Last night we saw Mitch finally step up with a big performance in prime time for the first time in his career. That on the heels of what was his best game last week in Detroit. He's the reason we've won the last 2 games, not the defense, not the play calling, not the running game. All Mitch. Looking ahead we're facing our biggest rival in what could be an elimination game for us if we lose. Mitch has yet to play well against Green Bay, his record stands at 1-3. His rookie season he was outplayed by Brett fricking Hundley in a home loss. Last year he did enough to win the game in Chicago but that game was won by our defense. It's been great to see progress the last two games, but it ALWAYS comes down to whether or not we can beat those fucks from GB. Cutler would string together a few decent games then play like shitwad every time it mattered. If we're going to believe that Trubisky should be the starter in 2020, he's got to deliver a good game next week. No excuses. The defense of course has not been good. It is more than unlikely Mitch can out duel Erin so defense is going to need pass rush and takeaways, something that they've demonstrated they cannot do consistently in 2020. If we can win it would salvage the season for me somewhat even if we miss the playoffs.
I'm still not buying into Mitch, I'm selling. Yeah, he's strung two good games in a row and that's cool, and that game he looked more like Lamar 2019 than Mitch 2019, and while it was impressive and Jackson is probably on his way to be an MVP and rightfully so, at some point they'll both have to settle down in the pocket because that type of play isn't sustainable. When Cam lost his ability to run effectively last season and to start this season where did his game go? I'm still not confident Mitch will ever be comfortable in the pocket even if you improve the slugs on the line. He still misses open guys far too often and when he does find a throw he seems to process that throw a split second too late leaving more contested throws and less YAC. My point is he isn't a long term answer, and probably never will be. Of course, I've been wrong before I remember back in the CBS days when the Chargers had Brees coming off a questionable shoulder injury and I thought his size and ability to throw because of the injury would be in question. Boy was I wrong.
Mitch, like last season, has been better as the season goes on. I think back to game 1. Our defense completely beat the fuck out of Rodgers and the Packers. But we lost the game, mostly because our offense, and especially our QB were so inept. My question, which I had asked last year as well, is does not playing Mitch in the pre-season actually help the team? I get that it guarantees he's not going to be injured. But, with a kid who clearly needs the experience, and reps, in real game situations, you can't fucking bench him during the pre-season. It hurt us last year, and it completely fucked us this year. This was a 12-4 team with an easy(ish) first half. So, yes. We all have been hard on Mitch. He has deserved it. He sucked. You can't change what actually happened. We all watched him regress. But, again, was that more on him just sucking, or on our coaching staff for babying him through the pre-season. It's likely a combination of both. But, one is very corrrectable.
Mitch killed it in Prime Time and for me that’s what I finally wanted to see. Maybe it was the “benching”. Maybe he’s warmed up. Maybe these defenses are that bad. Maybe he’s playing pissed off. Don’t care, keep it up. I’m nervous he’ll regress again because he seems so fragile, but I will hand it to him, he came back AFTER throwing that horrific pick. I almost hate the Bears for getting my hopes up again. Not for playoffs but that we stand a chance against the cheesedicks and I’m looking forward to this weekend. While we get Hicks back, that injury report is looking rough. And Green Bay’s defense always seems to have our number. The only thing I want right now, is a win over the Packers. It’s be nice to see the Vikings and Packers lose this weekend as well, but those odds are pretty long.
To me at this point he's a bridge to get us to another QB. He will never be the guy we wanted or needed him to be. He's a boatload of inconsistency. I remember when he threw 6 Td passes against the Buc's? I was there he's had a shitload of bad in between. No doubt not playing him in the preseason hurt the team this year, but he still does stupid shit. I'm done ...Next
First things first, Mitch played very well and after the flak we've given him this season its only fair to say so. Thats two very good games in a row he's now played. The second being in prime time which is also impressive. But i do not agree that this win was all Mitch, not at all. That would completely ignore the interconnectivity of the whole thing, which is vital. It's no coincidence whatsoever that his best game of the season came at the same time as other key elements having their best game of the season also. And im talking about the OL & Nagy here. Nagy's gameplans, decision making and situational play calling have been God awful this season. He has consistently put people in position to fail and fail they have. Several of the losses this year are solely on Nagy imo to the point where i don't actually believe he will pull off another performance like this in the next 3 games. But again, focusing on this game alone he deserves great credit because that was the best game he's called this season by a country mile. He consistently targeted the favourable matchups in the pass game. Not running Cohen out of the gun=good. Having Holtz repeatedly lead blocking out of motion rather than the I was a major new wrinkle. The results were mixed with that tbh, he's asking far more of Holtz blocking wise there and he missed a few. It needs more work, but it shows Nagy is thinking. The only playcall all night i hated was the stupid gimmick end around to Patterson, because it was so needless. They were already moving the ball at will, that playcall was just pure self indulgence. But i remind myself that placalling isnt an easy gig. You have seconds to analize whats going on and move forward and mistakes will happen. One a game i can handle no problem. What i just don't get about Nagy is why its taken so long and why there had to be so many shitty displays first. All season Trubisky has been stuck in the pocket, removing a key strength from his game. It also allowed opposing DE's to say meet you at the QB, which they've done a lot cos both our Tackles are shitstains. Its great that Nagy moved the pocket so often Thurs night, its great that Mitch was allowed to run as much as he was, why am i only seeing this in friggin week 14??! We know from last season this team runs the TE screen, both inside the hashes and outside, very effectively. We also know they can't run the RB screen for shit. I just want to see Nagy run what works, so why have i been calling for TE's screens all season and never seeing one? Why does Nagy usually call multiple RB screens a game when they're a horror show? It shows a real lack of understanding of what his Offense does and doesn't do well. Also why i don't have faith in him going forward. The OL had one of their best games of the season, against a legit DL too. Prob their 2nd best run blocking game of the year. Monty is here to stay. He'll never be a home run hitter cos he lacks breakaway speed, but his contact balance is legit elite. The fumble he needs to be more aware and cover up, but other than that i don't change a thing cos thats his game. Monty doesn't need huge holes, just give him something to work with and he'll turn that 2-3yard carry into 6-7yarders. I love watching him play. Thats what the OL consistently did, they gave him enough to work with. Suddenly the Defense has to respect the run. The RPO's start to work. The read option was there all night. Its all linked. Trubisky deserves credit for his best all round game of the season, but it doesn't happen without Nagy finally getting his shit together. Doesn't happen without the OL playing kinda like we came into the season expecting them to play. And to stop derailing/bring it all back to the Blang's thread title, they're all gonna have to do the same thing again to have a chance in GB. Im still firmly pessimistic about that but hey ho.
This summarizes my thoughts pretty completely. Well said, Ev. This was a drastically different offense, and not just because of Trubisky. I'm eager to break down the All 22 for the first time this season, because I want to see exactly what successes we had at every position, including playcalling. The run game was a successful, consistent threat. Trubisky was being moved by design. Dallas couldn't tackle. These three things are the greatest contributors to the win, to me. Nagy not moving Trubisky all season has been the most baffling thing to me, so to see him go back to it and it work as expected... Well, I hope lesson learned.
This right here. This is basically how all Bears fans feel I think. Raise your hopes just to have them dashed, crushed, spat and pissed upon over and over again, ad infinitum ad nauseum.
I'm not getting my hopes up unless we beat the Packers, as was the case for me last year. Even after we destroyed the Rams I didn't believe we were legit until we beat the Packers. Too many seasons have been crushed by our inability to beat them. For the most part I still agree with this. He still consistently does stupid shit, even in a good game. And his full body of work is still bad. Unless Mitch absolutely lights it up in all of the 3 remaining games, I still want Pace to prioritize bringing in someone for competition in 2020.
By hopes up, I mean I’m not 100% down in this team like I was a few weeks ago. I don’t think this team is playoff bound or anything, but I do think they might actually show up and compete.
I was thinking, you know what it reminds me of? Cam Newton’s 2nd or 3rd year where they tried to force him to stay in the pocket and he looked like garbage. Coaches trying to fit the player to the scheme instead of the other way around. It shouldn’t take until week 14 to utilize your players the best. It’s the number one thing I worry about with Nagy, that stubbornness.
That's just it if you look at the success L. Jackson is having a possible MVP year, but what happens down the road when you take that away from him? I'm not buying that he's a good QB long term other in fantasy football at the moment. When teams take that spy off and put them into coverage that will be the true test of their ability in the pocket. That's why I really liked Watson he can do enough with his legs to escape the pocket and can rely on his arm over his legs when it's all said and done. Like when he doesn't realize he has a free play and throws the ball downfield. Erin recognizes it all the time and burns teams all the time with it. Hell you might pick up a first down on a PI call. How about just throwing the ball away when you don't see something. My dad always told me "don't force it" of course that was when I was taking something apart, but that can be applied to so many things to life and relationships in general and in this case football. Also knowing where he is on the field like this past game if he just went north he could have easily gotten a first down, but he tapped his inter Cohen and went west and ended up 4 yards short.
