Alaskan Grizzly

I think we need to remember we weren’t expecting anything from this team and somehow, someway we’re still holding at 2-2. I get there’s a lot to critique but I also think we need to put it all in perspective. Personally I think a lot of what ills the team is what you said about Getsy and his unimaginative play calling. Early on the team was finally calling play-action and making minimal progress. A few pass catches were what appeared to allowing Justin that comfort level we’ve been looking for. Then for whatever reason when they call the run into what appears to be a constant knot of guys at the line. What happened to the outside zone blocking we kept hearing about and what seemed to be working before? I mean shit, we’re only a week removed from Khalil Herbert running for 157 yards. NY doesn’t have a top 10 defense (before today they were ranked 27th - USA Today) so I’m not sure why we didn’t see what worked last week repeated today. Add in that the defense (especially the front seven) shat the bed then all things being what they are, we came simply say Justin is the lynchpin for all that ills the team. Meanwhile, Bailey Zappe (who? #3 QB for NE) just threw for a TD against the vaunted GB defense in GB making the score 17-14 NE. This after the Aaron “a-hole” Rodgers threw a pick-six earlier in the game. ‘Any given Sunday’.

Think it’s safe to say Jackson is back. Just had his 4th INT of the year and hasn’t been playing the run all that bad.

Monty is out with knee and ankle injuries from last week. Herbert isn’t running like he did last week so don’t think Monty needs to worry just yet. Seems the backup RBs do better. Ebner has 4.3 yards per carry to Herbert’s 2.6. Fields leads all Bears rushing with 47 ttl yards and 7.8 per carry .

Daniel Jones with his best David Blaine impersonation. Defense struggling early on. Falling for the sleight of hand.

Vikings lead the division after a “double doing” miss by the Saints over in London. They are 3-1.

This is an interesting development.

I’m looking forward to this game to see how well the Giants’ offense plays. Brian Daboll was someone I would’ve like to see as the HC for Chicago. With how the offense was running in Buffalo and his success in the college ranks I thought he’d be a great addition for the sake of Fields. However over the first three weeks his offense has been pretty putrid. PFF has the offense currently ranked 32nd overall. In each of the last two games they have scored only one TD apiece and not been able to do so until the second half. They are certainly struggling on offense but I suspect it’s more Daniel Jones than Daboll. For what it’s worth I’m still a fan of Flus. I like his style of coaching and I really like that his defense seems to be holding their own, so far. As far as offense goes, someone on Twitter mentioned that their 85 year old dad said the current version of Chicago offense is what they’ve been known for years to do. A good defense and a great ground game. Anything Justin does positive at this point is gravy. He’ll get better with time.

Meanwhile on defense. And a player who will need “big money” no less…

As it should be. Getsy and Flus doing what good coaches do.

Shortly after Pringle goes to the IR, Bears sign former SMU WR Reggie Roberson. Prior to an ACL injury last year he was slated in rounds 1-2. He ended up being undrafted. Probably not the solution they’re looking for at WR.

That’s one thing I’ve noticed too. Distinct difference between he and Montgomery’s running styles. Not sure why or how but Herbert seems to have better vision for the openings. When he finds them he takes off and (as you say) glides straight ahead with little contact. He’s really got a fluid running style. Montgomery’s is more choppy and East/West and seems to get more direct contact. And honestly with these lower extremity injuries piling up, can’t see him lasting a whole lot longer.

Jacob Infante had an interesting spin on the situation.

As an aside and I’m not sure where else to put this. Seems to run in the family (no pun intended). But cool nonetheless.

I'd like to jump on the Mongo bandwagon here. I'll be one of the first to say I'm still glad we drafted Fields. I haven't felt this confident in a QB acquired by the Bears since Cutler (until years later I wasn't). What I find funny about Cutler's struggles and to some level Trubisky's, is that it was always someone else's fault, whether it be a porous O-line, a coach that can't call plays (Nagy) or not having the playmakers they need. Yet Fields is not given the same consideration. His oline resembles a sieve at times, he isn't surrounded by star players and so far I haven't seen much that says Getsy is calling plays to help him succeed. Why does just about every pass Fields try to make seem like a 20+ yarder? Its been asked and it bears repeating, but where are the short crossing patters and play-action calls ? We know the running game is successful so that should be drawing up the coverage. The short-intermediate range plays should be there for the taking, but so far they aren't. And like Mongo says, maybe if they condense the options to him it'll slow the processing speed for him and allow him to reset. In a quick look at similar offensive schemes (taking into consideration former GB OC Hackett is now HC at Denver) I see that the Denver offense hasn't really been blowing the doors off opponents either. And that's with Russell Wilson as their QB. According to ESPN so far Denver is 16th in Total yards / game 18th in total passing yards / game 11th in total rushing yards / game (Chicago is 2nd) 30th in total points / game (Chicago is 21st) So maybe its the scheme they're running? Maybe Rodgers is THAT good that he made both Getsy and Hackett look good enough to get promotions? I have to think that part of Denver's relatively better success is having Russell Wilson as their QB and the remnants of a Vic Fangio constructed defense (they rank top 6 in almost all categories). For now and for the foreseeable future I'm definitely wanting to see more progress out of Fields and am nowhere ready to say he's a flop.

And to think he’s been nursing a hip injury for a bit.

Word.

Not sure but I just saw a QB throw 400 yards, 2TDs and lose.

Still way too early to call it on Justin. Agree he needs more time and this whole season to be evaluated. Once again WAY too early to call it quits and hope for a higher first round pick next year. As Jason suggested in another string, and with hindsight being 20/20 how would things look if the Bears had selected a George Pickens instead of Kyler Gordon in the second round? The cast off WRs the Bears picked up at rock bottom prices this year aren’t much different than the ones from last year and certainly aren’t exactly blowing the doors off anywhere. And our “#1 WR” Mooney? Yeah…anywhere else he’s at best a slot receiver. In my mind this summarizes it best. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-bears/nfl-exec-shouts-down-justin-fields-critics-after-packers-loss/%3Famp

This. ☝️?

Still WAY too early for this. Oline is still an issue. Honestly still not seeing much play action or short underneath throws. Mills throwing a lot like Fields should be. Maybe focusing too much on the big throws?

Sloppy first half all around. Justin off target, both Getsy and Flus making questionable calls (3 TOs left at the end of half? among them). And defense earning another pile of loafs. How they’re only down by one is a bit surprising. At least Santos has been on point.

And Mustipher still in at center. Fumbles first snap.

Looks like Roquan is in, Johnson is out. Who plays in the #1 CB spot today?

Color me intrigued if both Sanborn and Weatherford start in place of Smith and Adams. I think we’ve seen what Sanborn is capable of and I’d be curious to see how Weatherford plays in the position. Looks like he played Safety in college (Univ-Ohio at Miami) so he’s a rangy speedy player. If memory serves so was Sanborn. Would be cool to see two former UDFAs (as of this year mind you) put on a good show. Playing against a team like Houston right now might just be perfect timing to try them out and give Roquan an extra week of rest.

Well for one Roquan would have a shaky case for a HUGE contract extension. But I think we’d need to see more (than just one or two games) from the backups long before that came the standard.