Looks like he hasn't put it behind the patreon yet, so this is Week 1: I haven't watched it yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. 40 minutes!
I'm at about the halfway mark and it's all the things we've talked about. One of the things I was thinking yesterday, while reflecting on the game, was that the playcalling was so different than what we saw in preseason. O'Sullivan makes the same mention, that playcalling was a little suspect. Personnel, in particular. Hard to tell that without the All-22, but it's just that you're not seeing as much of the guys you're paying big money to that you should. So far, the big 3 have been: blocking, Caleb having really erratic footwork and looking like it's his first real game action on bad throws, decision making, etc, and then some poor play from skill guys (though the first two have been 1A and 1B).
Good work varder! I too am at the halfway mark. Couple of things that stood out to me which were not even QB specific. - On the horror 20yard sack play, Sullivan is right, we talk about Shelton being terrible but my god Nate Davis was just as bad. He should've been double teaming Sweat on that play. He even moved towards him virtually brushing shoulders and never even used his hands! Like JT said it looked like a straight walk-thru rep. Utterly pathetic effort by Davis on that play F i can't stand that guy. The classic case of guy gets paid guy stops giving a F. It was sometime after this play that Davis got benched for Bates. I'd love to think that was a case of actual accountability but that may be wishful thinking. - The play where Shelton got nuked from high orbit by a fucking LB, that should've been a nailed on TD. Keenan Allen put a beautiful move and was wide open for an easy pitch, except Shelton got his ass rearranged. I've seen the excuses online about him tripping on Jenkins foot. Maybe, but shelton must still have 40-50lbs on that guy! You can't be so weak as to not even be a speedbump! Anything to slow up that LB and that pass gets to Allen. Besides, the trip only happened because Shelton was backpeddling so hard. Sure pass blocking in general can be less on the front-foot than run blocking, but when you have a LB barrelling towards you don't wait to engage him right under the QB's nose, engage him, then stuff him! We all agree Caleb played poorly yesterday, but if two people didn't absolutely SUCK at their jobs on two different plays(Allen's easy drop & Shelton) then Williams comes out his first game with 2 TD passes.
Finishing it up now. Two things: 1) The offensive line. My god, the offensive line. The interior. Like, these guys shouldn't be out there. They just should not be there. 2) A complete lack of polish to the offense. Tons of sloppy, small mistakes all over - these guys were not ready to play, across the board. It looks like the offense somehow had significantly less practice than everyone else. Honestly, it was so bad that we all saw it in live time. I don't think there was anything particularly revealing on the game film. It was what it looked like on Sunday. You've got key pieces of your offensive line that don't have an NFL-caliber player at the position. You've got a rookie QB that is rounding off parts of his game that need polish, WR's that aren't on the same page with him, etc. Just bad all around. Wish I could say there was something secret on the film that makes me feel better for next week, but there isn't. That OL is bad. Caleb and the WR's are going to need time to get better. Hopefully playcalling is better informed for next week, to try and minimize some of this stuff, because that OL isn't getting better overnight.
According to Brad Biggs the Bears worked out 8 FAs at Hallas Hall yesterday. Not 1 of them was an OL. Says it all.
Multiple return specialists worked out of these eight. If someone gets signed, what an indictment and change of heart on Velus Jones. Cornelius Johnson was the one name I’d be interested in. Really good deep threat/4.4 speed for Michigan for the past couple of years, however, the obvious problem being the OL can’t give Caleb enough time for him on a ‘go’ route.
Ha! Wish I were that young (although maybe not since I would have missed MJ/Bulls dynasty). Turning 40 next month and everyone around me says I'm becoming a curmudgeon. Couldn't watch/focus on the whole video while working knew I wouldn't get around to it after work. Going to hope that the footwork and accuracy issues were due to nerves, even though Caleb denied being nervous. As far as the blocking, I knew it was going to be bad but didn't think it would be that bad. The last thing we want is by week 7-8 to be having the debate of whether Caleb sucks vs are the Bears ruining him/failing him. But that's exactly the debate we will be having if there's no improvement from the interior OL. We talk about none of us ever having seen a star QB with this team. What we may never see is a GM who actually prioritizes/understands the importance of the interior OL, particularly when you are attempting to develop a young QB. This patchwork stuff is lazy and doesn't work and the last 4 GMs we've had all assumed that it would. I'm starting to resent Poles for this glaring and obvious failure.
Welcome to the club! I've been here since day one. That fucker comes in with a "I know OL, I was on the OL" on his resume, and then does fuck all about it. He's invested meaningful capital (good free agency money, trade or draft that includes a pick from the first three rounds) in, what, 6 WR's in his time here? And at least 4 DB's. 2 Offensive Linemen - drafted Darnell Wright and then the OT in the third round this year that has been injured for most of the time since he was drafted. He traded a 5th for Bates and signed Shelton to a 1 year deal worth $3 mil (significantly less than the deal Byard got at $15 mil, for example). So those don't count. The numbers show that he's invested significantly in the perimeter of the team, and much less in the interior. Ah, fuck, I forgot Nate Davis. 3 years, $30 mil for that guy. So, that's his one big attempt to add talent to the interior of the OL. Nate Davis. Tells you all you need to know.
I agree blang, it's long, which is why I only now got around to watching it. You guys hit on the major points, lots of which we could see real time, but I will call out. 1. Just to reiterate ev, fucking hell man, that 19 yard sack Nate Davis is complete ass. 2. Ev, I also have read so many people excusing that Shelton truck because "he got tripped" and JT sees it too, but rightly he was already getting blown up anyway, trip or no. Dude sucks. 3. The other play where Shelton decides to head hunt, oof. 4. The one I had missed was the play where BATES got fucking ragdolled as well. Guess that's why he's not the starter, or playing Center. Just pathetic. 5. Yeah blang, while I want to agree and say Poles hasn't bothered to address the line, HE HAS, he's just done an absolute piss poor job. Wright was a 1st rounder (which honestly he was ok yesterday, nothing JT called out, but there was one play I swear he whiffed on a sweep or something), but then Bates, Davis, Shelton, these are Poles choices, and based on what we've seen these guys wouldn't beat out fucking Glenbard East HS players. 6. I think I disagree dline, while at a high level yeah, nothing surprising on tape, but I really enjoy these breakdowns which give more context to what we see on the broadcast. I particularly like his analysis of the plays and personnel. I also liked that there were a bunch of designs by Waldron that actually worked and would have been big plays, if the execution had held up, I came out of that video thinking better of him than before I watched it. 7. I also thought it was good to hear JT thinking what we do, Caleb for SURE looked like he had nerves and was amped up. My only concern is what blang points out, if this OL doesn't get its shit together, we are discussing midseason if we are going to ruin Caleb.
I am already wondering it. I don't want to and I know I'm way too early and overreacting. But it's on my mind.
Remember when we thought that maybe having a GM that played OL would benefit this team? Those were nice thoughts.
I said it the night that Fields was drafted, I said it the night that Caleb was drafted. It's fucking sad that we're still here. But they've got WR's, and that's great! Right??
This is fair. I think my problem is just that we can only judge what the other 6 players / coaches are doing to a certain degree, because the OL is bad on every play. So while, yes, the additional film review and discussion is insightful / nice, it's also always at the mercy of "If we could block" or "ball gets tipped" or... it is at the root of every single play, so it's hard for me to focus on much else. The shit show up front is the same shit show we expected, and it is derailing the offense as expected.
It all just makes me so fucking mad. We all see it. They had all the chances to fix it. And we're still here. Unbelievable. I know all the preseason hype surrounding Caleb and the WR's is what gets amplified, but we're smarter than the people who pay attention to 30 seconds of Bears football a year, and so (hopefully) are the people making decisions for the Bears. So why is this still happening???
If that's the play I think it was, he couldn't wait to get out of his way and it almost looked like he gave him a tush push in Caleb's direction.
For any of you who might like to check out game film without breaking the bank I suggest NFL+ it’s like $100 for a year subscription that allows you to go back and watch any game from minutes after the live game ends to years back. I have always chosen this because I live out of market and between having to work during games and the amount of games that are nationally broadcast I never felt it was worth the money for Sunday ticket. One of the perks is the condensed games and the all 22 access included. The All 22 has been frustrating at times but this season they have introduced NFL pro and it’s pretty sick. I stumbled over it but you can check it out at pro.nfl.com It makes it really easy to pinpoint what you want to watch. Like All Caleb’s drop backs from week 1. You can put in any player and watch there plays. It’s quick and easy to jump around and pick and choose what you want to focus on. Anyway whether your into it or not I figured I would share the info with my Bears peeps.
