Morning after thoughts *WEEK 7 EDITION*

Why not attempt a 58 yard field goal to end a half when there's one second on the clock? Furthermore...if you're going to try a pass instead...why not chuck it down the field?

I don't understand Nagy's willingness and seemingly plan to simply throw away downs. He has these little cute gadget plays that waste downs and he seems okay with that. You don't waste a down on 3rd down because you know you're going for it on 4th...I don't care if they converted it on 4th...that's an awful idea. There were 6 or 7 plays that were just throwaways...that's unacceptable to me.

Taylor Gabriel and Tarik Cohen are very big weapons but they spend way too much time running side to side instead of getting up the field. You can't waste movement in the NFL. Gabriel is very good at catching the ball with his feet already moving and getting downfield. He isn't good catching the ball stationary and then needing to do something. Watch the Patriots receivers when they catch a ball...they are moving their body forward towards the first down marker always.

I could think of about 50 things I saw in the game yesterday that illustrates why Belichick and his coaching staff are so good at what they do and how the Bears lose games because they don't have effective coaches. Even the Patriots getting away with holding.

When's the last time this team had a coach on either side of the ball you knew could outcoach the other team consistently? Please don't say Marinelli...he was a motivator, not a schemer.

Bellamy was fucking awful. He gave up on an underthrown ball after losing it in the sun. On the would be touchdown Mitch wanted him to cut hard to his left and instead he just kinda half assed it so that throw sailed away from him. If he cuts hard...he's probably gonna have a chance to catch a touchdown. And then then INT....that's a catchable ball. And there are a lot of receivers around the league that would catch that or at least bat it to the ground. But not Bellamy. None of those three examples were good throws my Mitch....but all 3 of them could have produced much different results if the receiver wasn't a complete was of time, money, and a roster spot.

The other INT was a combination of a underthrown ball plus a really good defensive play. A lot of Mitch's underthrows came because of pressure in his face including the last throw of the game.

I get Khalil Mack wasn't himself...but as I believe blang said on the game thread...the defense's regression can't be just because of that. The defense had energy the first four games...they were tackling well and hitting hard. The past two games I see them quitting on plays and I see really sloppy tackling. It's not the same energy and effort level.

I'm less worried about Mitch after that game than I was two weeks ago. He wasn't good. But he also still made enough plays that he had the team in a position to possibly tie at the end. He made some amazing plays with his feet and had a few good throws get dropped. The second INT really hurts...but in the end he did throw 2 touchdowns and moved the offense a lot throughout the day. I don't see him a liability.

The calls of comparing Mitch to Cutler...calling him Cutler Jr...or calling him a bust in any sort of way are wrong.

Jordan Howard has crashed down to earth as hard as anyone on the team. It's clear he's a volume touch running back and he just isn't going to get those touches here.

Bobbie Massie sucks balls. And Leno isn't a legit NFL LT.

Spotlight on Vic Fangio....this is your mess to fix Vic. Prove why it was so important for you to stay here and not bolt to Green Bay.

I expect in game mistakes from a rookie HC. But Nagy needs to address his teams effort level and take responsibility for them coming out flat and looking unprepared yet again.

Next 6 games.....Jets at home, Bills on the road, Lions at home, Vikings at home, Lions in Detroit on a short week, and then Giants in NY after 9 days off.

All winnable games...if the team actually shows up. The playoffs are attainable.

 

I didn't get to watch the game until the last half of the 4th quarter so I missed everything. I did look at a bit of the game thread but I couldn't handle reading it from the beginning. Hopeful you guys aren't.

Really interesting assessment Bww. Coaching can hamstring a team faster than anything. This needs to get fixed.

 

Roquan Smith only played 55% of the snaps yesterday. My question is...why? He seemed to be one of few players actually playing with a purpose.

And for the second straight week Eric Kush split snaps with James Daniels....I'm curious to know the results of the offensive plays when it's either of those guys on the field.

Other thoughts....I understand using Sowell as a 6th lineman to block....why the fuck was he out there running a route as a TE though? That's something you do against the Bills or the Jets....not the Patriots.

 

We talked about it a little in the offseason but I think it's time to revisit the idea of trading Howard. I maintain he's a solid NFL RB but as some of us worried then it's become clear he's not a good fit for the offense. Nagy is not committed to the run game, which I'm kind of coming around to myself, but as you point out Howard needs lots of carries to be effective.

Can we add a pass rusher, DB, OT in exchange for Howard? Not sure who is available or who is disgruntled enough to want to be traded. I'll take a 2nd round pick if we can get it, especially since we don't even have that in 2019.

 

I'm fine with flipping him for a pick if he isn't going to be used in a way that will make him effective.

 

While I’m fine with trading and getting something for Howard, I worry about the effect that would have on opposing defensive gameplans. Without him, I think opposing D’s would be able to T off on Trubs.

 

From where I was sitting, the ball hit Bellamy in the chest (yes underthrown) and the DB was able to rip it out from Bellamy's hands.

 

TRubisky dropped back to pass 58 times yesterday. 58,,,

 

Howard has only had 20+ attempts in a game once this season...that coming in Arizona.

He rushed 12 times yesterday...14 times last week....11 times against TB.

Ran for a 3.3 average yesterday...right near his 3.5 season average.

I think he's a volume rusher that gets better as he gets more carriers. That just isn't going to happen in this offense.

 

Welcome to the NFL in 2018. Nobody is going to "get off the bus running" anymore. Some coaches still say that but no one means it. At least Nagy doesn't BS about it.

 

A healthy amount of the Bears passing plays are essentially runs too...those quick outs and bubble screens go down as pass plays but are more like a rush.

 

I was one of the ones v concerned about Howard coming into this season in this offense. But still, I wasn't sure about trading him cos of the value you'd get + the fact he's put up v good numbers/should've gone to a pro bowl/3rdgens point about teams counter scheming.

This far in it looks v much like the Bears should've sold high, but frankly that time has come and gone. I'd be surprised if u got much more than the browns did for hyde, I just don't see the value in that.

This notion that Howard is a volume guy.... I'm really not sure I buy that. If it's true then Howard's numbers should be way better in the 3td/4thq than the 1st. I really don't believe that. Still on hols, so not researching it... But off memory I don't buy that at all.

Howard doesn't need volume per se, he needs better interior blocking and he needs to just play better himself. Re blocking Kush has been pish. Re Howard I just don't think he's playing as well regardless of scheme.


I've been a long time Fangio fan, but being fair I have to admit I've not been impressed the last 2 week's. V the phins Gase's entire O plan was to keep it conservative and not let Brock kill him. The entire play was in front of the Bears D. If guys tackled properly and acted like they gave a shit our D wouldve squashed their O and no one would be saying shit about Fangio.

But last night was piss poor. Despite Nagy and his soft ass bs I expect Fangio to properly motivate these guys. When the D tackles like pussies 2 weeks running I look at him.

Personally I think player performance is making so.e of the coaching look worse than it is. Something is going on with that D, I don't k ow what it is or what's happened behind closed doors but something has happened since the Bucs game.

Either way this is now on Fangio going forward. If they keep playing this way on D then he should be held fully accountable.

 

In a matter of 3 1/2 hours we went from 1st in the division to last.

And if anyon thinks the Jets game is a gimme....

 

No game with this team should be considered a gimme. And tbh I think that statement was valid even before Miami.

 

Btw the part about Trubs throwing 58 times....

Think where Nagy has come from. Alex Smith wasn't throwing like that last season in KC. And Kareem Hunt had nearly 300carries.

I'm not sure this run/pass ratio is purely down to Nagy's philosophy. Trestman was quite open about considering a wr screen to Jeffery beimg an extension of a running play. I'm not sure Nagy is that far over. I just don't think they feel Howard is being productive enough while knowing they can't call Cohen between the tackles 20times a game.

My suspicion.... is that they don't feel they're getting the level of play they want in the run game, particularly from the interior OL. And yet Daniels struggles to see the field.

Makes you wonder about Daniels. He may be struggling to transition to the pro game at this point.

 

Fwiw, let this sink in.

The Lions had almost zero trouble with the Dolphins yesterday.

 

He had more snaps than Kush yesterday. And I think they were almost even last week against the Dolphins.

 

And the Vikings torched the Jets. For me, the Jets game is a pivotal game. If we can't beat them, we're not worthy of any type of post=season discussion.

 

Didn't know that. That's encouraging.

Daniels getting onto the field full time would be a good thing. I've always been of the opinion that you take an OL high 2nd round they should be a day 1 starter.

Bit different with Daniels maybe cos of the positional aspect. Gotta say I really don't get what the Bears have done there.

 

We're not worthy of any postseason discussion until we start winning divisional games.