Let’s get this shit show started. Complete team failure from top to bottom. 1. Nagy ran the ball, too bad they couldn’t get any yardage on them. The calls were suspect, the line garbage, but I’m starting to think some portion of this really has to go on Monty. I don’t think he has the vision/instincts when hitting the hole. And why the fuck is Patterson running the ball, and Harris out there not catching balls? 2. How much slack to cut the D? The jet sweep was killing them, the Rams were able to run at will, and smartly did. They had some big plays and were on the field a lot which is some excuse, but honestly early on before you can use the winded excuse they were letting the Rams march. 3. Our special teams is unbelievable hot garbage. Has been since Toub left. Patterson giving us the ball regularly at the 19. The blocking on kick and punt returns is atrocious. The rams flipped field position MULTIPLE times on punting alone. Remember those days? I don’t anymore. 4. Good god the tackling. A complete embarrassment. 5. Foles sucks. Yes he was under pressure but throwing those ducks and ESPECIALLY the int in the end zone, Cutler-esque game killing mojo right there. I don’t really want Mitch back, but there’s a reason the choice was so hard for them. Could be worse I guess, we could’ve had Dalton. 6. The refs. Listing them last as I want to be clear the Bears lose by multiple scores anyway, but I began to wonder if they had money on the outcome. Ifedi on the third and short didnt hold, he straight up whiffed if you rewatch that. But fine it looks like a penalty full speed, then maybe call some of the aggregious ones on the Rams oline? Then you call the tickey tack roughing the passer AND DPI on the same play? Fucking hell. And the cherry call to me after the game is well over. You can tell arob to leave the field for concussion protocol, but don’t call the blatant helmet to helmet hit that the rocked him? You clearly ducking saw it if you called it. 7. This team sucks, but we have shitty teams like the Vikings, Jags and Texans to play yet, amazingly the playoffs are not out of the question if they win those and steal a game against better talent. Quick first round exit and pace trading away our picks to grab some plum WR to replace AROB after he walks at the end of the season, with line and QB questions looming large against an aging defense. Fuck this team and Fuck me for being a fan of such a shit franchise. 8. Why the fuck did I stay up late to watch this?
Oh god and I forgot about the running play where they didn’t blow the play dead after three four times when the back was stopped, and the fact that Hicks was held on the “roughing the passer” play.
I fell asleep a few minutes into the third quarter. It would seem I woke up for just about every awful moment thereafter, reading this and the game thread. We have the worst OL in football. The fact that Pace has Foles and Trubisky, with no OL whatsoever, should be enough to an objective observer that his time is up. There are A LOT of people who should lose their job, but in order for that to happen, the guy in charge has to as well.
We are now officially dead last, 32nd ranked rushing offense now. I'm also starting to agree that Monty bears some of the blame. The first play from scrimmage actually looked like the convoy of blockers was there and he juked the wrong way and only gained 3 yards. One of many examples. Not to excuse the worst rush blocking o-line in the NFL, ours, but Monty is not good. You'd think he'd have at least 1 100 yard rushing game by accident. Not even close. Regarding Nagy, I'm not sure I've ever seen a OC, including Martz, who absolutely disregarded personnel, matchups and common sense in literally 100% of games he's called. He doesn't value or understand the capabilities of his own personnel, so why should he even think for a second who's playing defense. Yeah, let's keep running RIGHT AT DONALD FOR THE FIFTH FUCKING TIME IN A ROW. And that's not even the worst of it, as we know. It's been evident there's tension between Nagy and Foles. But if you weren't convinced, check out the clip below. I had shut the game off by that time but was totally unsurprised to hear that Foles would say this. Also, look at Trubisky's expression at 11 seconds into the clip as Nagy calls the play. Even Trubisky knows Nagy's play calls are fucking moronic!!! As for where we go from here: we go no where. We're at the bottom offensively but if there's anything I'm certain of it's that Nagy won't change a damn thing he does. 8-8, more football purgatory, but just good enough to retain all the idiot coaches and front office for 2021.
My biggest takeaway from this game is how much the ineptitude on offense falls on Nagy then the QB then the O line. Nagy’s needs to consult the offense not run it. And I just don’t see him giving it up. And there is nobody in the organization that will force him to. We are stuck. Nagy needs elite QB play to have a good offense and he is basically famous for not knowing how to run the ball regardless of the talent or lack there of. Foles is Nagy’s guy and he sucks. We have seen enough games with him now to see what he is. Cutler without the strong arm. Trubisky without the athleticism. A nice guy but not a good thrower of the football. The o line is not good but I can’t really blame the players for it. I mean Pace/Nagy decided these were the guys to roll with. Our Tackles and Center are playing on extensions! Even with all that they are still a serviceable group if the QB/Coach new what they were doing.
One thing about the D. They adjusted to the jet sweep and started blowing it up. Got the only TD of the game off of it.
I wouldn’t read too much into this. Foles is a Jesus loving nice guy. I believe him when he says his words were misunderstood by Griese and I am sure Nagy will too. What you see as tension I see as frustration and they should be frustrated. But If Nagy is great at one thing it’s rallying the troops and keeping moral high.
Foles probably didn't want Greise to blurt that out live on air, then went into damage control when it got out. True, but at this rate he could lose the team with a few more offensive stinkers like we saw last night. You can only be frustrated for so long before it comes to a head.
Hahaha, NO! They are NOT serviceable rob, they are so fucking far from serviceable that in football terms it is downright scary. This is not fixed by scheme or competent QB play behind them. This is a talent and toughness issue. They have very little talent and they have no heart. Given that you cant seem to see this i really think an eye exam might be a good move at this time.
Fuck everyone. So was Lovie Smith. All it ever meant was we had a team that didn't win enough but at least the locker room loved their coach. Fuck rallying the troops....score some points. - Yes the offensive line sucks but it's far from the only reason the offense sucks. Far from it. - I like David Montgomery but his field vision blows. - We saw Rams players shedding tackles like it was routine last night and Bears players falling to the turf after ankle tackles. There a physical toughness problem on this team. They are bitches. - Why, from the 8 yard line looking to score a TD, is Demetrius Harris in the game but Kmet and Graham aren't? Did Nagy "self scout" that play? - Nagy said he was frustrated after the game. Fuck that guy. We are beyond frustrated as fans. Every team in the league can figure out what a modern offense is supposed to look like except the Chicago Bears. - Bears defense is slow to the edges against teams that use motion. Trevathan and Roquan were slow to everything last night. - Buster Skrine blows. - You know how you beat teams that use a lot of motion? You get penetration and blow up their plays. Bears did that a grand total of like 1 time last night. - Refs were brutally bad, again. The NFL has to fix the neutral zone infractions. It's only an infraction if the defender causes the offensive lineman to involuntarily move....otherwise it's a false start. Get it fucking right. - Bears defensive line gets too much pressure not to have more holding calls go their way. That wasn't roughing on Hicks. That was crap. - If Ginn had no intention of ever fielding a punt...why the fuck was he back there? Put me in there...I'll suit up and do nothing all night and collect whatever his check was for the week. - Glad you finally got your defensive TD after having 2 called back Eddie. What the fuck was that TD celebration....did you see the scoreboard dickhead? - Bears chirp too much for a team that doesn't do enough on the field to be able to chirp. Shut up and play football. Talk after the game when you win. - This is Ryan Pace's roster. That's where this all starts. Don't forget that when the losses start mounting up over the next few weeks. - I will predict an 8-8 finish and right now I have a hard time knowing where those next 3 wins come from.
Maybe I didnt explain well enough. The o line is bad. And it’s bad mainly by choice which is worse. But it is not bad enough to totally destroy any chance at a better offensive output. With better QB play and play calling the offense could do much better. Yes the O line would still be an issue. One that will surely continue to be ignored. I just can’t let Foles/Nagy off the hook with the excuse of bad o line play.
Saying the line sucks horribly doesn't let them off the hook. Other QBs and coaches have found ways to get points with piss poor oline play.
So really, there are only two topics worth discussing at this point. Nagy and Pace. 1) Matt Nagy. No more excuses. You can''t cop out behind 'calibration,' 'miscommunication,' 'process,' 'details,' and all these other fancy,delicate corporate-speak words for 'give me another chance because I fucking suck and didn't get the job done.' Turn play calling over to Bill Lazor. You can't figure it out. Nagy chooses cute over force. Why the hell can't Monty move forward for the one damned yard and the line brute force the defense off the snap. I don't care if he was Andy Reid's progeny in KC/Philly; Andy Reid--years ago--went through the same growing pains as a coach and had playcalling taken away from him multiple times in Philly. Moreover, its week 8 now. Week 8 and you can't figure out the fucking offense? After 2.5 years?! Insert quip about 'the definition of insanity.' For a guy with all this schematic prowess, he lacks imagination and too often he gets in his own way when dumb players/penalties dont. Teams know it. They key on it. That's why they're blowing up sweeps to Cordarrelle Patterson on 4th down. That's why Monty is using every move he has to avoid getting plowed 4-5 yards deep in his own backfield. That's why Demetrius Harris gets open (before not catching a ball). That's why all the gimmicks, all the cuteness and window dressing mean jack shit. Teams know behind it all, you're vanilla, predictable, and broken. Why the hell can't you call a pass to the sticks? I was dumb enough to watch Nagy's postgame presser (if you value your brain cells--DONT watch), and when asked what's wrong with the offense, he said 'I don't know.' I'm guessing he hasn't known for a while...I don't care if Lazor's 'golden days' in Cinci involved AJ Green in his prime and a 7-9 team. Let ARob do his best 'in-prime' AJ Green impression and just chuck it to him. In fairness, Mooney is way better than an injured John Ross or Brandon LaFell, Lazor's #2 and #3 guys in 17 and 18. I said it before, and I'll repeat. Nagy the head coach? I like. Players play for him. I can't critique him there. Nagy the playcaller? He shouldn't go anywhere near the offense for the remaining 9 games. If Lazor eked out 7 wins in his best year in Cinci--you've already spotted him 5. He only needs 4--and you play some bad teams later this season with an expanded playoffs. Nagy was brought in for 2 reasons. 1--to fix/stabilize the QB spot. 2--fix a dysfunctional offense. I get both are kind of tied together--but he's failed. He's failed. There's no other way to say it. And what kills me in my pissed off, revisionist history look at the coaching search after Fox and Frodo were shitcanned--Nagy called the AFC divisional playoff game where KC lost to Pittsburgh (the SB where NE made a joke out of Atlanta). 8 rushes to his running back. 3 to Tyreek Hill on gimmicky plays. Alex Smith 1 time. Pace wasted no time hiring Nagy when the Colts hired the right Andy Reid guy. 2) Ryan Pace. You're in charge. Take playcalling away from Matt Nagy. Nothing is off the table at this point to fix a clearly broken offense. You have moves to make to change things up and going into week 8 you've done jackshit. An enormous hole at LG, and you let a bonafide starter in Quenton Spain go to a bottom feeding team because....why? If his medicals truly are bad and team physicians all shake their heads, say it. There's a gross lack of talent on the roster. That's on you. The fact that a 6-8 yard gain is a painful victory while other teams can get big chunk plays with ease. And I'll give Pace this--he shuffles in guys off the street every week for private workouts. He even brought in a punt returner last week. And he wasn't a better option? Tedd Ginn is still on the roster why? There's a lot of money tied up in the defense and a lot of draft capital in the offense. He's given out a lot of mid-level deals to 3 of the starters on the OLine, Massie, Whitehair, and Leno. Two of those guys are garbage. Some of you guys have already brought up another great defense being wasted. Yeah--it's sure looking that way. But if I can offer cold comfort; I really like the draft's potential for OLinemen early next spring. There could be five or six 1st round tackles (they're not getting the best 2-3). There's a couple OG's in there that aren't Quentin Nelson level but Wyatt Davis from Ohio State is getting comps to David DeCastro and Kyle Long. Tennessee also has two very talented guards, which is why they aren't the SEC bottom feeders they typically have been since...Peyton Manning (they're still doormats compared to Georgia and Bama). Then we remember Pace may be picking it and watch it be a QB in another trade up and no OLine picks. FUCK. 3) I'm not going to bust the chops of the defense too much, and I hate that the bears are 5-2, because now is the time I want to see what Kindle Vidnor, Duke Shelly, or Michael Joseph can do in the slot. Fuck, what happened to that Duck guy who had a really good PS a year ago? I really don't need to rip Buster Skrine anymore than I already have, but I want a slot DB who can make an occasional play and defend a pass--not watch a guy catch it then forget he was your guy to cover in the 1st place. After I turned it off, apparently RRH made a couple of plays. Too little, too late. The 3 man DLine of the 3-4 needs to be Edwards-Nichols-Hicks. Move them around, change up NT, whatever--but Edwards is a guy I try to get on another contract. Tackling was bad. Trevathan had a few ugly plays. Noquan was all over the damned place in odd spots (blitzing off the edge while Mack dropped into the middle in zone coverage when Goff hit someone for a big play). 4) The offense. Where do I even begin? I mentioned it on the game thread, but the Bears are Cordarrelle Patterson's 4th team since being a 1st round pick. The Vikes drafted him and needed 4 years to figure out he was a solid returner, but just not a good WR. Oakland figured that out, then traded him to NE who very sparingly used him at RB and KR. Then Bill Belichick decided not to give him a new deal. He instead went to the bears, who only gave him a 500k raise. Stop trying to make someone he's not. I shop Cordarrelle Patterson. With such a tight cap situation upcoming this offseason, ARob to extend, and a lot of new players to get in--I think his days here are numbered. End the experiment at RB. Play Lamar Miller or--fuck it. Ryan Nall. I'm very much not happy about Demetrius Harris getting more targets than your fucking 1st draft pick. I don't want him on my television anymore. He's a Y TE for a reason. He's to help OLinemen. But, in review/talking with a few buddies, the 'best' assumption we could come up with is that Kmet doesn't know the playbook and certain packages he doesn't have down yet he's not in on. Okay--fair. But, if Kmet doesn't know the play/scheme: Jimmy Graham isn't a better option? Could Nick Foles not just tell him when huddled up 'hey, do this on this play?' I also can't help but be 'THAT guy' by asking what would Kmet look like on an offense like the Steelers or Green Bay? Nick Foles is what he is. He's a journeyman with a short memory and the ability to get hot and string a few gorgeous plays together. His redzone pick was atrocious and if Mitch was in/throwing that--we'd all have flayed Mitch alive. But. He questions Nagy/bickers on how to move things forward, and while he's not Peyton Manning/Tom Brady/Erin, I think at least once or twice a half he should call his own plays until/unless there's a big problem. He's smart enough to know hurry up when the rams--who by NO means were pitching a stellar game on defense last night. They gave up plays and yards. But Nagy has to get in his own way. Don't go back to Mitch unless Foles is injured. Short of James Daniels and Whitehair, I want three new starters next year at RG and OTs. Ifedi was the same guy I feared at the beginning of the season, but he has given a good week or two. Leno and Massie I have no more words for. Congrats, you've entered the eternally bad category with J'Marcus Webb, Frank Omayale, and Vlad Ducasse. I heard Mustipher came in, he play any good? Add Arlington Hambright to the list with Riley Ridley and the young CBs for guys I don't want to continue to see inactive week after week. 5) Is it ironic that the bears have a seemingly decent kicker at this point? Whenever Piniero is good to go--stay with Santos. Release Tedd Ginn Jr. immediately and find a punt returner. I hear you drafted a quick little WR named Riley Ridley last year... 6) I don't get why there's so much attention about Brian Griese's comments. Foles denied he said it because he has to. Nagy downplayed it. It obviously didn't affect the morale because EJax, Mack, and Hicks all wouldn't thrown anyone under the bus/kept it about the team (whereas former dumbasses Brandon Marshall and Marty Bennett would have been dumbasses). If anything does come of it--you'll see the team start to decay. If everyone keeps playing hard for Nagy, its just fake news and a storyline for filler during a one-sided game that color/play by play guys have to come up with to keep people watching engaged.
I'm not letting them off the hook, but if Floes / Nagy turned into Brady / Belichick right now, the ceiling is still only a marginally better offense. The offensive line is just outrageously bad. For all Nagy's and Foles' flaws, I would rank the OL worst out of the three.
Matt Patricia still coaches the lions. The Vikings are just bad. And hurt. Lots of guys done for the season and they're going to be cleaning house and rebuilding for a couple of years. Houston is a dumb football team. Romeo Crennell is coaching its 1940 and that team can't move the ball well without DeAndre Hopkins. Jax is also bad. Gardner Minshew is Matt Barklay, and teams are figuring that out (even though he has a fantastic running back).
Yup. That about does it for me. Everything that needs to be said in one post (I shortened it for ease, but I agree with the whole thing). This is the part I wanted to shout, so I'll bold it: 2) Ryan Pace. You're in charge. Take playcalling away from Matt Nagy. Nothing is off the table at this point to fix a clearly broken offense. You have moves to make to change things up and going into week 8 you've done jackshit. An enormous hole at LG, and you let a bonafide starter in Quenton Spain go to a bottom feeding team because....why? If his medicals truly are bad and team physicians all shake their heads, say it. There's a gross lack of talent on the roster. That's on you. The fact that a 6-8 yard gain is a painful victory while other teams can get big chunk plays with ease. It sickened me when he got extended. I think I've started one of the several "Fire Pace" threads here within the last handful of years. This is his job - he's the boss. You can clearly see that Nagy is in over his head, and that something needs to change. CHANGE IT. --- Wait, no. That's giving Pace WAY too much credit. He's just as in over his head as Nagy is. Ah, well...
As I said on the game thread...40 games into Nagy's career as the playcaller.... 24 times the Bears offense has failed to reach 21 points.
