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The entire line played great.

The Bears had their best games in terms of Rushing Success Rate in the last 20 years, and one of the best games by any team this season. It also does contrast with Swift's career as he has typically been a 47% Success Rate Rusher, slightly below the league average of 49%.

Sorta related but saw this review from Tom Thayer. Not only shows classic outside zone blocking but how well Wright did (for at least two plays). https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1bJkonrMGZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The accuracy is the main issue, but he didn't have accuracy issues in college, so I think it is something that can be corrected. I heard Nate Tice say something about the deep incompletion to Rome that was considered "underthrown, that it was the 2nd longest throw in the NFL this season only a half yard shorter than Mahomes hail mary attempt.

Moore is a baller if he played through that. 😁

My money is on Swift staying like this especially if the scheme stays this way. I had meant to add that Monangai also benefited from this new style play where the few times he was in the game he took some significant chunk yardage. Like I said before, if the scheme is run correctly, zone offenses can make most RBs look great. And if Monangai can do it, Swift could become expendable.

100% on both

The TEs have really underwhelmed. Kmet is having the worst year of his career (pass catching), and Loveland has barely played as a top 10 pick (which is not good). All the while Tyler Warren leads all TEs in Rec Yards.

I think with Swift it is the consistency. He is just not a consistent player, never has been. He has games like this once or twice a year, then 5-6 games of subpar play. That was his 8th 100 Yard Rushing game in his career (6th year). The most 100-yard games he's had in one season is 2, and in both seasons, the were in back to back games oddly enough. Also, this was the first time he had a 100-yard game without a run of 20 yards or longer, his longest was 19. He has also never had more than 2 games in a row with a YPC at 5.0 or higher. Never 3 games. It is so odd. If the Bears got this Swift weekly, you absolutely keep him, but if he reverts to his old self for the next month, then you have to move onto someone who can do it week in and week out.

OUCH

If Swift keeps playing like he did this week, it's easy to say we keep him. But I've never seen him look like that before, so let's see what the rest of the season looks like. It is possible, that because Braxton Jones was not a good run blocker on the edge, we were running power gap, and Swift doesnt fit that as well. He doesnt seem to have the vision you need for that. But as soon as Benedet got in there, now the blocking assignments change, and we see Benedet and Wright out on the edge moving people, and Swift looks like a different player. It's such a team game - what looks like Swift's fault might be the scheme, which in turn might be the limitation of an OT which in turn causes the coach to call different plays. Wild to see Swift look So different. Let's hope it continues.

Right. And more than rah rah and feelings, or tough statements in press conferences, THIS is what creating a culture means - its all about accountability.

The fact Ozzy replaced Wright mid game and the offense looked better had to provide some motivation. Wright is already starting to think about his next contract so that motivation will carry into this offseason.

My son had the emergency surgery for torsion. The intense pain is real and so is the risk. When Reporter asked why a groin injury would need hospitalization Ben just said it was personal in nature. Immediately the torsion possibility came to mind. Once again kudos to the Bears for doing the right thing and making sure DJ was alright. Kudos to my son for giving me two awesome grandkids.

Wanting to revisit this. First do I think Swift should be cut after the season? Don’t know - more on that in a minute. Second, as you mentioned he’s more effective as an open field runner and much more dangerous in the zone-scheme offense. Especially the outside zone variety. Johnson gained some points from me after he adjusted his offensive game plan over the bye. He even admitted as much before the bye when he said the running games lack was not solely Swift's fault . He saw the problem and made it right. He coached to Swifts strengths like a good coach will do. Now he just needs to get Williams on the same page and this might actually turn into something. About whether Swift should stay on the team after this season? Depends on how well he does the rest of the season. The nice thing about properly executed zone offenses is that you can pretty much plug and play many RBs into the role and make them a 1,000 yard rusher. See Kyle Shannahan and especially his dad before him. For me I see a lot of Forte in Swifts style of run. Especially his effectiveness at catching from out of the backfield.

My buddy had a testicle hit up into his pelvic cavity. They had to pop it out through his colon...🤯

The speculation is torsion. Id go get the checked out too. Grok: Testicular torsion is a serious condition involving twisted blood flow to the testicle, causing severe pain and potentially requiring emergency surgery to avoid tissue damage or loss. However, official updates on DJ Moore describe his injury as a day-to-day groin issue, with no mention of torsion.

Something I forgot to say on the week 6 thread. Johnson not only replaced Braxton Jones, he sent a loud and clear message to Darnell Wright by doing so. (And anyone else on the team, for that matter) We don't care. We will replace you with a UDFA if you don't do your job. We don't Fn care and I love it.

I would say also he knows the team very well having been in NO for several years.

I agree, other than one bad game, he just isnt getting the targets. Caleb seems to favor Odunze when under pressure where many times either TE is open. Like you said they are still growing the offense. Before LaPorta got there, because of injuries the TE position wasnt effected, hence they traded Hockenson. Hockenson missed 15 games due to injuries' his last two years in Detroit. He had two yrs left on his contract of which probably would have been given in his 4th year. They choose to draft a new TE than resign Hock so they traded him. If they are not going to incorporate the TE more into the offense then I think we could see Kmet being traded next year or redoing his contract. He is a team captain so the team values him. Because they are still inventing the offense, I dont see them making that decision this year.

Mongo would know more but a hospital stay for a groin injury seems odd.

But Ben Johnson wanted his LaPorta and made the personnel decision, right? I think you have to give this offense time to develop. They finally showed a running game which who knows if it was a fluke. As for Poles and the Bears draft picks, lets see how this team starts looking once functioning. They are barely winning games and still making foolish mistakes.

I would be very curious to know what percentage of teams that have won 4 games in a row at some point during their season go on to make the playoffs? We know starting 4-0 correlates to about an 83% chance. My guess is that it's maybe slightly lower than that, but probably not by much. Bears really need to stretch this thing to 4 with a win against the Saints this week. I have pretty good feelings about the this matchup. I know the Saints have looked better than their record so far, but you have to figure Dennis Allen wants to get his revenge, and you know Caleb will be fired up to go against Rattler. This could be their best game of the season. If there were ever a time to pad those offensive stats, it would be now.

I thought it was a kidney, or lower back / side issue, but I dont know for sure. Thats just what it looked like after he got hit to me. EDIT: Heard Ben Johnson speak about it - and it is in fact a groin ASHKUM you were right.

of course I agree. He needs to work on some footwork issues, and that is a big part of the accuracy issues too. There are other parts to it too, but yeah youre right he needs to be more accurate, and more consistent in general. And youre also right that it's all about his potential - we can all see it now clearly. Will he reach it? Obviously it has to be proven ont he field before we can say yes, but I think he couldn't have a better situation now, and I see growth every week too, so it's a pretty safe bet he will get a lot better. But, he still has to walk that path before it's real. This is the year to gain consistency. That's probably the biggest goal overall for this season for the team - for Caleb to grow into a consistent and really good pocket QB.