BearFan PHX

amazing

Im obviously getting a Monangai tattoo tomorrow LOL

I never think like this, but its getting hard to ignore the poor officiating at the bears' expense each week. There was a helmet to helmet hit on Monangai earlier too that went unflagged.

Caleb right now: 8/11 (72.7% comp) for 83 yards and a TD, with no INT = 124.4 rating And he had a couple drops of sharp passes early too. and 3 carries for 31 yards too. It feels like Johnson told him not to hold the ball and dance around back there, if it's man defense and everyone's covered, then you run for the first down - and he's had some nifty runs too.

yeah that was a bad read, I would grade that a minus play. But he's been getting the ball out fast, or making the decision the run in rhythm. I guess we will all agree when he is the total package, when hes' a top 5 QB, and until then, we will all see it through our own filters, expectations, narratives etc. And of course that includes me too.

not at all? He was getting the ball out fast, making fast decisions.

I like how Monangai finishes his runs, always getting a yard or two more after it seems its over - especially from a little guy

yeah, he "runs with authority" as they say.

Monangai looking good, and Caleb has been sharp - getting the ball out in rhythm. Drops havent helped him at all, but thats not on him.

GREAT news! I liked him a lot in preseason.

Amen! I hope CJ terrorizes the Bengals receivers, but not enough to get any penalties

I must be missing something - but to me Brittain Brown looked pretty good in the preseason, admittedly against second and third stringers, but I would expect them to call him up. I mean Homer is no great back. But anyway, this is Monanagai's moment to get the majority of the carries, let's hope he does well and makes the case for himself. He's been very good with limited carries int he backup role, and they say good HBs get better with more carries in a game. So, bring it Monangai!

Here's an interesting stat: The Bears offense is last in the league in average yards to go on 3rd down with 8.1 - this is a result in part of penalties. But the Bears offense is also 9th in the league at converting 3rd downs. This means our intermediate passing game is doing well, even when matched against a defense that knows the pass is coming. I think it just shows how we are our own worst enemy, and that with increased consistency will come a huge jump in offensive output for yards and points. It's not like we cant do it, we just need to do it more consistently, and that should come with Johnsons discipline.

Thank you - I will not have a short fuse. As long as it doesnt become a regular thing, I wont rekindle that war. Just sayin - last time I went a couple months saying "please stop, lets be civil" before I did finally reply in kind. I will show the same kind of patience now, because I would like very much to avoid all of that. I will still disagree with people Im sure, but thats OK.

that would be amazing - also if Booker comes in and makes an impact, that would be huge. Im a little reluctant to "crown" a DL who hasnt really done it yet, but all reports from practice say he is ready to make his presence felt on the DL. That would be welcome news indeed!

Two of you tryin to start something, but Im really not interested. There is nothing wrong with anything Ive written here about Caleb and Justin. It's all reasonable opinion, and I cited the facts it's based on, so someone could debate those if they wanted to. If someone is butthurt that I said to think Caleb and Justin are similar is "crazy", then I think that's a little thin skinned to be honest. Or maybe they just want to feign offense and flex - either way, it's dumb and childish. When Caleb reaches that next point, all the Justin lovers and Caleb haters will still have stuff to say I guess. But honestly it's embarrassing at this point. Cant you see what Caleb is becoming? It's right there in front of our eyes! Sheesh. I said I'd leave this alone, but of course that is all contingent on how much crap comes my way too. Im not gonna just sit while others rage. So, we'll see what kind of board they really want. I say, let's keep it civil. I'd remind us all too that it was several months that I kept saying I wanted to keep things civil at the start of all this before I started punching back and this all blew up in the first place. All we have to do is play nice.

If an opinion is always positive, then it isn't actually an opinion, its just always positive. Do you like sushi? "yum!" Do you like steak? "yum!" Do you like dog poop? "yum!" If the positivity is independent of the thing being opined on, then it isn't an opinion on the thing. Anyway, I never saw Fields do what Caleb does multiple times every week in terms of playing in rhythm. And Field's numbers were never anywhere near Calebs numbers, even Caleb's 2024 numbers. Fields is an absolute bust. Caleb is doing fine. They simply arent anything like each other at all - these narratives are crazy!

Amen. This is a fair and balanced take on Caleb's performance this week. It puts everything, the good, bad and ugly into context of WHY things happened. People watch a game where we lose, and then grumble, and they really arent looking into what actually happened and why. It's fan stuff, I understand it, but it's not football stuff.

Of course. And Caleb isn't there yet. But he's on pace for greatness, he isn't late, or lagging behind. He's on time. If any first round player in the NFL starts playing a lot more poorly than usual, then they will lose their job. If they never reached greatness they will be a bust. That's not just Caleb, but anyone. And there is zero data to think that Caleb will regress. He hasn't been regressing. I think people just look at the performance of the entire offense, and blame Caleb. But his numbers say otherwise. And so does Ben Johnson. What they've been is inconsistent. Every good offense needs to learn how to move the chains reliably, and so do we. Imagine how those numbers are going to jump when we get there. More points, yards, time of possession and snaps against a tired defense comes when your offense is consistent. That's what we need to improve on. But Caleb himself just needs to cut down on the mistakes, and stay focused. It's not as if he isn't having plenty of plays where you can see who he is and where he's going. He's got star written all over him. And if he just performs at the level he's already at, and eliminates some mistakes, hes gonna be a top QB. Fields and Trubisky never had seasons like Caleb even already had last year. They weren't in the "eliminate mistakes" phase of their training, they were still stuck at "make reads and get the ball out" - they didn't do that regularly at all. Honestly, it's crazy to compare them. You saw Manning above, Caleb is right there, We saw Troy Aikmans second year stats a couple weeks ago and Caleb was killin him. The difference is that over time Manning and Aikman and others ascended to greatness and won championships. Caleb hasn't achieved that yet, so until he does, I get it. But he isn't late. He isnt on the cusp of being a bust. its all there on the tape. He does it multiple times every week. He just has to stay hot for longer windows, and eliminate mistakes. Who says there is even a reason to predict he won't? Only dumb sportswriters who need controversy to get clicks, and narrative driven people, who think everything is a pattern. And also those out there on the internet that wanted to keep Fields, or have a problem with Caleb painting his fingernails. It's superstition, stories, fear, hatred, whatever - but it isn't football analysis, or even in the stats. We've got a young amazing QB here - we should be supporting him and cheering for him, instead of acting like the Bears are cursed and the sky is falling. Sheesh.

Great find Grizz! I took it a little further - I projected out Caleb's current 2025 Stats to 17 games. And because Payton Manning only played 16 games in 1999, I also projected them out to 533 Attempts, which is how many Payton threw in 1999 to compare apples to apples. Also, Caleb should grow the remainder of the year and have even better numbers. People complaining about Caleb have a point that he is not a complete player, but Payton Manning was "generational" and this season that everyone is complaining about, sure looks a lot like Payton's 2nd season. And if Caleb manages even the 3,910 yards, that would be the best season for a Bears QB in history. And there's more progress to come for Caleb as he gets better! If you think Caleb is terrible, or similar to Trubisky (best season = 3,223 yds) or Fields (best season = 2,562 yds), youre crazy.

And this quote from Ben Johnson: "He played better this game than I think he had the previous two. When you look at it, all 60 minutes, and I’m not saying it’s perfect. I actually came away from watching the tape this morning, encouraged that we took a step in the right direction here this week. I know for some people it’s hard maybe to rationalize because the result wasn’t there. But yeah, I saw tangible growth from him. He’s working his tail off." Some have said this is false praise meant to shield his QB from criticism, but it's so specific, and BJ hasnt done that once since hes been here. I take him at face value. Caleb IS progressing, and we see what it looks like when it's working.

I think it's easy to look at Caleb right now and say it's not good enough. Because it's not. If this is his ceiling, then he is a bust. And I understand the desire to see him perform now. But it's not realistic for several reasons. 1) It takes time for a QB to develop. Many great NFL QBs have looked terrible at first. The actual truth is that developing a top NFL QB takes time. Consider that only maybe 10 people on the planet can do what we are asking for. It's HARD. And it takes time to develop. It's not reasonable to expect it out of the gate. We see real flashes and drives where Caleb is operating in rhythm, so we know its there, and its coming. It just has to expand into more plays, and increased consistency. Thats different than bad QBs who dont have drives like the first two this past week. 2) Caleb had nothing around him last year, so this is like his rookie year. Hell, his current stats are in line with Goffs over his first 7 games with Ben Johnson, and Goff was in year 4? 5? This is almost like Calebs rookie year. He is doing FINE. 3) Media narratives drive this fantasy that Caleb is a bust. Since he knew he was the #1 pick, he didnt have an agent, remember? And that means no PR. And so the crying in his mothers arms, and fingernail painting, and not wanting to be a Bear and all that ran unchecked in the media without a PR to fight for the other side. As a result, Caleb is hated in a lot of the media and fan boys posting online I saw an actual article that the Bears should TRADE Caleb. wtf! I see tons of evidence that Caleb can do what we all want him to do. He does it every week. He also has things fall apart too. It's not even always his fault, but when it is, thats a good teaching moment for Johnson. At this point, if you are smart and reasonable, you have to ask these questions 1) Does Caleb have the innate skills to be a Top 5 QB? YES 2) Was he widely considered a #1 draft pick by almost everyone before the draft? YES 2) Does Caleb show flashes and drives where he looks like a top 5 QB? YES, almost every week. 3) Is Caleb improving every week? Absolutely. 4) Does Caleb have the coaches around him to teach him how to succeed? YES, one of the best in the league I understand that 35 years of Bears fandom watching a trash team with mediocre QBs can create some patterns and expectations. We are trained to complain about our QB, and the one we have right now, is not complete yet, so it's easy to think we are int he same place we've been. But we arent. This is different. The evidence is right there in front of all our eyes on the game tape. The question you ask at this point isnt "is he making mistakes?" because yes of course he is. The question to ask is "do I see increasing evidence that he is going to be great?" and for me thats a solid YES. I dont think anyone can deny the good stuff. And thats proof he can do it. A first year in an offense is about learning the offense, and learning consistency. Also, it should be said that QBs like Jayden Daniels were brought into the league with a limited set of expectations by the OC, who simplified the playbook, and had success early that way. Johnson has said many times that he's feeding Caleb EVERYTHING. That means when consistency comes, Caleb will be great, while other QBs who have been successful in the short term, will still be needing to add to their game. We all see its not good enough right now. But everything screams that this is nowhere near Caleb's ceiling. Be patient. He will be a top 5 QB in time.

Totally agree, we need to step up.

so much silliness. youll see.

Justins arm was fantastic, he just didnt make reads and get the ball out on time. Its insane to me that people see them as similar. Time will definitely prove this out. Meanwhile, here's Tim Jenkins telling it straight.