BearFan PHX

I think everyone agrees with both statements, that "nothing can replace live reps" and "injuries are devastating" The question is how to balance them, and I agree wit you Mongo, I like to see them get more action. But i totally understand why people go the other way. They arent wrong either. I guess it just comes down to an opinion about which is more important or how big the risk is etc.

this coaching staff has never been afraid to start rookies even when they arent quite ready, so its definitely possible.

good point. it's not like other years.

yeah great motor. I couldnt help but notice Kareem on the other side doesnt suck either.

I agree about Herbert being trade bait. Not saying it's definitely going to happen, but I believe we are looking for a deal. And that goes double for Velus. Collin Johnson also had a nice tackle on special teams in the hall of fame game. He might well make the team as the 6th WR / ST specialist even as the #5 WR spot is still being contested?

I agree. And often in the NFL, you end up playing off schedule, and Caleb appears to be as advertised, but youre so right that playing on schedule is necessary too, and hopefully we will see more consistency with that too.

Also, Caleb threw to Odunze from his own end zone on 3rd down, and the defender undercut him - could have been an interception, but the Bills were flagged for illegal contact. Id say Caleb showed some promising moments, but has more than a couple plays to clean up too.

Watching more... To answer my own question, Allen played both series, threw himself into some blocks, but didnt see any targets. The OL played better than I thought. Two of the times the RB got stuffed at the line, it came from 8 and 9 in the box and safeties coming off the edge unblocked. Obviously thats a problem too, but teams wont be able to do that regularly against our three WRs. Herberts first stop down near the goalline was kind of on Herbert, because there was a crack to slip through if he'd made himself skinny. Shelton didnt win the rep, but he kept his guy outside of Herbert, and Braxton moved his guy a bit too. I wonder what the Bears are thinking about Herbert and Roschon.

rewatching tape and getting a better look, I saw a few more things. On the first pass play, the one where Caleb rolled right and threw it away that was called back for holding, he had Odunze open in the middle of the field for 7 yards, but the defender was closing, so Williams came off of him. Would have been a nice first completion if he had gotten the ball right out. I dont know hwat his progression was for that play, but i would have pointed it out for Fields too, so, fair is fair. What a bullet on the DJ deep curl. wow. so much velocity and the ball comes out so fast - Calebs throwing motion can be SO compact. Shelton played well at center, and is the reason Swift got such a big gain on the middle screen where Caleb flipped it to Swift. I think Swfit is gonna be amazing for us. Wright continues to not only move people but turn them in the running game. All in all, it's good to see Caleb do the same things I loved in his college film at the pro level right away. Thats a good sign.

thank you!

yeah, if someone is gonna make the team, they should stand out against the scrubs. If Booker hadnt, that would have been a problem. That he did, is a great sign that hes on his way to being great for us.

yeah it was a tough throw across his body (like the one he made to Kmet) it would have been the icing on the cake. But like you said, its his first game, he looked pretty good. when you said he missed Rome, I thought you meant on the play DJ dropped, and I had missed an open WR on that play, I see now the one youre talking about, and of course i saw it too at the time. Just a little bit outside. We didnt hear Allens name at all. Did he play?

thank you, Ill look again

Velus with another fumble, and a turf monster tackle where he forgot for a minute that he could get up. The guy is fast but a liability.

Pix, can you say more about which play he missed the WR open in the end zone? When the game is done Im gonna rewind and try to find the play.

Caleb with a nice scramble! And then a great rhythm throw to DJ who dropped it. Caleb look in control out there. So nice to see a Chicago QB look like this.

GREAT throw across his body to Kmet WOW

nice to see Caleb look calm and in control on the first drive. The blitz beating improvisation to Swift is typical Caleb, and the deep curl bullet to DJ was right on time and location with good velocity, the kind of precision we are not used to seeing - amazing. Great first drive for Caleb.

Let's go!

two fumbles too - but as long as he isnt here, I do truly wish him well. He gave everything he had. I feel differently, for example, about Nate Davis right now.

LOL He looked the same to me - great arm, good long ball, pats the ball before he throws, didnt score on the drive where he had the long pass, lazy play action from like 2 feet away from the RB. So hes like the 25th ish best QB or something.

SO I guess the Steelers have some QB guy named Jeremy Fieldman or something like that. Anyway apparently, we could have had him as our QB instead of Caleb and then fixed the OL and DL and a lot more. I dont know much about the kid, but hes playing in about 15 minutes, and I will probably check in and take a look.

I agree, it's kinda the same thing. He was hoping he got a steal, meaning a player. And given what a mess the OL is right now, another player would be helpful. To be clear I'm not saying that somehow Poles was counting on him being a starter or anything, but I do think with Davis and Jenkins, he has to be thinking about hedging his bets and having bodies that can play if necessary, and he probably wanted Benedet as part of that competition. I think that since we've freed up cap space signing DJ, the odds of bringing in a new guy on the interior OL is increasing, whether by camp cut, or trade. But one way or another, we are looking thin on the interior OL right now.

for sure - its taking a flyer on a guy who probably wont be there opening day. I still think we are going to make a trade. Weve got cap room, and two second rounders in our pocket. I cant guess who the trade would be though, any more than ANYONE thought Montez Sweat was on the block before we made that trade.

Thanks for that, and too bad for us