Chicago Bears vs Detroit Lions Game Thread

Bravo Jaylon Johnson

 

Huh. This a win!!

 

Did you the RB drop the game in the endzone hahahahaha!!!!

God i love the Lions. Forever destined to be the team that keeps on giving.

 

We won?

It doesn't feel like a win. D played like crap. Zero pass rush on that last drive, and all day.

 

Never in doubt

just as predicted

 

We're 1-0 for the first time in forever.

 

Oh yeah the season already looks in major jeopardy, but on the bright side we got to see the Lions at peak Lions tonight. Few funnier sights in football.

 

Wow. Crazy.

 

Had to watch the game after it was done, managed to avoid spoilers at great personal effort. Immediate thoughts after calming down from the winning finish:

Mitch is a bad QB. He had a couple phenomenal series in the 4th quarter, which probably guarantees he'll be starting again next week. But at about the 10 minute mark (right before he started playing well), I said, "If Mitch comes out on the field, and not Foles, the entire staff needs to be fired". Borne from the heat of the moment? Absolutely. Do I stand by it? Yes. Let's remember: The Lions were the worst defense in the league last year, and were without a starting LB, the top half of their CB roster, and had an injured star pass rusher coming in and out of the game. Sure, this game ended well, but the 50 minutes of QB incompetence can't stand.

Jaylon Johnson gets the game ball on defense. If this kid plays the rest of his career like he did this game... he's gonna be good. He was good off the rip - no moment was too big, nothing phased him. Sure, they kept things simple for him schematically, but there was no reason to ask him to do anything else. He was just that good. He made the tip that led to the Fuller INT. I can't wait to see more of him.

Running game is here, and I hope it's here to stay. The OL played well, and Montgomery got a chance to actually run the ball. I want more of this.

Allen Robinson. Most talented player on the offense by several miles. The guy is just unreal. He caught balls that most human beings have no business getting their hands on. EXTEND HIM ALREADY.

Also, Anthony Miller. He's had flashes in his time here, marred by shoulder issues. I like him a lot, and seeing him show out tonight... gives me hope for this offense. Stepped up in the clutch.

WE NEED A NOSETACKLE. Like, any nosetackle. Just someone who can actually play the position at an NFL level. Because the gashing this team took play after play between the tackles was due to the fact that the middle of the defensive line was entirely absent. Embarrassingly so. I knew the loss of Akiem hit this team hard last year, and I was afraid Goldman's absence would do the same. It looks like it has...

Pagano's playcalling... there were moments where it was brilliant. And I don't have a problem with it on the whole. But Eddie Jackson went from a phenom under one coordinator, to a non-factor under this one. That's not to say he's a bad player, or anything of the sort - just that I don't think Pagano is making the most out of our newly-paid safety.

That's all I've got for now. I'm sure there'll be a ton of good discussion here, and I can't wait for it. For meantime, savor being 1-0...

 

Had Foles started this game, I doubt we would have been in such a big hole to begin with.

Ev pointed this out earlier but Trevathan had probably his worst game in his Bears career today. Terrible gap control, took bad angles, was lost when he dropped into coverage. The LBs as a unit were crap. Made Goldman's absence all the more glaring. Hicks also looked gassed at times. I'll chalk that up to not quite being in game conditioning.

 

After rewatching the game I am happy at how the offense looked even though it took some time to get going. Sticking with the run game and good distribution in the passing game. Mitch took his time getting in rhythm and who knows if he can keep it up but the elusiveness, scrambling and hitting down field throws were nice to see.

The defense was disappointing. Hopefully it’s do to rust from a weird offseason but Pagano is making me uncomfortable. I agree totally with Ev’s evaluation on Travathan. Putrid. Zero pash rush all game but good coverage from the DB’s. JJ had a nice first game as a pro.

 

Me too, I miss being in the game threads live, but it is what it is.

I still believe the staff gives him until he shits the bed on TNF in Week 5, so I had no similar thought. As I struggled watching most of that game, I was trying to figure out how much to put on Mitch. Honestly, I think it's a lot still.

I'm glad you posted this when I didn't see anything in the thread. He had some rookie moments, but overall was where he was supposed to be, and making plays on the ball even if the WRs/Stafford made some great plays. I have real hope for him.

The announcer put the tip on Eddie Jackson, but JJ was there too, either way, a shining spot on an otherwise dismal day.

This was the bit that shocked me the most, and really highlighted how much Mitch was not hitting guys all the way up until those final few drives where he lit up.

I love a win, but man, if this wasn't the Lions fucking Lions-ing this shit away I don't know what is. They need to sacrifice a goat or something (or maybe just fire Patricia) because that was the type of meltdown ONLY the Lions could do. And for the RB to drop the ball when he had all 3 defenders beat and Stafford puts it on the numbers? Oh yes, we are playing the Lions. Love it.

 

Some final thoughts after some digestion...

1) As pointed out, Mitch's last two drives were exceptional. Everything until that point was just painful. I flipped between the bears and the Packers hanging 40+ on Minnesota and cant help but think they would have hung 60 on this Detroit team the way it played yesterday.

I'm almost scared to ask and think one of you did in this game thread somewhere, but how bad must Foles have been in practice to lose out to a guy who played like garbage for 3 and change quarters?

Sadly it wont matter, because Mitch won. You cant go down 23-6 against the Giants though.

2) Hey look, a run game that worked! It was nice (even thought it may have been the lions) to see runs between C/G work, even with Cohen running them. Zone blocking worked. Cant complain.

3) Another game, another non-existent pass rush. I did feel slightly better when I peeked at the SNF game and saw Leonard Floyd on the rams still being bad. A few replays of Al/Chris talking about how he "almost got there." Seen that movie too many times.

4) DLine is right, we need a NT. It is a vital piece to the 3-4 defense. Sadly, good ones aren't just laying around, meaning you're going to have to get really creative, even put down a 4 front until Quinn gets back, maybe even after just given the situation with the virus this year. My inner meatball thinks Akeim Hicks playing 3-technique would be a lot like Tommie Harris when Harris wasn't hurt.

I will say Nichols did have some success, there were some plays that he was penetrating and taking the G/C combo out of the play. But the runs? Ouch. It doesn't get any better next week because instead of old man Peterson running, it will be one of the best, young running backs in football.

5) Jaylon Johnson did very well minus the one play of off-setting holding calls. I was very nervous about him this week but kid looked like a natural.

6) I don't get it. You have the cap now and next year (and in years after). Allen Robinson is great. He just turned 27 at the end of August. He wants to stay here. The Cooper Kupp's of the world should not be getting extended before the best talent at WR1 we've had in the past generation. Get this motherfucking done, Pace. What scares the ever-loving shit out of me is a potential situation where Mitch plays just good enough to earn the possibility of the franchise tag, but you cant tag him and AR. Pace would tag Mitch. AR would be gone, and we would revolt. I hope it doesn't come to that, but sadly can see it because that would be so bears.

Speaking of Allen Robinson, he's not the guy you should be running jet-sweeps with, Nagy.

6a) I'd extend Cordarrelle Patterson while we're at it. Dude's too valueable to let go and his contract is also up after this year.

6b) The WRs did well, minus Jimmy Graham at times. But old man Jimmy can still bust a move. The play he scored then had the TD called back (before Wims got the easy one in the 4th) was just beautiful what he did to the guy covering him. I would have liked to see Kmet more involved in the passing game than a play where Mitch is throwing behind him (and the defender).

7) Everyone who wanted to keep Kwiatkowski over Trevathan can say 'I told you so.' Ugly game against the run. I'm not going to knock him too much in pass defense. He should never have been covering Hockenson in man on the drag routes when Stafford had all day to throw.

I thought that a lot last year, and even yesterday I saw the same I did. Teams aren't testing him or throwing his way. They threw on Gipson when Stafford did throw downfield, successfully too. Pagano's play-calling is more 'in your face' whereas during Jackson's best years under Vic Fangio, Vic ran the same front/look every time and an offense didn't know what it was until the play was developing.

It's actually an indictment of Pagano a bit, because if your all-pro safety is getting rid of 1/2 the deep ball field for opposing QBs, you'd think you'd be at an advantage...

 

It was 1 week and it was the Lions, so there's the disclaimer, but that said....

I had to wonder after the game, are we going to witness something resembling an actual identity from the Bears O this season??!! Trubisky killed a lot of offensive production that first 3 Qs, and Nagy's jet sweep to ARob was straight Nagy, but i saw a lot of things I liked as well. Again it was the Lions, but ive got 15 weeks to be negative so F it.

What struck me about the Offense was how conventional it looked. There wasn't excessive trickery, there wasn't needlessly overcomplicated misdirections that didnt actually misdirect anyone. There seemed to be quite a lot of lining up and running a play, particularly on the ground. That could translate as a simplified Offense but i prefer to call it fundamental. I don't think i saw a shitty RB screen and im pretty certain i didn't see a single RPO or read option. Was i that shitfaced? Did Nagy actually call a whole game without RPOs or read options??

What a pleasant surprise the O-Line was. G to G they were......strong? Did Daniels just have his best game as a Bear? I hate the Graham signing, everyone knows that. And overall i was unimpressed to say the least. BUT, the Bears do now have the ability to roll out 2 TE sets and it looked like they did it quite a bit, certainly more than last season. And i like that concept.

I do feel that Nagy didn't maximise the advantages he had in this game tho. The ground game was rolling, it should've been used even more. 13 carries for Monty is simply not enough. But this is Nagy we're talking about here, maybe baby steps is the best we can hope for.


As pleasantly surprising as some things on Offense were, the performance of the D felt like i fell asleep in the woods and a badger came up and shat in my mouth.

The rookie made a very solid start imo and there is a lot to like with that pick. Good job too cos i didn't know he picked the #33 jersey. Big shoes to fill! But besides JJ (and maybe EJax), everyone else was a collection of fuckwits.

I was never fully convinced by Pagano last season, but the while D weren't flashy they got off the field a shit ton so i went with it. But now i just don't like what im seeing. In particular i pretty much hate the concepts Pagano employs with the secondary. Maybe its so good im missing it, but i just dont see any disguise. He never mixes up his coverages, its all just straight up here you go and teams can eat you up if the QB has time. Which Stafford did. A LOT. Mack needs to be in the backfield more, thats all there is too it. Don't care about double teams etc, the great ones still produce and he is most certainly being paid like a great one.


That Mooney kid looked pretty handy didn't he. Potential for a clear Gabriel upgrade there.

 

He used to have the range to cover TEs and while Hockenson looks a good all rounder, he's no blazer. Dunno how old Trev is now but maybe age and/or injuries have slowed him. Not the kind of thing you want to find out in week 1 of a season.

It could've been even worse. Before dropping the game winner, it was Trevathan that Swift left for dead on that pass route. Now i don't necessarily expect Trev to have blanket coverage on a RB that far downfield, but i sure as hell expect him to be better than 5-6yards behind where he can't even put a hand up to try and disrupt the pass/distract the pass catcher.

FWIW I thought it was JJ who got his arm in and caused the tip

 

I didn't get to see most of the game except for the last 6 minutes or so. I was going to see where I could find a replay, but I'm thinking after reading the game thread Nah, I should just leave it at that and keep my sanity.

 

Wished we could've kept Kwit. Loved his energy and fundamentals.

 

One thing I noticed about Mitch yesterday, he has a bit of Erin Rodgers in him, the unwise Erin Rodgers that sometimes pays off huge but mostly doesn't. What I mean is that he seemed to avoid an easier shorter completion that could have moved the sticks (or at least picked up some yardage) and instead rip it downfield and hope for the best. A few examples:

• The first quarter throw to Graham where Graham miss timed his jump and then lazily only used one hand and failed to catch it. Trubs could have dumped it short to Cohen who had lots of space ahead of him, and should have been able to pick up a first down, assuming he didn't run to the sidelines first.
• Third quarter throw to A-Rob where A-Rob made an incredible diving catch to get inside the 20. That worked out but it was thrown into triple coverage and required A-Rob heroics. On that play he had Graham all alone on the right side of the field about 5 yards down field with no one near him, would have been an easy pitch an catch for a first down.
• Fourth quarter play where on 3rd and long Mitch took a terrible sack and fumble. He could have dumped that to Cohen who wouldn't have gotten the first down but would have gotten positive yardage, setting up a potential 4th and short. Instead, he kept looking for the home run, ran out of time, and then ran backwards.

These are just 3 plays off the top of my head. And I like that he has confidence to sling it downfield, but more often than not the safer, easier play keeps the chains moving without the risk that has and will kill us.

 

Lots of good thoughts from everyone since game's end (always damn good talking with you all), but I'll work my way backwards while I'm at work:

I believe this to be a symptom of Mitch not processing things. We know we're lucky if he moves past his first read, on most plays. I believe instances like the ones you highlighted are him looking at the deep route, and failing to come back to shorter routes because they require him to process and move back. I don't think it's a choice, I think it's an inability. That's just based on his past, to be fair, not looking at this one's game film.

You watched the best part of the game, by far. Be grateful. My family was wondering why I'd saddled them with my perpetual depression, for the first 50 minutes.

 

For sure.