Nobody's posted yet? Slackers. Let us begin... Nick Foles said it best yesterday postgame when he said 'I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss." Yeah. Me too. Except all fucking 5 of your wins are ugly. But. They're 5-1 approaching a very difficult next 4 weeks. As for Foles, I really only hated two throws yesterday. The ugly INT and throwing to ARob in tight double coverage and a 1st down deep in the redzone became 3 points. I don't care if it was PI, Robinson was doubled. I think one of Ev or Blang mentioned Kmet on that play had a scrawny DB on him. I saw that too. I hated his tiny 'out hitch' route, because if I recall the play was a 3rd and long and he went 2-3 yards. You know, vintage Nagy on 3rd down (needing 10 yards and dialing up a 3 yard pass). As for Nagy. Dude needs playcalling taken away. Back to back bubble screens (in fairness one of them had a chance until 6'2, 220 lb Javon Wims got brute forced off his block of a 5'10 180 lb Donte Jackson.) doesn't work in the nfl. Teams are too god damned fast and much smarter on defense. A delay of game after a timeout? Inept, vanilla, and predictable run game until the end when Carolina's D started to look gassed. Passing on 3rd and 2 when you need to milk a clock? Milking 23 seconds when you're up 7 points late in the 4th? He may be a dink and dunk genius, but the next 4 teams you play are smart enough to identify that/try and stop it. You need a run game. Running right (because Leno and Coward were offensive to watch) when Foles is under center works with simple zone blocking from the OLine. Don't run from shotgun, and don't go left. Nagy can't work the niche that successful before expanding from there. Someone in the game thread suggested that Nagy wants the run to fail, and I'm beginning to agree with that. Nagy keeps saying he isn't blind, so he can't cop out when shotgun runs to the left get blown up immediately. The OLine was straight bad too many times. I have no clue how the fuck Rashad Coward is going to block Aaron Donald next week. Charles Leno is a turnstile. Simple DLine stunts wrecked these guys. Monty is silky smooth in the open field. Find a way to get him in the open field more, genius playcaller. WRs mostly were solid. Except Anthony Miller. Time to bring up Riley Ridley. I'll own being a meatball here--but if I'm Pace, I'm dangling Anthony Miller for OLine help from a garbage team. There's George Fant from the Jets, but he's in year 1 of a 3 year, 30 million deal. This year he gets 7.5 of his 13.7 guaranteed mil, but with a tight cap situation upcoming this offseason, you'll have to move/cut someone to keep him when his cap hit is 9.4 mil (and 10.6 in 2022). Fant, while far from perfect--is the most likely. Cant see Houston dealing Tunsil after firing Bill O'Brien. Even though the Vikes are probably going to clean house, but inter-division trades aren't likely. Andrew Norwell on the Jags wont be cheap to trade for or make room for his 15 mil cap hit (also James Daniels comes back next year). Falcons probably aren't moving Jake Matthews (they could move their contract-year, 35 year old C Mack, but I don't see Whitehair moving). Nate Solder from the Giants opted out for Covid (and is expensive). TEs were good enough. Why Demetrius Harris got passes thrown his way in the 2nd half and not Kmet is my one beef. Defense pitched a great game. Overall they aren't elite/generational, but they're better than 'just good.' Bridgewater before the bears had near perfect stats into the season for a QB. And he was frustrated and flustered. Often. RRH needs to be phased out. More Mario Edwards. Linebackers overall were good, other than Noquan not knowing what to do when Bridgewater would tuck and run. Trevathan isn't dead after all. That was nice. Robert Quinn hasn't been good. He's getting blocked in a lot of 1 on 1's when the attention is on Mack, and that's not acceptable for 14 and change mil a year. Mack is Mack. Hicks can break plays like Tommy Harris could. James Vaughters makes some plays too. I don't know where the rookie you traded up for (Trevis Gipson Jr.) was. Inactive. Still nicer than Isaiah Irving, Floyd, and Aaron Lynch. Secondary. Rough day with some bright spots for the rookie. He had a couple bad/soft plays (when he let Robbie Anderson run past him for 39 yards). The PI call on him that gave the Panthers the ball on the bears' 5 was horseshit. Fuller's shoulder to shoulder hit was horseshit (but Fuller had a couple big/solid plays). Gipson hasn't been bad. His U-turn, not-blitz confused me. EJax got robbed of another pick 6. Skrine can be phased out by DHC and I'd be fine with that. It feels good not to be talking about the kicker. The trade deadline for the NFL isn't like MLB, NBA, or even sometimes NHL (even though Goodell in recent years seemingly is trying to make it similar with a ton of movement like other leagues when NFL trades are infrequent given teams' roster sizes). Deadline's soon. Is Pace going to deal? Rams game already has an ugly feel to it. Who is going to block Aaron Donald? Rams also are weak against TEs and slot WRs this year. The big match up we're all waiting for: The invisible man (Leonard Floyd) versus the turnstile (Leno). If Cooper Kupp wants to keep dropping big passes for another week, I wont complain. The 49ers are without stars on defense and they stopped Robert Woods. They made Jared Goff look like garbage. Darrell Henderson isn't a bad RB by any means. The bears are 5-1. Wait, the bears are 5-1? Feel free to add.
Oh. Almost forgot. Green Bay getting bent over and used like a cheap hooker by Tampa in all three phases in prime time was a treat to watch.
Agree with everything that's been said about Nagy's play calling and situational awareness. I'm pretty sure it was pressure from Quinn that caused Bridgewater to throw the INT to seal the game. Quinn hasn't been good enough, but makes an appearance once or twice a game. Other thoughts: - Shop A Miller or push him down the depth chart. - Activate Lamar Miller and give him some carries. - JJ had a bad game yesterday but the PI call was horseshit and he played it perfectly. Our CB tandem is good. - I've ripped O'Donnell plenty over the years but he was good yesterday. - Santos, let's roll with him. - Foles presser was great. - Next week against Aaron Donald may be the 2010 Giants game for Cutler equivalent for Foles. I'm scurred.
Seeing the Bucs destroy the Packers, the formula is something we could imitate. I'm trying to fight back the hope I feel coming on, mitigation strategy for the the disappointment that inevitably will come... but if we could just straighten up the o-line and get the run game going, we're easily a playoff team. There's something about the o-line that feels like 2010-11, though not exactly the same. But remember 5-6 games into those seasons the o-line situation also seemed helpless but Martz adjusted (somewhat). 2010 we go to the NFCC, 2011 we were on our way there before Jay got hurt. I'd like to have hope that at the very least something can be done, whether it's moving guys around, benching someone, bringing someone from the practice squad, trading for someone... something. Do it!
Quinn got close on the last play, but that entire pocket collapsed when Bridgewater got rid of it. I'll give him a pressure for the play and a thumbs up. But. One tackle on the day. One sack on the year (week 2 strip sack). That's something I expect of depth edge guys like James Vaughters, not the guy you dumped a 1st round pick for and gave a lot of $ to. Is he hurt? Is he bad? Is Patterson getting 1 rushing attempt yesterday the better option? Well here is a conundrum. I took a quick gander at present free agents and the list...well it isn't good. Top of it is Cordy Glenn, who was a superb left tackle and guard for a few years. He was cut by the Bengals because he cant stay on the field. Probably not a guy you can count on. Larry Warford opted out of season, so he's not an option, meaning Josh Kline is the #2 OL per NFLTR's list. Kline is a former Vike and something doesn't seem right when you look at him. Vikes lost their starting G Pat Elflein for the season last month, and a quick google of the guy and you'll find articles saying Vikes interested in keeping him, meaning this guy should get a call right? Nope. They sign some nobody who's played in the CFL and bounced around PS/IR lists since 2015. After that its a center named Evan Boehm who's been on 6 teams in 5 years. Yeah no... So FA not looking so good. Didn't they draft 2 guys in late rounds in May? Who and what is an Arlington Hambright? He started at LT for University of Colorado after transferring away from Oklahoma State after losing the starting LT job due to an injury. Lachevious Simmons? Played every position at Tennessee State. Don't see any injury problems with these two. Trade is your other option. If you can do Miller straight up do it. I'd prefer no more mortgaging of draft picks, but that just isn't fucking likely with Ryan Pace, is it? Not to sour the mood a week after a W, but Nagy had 10 days to do something/change something and it just looked like more of the same. Monty having a few big chunk plays when Carolina was gassed made the day look a whole lot better. I need better than 3 YPC against a team with a porous run defense... I brought up taking palycalling away from Nagy. First guy up would be Bill Lazor. While still OC in Cinci a couple years ago under Marvin Lewis, he had Joe Mixon rushing for over 1000 yards and 4.9 YPC. Too bad Nagy wont give up playcalling.
Not for the first time this season, that was a game the Bears should've won by 20points and which should've been over by the mid 3rd Quarter. - The Offense has basically regressed back to 2019 levels. The running game is pure garbage and there's a lot of reasons for that but the HC is a big one. Now i really don't want to buy into this theory being floated about Nagy wanting the running game to fail. It just sounds nonsensical to me, and yet, im also at a loss to give a better explanation sooo..... - I am completely done with this O-Line. All of them, done. The only guy worth keeping is on IR, those guys out there yesterday were complete BUMS!!! They were actually an embarrassment to themselves. The Panthers had 1 good DL out there and a bunch of 2nd/3rd stringers. And they had depth issues due to injuries. And yet they kicked our OLs ass cos they simply wanted it more imo, which is something you see basically every week. These guys are fucking soft! The OL has lacked aggression since the day Nagy got here. Watching them play makes me sick. Pace you have got 6days to try and trade one of these bums, cos i guarantee if you try in 7days you will get laughed off the phone because the Rams D-Line is gonna fucking destroy these pussies. We are gonna have to sit thru the ignominy of Leonard fucking Floyd owning the Bears next week. God dammit. - That pick Foles threw was horrific. Factoring in the situation, it was as bad a decision as anything ive seen from Trubisky in 3years. To have the Defense make a great play, give you the ball on the 20 with a chance to take over the game and on 1st DOWN you do that??? Unforgivable. And he was lucky as hell not to have another in the 1st half which was also a really bad decision but the defender couldn't catch. - Matt Nagy was an utter disaster, in every way. And its not just the play calling. His game management is atrocious. Once again failing to bleed the clock, calling a pass on 3rd down that didnt work and putting it on the D, which btw wont be there for him one of these days because statistical probability will catch up with them eventually. The decision to burn his last timeout at the end of the 1st half to save 7seconds rather than just let it run to the 2min warning was fucking grade school clock management. That decision immediately wiped out any realistic chance of them getting a TD before the half. They were playing for a FG cos of that. Not that there isnt much to talk about re play calling. You finally get Kmet going out there. He's getting open, catching some passes, hitting his blocking assignments so what do you do, pull him to start targeting Harris? Moron? Its 3rd down so you call a tight window slant to Cordarelle Patterson? A WR so good at catching that he plays RB? Moron? I could go on and on but this is what we have to show for 11days prep time. I know we spoke of this exact thing last season but its still true, Nagy needs to take a look at how a team like the Rams Offense functions. Around 3/4 of their Offense running out of 12 personnel, with the best players on the field the maximum amount of time. Who are your best players Nagy? Do you even know?? 12 personnel should also be the Bears base offense, i have no idea if it is. Guys are coming on and off the field so much how can you tell? - Defense collectively gets a solid A from me against a team that was rolling and a QB & RB who were playing very well. They are giving up 19PPG which given how much they're on the field and the fact they've gone up against some good Offenses, is excellent. - 6 games in, its time to take stock of the DL a little bit. Hicks is half man half beast, we knew this. But Nichols, Edwards, Urban & RRH. Nichols & Edwards both had a really nice game. They've shown up a bit recently without it always translating to the stat sheet but yesterday it did. Urban was quiet but he was also on the injury report all week. The snap count may show they used him lightly. But he's been a high energy guy and i like him in the rotation. RRH..... pat and i went back and forth on him at the start of the season and basically the way its going so far pat is looking more right than i am. RRH just isnt doing enough. He was unlucky to have a sack taken off him by Nagy against the Colts, but other than that what has there been? His stat sheet this season is as full as my wallet on New Year's Morning. Only time i noticed him yesterday was when he twice got blown completely off the ball in short yardage. Dude needs to start showing up, playing time this season and a contract next are riding on it. - What does Charles Leno have to do to get benched. Or even asked about to Nagy in the postgame presser by the feeble Chicago media? - JJ did great forcing that INT on the first series, but other than that i thought he had a really bad game. And im not even talking about the PI. Getting torched by Anderson in off coverage was weak. And i think at least twice there were mental/assignment errors. One he clearly thought he was playing zone and could pass off the crossing WR when he should've been playing man. By the end they were going after him a bit. Tough day, but he's a rookie, you're gonna have em and id rather have them in a win for sure. After such a bright start a little reality check is ok. Keep the feet on the ground and refocus. He did have a nice PD late in the game which told me he was still fighting and it wasnt overwhelming him. He'll be fine. - Old Roquan.....had himself a good game i have to say. Im gonna look for this second time around but it seemed like there were a lot of Panthers jawing at Smith throughout the game, particularly Davis. Was that a strategy? Could Davis have given them some intel based off his time in Chicago? Maybe im reading too much into it, maybe not. Maybe him and Davis didnt get along or had some minor beef last year. That clip of Philip Rivers being the douchebag he is to Smith and trying to get in his head got a lot of play around the league a few weeks ago, maybe that played into it? Teams see everything. Gonna watch for this going forward. - 1 more thing about Foles. I too saw him in the presser and ive got to say i really liked it. The guy spoke with a lot of fire. He acts like a leader. If he could just give them some consistent & competent play it would make it soooo much easier to retool that Offense next offseason.
Im sorry to pop your bubble here buddy but its not gonna happen. That OL is completely talent deficient and they also dont have the nasty mentality to at least go to war each week and try to grind opponents down. There is also no one else to bring in because there is no depth. This is all 100% on Ryan Pace. He had an OL that was complete dogshit last season and he did virtually nothing to improve it. The one move he made in FA, which he had too cos Long retired, he brought in Ifedi who is just a guy when multiple pro bowler Larry Warford was there to be signed. With both Tackle spots a huge need Pace did fuck all until picking 2 guys right at the end of the draft, 1 of whom i dont think even made the team. This O-Line is a joke. The approach to building it has been a joke. Pace is a joke.
I want to remark on something I brought up in the game thread, and that BWW responded to: I thought the defense got run on worse than they did. BWW pointed out that they clamped down in the second half. Looking back at the play logs, except for Teddy's runs, they absolutely did. The ground game just wasn't there for Carolina. Granted, they were picking up some chunks through the air, but the fact that the defense clamped down on the run in the second half is comforting. Credit to Pagano and the players. Nagy is never going to give up offensive playcalling duties. I think he believes that it's why he's here, it's his baby, etc. And that's a damn shame, because I think he really gets in his own way. He has his moments, but far too many dumbfounding decisions between. Now, it is simultaneously true that this offensive line is cripplingly bad, and that's on Pace's constant declining to make any meaningful effort to improve it. Here's to next week. Tough Monday night game.
Lots to agree with here, my replies / thoughts after. Let me save you some worry, NO, full stop. This team is winning and Pace, for whatever reason, feels like this oline is good enough. It is not. They were getting pushed around by ATLANTA's Dline at one point. Everyone looks like world beaters against them. Honestly, the other teams just look....hungrier. I'll bet any money though that Pace feels he has what he wants. - that's the presser if anyone hasn't seen it. I agree, the energy coming from him, and specifically the fact that he's pumped about them getting better and not blowing smoke up our ass that the offense is great? Refreshing. Foles had two throws (at least) that were garbage. But honestly, compared to how Mitch was playing? It's a breath of fresh air. I don't know why so many people in Chicago went to bat for that kid, but he could not read a defense to save his life. Foles may not have the arm talent Mitch does (what he has anyway) but his head MORE than makes up for it. Foles isn't a franchise quarterback or anything like that, but he certainly can be a placeholder while we get him. Mitch is 100% a bust that we TRADED UP for. In Foles presser you get too, that play wasn't even designed for Kmet. Nagy clearly doesn't trust him, and that's fine, but when you see the mismatches on the field, make them happen? I can't shake the feeling that Foles is making this offense look better than it would be, left entirely to Nagy. Now my throughts: * 5-1 is 5-1, and I honestly did not expect that at this point, certainly not after the first two games. * JJ - put me in the bad game camp. They were clearly going after him and hopefully he learned a bit. It mostly seemed mental rather than being physically beat, so hopefully this is all stuff he learns from. The PI was garbage, but I actually can see it I guess because it looked like his right arm was pinning the WRs left. If he got that arm up he might int though. Later similar plays he got up and the WR still came down with it though. I'm still optimistic. * The pass rush showed up! I think Pagano is a bit nuts rushing only 3 at times, but even still they got pressure. * The Panthers are a good team, so winning in this fashion, for all the things that didn't happen is still a very solid win. Never trailed the entire game. * The next three weeks are going to *really* determine the season. Rams, Saints and Titans? Those are all solid teams. If they come out of that 2-1 I will be a believer, no matter how "ugly" they are. Because after that, we run into the divisional part of the schedule, but we'll almost already have enough wins for a wildcard. * I stick by the previous week where we said, "I love Nagy as a HC/motivation guy, I hate him as a playcaller". If anything will prevent us from progressing far in the playoffs (or causing us to miss the playoffs) it will be him. The run game has sucked and if ever there were a game to establish it, it was against the Panthers. The *only* excuse I can give him, is Juan Castillo has been in quarantine due to Covid, but I don't buy it's the whole reason. * Arob continues to lose contested balls. I expect more from our #1. Still deserves to be paid though. * I went and watched the Packers game, and man was that amazing. I think I hate Rodgers more than I hated Favre just because he seems cockier, so to see him so completely shit the bed was a thing of beauty. However, I want to see the Bears finally beat the Packers, and with some consistency. Since 2011, the Bears are 3-17 (!!) against the Packers. That is beyond pathetic for our chief rival. https://www.footballdb.com/teams/nf...The two teams have met,have also tied 6 times. - look at all the Ls on there in the 90s, 2000, 2010s. Put another way, I will expect them to *at least* split if the Bears can manage 2-1 over the next three games. Any less than that, I fully expect us to get swept. AGAIN.
I didn't really get a chance to fully watch the game so I'm waiting for the condensed game to get released, but from what I saw it looked like Roquan and Trevathan seemed to get into a groove. I still have high hopes for Roquan, he is consistently there, just gets pushed around too much. I was good with Naggy throwing the ball late last week to get closer but I was so mad when he kept throwing it to close the game. Did I catch a flea flicker attempt? No idea why, but I love me a classic flea flicker. Was it a bad play or was it a bad throw due to the rush? Looking ahead I'm starting to get a bit of confidence with this team, at least on the defensive side. Having glimpses of 2018, defense can carry the O to decent spot in the playoffs. One thing that is different is that they seem to get stronger as the game goes on. In 2018 they always got gassed as the offense kept them out there so much. I'm waiting for this offense to show more than just some flashes. I'll probably be waiting for a while.
I’ll bring up penalties again. I know some were BS but we are way too undisciplined especially on defense. Gotta fix that. Foles isn’t impressing me much. I still like him better than Trubisky but he has to play better. Way too many prayer throws yesterday. Same with Montgomery. Yea the o line has sucked but he is dancing too much.
I love them too but you don't try to run when you can barely crawl. The whole play was crap. Mingo looks like a bargain right now as a part time player. Edwards has contributed well. RRH...I was wrong about you kid. You suck. Trevathan is playing better and Pagano knows it because he has increased his snap count. Was it a conditioning problem early on? Roquan is getting into a groove. He's been everywhere lately. Tough game for the rookie corner. But he should have his head held high because he really didn't play bad. A few mistakes...the PI wasn't one of them. Thought he played that one perfectly...it's a bad call. Speaking of bad calls...there were tons. The PI not called on ARob in the redzone....the flag on Fuller was shit. Grounding not called...a very suspect neutral zone infraction. Just ugly. QBs avoid Fuller...the numbers show it. Maybe because he's out to kill. But maybe he's just that damn good. I have always given the dude shit from day 1. And I still don't like how off the ball he plays so often. But the results are there and they are great. Opposing offenses know it. The guy is nearly half way through putting up what I think will be his 4th season of top notch play at a very difficult position. The communication between Jackson and Gipson is very good. They are working well together. Overall the secondary has allowed the fewest passing touchdowns in the NFL. The offense on the other hand.....awful. Nagy playcalling...bad. Execution...bad. No rhythm. No nothing. Just all bad. The Foles pick was terrible. I get that the blocking broke down. You're an experienced veteran with a SB ring....you know better than to just chuck it up for grabs. Anthony Miller should be on the practice squad. Riley Ridley should be active. Finally used Cole Kmet to do what he was drafted to do...so when then throw passes to Harris? And why can't Harris catch? Khalil Mack is a beast...imagine if Quinn was actually playing how he got paid to play. No words for Akiem Hicks anymore. Real life monster. After the Rams performance against the 49ers....I'm actually looking forward to next monday. Don't let me down assholes. At least it's Foles and the not ready for primetime Mitch Trubisky. We don't have to see Mitch's deer in headlights look on a nationally televised game. Whenever they show his eyes he looks like someone that just had their name called on the Price Is Right. The ugliest 5-1 you can imagine. But it's still 5-1. And with a hard stretch of games coming up...we are gonna look back at these wins and be very thankful.
I don't mind that he does it because when you watch them do it...it's typically not telegraphed. And they very randomly choose who drops into coverage. I even saw a play where Roquan rushed and both edge rushers covered. Whether they get home or not...you're making QBs think. You're giving new and different looks. And you're dropping things on film for future opponents to see. Pagano gets a lot of shit because he's not Vic Fangio. But...I have very little to complain about with the guy. I wish our edge rusher opposite Mack was better and off the ball coverage irritates me. This defense isn't as super dominant as they were in 2018. Eddie Goldman being out plays a role in that. But this is still a very good defense. And Pagano deserves some credit for it being so.
I'm slowly moving off the "Pay A-Rob" train. Ever since that campaign started he's losing contested balls every game, often leading to INTs. That rarely happens with a legit #1 WR, let alone week after week. He's got 10 games to show he deserves the salary he's demanding. The 3rd and 2 pass to him, that we all rightfully hated, should have been caught to seal the game. I've been saying for years the biggest barrier to long term success for us is the Packers dominance over us. Even in lean years during the same time period we've had a fairly even head to head record with the Vikings and Lions. A lot of people didn't like when Lovie was hired when he said our #1 goal was to beat them. I did. Because I knew if we achieved that goal, only then could we win the division. This was true then and still true in 2020. Aside from the poor head to head record since 1992, there have been games like the 52-7 raping on SNF during the Trestman meltdown. I'm tired of it and I'm tired of bitching about it. At the time I was fine with the call but yeah, our o-line is not good enough to hold up on a play like that. Bad throw resulted due to the rush. He sort of quit on one play where we had Davis bottled up but allowed him to go outside for 10+ yards. But otherwise he's been alright. Yesterday I was feeling good but not today. The more I dwell on the state of the offense, and how the execution and playcalling hasn't improved in 3 years under Nagy, I still see us as an 8-8 team. Even with the 5-1 start.
Sorry for the essay, but tons of great points all around. I disagree. I don't know if you've watched many Rams games this year (they've been prime time afternoon/night games), but Leonard Floyd is still a professional blocked and invisible body being used in coverage more. Just like he was here. On the other hand, I still don't know who is going to block Aaron Donald. This. And he's a damned bargain compared to some other DBs, like the one ARob is going to play this Monday. Mingo and Vaughters > Achoo, Lynch, and Irving. What bothers me is Vic Fangio constantly shifts coverage/moves DBs/LBs around and confuses QBs, even good/great ones. Its second nature for him to do that (and he still does it now calling Denver's D). Disguise safeties and DBs in zone and when the ball gets snapped boom. Man coverage. QB has to think as you mention, but it just seems like Pagano seldomly does that. When Bill Belichick, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and many more good/great HC's/offensive guys flat out say Fangio's D is the hardest to gameplan against (and Belichick admitting he copied Fangio's regular season Rams gameplan where he stuffed the interior OL to win the SB in Feb, 2019), its hard to be better than that guy, I get it. Pagano is good, Fangio is just elite--swap Pagano and Vic in 2015--does Pagano get that much out of Willie Young and Pernell McKnee? Does he turn a 5th round safety and undersized LB at Penn State into a guy the Packers stole with big $? They both specialize the 3-4, but Vic perfected it/the mentality. His resume from the Ravens to Stanford's resurgence in the 2010s to here to now Denver with that defense. Fangio seemingly treated every defensive stand like he was trying to stop you no matter the score and no matter if you scored. Pagano kind of seems like he takes his foot off the gas too much at times (especially opposing teams 1st possession of the 2nd half). He loves the lame duck 'bend, don't break.' It won and he made a FA/back up QB from last year look like a back up quarterback. Hat's off--but bending/not breaking is what Lovie did and he lost a lot at the end of games (and his job). Ev brought up statistical probability and he's right, when you're playing 'not to lose' (IMO another way to say bend/don't break) in this league. No defense is going to be throwing perfect games in 2020's "offense" era (Rob brought up penalties--and I do think refs are trying these past couple of years to generate more offense/wow plays). Its different, its not bad by any means--and I have to give him credit for Jaylon Johnson because a that's a rookie corner getting targeted (as is Skrine) and he's balling. He's not a rookie safety, who gets a much bigger cushion/learning curve because a play has to develop 2-3 seconds if you're going to attack a safety when if you're trying to stop a crazy-good front 7 you get rid of the ball quick (probably at the rookie corner)--but I'm still going to be that guy. If Fangio/Elway get canned after this year (unless the Broncos just go on an absurd winning streak), Pagano's 2 year deal is up and I want Vic back. I saw this too on a few plays but still find Monty hard to grade overall. A lot of the time, he's dancing/using all of his moves while still 4-5 yards deep in his own backfield just to fight for a 2 yard loss. He doesn't have a chance when the entire DLine is in the backfield. Other plays I see this (and he's not the only one dancing)--where he just tries to make a play instead of lunging forward for an extra 1-2 yards and instead gets 0 or negative at the end of the run. Blang brought up Lamar Miller. Where's this guy? Matt Patricia still has a job. So does Mike Zimmer. There's 3. Houston is still bad. The bears play the packers close (not guaranteeing a win, but with the roll of the dice at the end of a game--all the bears have to do is be within 1 score to have a chance). I like the bears in some spots against the rams. Except Aaron Donald and Andrew Whitworth (dude is the best LT in the game, and he turns 39 in a month). I thought until the 49ers made him look awful that Jared Goff was finally starting to figure things out. He looked like a lost rookie. They can make him look like a lost rookie, and they got a great shot. Their RB Henderson is legit though. If I'm McVay I'm running this guy 20+ times this game.
I think that was more Ed Donatell's influence than Fangio....Donatell is a genius with coverages. But it falls under Fangio and the two of them together have been running that scheme for years. They are great at it. The true job of a DC these days is to make the QB think. If you can buy time and force an offense to adjust....you are doing something right.
I still think he deserves to get paid, as the WR market is thin (who else would we get?) and I would HATE to take a flyer on a 1st round WR again. He's still got the right attitude and we can win with him. But I agree obviously, the contested balls are pissing me off. I actually was more down yesterday than today. Yesterday I was bleak on the offense, particularly the offensive line, but I have more hope in the "streaky" Foles than I should, probably. There is always the chance that Nagy calms down and starts running the ball, opening up the play action and all the other gadety bullshit he loves, and relieves some pressure on the shit line. 8-8 at this point means winning only 3 games the rest of the year, they've already won at least 2 I didn't expect them to. The bounce of the ball this year will sneak them into the playoffs. But as I said, the next 3 games are big time. They roll through those in even ok fashion...then it's just a matter of getting through the packers for once. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/powerrankings/ - Prisco talks here about how he doesn't believe in the Bears (and has picked against them every week), yet he put them #6 overall! Shocking, no way I would rank them that high.
