Too many goddamn challenges are ruining the game. Get rid of automatic replays and let coaches get 1 challenge per half and that's it.
The off platform throws seem very nice. Its not just that Fields is mega fast, the guy is generally extremely athletic.
I hear you. I also remember Gipson being the better safety last year, and Jackson still looks disinterested in actually playing football this year. He likes jawing, likes throwing his hands up at his teammates, doesn't like actually playing football. I think you summed it up pretty well.
Yeah, I was reading that and hoping I'd have something fun to go back and watch. Bummer. I do genuinely like being able to start a game an hour or two after it starts, not knowing the score, etc, and getting to watch like it was live. It's just a shame I have to jetset off to a new country every Sunday to make it happen...
I'm going to keep watching for Fields, but I really don't want to. This has been miserable. I get that it's just a preseason game, but you would hope some of our fears would be quelled. That hasn't happened in two weeks, yet.
There weren't many good takeaways for me. Saw Borom make a few good blocks. Field's touch and ball placement are really good. Adams can make some plays. Awful OL play overall. Bottom of the barrel ST play. Dalton is useless. Nagy is too. I see this as a 6 win team with Dalton. 8-9 win team with Fields.
Very genuinely, there is only one thing I care about this year: Will Fields' talent exist beyond the failings of Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy? This could go a lot of ways. Will their lack of proper support for him ruin him longterm? Will he carry their jobs on his back, meanwhile the team delivers disappointing seasons over and over because of their incompetence? Will they lose their jobs and Fields emerge as the QB we need under a new front office that knows their ass from a hole in the ground? Because we all know this team isn't good enough this season. As I type this, I just watched Fields get decapitated. Jeezus Christ. This is what I'm talking about. Will his talent survive Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy? F***.
Also, last note because I probably won't watch much more: After three quarters, I've seen the Bears make zero tackles. They will probably have to do that at some point in the regular season.
Went back and watched the play where Fields got his head taken off. At the time it looked like a protection breakdown and i wanted to see who fucked up. Having watched this again i think its gotta go on Fields tbh. The LB is showing blitz and he is completely oblivious. That is something you need to call out pre snap and alter your protections, or with Herbert running straight out into the flat you make that your hot read and just get rid of the ball. The play might not've gone for much but it is by far the better outcome. Lucky Fields didnt pick up a concussion on that one. He took a lot of hits today, the college rep for being a tough SOB looks true.
I'm going to say Quinn because of the funkability factor. Quinn's funk is probably due to age and there is no turning back the clock on that. EJ on the other hand still likely possesses the ability but just needs to have that clock wound.
Pros: * Gamepass has condensed games for preseason, if I had to watch 3 and a half hours of that Bills game I'd have killed myself. * This is only the preseason * Fields has potential Cons: * Everything else I've seen nothing that changes my mind on this team for this upcoming season. They are going to beat on some bottom feeders, and struggle when the good teams come to town. Bonus points for this game for Trubs to look all star because it's a meaningless game.
Some time to digest... Mustipher looked average, and I'd even say Center (because Daniels is the RG under Nagy and isn't under contract after this year) is a position to watch college for, along with OT. Lachevious Simmons apparently started 90+% snaps at RT. The play Ev highlights about Fields not shifting line to pick up blitz was one of his worst plays, but he tried harder than Rashad Coward so if you're talking about the ability of a 3rd stringer--hey, baby steps in terms of improvement. Larry Borom looked every bit of a 5th round pick. Just mind-boggling that expectations for a 5th rounder being this dire to click due to the ineptitude of the GM's moves/giving away draft picks. I like Borom as a project, and in a perfect world--he's a PS kid this year before being eased in coming years. But we won't get that. I've accepted that Alex Bars fluctuates between below-average to just average (and average can be "good" in the sense that if you're not seeing him, its a positive because its not a flag/him getting ragdolled) 7/10 plays, 2/10 he gets dominated/put on his ass/shoved 5 yards in the backfield and 1/10 makes that bookend tackle block to give the QB more time or to seal a lane for the halfback. You don't want that as a starter, especially at the most important position on the OL, but again, given a certain GM's stupidity and the likelihood that Jason Peters probably gives you half a season at best--being half full you're kind of stuck. For an undrafted kid, this isn't a bad thing to hit on but given context of this team's leadership and decisions to neglect when they aren't half-assing the OL. The cutshots to Jason Peters standing on the sidelines without pads made me cringe. He looked heavy. I'd like to have some hope because if Andrew Whitworth can reinvent himself at 39/40 after a long, great career you'd hope Peters, who also has a long, great career can. But you look at how Whit took care of himself/stays healthy and how Peters has just been hobbled by injuries...I'm not even going to bother with hoping. Minimal cuts are happening (the big trimming comes in a week or so, and Ryan Pace better be active with the OL) and Pace had to go out and sign another WR cut by the Texans!!!! 4D chess, our GM is playing guys. Penalties are a major sign of an undisciplined team. Bears doing major damage/spin control, now pointing out how Peters - Whitehair - Mustipher - Daniels - Ifedi are all together practicing and working as an OL unit and things are great. Ummmm...Robert Quinn is still bad. That 1st TD Buffalo scored is something I expect in a lopsided college/HS game where the good team is jogging circles around the team that has no business being on the field with them. Except the player on the bad team got 75 million from the idiot GM. ST is garbage. The muffed punt by Buffalo that both gunners ran past the ball was a big facepalm. The return TD was worse. Jesse James trying to help block/block anybody is garbage. Andy Dalton is also garbage and watching Nagy in postgame defend "Dalton is our starter" was worth a laugh. That TD was all Rodney Adams. And I don't get the bears spindoctors getting bitchy about Dalton getting booed. Dude deserved every second of it. Even in preseason I don't know what this offense is supposed to be. Year 4 of our offensive "guru" who won't dial up a 3rd down play to the sticks. For the life of me, I will NEVER understand how other teams take the approach against the bears of "we know you have a chump/chumps on the field, we're going to attack you with X until you stop it" but the Bears NEVER do that to anybody else. Saw too many business decisions by defenders on plays I wasn't watching some of the worst tackling techniques. Don't care if its preseason or not. Again its preseason and we're going to see vanilla stuff left and right so I'll try to take this with a grain of salt... One thing that bothered the fuck out of me was how Desai used the nickel and/or how his starting nickel doesn't understand play calls. Saw too much use similar to Buster Skrine with Duke Shelly early, just kind of drop the nickel back in coverage where he doesn't look like he's in zone and he sure as hell isn't in man and is the wrong guy to spy Mitch/mobile QB with while CB 1 and 2 are in man coverage then let him make an open-field tackle on a wide-open guy. It's like having an extra undersized linebacker and in 2021 you need corners, nay nickel corners who can cover. Are the Giants going to have a top 5 pick next spring? Positives? uhhhh.... Caleb Johnson. Dude has a knack for being around the action, though needs to figure out how to finish tackles. I like Rodney Adams more and more. ARob - Mooney - Adams - Goodwin - Byrd - whom as WR6? I'd like Riley Ridley but I'm not allowed to have nice things. Khalil Herbert as a PR/KR. Got some zip. Jesse James' ability as a pass-catcher is nice. I forgot who brought up Demetrius Harris in the game thread but now I'm concerned even less plays will be dialed up for your 2nd round TE/1st pick of 2020 draft. Justin Fields minus the play his head got knocked off. This backup kicker Brian Johnson is going to get picked up by somebody. Can the wunderkid GM try to deal him? Fire everyone.
I never understood why the Bears are so stubborn about this messaging. Who does it hurt if you say, yeah it's an open competition and whoever gives us the best chance to win will start. Yet they refused to do this after Trubs was drafted and are doing it again now. If I was Dalton I'd rather be hearing that tbh. He should have to fight for/earn the starting job and that should be plainly obvious. Plus if Nagy suddenly does switch gears and goes with Fields, then from Dalton's perspective it's going to look like the coach/GM repeatedly lied to him, which will have been 100% true. Pace/Nagy's messaging is not only potentially backing themselves into a corner and looking stupid, but they also risk alienating the other players on the roster who will have heard their lies about the starting QB over and over again. Right now Dalton looks mediocre and it's not entirely his fault. O-line is horrid, there's no running game, play calling is mostly conservative. As for deserving to get booed, I wouldn't go that far. It's the preseason and he's said all the right things off the field. Now if the offense sucks this bad come regular season, yeah he'll deserve it. Not to defend Nagy, because the lack of preparation and discipline in other areas of the team are glaring, but I really do think he shies away from opening up the playbook in the preseason. You're exactly right though about no one (not even Nagy) knowing what "this offense is supposed to be" in year 4. I'm just saving my criticisms of him and the offense for the regular season.
