Didn't want to disrupt the grades thread, instead I have a bunch of random thoughts about this game. First half was pretty dominating, and even still they left potential points off the scoreboard. No matter what you think of how the Defense played, a shutout is a shutout. Sacks, turnovers too? All around, we can quibble but the first half was good, even if the competition isn't good. Second half...flat, uninspired on both sides of the ball. Feel free to disagree with me here, but honestly it seemed like the Giants came out with adjustments are ready to play, and the Bears looked like they wanted to milk that 17 point lead all the way down (mission accomplished, I guess). Pagano has almost everyone 10 yards down field from the jump so they could complete underneath stuff, and there was zero pass rush. On the other side Nagy got cute and was experimenting around - how many 3rd downs did they convert in the second half? Mitch started overthrowing, even if a few of his throws were on the money and dropped. And his decision making, good grief. Rather than taking what the Giants were giving, he tried hard to force it. They adjusted, we did not. Officiating, in real time, I was pissed off about the "pass interference" call, because yes, the defender has a right to the ball as well, but the key thing here is that Eddie shoulders into him first. If he had stood there and let the WR come to him, no problem, but it's that extra shoulder hit before the ball gets there that seals it. As much as it sucks, that's the right call. 0 points on offense in the second half. ZERO. No Goldman definitely hurts this system. It was nice to see the pass rush show up, and some run D as well. But that second half... Mitch is what he is at this point. 20% stellar plays, 20% overthrows/horrific decisions and 60% mediocre. Is that better than Nick Foles? We don't play the Packers until Week 12. They dismantled Detroit more or less as we all expected. More surprising in the division is how bad the Vikings looked. Point is, second in the division at the least is well within reach if this team gets a little more consistency, and a wildcard berth is not out of the question. But I do think they'll have to step it up a bit when they get to better competition. The games more or less get progressively harder through the next 6 weeks. They play like they did today and the Bucs/Saints (at least) will eat them up. To be positive, all teams are dealing with the lack of pre-season to settle in. This team is not as bad as they can look, nor are they likely as good as their highs. Either way, 2-0 is 2-0 for the first time in 7 years. Celebrate my friends and Bear Down.
Some thoughts.... - Nagy largely continued his playcalling approach from week 1 in the 1st half and i liked it. The designed QB keepers went nowhere so he stowed them the rest of the game. In the 2nd half there were some changes from him tho. The RPO's and read options came back in and they resulted in basically lost yards/a turnover. Normally i would've blamed ego for this but i don't think so this time. While they'd ground out a 17-0 lead the O, particularly the OL, had their hands full. They were winning no more than 50% of the time on run plays and only had 3.3ypc at halftime. Maybe Nagy thought they weren't getting quite enough and he had to try something else? But the way he went back to the inside zone pounds with Monty that last drive were magnificent and i would've been full of praise if he'd iced it using the Offense for once. But failing to go PA right at the end was inexplicable and im sorry to keep saying this but it was. vvvvvv Monty went for 11, 10, 9 & 23yards on that drive. After the fluke Massie catch the Bears had 1st & 10 at NYG 32 with under 4mins left. At this point the Giants had no choice but to sell out to stop the run. After showing a run heavy look and gaining 1yard on 1st down the Giants burned their last timeout. On 2nd down the Bears showed run again and again the Giants had no choice but to sell out to stop it and try to force a passing down on 3rd down. Now there's all kinds of PA you can call here, an A-Gap run fake with seam pass killshot to the TE is an option, personally i would've faked off-tackle run left then bootlegged the QB right with a TE flaring out with him on a 5yard route. Even if someone went with the TE(unlikely in run blitz) you've got them outnumbered. Trubisky can either keep and run or its a very simple pass. Odds of a 9yard gain for FD is high. Its an ice the game moment. All of that is to say that what the Bears had on 2nd down was the soccer equivalent of an open goal. Your Offensive HC/playcaller HAS to come in there and make it easy on his Offense. Nagy should be icing games himself in these situations not praying his D keeps winning games with PD's in the endzone with no time left. I like where Nagy is going generally with the O/his playcalling, but that was a HUGE miss from him. Frankly he's lucky his team is 2-0. SOrry for that long thought, im gonna try and keep it more brief now. - Trevathan looked flat out bad again. I was dipping in and out of the Cards game so couldn't really see how KPL was playing but i noticed he was starting for WASH. Smith isn't being a game changer but he's playing pretty solid imo. The PF on him was harsh imo, Daniel was late sliding. The thing about Smith, and we said this last year, he needs good play in front in order to be effective. Even more so than most ILB's imo. When the DL gets a foothold on a run play he can hit the gap and get a TFL, but if they don't he has very little. Smith wants no part of OLs on the 2nd level. - Leading on from this Bilal Nichols is trying to cover for Goldman but its very up and down and from what i can see it gets decided real quick on most plays. If he wins the initial contact he can get in the backfield and disrupt, there's plays where he does that. He can also flow down the line pretty well on outside runs providing that initial impact goes well. But if he loses on that initial engagement he seems out of the play. Good DL's can rally from that and still win. Nichols never seems to. I think its pat who keeps calling for them to sign Snacks. Id like to see that. - Looked like they limiting Robert Quinn's snaps a lot but when he was out there he looked very good. Dude was in the backfield a lot. - Mingo showed up a surprising amount yesterday. He was credited with a sack, a TFL and a QB hit yesterday. I also saw him have at least 2QB hurries too. I'll take that from a part time player every single week. Hope he can keep it going. - When i watch this D play i see very little aggression and v little swag. Given the talent level they should be full of both. Far too much passive play imo. Does this start with the DC? Im just gonna say it im not a fan of Pagano. There's enough games to say that now. I do wonder if he'll still be there next season. - Leading on from that if there's one stat id like to know its blitz %. People used to complain about Fangio not blitzing enough. It feels like Fangio is Greg Williams compared to Pagano. He just sits back and takes it no matter what. - They've gone PA with Demetrius Harris out on a deep route both games this season and both times he's got his man beat and Trubisky has failed to get him the ball. I quite like Harris, he's usually an effective blocker and has a good attitude. - Lot of big injuries round the league thru 2weeks. Bears have been lucky on that front so far. Here's hoping it continues. Go Bears!!
Not to bounce around between 'grades' and this thread but I have a few more. Trevathan, again bad. He again looked slow, even though it looked like his head/helmet looked like it could basically diagnose plays. I have a hard time believing he's been a product of Goldman in front him. Taking a look back to his days in Denver, he had a great unit around him then too (with a talented beefcake NT Sylvester Williams in the early/mid 2010s). I really hope this is injury related, but now I think its reasonable to ask if at least some of this guy's career success is because he's been in the right place at the right time with the right guys (Wade Phillips then Vic Fangio--and even Chuck Pagano has had much career success prior to his HC stint in Indy as a DC in Baltimore right after Fangio followed little Harbaugh to Stanford a decade ago). I'm not trying to be "that guy," because we're 2 games down with 14 to go and a lot can change, but ILB is towards the top of draft needs... There's no fixes at ILB in FA. Nigel Bradham is the only name (unless the Kendricks brother who's going to jail for insider trading satiates your palate), but he comes with one red flag; the Saints signed him then cut him within a week with non-injury related during what would have been the preseason. Gotta wonder if he was a dumbass, because for the Eagles and Bills he was a fantastic ILB. Bond, Vaughters, and Woods are not depth like KPL or Kwiatkowski. They look like bodies on a roster. I gushed in the 'grades' thread about how Jason Garrett decided during the last drive to attack Kyle Fuller, not the rookie. This morning after coffee and a few replays...some of what he ran looked clever and Fuller lost a few and won a few. The other looked like what finally got him fired after years of mediocrity in Dallas. The rookie Johnson looked great. I'm done with Buster Skrine. The guy is fucking useless in coverage and has Leonard Floyd's ability to look like he's around the play without doing anything to stop the other guys after they get big gains other than lose the foot race to have someone else make the tackle. If I'm Atlanta, Calvin Ridley would be in the slot and I'd throw on him all damned game. Jones and Stafford attacked him, and I'm going to guess Matt Ryan is smart enough to identify why and plan accordingly...Is Kindle Vildor ready? Can he be? If Robert Quinn isn't in game shape yet, I liked his 1st game as a bear. He's a lot better than Leonard Floyd. A lot was not working for the Giants yesterday, but their secondary might have been the best part if you were a fan of them...they did a great job bottling up Robinson and Miller. Now. Miller is playing for his 2nd contract, which is up after next year. Dropping TDs, dumb plays isn't gonna get you paid. Its going to get you replaced by Darnell Mooney. Mooney looked great. He looked faster than most on the field. He's Johnny Knox fast seemingly without *knocks on wood* Johnny Knox's brain or hands...that's pleasant to have. Feed the kid more. Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet were nice. Great #1 catch, rookie. Ev pointed out 2x in 2 weeks the bears ran PA with Demetrius Harris and he was wide open and Mitch missed. I noticed that as well. It would be nice to not miss that next week. THe Falcons will give up that play too. Mitch is love/hate. His first half was awesome. He was sharp even though his receivers weren't. The Monty catch and run TD was just smart QB play that makes it look like he's finally taking a step forward and working past his first/only read of ARob. Then the 2nd half happens and he's same level of 'bad Rex' and 'bad Jay' overthrowing or throwing bad passes. Right now he's still not worth a Franchise Tag. I assume Cairos Santos means 'barf' in some Brazilian dialect...
The best thing about the first two weeks is Nagy's balanced play calling. If not for that we'd be sitting 0-2 now and even more people would be calling for Foles. Doesn't excuse the bad play calls on our final drive yesterday. Though look at that third down pass, right before the play where Massie bailed us out. Monty wide open in the right flat for an easy first down and instead Mitch goes over the middle into major traffic. Which is why for me the bigger problem continues to be about execution than the actual play call. But the commitment to the run, whether its 4th quarter or 1st, has been so critical to minimize Trubs fuckups, as well as moving the chains and chewing clock. I'd still like to see us run more in 3rd and short, say under 4 yards, especially when the opposing D is in a dime package or something.
Good thoughts all around. I don't think I've ever felt this down about a 2-0 team. Some things I've pulled off twitter, PFF, and others... Bears are the most run heavy team right now in the NFL on plays where game situation and down or distance don't influence the call. Trevathan's playing time is dramatically down the past 4 quarters and Deon Bush's is way up. Kyle Fuller has been targeted 15 times but has allowed a passer rating of just 27.3. Jaylon Johnson has five PDs in his first two games. Second most in the league, for a rookie, since it started getting tracked in 1999. Marcus Peters had 7 in his first two games in 2015. In 2019 the Bears averaged 91 yards on the ground per game, bad for 27th in the league. Through 2 games this season they are averaging 134. Huge difference. Other thoughts/questions.... Why didn't we see any PA after Month's big 4th quarter runs? How much of that bad offense was simply Mitch freezing up in a big moment? Why does Fuller play so far off his man so often in tight games? I love Fuller....I think he's very good. But why? Is Trevathan done or just having a bad go right now? Pagano has no faith in him. Bilal Nichols isn't showing me anything at NT. Had high hopes for this kid once. NT is not an easy position but he's got to be better. Mooney can f'n ball. Bye Ted Ginn Jr. Wasn't nice knowing you.
If any of you watch the game over or watch the All-22....key in on Mooney's route running. I did last week and this kid is legit.
Last thought.... Were there 2 Eddie Jackson's on the field Sunday? Because I swear he was absolutely everywhere.
Yeah, phenomenal thoughts from everyone, as always. I spend all game shouting and bitching at the TV, and then come on here to see everyone has already said everything I'd need. I genuinely appreciate it, all. The most important points to me: - Lack of a NT. This is really hurting. - Pagano's playcalling. I just can't understand being so soft in the second half. Coverage was sitting in soft zones giving the offense easy quick throws in front of the sticks on every damn down. It got to the point where I pointed it out pre-snap a few plays in a row, and my son looked over at me and asked if I was magic (I said "yes", of course). I don't understand why, when your defensive line is clearly getting home, the other team is missing its two best weapons, and you've got a 17 point lead, you decide it's the right time to just sit back and give them yards. I get that you don't trust Mitch to score another point - and he didn't - or to keep from turning it over and giving away good field position - and he did. But you're negating your own defensive line, and giving up 95 yard drives... Pagano needs to figure out what his defense is, and keep his foot on the gas when it's working. - The kids are alright. Johnson and Mooney look really good so far. I am not a Pace fan, but if these kids continue as they have been, he may have drafted a couple players with good careers ahead of them. Johnson in particular is playing really, really well. Like, I'm almost ready to buy a jersey and get over the weird feeling that it's Tillman's number kind of well. - I almost don't want to say anything about the OL, because I'm worried they'll go back to tanking next week just because I mentioned them, but... Nah, not gonna risk it.
That would make sense and be rather simple... You should know the bears don't do shit like that. I think its sometimes how he's schemed; as already mentioned--Pagano (Especially on the Giants' 95 yard TD drive) played 'not to lose'/soft/on his heels/however you want to phrase it. I think at the end of the game when Garrett targeted him I think he was just trying to prevent a TD/let nobody get behind him. Several other bears were trying to do that as well. Chicago Sports radio seems to think he's done. Problem is--say he is done and maybe lasts another game or two tops. Who's starting ILB next to Roquan? James Woods was injured and unremarkable before that, as were James Vaughters and Devonte Bond. A position of strength/deepest last year is arguably the weakest this year. The silver lining is that ILB is *expected* to be very top heavy next spring in the draft. Does nothing now when you need a guy... FWIW, my guy's Paddy Fisher from Northwestern. As for Bush. He seems far more of a competent box safety than Gipson through two games. We're going to see starting Sunday just how much of a late round gem he is. Atlanta is going to give him plenty of attention. Atlanta runs a base 4-3 cover 2 under Raheem Morris, but when they show Nickel, Darqueze Dennard is one of the more physical/handsy nickelbacks and will jam him on the LOS. If Mooney wins that, Dennard does NOT have speed to catch him. Keeping Ginn around for depth isn't bad. Its about week 3. Also, where's Riley Ridley in all of this? I don't know if I've seen him on the field once. Don't see that he's injured either. I dont think he was ever a NT. He was a 5 tech 'work in progress.' NT you need a 'graceful fat man,' which I get is an oxymoron, but he needs to penetrate/take a C/G combo out of the play. If Pace isn't going to FA or another team's PS for a guy to take a chance on, Pagano has to go hybrid 4 down linemen to mix it up (4-2-5 with Bush as the extra Dback/hybrid LB/box safety). Quinn can play edge in a 3-4 but his big years in Dallas he was a down 4-3 DE under Rod Marinelli. I'll finish with this. Me too. I know the old Bill Parcells' line of "you are what your record says you are," but I find myself underwhelmed in that other teams (take Green Bay for instance) can just step on the gas/the opposing team's throat and just put up more points. Detroit blew a 14 point lead to the Packers as the Packers proceeded to hang 42 on the Lions (dropping 25 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters). Obvious canyon of talent between Mitch and Erin aside, why the fuck can't the bears do something that? They should have with the giants. They also should have with the Lions... The bears don't go for the throat. They make things painful, and to their credit, the dice has rolled their way 2x (it just as easily could have rolled the other and did often, especially last year). I mentioned in an answer earlier that the bears play "not to lose" at times and it drives me insane when any sports team does this. That's a recipe for losing.
Anyone hear if Cohen got hurt sunday? Cos he disappeared in that 2nd half. Barely remember him being on the field even. Pretty odd usage considering they had just paid him.
I don't know, I've been down on 2-0 teams in the past so I can't say I've never been this down, but I feel like I've been here before. A team we know full well ran up against some very weak opposition. That said: No preseason means a lot procedurally is getting shaken out now. Also adjusting to the lack of a crowd shouldn't be overlooked either. I forget which of the Bears said it, but they said, "you've got to bring your own juice". I can see the Bears "playing to the level of your competition" this year. Or at least, I hope they will at minimum, so when we get to the better teams on the schedule, they keep it competitive. For example, if the halftime score was 17-14 rather than 17-0, does Pagano come out playing so soft? The Bears aren't dictating things, but can they keep up with the other team? I agree it's a mediocre recipe that results in 8-8 generally but every so often you get a lucky 2018 type of season.
Honestly im not sweatin it too much. Having accepted nothing i do will alter this situation in the slightest im just enjoying it while i can. Do i think this team is legit? Nope. Playoffs? Nope. Still unbeaten this time next week? Nope. But they're 2-0 and ive been enjoying it. And besides, there's plenty of time for giving them both barrels. The top teams will smash these guys and i can get upset then.
