jason

I appreciate that you own it, but a 5-win team shouldn’t be spending a first round pick on a TE, much less a blocking TE. Blocking TEs go on day 3.

No real pass rush and 3rd string DBs is likely to make Flacco look like Brady. We’ve seen this movie many times over, where a journeyman is initially doubted, then torches the Bears for one of his best games of the year, and the people say, “Wow! Look at Player X! What a great day he had!” Whenever I expect good things from the Bears my heart is broken. So, I expect Flacco goes for 300+, puts up better numbers than Williams, and the Bears likely lose in excruciating fashion. In reality, Williams should have a breakout day, with 3+TDs - or passes that set up a few short running TDs - and make us all think he is still the man on which this franchise should rest its shoulders.

Where is Everyone who loved the Loveland pick? Where is the 12 personnel? Is it even being run? When it IS being run, is it even successful? When it IS being run, what’s the percentage of time the first round TE is blocking? Horrible pick at an unnecessary position. I know it’s early, but what a waste. He is underutilized, and so is the other good TE on the team.

Yes. No. No. Dude can make all the throws that mere mortals can’t, but can’t make the throws a garden variety NFL starter can. The things that’s crazy is, I’m still seeing guys WIDE OPEN. And many of them are wide open because of the scheme. For years I’d ask myself, “How the hell did GB receiver (insert name) get so wide open against our D?” Now I see it happening and the #1 overall QB reads defenses like someone who just started playing Madden.

BINGO! Every damn person with the Bears thinks they’re the smartest guy in the room. They reach. They trade. They go with “their” BPA 🙄 And the whole time everyone else is screaming otherwise. 90% of the fans say something different. Like this year with OT, DE, and RB. So what do the Bears do? TE and WR. 🤦🏻‍♂️ This has happened for literal decades now. I have said this for many years in a row: True BPA is stupid. You don’t draft Marino if you have Montana. At a certain point you must draft for need. It’s 100% necessary because a team is only as strong as its weakest link. The Bears should focus on huge names for football powerhouse programs, especially with a history of pumping out studs at a specific position. Want a WR? Start with Bama or LSU players. Want OL? Maybe focus on a kid from Iowa who throws hay bails for fun. It’s really not that difficult. That strategy may not find the hidden gems, but it’s got a lot better chance of avoiding catastrophe. But you do you, Poles. Cut Kmet at the end of the year and find another Shaheen.🙄

Keep in mind this foul has an undefined timing mechanism to it, as well as a perception angle. One, is the QB still the “passer”? He continues to be the passer until the pass ends or he participates, roughly. A lot of Refs have a “the ball is gone”-saying right after the throw, whether verbal or nonverbal, that acts as a timer. After the phrase equals a foul. Two, does the defender make “any” attempt to pull back weight? With the timing of “is he still a passer by definition” and the perception of “did the defender pull back,” there is a lot of wiggle room.

As stated, the training tapes I’ve seen from NFL guys makes it cut and dry. head contact w/ QB in the pocket = foul It’s almost like a facemask in that regard: no gray area. Even though the arm was hit first, he’s still by rule a passer. And therefore can still get the roughing call. To understand rules it’s often beneficial to take them to the extreme. If contact to the throwing arm were first, and a punch to the jaw were second, we obviously wouldn’t say, “He hit the throwing arm first!” Same concept.

Re: Fields, he never got a real shot here behind a historically bad OL. Dude ran for his life and realized running was better than getting killed. Add in coaching changes and scheme changes for the obvious result: bust. Like an apple that appears OK on the outside, the physical and psychological bruises are there, and cannot be taken back. He was ruined and it’s too bad. RE: Williams, I’m still waiting for a few breakout performances strung together. New Orleans should have been one. He’s got the physical skills, but I’m still not sure about mental.

Sorry, but they’re not going to call that often. He’s hitting the A-Gap and getting squeezed into the snapper. Arm on the snapper’s back? Sure. But 99% of the time that’s not getting called unless it’s worse and more direct with the snapper. Also, like I said before, there is no timing mechanism to the protection rule. Not one, two, or ten seconds. It’s all based on the officials’ perception of whether or not the snapper has had enough time to defend himself. Some players at lower levels, along with their bonehead coaches, think they just have to keep their head down for an extended period and that automatically results in indefinite protection. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Maybe because young people make bad decisions at a greater rate than older people? Or maybe you haven’t heard everyone under 25 saying “six seeeveeeen” nonstop? Remember tide pods? Etc. I will be one of the many using halftime to get food and take a symbolic dump.

Fired = Demoted 100% of them have extensive connections and officiating networks. One does not advance to the NFL without such connections. When they get fired or demoted they go back to a D1 conference unless they’re ready to retire or they did something outrageous like a crime. The lower you go the easier it is to fire them. I know someone who got fired from a D1 conference because they were accused of drunken towards a female employee in the hotel lobby where they were all staying. Keeping them wasn’t worth the risk.

Yes. A few got demoted before this year.

Performance is reviewed extensively. Graded and everything. But it comes down to who reviews them having the skills and knowledge to do so. Which means former officials. And those former officials know the current ones. They worked with them. They agree philosophically with them. It’s way harder to fix it than you think. As for gambling, that’s a 100% negative for all of them. But if the NBA gambling thing proved anything, it’s still possible even though it’s illegal.

Same. I actually have known of Bad Bunny for a long time. And I like one of his songs. But the question was whether or not his being American was a source of pride.

I haven’t read the NFL rulebook like I have HS and NCAA, but I don’t believe there is an actual 1-second rule built into snapper protection. It’s probably more of a philosophy thing if anything.

It’s not Poles or Kmet when it comes to Kmet’s performance. It’s the unnecessary drafting of Loveland, and an offense with too many mouths to feed. Kmet was sacrificed in April at the draft.

That won’t help. The NFL officials as is spend basically a full time schedule reading rules, studying video, attending clinics, participating in rules study groups, reviewing performance, analyzing tendencies, etc. And that doesn’t include staying in shape or travel. Reality is, the same dudes would get hired, and a majority would be due to connections, nepotism, demographics, and/or other factors before actual officiating prowess/performance.

For him or the viewers? I ask because he isn’t touring in the U.S. I’m certainly not proud of an American citizen who isn’t proud of this country. He’s willing to receive the immense benefits, but not your here? Reminds me of people who counter-culture stickers on their Apple laptop and iPhone while sitting at Starbucks.

Can you also maintain a thread like this for 2025 TEs?

1. Does it shock anyone that Swift looked better when plays were called that **gasp** put him in space outside? 2. I’m an official, and I almost never bash officials, but that was bad. The offside was terrible as was the illegal formation. In fact, I’ve been to multiple camps where NFL officials talk about a “single blade of grass”-philosophy, usually applied to defensive offsides, which means if you can put a single blade of grass between the OL and DL, make it legal. The same philosophy applies to attempting to make offensive formations legal. The tackle should be significantly back to draw that foul. 2b. The OPI was weak as well. Push offs are actually one of the OPI categories when justifying the call, but if the defender is swiveling hips to actually run, it’s generally not called. 2c. Last but not least, the illegal contact call was terrible. That has to be something that causes material restriction of some sort, not just a dude touching a WR. Otherwise literally every pass would be DPI as the DB reaches for the receiver. 2d. For any crybaby Skins fan, delay of game is not automatically synchronized with the clock. The philosophy has built in gray area for the time between zero, looking at the snap, and blowing the whistle. The last thing anyone wants is an overzealous back judge throwing 4-5 DOGs every game because he’s being overly technical. 3. Williams still hasn’t put it all together. It worries me. Multiple misses, and one horribly under thrown ball that should have been a TD. 4. Good thing the Bears used their first round selection and drafted Loveland.🙄 5. What was with that one play in the red zone where Caleb looked right, then blindly fired a fastball left straight into the defender’s hands? If he didn’t have a propensity for overpowering short throws, that would have been an INT. 6. Was anyone else going crazy when they stopped trying to get yards at the end? Dude got cut for being inconsistent, gets called up literally today, it’s raining, it’s a pressure-filled game winner, and the Bears are just content with “close enough”?

Bingo. Add in historical underperformance in prime time games and I’d say the odds are probably right. It will take a stellar game from someone to win this one.

It’s actually crazy how long this has gone on considering I was once removed from being an admin because I took out actual political content. But now there is an all out war without repercussion. As if the Bears team itself doesn’t cause enough unnecessary stress.

I love this thread.

I’m really starting to lean his way. Seems like he might finally be the offensive-minded leader of men Chicago needs.