BearFan PHX

ah cool. I am against rash decisions, so I agree with you - no one game should decide anyone's fate.

yeah Im not saying they will fire him now. Im talking about at the end of the season. Im also not saying that because sportswriters are saying it that Im right or it will happen, Im just noticing how fast the tide turned, because of last year. Id said before that if he wins this year, everyone will forget about last year, but if he repeats last minute losses on bad defense likehappened 3 times last year that everyone would see the pattern fast. Just talking about what people are thinking on this thread, thats all.

I thought this probably deserved it's own thread. I just wanted to note how much talk there is about replacing him from all the sportswriters and radio people. No one is holding back at all. We really crossed a threshold fast this past week. I guess people are remembering the three games he blew at the end last year too. I posted over the offseason that if the pattern repeated this year it would gain momentum fast. And conversely if we were winning, last year would be forgotten. Sure seems like that's how its working out. THe past two years forgiven until the pattern reestablishes and then there would be VERY little patience at that point.

I would not argue with that at all. He might be too old, but if we can get players with that kind of attitude, I'm ALL for it.

That was a great read, and the article linked in the tweet too. Thanks for posting it. I admit some of it goes over my head, for example, I understand the point of calling a 'play' as opposed to calling all the parts, because if people understand the whole play, then you can swap receivers around, or replace them with tight ends or backs and the concept of the play is still known to everyone. that sounds smart. But then he says you dont need specific players to run the offense, and Im not really sure what that means. no matter the concept, or what you call it, lesser players dont make more plays because of how you titled the play? You dont hand the ball to Kramer no matter what you call it Either way, it did make the reader think about all the complexities of calling any play in the NFL and give me more sympathy for Caleb and how much he has to grow. No matter what system they are running, Caleb is still seeing more new defenses than ever, and he has to face them, and then go process film so it's clearer the next time he sees it. I'm sure for example that he's know how certain route concepts work against standard defenses like cover 2, cover 3, man under etc. That's probably been comfortable for him since early in college. But now, defenses are disguising their looks, and playing exotic defenses to confuse him. Exotic defenses have inherent weaknesses, they arent fully sound, and when Caleb can see it, he will punish them for it. This past week, it took him a while to digest what he was seeing. It didnt stop him as a winner from driving the team down the field to win the game twice for us though! I personally wonder if the OL was doing a better job, how much quicker the offense could find the rhythm? Whatever the offense, they have to do a better job of teaching the blocking assignments or rules to the players. And it's kinda clear, we need some more players too. All good stuff to think about.

no doubt finding a good QB is the hardest. I also agree on your analysis of both QBs in that game. I think CW is learning to process though. games 4-6 were a huge improvement over 1-3, especially against the blitz, so he is showing that hes learning and reading. I think Washington did an excellent job of showing some really advanced looks and confusing Caleb. They basically dared him to beat them with the long ball, and dropped into unconventional looks underneath. And it worked. Caleb will see everything over the season, and hopefully he can learn to adjust. But everything ive seen from him so far says he is smart and processes well. I do think a real concern about him is long ball accuracy. That's something we've seen lacking even in his college film. And you have to be able to punish defenses in every way that they slack on anything in order to be stronger on something else. Hopefully Caleb clears that up. But I dont think he is bad at processing, I just think he came up against a really good defensive plan, and this is part of his rookie growing experiences. At least you can say he has that winner thing since he basically took an offense that wasn't working, and drove the field to win the game twice in the last 10 minutes. But in that game, yes, everything you said is true for sure.

hahahaha "Ill have what the rest of the league is having" LOL

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes absolutely yes. its freakin football not a tampon commercial.

the McCaskeys need to sell this team

all that assuming Bates isn't good at center. I hope he will be, but after all this, i wont be shocked if he isnt. Also, as dangerous as it sounds, this coaching staff have not been shy about playing rookies either. Then again, they probably wont be the coaches next year anyway.

If a guy is organized, has leadership skills, and isn't a moron, he can be a head coach. The job isn't THAT hard. I mean just the head coaching part. If you've come up the NFL ranks, and you're a natural leader. We all know the rules and techniques about timeouts, end game, challenge flags, when to go for it etc. And if youre already a coordinator who has shown leadership, then you can do the team leading stuff too. The harder part is adding value to at least one side of the ball. That's hard. And we end up with a lot of nerds, like Flus, Trestman and Nagy, who are considered modern and innovative. And I get it, that's really hard to be good at. But it seems like they're choosing that stuff over the requisite leadership talent. For example, guys like Wannstedt, Jauron and Fox were tougher as leaders, but probably not as inventive in schemes. We need a smart modern offensive coordinator with a chip on his shoulder. Someone who isnt scared of losing the players. Ive been saying for a couple of years that Flus' body language in social situations seems very weak. Then i see him yelling on the practice field, and i think "ok, hes tough when hes actually coaching, but more beta when people are standing around talking." But then i see the state of discipline on this team, and i wonder. And all that not including the long list of stupid coaching decisions that most of us and any pee wee coach would know to avoid. I dont want him fired today. But I cant imagine Poles keeping him next year. And if were going to do that, why didnt we do it this past offseason?! I mean, a bunch of us were screaming about it at the time. Its not like this is hindsight. Flus had shown all these issues the past two years too. The first year we knew was a teardown. BUt didnt he lose THREE games last year where we had the lead with not much time to go, and coached them away to improbable losses? This isnt a mistake, its a pattern!

well youre right writers always take everything to the extreme. Narratives becomes stories for sure.

right, an improvement, but not someone you want to be tied to next year. If you signed him it would be to start this year - probably getting Kiran more reps is better long term

My guess is Kliff Kingsbury or Ben Johnson

no, we have a pretty good roster, but we need help on the OL. Caleb is a star in the making, and the coaching is holding us back. THis isnt about being negative, it's about wanting good people at all the positions including coaches.

Not predicting that, but it is a possibility. Our offense has done nothing much yet against any defenses other than the worst ones. I believe we have talent on the roster, but we aren't putting it together (yet?).

Not saying he's great or we need him long term, but we could have done this I suppose. https://www.nfl.com/news/vikings-acquiring-ot-cam-robinson-from-jaguars-in-exchange-for-draft-pick-compensation

I cant say youre wrong. I hope you are, but it's not for certain by any means - it could happen just as you say. What a punch to the gut.

and how about the three games he lost last year by mismanaging the endgame? It's a common theme with us, losing games we had a 95% chance to win in the last minute. and he goes for it on 4th and 1 two weeks in a row (or was the first one three weeks ago?) on his own half of the field, in the 2nd quarter within a score of the lead. WHAT?! You have a great punter and a defense, why gamble there? It's like gambling your house on a coin flip to win $100. Sure $100 is nice, but risking your house on a 50/50 for no real return commensurate with the risk is just dumb. Plus, while I do think Waldron's Xs and Os have been interesting, and modern, he often doesn't think thru the personnel groupings, and ends up with the wrong guy, like a fade to Carter instead of Odunze, or handing to Kramer instead of Blasingame (who was the FB when this play originated in the playbook), not to mention just giving it to Roschon. I've been on record that the nice guy style ends up with an undisciplined team without accountability. We see formation penalties, false starts, players acting foolish, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and they come out flat every week. We hear the players begging the coaches to coach them harder, and for a 15 play script. This is a joke. Get me an offensive coordinator head coach who instills discipline, and an offensive line coach that can get these guys working. Flus handling situational football, timeouts, chellenges, end game scenarios is just awful. Other than being some kind of D coordinator overlord, what part of the game is Flus GOOD at as a HEAD COACH? And the culture thing I read about in some articles is silly. We do have a lot of high character guys thanks to Poles, but nothing indicates that we have a culture of discipline or accountability, and we start flat. So where exactly is any cultural benefit? Can we please hire a head coach with some fire? This best friend crap does not work in tackle football.

Eberflus was so wishy washy on ESPN the other morning. Such corporate HR speak. I have a hard time believing he can hold the team accountable. We have all sorts of discipline issues, not just Stevenson (although wtf was that?!) so it's clear that he isnt getting it done behind closed doors. I dont care if the next coach is a yeller or not, but the players will have to respect him, and feel like they have to stay focused or it'll be another disaster. Im 100% on firing Eberflus - I wanted to do it during the offseason too, which would have been much smarter. But for the record, Im not saying to fire him right now, Im talking about at the end of the season, or the last couple games or something. The only move I'd make now is to add an offensive line quality control or something, because Morgan is not getting it done. Players dont know who to block. Kiran went to freakin Yale, I doubt its that hard to learn blocking assignments - beating an NFL player is something else, but just knowing who to block? Morgan must be an awful teacher.

LOL and 😢

exactly

It kinda does when they say it to the media instead of privately.

my friend is a Packers fan. When Caleb scored at the end he texted me "Wow, good job Bears" too soon dude. Crap. But yeah, it seems like Green Bay always does this, and that is about having a culture of winning, and believing that you can do it. Hoe did Eli manning complete that pass on top of Tyree's head? It's not something you draw up or practice, it's just what winner do. Michael Jordan' shooting percentage on big shots that matter is higher than his regular shooting percentage, even though he was always trying. It's a winner thing, and dare I say Caleb has it with those last two drives. He actually won that game twice for us despite the offense having done almost nothing all game. The wins will come, and then we will be one of the special teams that good things happen to. And when that happens the media is gonna LOVE us, and if there is anything to the referee thing, it will turn to our favor too. When Chicago beats a few good teams in a row, theyre gonna want to crown us. We just need to start to deserve that advantage.

I feel like you dont fire a coach for a single game no matter what. So I guess id say that the fact that that single game COULD be the final straw, means we already know we should fire him. And that's where I'm at with it. And it wont be right now, but instead at or near the end of the year. Ugh, we could have already had the new guy. I could imagine some people saying that we should hire Kingsbury, so he and Caleb already speak the same language to make the least of any delays by starting over. Maybe that's a good idea. Maybe hiring Ben Johnson is a better move. I dunno.