Pixote

And ... If it were not for Caleb's turnovers (to be expected from a rookie starting the season), what would our record be right now? Quite possibly 3-0 despite the offense struggling (also to be expected at the beginning of the season with the new OC and scheme. Remember, we had a lot of injury issues, causing OLmen to miss reps in camp. Is this leading to issues in communication?). And ... If we were 3-0, would we complain about Poles, Flus, and Waldron or praise them?

I'm reasonably sure Flus holds his players accountable, but not publicly. As I said, some things should be kept in-house.

Yes, it's normal for a QB to give feedback to his OC regarding his preferences and opinions. It isn't always wise to make it so public. One might consider going into such detail throwing his OC "under the bus." Not a good thing. Some things should "stay in-house" and not be aired out in the press. Especially by a Rookie QB who, although showing progress, has a QBR under 30 and has a lot to learn. It has nothing to do with Flus. Flus holds players accountable. He doesn't need a rookie QB to help him do so. Are you still harping on Hard Ass, I mean, Harbaugh, not being hired by the Bears? Harbaugh runs a "blue-collar" system. 1) Tough Defense. 2) Run the hell out of the ball on offense. Pass only when you have to. Run, Run, Run, then, maybe, pass. 3) Tough Defense. Sound familiar? It's the same system Halas established in 1920. It's the same system we used for almost 100 years, refusing to recognize that the league had begun relying more on the passing game. Many of us wanted to see the Bears move away from the old system and join the rest of the league. Is that why we drafted Caleb? To operate a "run first" offense with little emphasis on the passing game? I assumed and was hoping that with the WRs/TEs we have and spending the top pick in the draft on Caleb and then #9 on Rome, we would be looking to establish a high-scoring modern offense. If not, then we should have signed Hard Ass, traded the number one pick for a shit load of picks, and returned to "1920 football."

All this talk about firing Poles... Firing Flus... Get a new OC..., etc... We came into this season with a new OC, a new system, and a rookie QB. We all knew it would take time to gel. Do we want to learn from our past mistakes? A rookie QB forced to learn a new scheme in year 2? All of a sudden, we think Poles sucks? We sure felt differently before the season started. The only thing he has failed to do is solidify the OL, and we are 'possibly' in need of an edge rusher. Then again, how many holes can you fill in two years when you are given the garbage he was given to start with? He knows there is an issue. I have no doubt it will now be a top priority in his rebuild. Yes, many of us wanted it sooner. He did try to make moves in FA to patch things up. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. And as far as our OC, he is limited by our OL. As far as our OL coach, give him some quality players to work with. As far as Flus, our D is kick ass. Our locker room is tight. The players are 'all-in." And on a final note, Daniels sure looked good last night. New Rookie QB record, 21 for 23. No turnovers. Solid.

McVay probably figures he won't need them to beat the Bears. You know what? He's probably right. If they can win a game against SF without them, I see no reason to believe they can't beat us with their backup WRs. Caleb is going to be blitzed early and often. Let's hope he can avoid being injured with our pitiful OL.

It's about time. His accuracy has been off when throwing beyond 10 yards. Disappointing.

It might help him if he had an OL that could open a few holes. He kicked ass in PHI but had one of the top OLs to do so.

I bet they would go with FA QB Ryan Tannehill if they decided to put Tua on the shelf.

For those overly concerned about Caleb's NFL debut, I got this blurb from a Google search about John Elway's 1st game as a starter for Denver: It didn't prevent him from being a first ballot HOF QB with SB hardware.

It wasn't a professional offense, PERIOD. In the first AND second half, our offense was a joke. I expected Caleb to make some errors in judgment; after all, he is a rookie playing his first game. I was stunned and disappointed in his physical execution. Pocket presence, footwork, accuracy, etc... I look forward to seeing the Caleb we KNOW he can be instead of what we saw today. (Of course, it would help if his OL can give him time, and his receivers catch the damn ball when on target.) Did everyone else notice the wide-open Allen (or was it Odunze, damn my memory sucks) in the flat to Caleb's right when he threw an incompletion to Moore to his left on the sideline? Disappointing.

It's disappointing, but I guess it's understandable given the depth of our WR room. I was also disappointed to see Roschon as inactive. If Roschon were given meaningful reps, I believe he would prove he is a #1 RB in the NFL.

Now they are saying an MCL sprain but they didn't say the severity or timeline for recovery.

As to Justin, whether they love him or hate him, all Bear fans should root for this guy. If he takes 51% of the snaps, we get a 4th round pick. I watched the game live last night on Peacock. Love, the highest-paid player in the NFL 🤣 SUCKED. He looked like the bumbling QB from the start of last season, constantly trying to throw into double coverage. 17 for 34 (easy to figure out, 50% completion percentage) with 2 TDs and 1 INT (which could have easily been 3 or 4 if PHI's DB had hands). Now, this very rich quarterback may miss quite a bit of time. At first, the word was a high ankle sprain. But then it was mentioned that Love heard a "pop" in his knee and will have it examined when he returns from Brazil. GB might be screwed big-time.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what he meant by stage two. Two of what? 2 of 3, 4, 5, or ??? Then it dawned on me. Stage one: Tear it down. Start getting rid of the dead wood. (Basically, everyone, LOL). Stage two: Build it back up. He's done a great job in his time with us. There are just a few positions to fine-tune. STAGE THREE: Decide where to display the Super Bowl Trophy.

Then, it is time for Caleb to break this trend and set a new standard. To do that he will need an OL to prevent him from being sacked so many times, as that seems to be one common denominator for the examples shown. The other commonality is interceptions. Hopefully, if the OL keeps pressure off of him, he can really buck the history by not throwing a INT in his first game. If that happens, it signifies to me that we are in for a great season of Bears' football.

Are you serious? He received a vote??? Are players allowed to vote for themselves? 😉

I just read that Poles is attending the Georgia & Clemson game and is already beginning his prep for the 2025 draft. What a job! I am envious. Get VIP seating, with all expenses paid by the Bears, for any college games you want to attend. Is there such a thing as a GOAT job? 🙂

I couldn't have said it better. I totally agree. The problem I see with some fans (who dislike Flus) is they want a showman. A Ditka, Woody Hayes, Bobby Knight, screaming and yelling at their players, grabbing them by whatever uniform they are wearing and going nose to nose, and of course, throwing their clipboard, headset, or whatever as a punctuation mark. Ditka was entertaining, and I love the guy. However, with a GOAT team defense, and a GOAT RB, they won just one Super Bowl. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.

.... and there are few players on our practice squad we were happy to see the Bears bring back after being cut who might be picked up by other teams to be on their 53-man roster. We have some excellent prospects stashed on our PS.

NFL.com had an article: Ten overlooked NFL rookies who showed serious flashes in preseason I was surprised they didn't overlook the Bears, as in the past, that was the norm. I was pleased to see they included Austin Booker as one of the 10 rookies they expect to make names for themselves this year. The big surprise to me is that they would include a punter. Yes, They actually listed our punter, Tory Taylor, as one of the rookie prospects. I had not realized he averaged over 58 yards per punt in preseason! WOW!

Bearswire.usatoday.com reported updates to our practice squad. Bears' 16-player practice squad LB Micah Baskerville OL Theo Benedet TE Stephen Carlson DL Byron Cowart OL Jake Curhan LS Scott Daly OL Chris Glase WR Collin Johnson LB Carl Jones Jr. DL Jamree Kromah DB Tarvarius Moore QB Austin Reed DT Sam Roberts CB Reddy Steward DB Ro Torrence WR Samori Toure

I'd have to add to the discussion that by the time week 12 comes around, our offense will have advanced far beyond where it currently stands with Caleb's progressive development. IOW, by the time week 12 comes about, Rypien's input will be outdated and useless.

Welcome to our forum! It's great to have you join us on a year that will hopefully see the Bears return to the playoffs!

We need to improve our depth on the OL. I suspect that will be the next target. I was looking at the early cuts on NFL.com and there was already a good number of OLmen listed. I doubt any of the early cuts are our answer, but the final cuts might offer some interesting options.

I must ask just one question. Is Taylor excited to be here? 🤣