-
Posts
8,531 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Everything posted by Alaskan Grizzly
-
Agreed that we aren't out of the playoffs yet. Not by a long shot. I still believe the team can win against Cleveland, SF, Detroit and GB. Will they? Depends on what they've learned in their losses. The Detroit game earlier this year was a mass killing whereas yesterday's loss was much more palatable...but still sucks considering who it was. If for nothing else it does show some improvement over the season. And it really highlights how vulnerable our team was with only a +6 point winning differential going into yesterday's game, versus +36(?) for GB.
-
This. I agree that yesterday’s loss wasn’t all on Williams. I’d put it closer to an 80/20 split, with the defense carrying most of the blame. Aside from the early sack and INT, they really didn’t make any impact plays the rest of the game—even with several key starters back on the field. Williams did flash at times, especially late (why can't he do this the WHOLE game?). That second-to-last drive—where they chewed up a ton of clock—was a thing of beauty. The run game was wearing the defense down, and Williams’ passes were quicker and more controlled. Honestly, they should’ve stuck with more of that approach and leaned into the basic WCO concepts that worked so well against Philly. Also saw a GB fan point out on social media that the interception play was basically identical—in formation and personnel—to the Bears’ game-sealing score against Philly the week before. His comment was, “You don’t think we watch game film?” Hard to argue with that.
-
What I noticed today was whether by design or by Caleb ad-libbing, he’s cutting the field in half each time he rolls out (which was a lot). Early on there were a few plays where a lone receiver was one on one with a defender and relatively open for space on the opposite side. Later on the defenders were cheating to the side Caleb would roll out to because they knew he’d never look that way. Why they didn’t stick to the ‘game manager’ setting with the west coast offense is beyond me .
-
Not translating so well today. With a fair number of starters back in on defense they looked better when the backups were playing.
-
-
I'd beg to differ that you could add Nix in there. Sure he doesn't have the arm strength that Williams might have but he did manage to QB a team (as a rookie) to the playoffs last year and is on the verge of doing that again. Heck the books aren't closed on the other contenders of the class. If Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold can show former 1st round talent resurgence, anyone can. Besides that, I feel as though most of us agree that in order to get a true measure on a player we need at least 5 years to assess their true ability (probably why rookie contracts are generally that long). Would agree wholeheartedly. If the team manages to make the playoffs because of him, I would be willing to rescind more of my doubts. I'd even agree that he's one of the top three in his QB class. There's no denying that Maye is due his recognition; especially with talk of him being an MVP candidate. From the numbers alone, he's performing especially well. So too (IMHO) is Nix but for different things. So what if he doesn't have the arm strength to launch a ball 70 yards? (Although he did have the record for the longest pass by air last season). Neither did Brees or Manning and they both had HOF careers. The type of offense Williams commanded last week (WCO) was identical (or very similar) to the one that Nix has been in now for almost two seasons. At the end of the day I'm glad we got at least one of the top three QBs and what appears to be a viable HC leading him.
-
Interestingly, he and Caleb’s stats are pretty close, if not nearly identical, up to this point—even in rushing yards. I couldn’t help but notice that in the last game against Philly, it appeared Johnson leaned more toward a West Coast offense while still utilizing outside/inside zone blocking for the run game. Both Swift and Monangai eclipsed 100 rushing yards, which I suspect is because Johnson recognizes that Williams isn’t yet ready to make “splash” plays and wants to continue developing his learning curve. Williams’ passing looked much as you described: primarily short passes, with the occasional longer attempt when available (like the TD to Kmet late in the game). What you observed with Nix is largely what I saw in Williams as well; the difference, in my opinion, is that Nix simply looked more polished executing it.
-
Moody plays hero again. This time for Washington to put the game into OT with Denver. He’s had quite the journeyman season this year .
-
Nope. His knee hit about a millisecond after releasing the ball. Night has been one of highlights with this amazing catch by Burks. His second career TD.
-
Saw a social media post that noted both Chicago and New England were the leaders of their respective divisions then asked ‘what is this 1985?’ And saw an incredible play by Bo Nix a little bit ago that ‘yes’ somehow resulted in a TD pass.
-
Carolina (and their own #1 overall chosen QB) doing all they can to help Bears take possession of the #1 NFC seed. Currently up 31-28 on the Rams. With that should the Bears see the Rams somewhere later in the season, it should give Chicago a good blueprint to play them. edit: Carolina wins after forcing a TO on Rams last drive.
-
I started the season skeptical of Johnson. After the bye week when he adjusted and made the Bears focus more on the run game I became more of a believer in his ability to coach properly. I said this season reminds me of 2018 2.0 but what’s missing (so far) are the bone headed challenges, timeouts and other head scratching play calls that Nagy was notorious for, even that year. Today was a master class of play calling. Johnson went in knowing the weather would be a factor and kept Williams in the ‘game manager’ setting and didn’t ask him to make splash plays. Fortunately he didn’t have to. The running game and its blocking has advanced to a level we haven’t seen in many decades. This is really cool. I can say confidently; “In Ben I trust”.
