do love that play in a terrible way. Something I also said on the thread, this team is having FUN out there. And Nagy is a big part of that.
5. If Pace has a good offseason, next year could be THE year. I'd definitely have to change my av then.
6. Is anyone worried about Fangio leaving? I thought he wasn't interested in a HC job? We NEED to continue the growth we've seen.
7. Chris Tabor is NOT doing a good job. He was Toub's assistant during 2008-2010 and his credentials are pretty damn stellar. I wonder if Pace is just doing him a massive disservice talent-wise, but not being prepared for the fake punt....that was bad.

All in all, I feel we are turning the corner finally. So glad I didn't cancel Sunday Ticket, because I am enjoying the hell out of this ride. Even the Packers game I feel better about, because it was McCarthy that had our number. While the Packers are desperate, if the Bears come to play, they will end their season, and the game is big because it would clinch the playoffs, and now the division as well.

If the Bears lose to the Pack, as much as it would pain me, it means almost nothing. They need to beat the very beatable 49ers the following week to sew up the division. But man, the bow on this season right now for me would be to end their season in a very fitting way, they shouldn't have stolen the first one.

 

This was that statement game we were all looking for where the rest of the league sits up and takes notice. This team took that first step in launching it's true identity.
When you go to prison the first thing you do is look for the biggest baddest motherfucker and kick his ass, the Bears just did exactly that.

I made note earlier this season with selling the play fakes with Trubisky still going through his progressions although he no longer had the ball. Hicks made a comment after the game about that goal line play that Mitch reminded him to prior to that play to "sell that fake" and he did exactly that, I love that big man.

The thing that seems to get lost in all of this as badly as the offense appeared to play the Rams only had possession of the ball for 23 minutes, and that to me is the biggest formula for beating QB's like Rodgers by keeping them off the field. As many of you were willing to launch Howard earlier I disagreed as he will be a big part of the offenses success but the defenses as well going forward. I would really love to both Howard and Cohen in the backfield together and dictate to the defense "well what you going to do?" I can imagine he is holding those cards close to the vest for the playoffs.

This does feel like 1984
Go Bears!

 

The magic number is 1.

The Packers come to Soldier Field Sunday.

The whole building better be more rabid than it was Sunday night.

And the Bears better come to play.

Love you varder but you're wrong. It means something. The Bears will never be legit until they can beat the Packers. They've owned us and stepped on us for years. It's time to return the favor. THIS MEANS EVERYTHING.

 

Not much to add. Was able to rewatch the game uninterrupted and even with Trubisky shitting the bed it was a fun watch. Neither team could pass the ball but we were able to run the ball and a hats off to Howard finally going over 100 yards.

Next week we need to put the Packers down like the wounded animal they are. Nothing would be better than clinching a division title at the expense of the Packers.

 

This x10000

This game means everything. Not only because they've made us their bitch for years. Not only as payback for our choke in week 1. Not only because this is the oldest and richest rivalry in NFL history. And not only because we could clinch the division while they look on as losers from the sidelines. But also because to win would eliminate them from the playoffs. In every sense of the term this is a MUST WIN game. We could right so many wrongs with one win. And if we lose, I shudder to think how horrid it will be when the Packers come into SF in the playoffs as the 6 seed only to soul crush us again in the worst possible way.

This is the most important of the year, and the Rams and Vikings games do not come close.