Bears @ Rams - Week 7 - Official MNF Game Thread - 10/26, Bears -6.5, 7:15 PM CT, ESPN

[Uncle Buck]

I didn’t have grand illusions for this season, it will play out however it plays out, but one thing for certain this is the worst offensive line I’ve seen for the Bears. Our tackles are complete turnstiles. Coward, bless his soul, tries but he ain’t it. I am so underwhelmed by Pace and Nagy. I know I bitched about them last week but wow. I don’t think Nagy learned a damn thing from Reid.

[Mongo3451]

I would literally cut Ginn before the game ends.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Now we will see some over the shoulder catches....  

[Bears4Ever_34]

It's getting harder to make a case for Nick Foles remaining as the starter. He has been every bit as awful as Mitch was in his 2.5 games as the starter.

[Bertva]

The Bears curse on Monday night football.

When is Paces Contract up?

 

[Bertva]

6 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

It's getting harder to make a case for Nick Foles remaining as the starter. He has been every bit as awful as Mitch was in his 2.5 games as the starter.

 

[BearFan2000]

2 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

It's getting harder to make a case for Nick Foles remaining as the starter. He has been every bit as awful as Mitch was in his 2.5 games as the starter.

Agree but at the same time not sure it would matter who is under center behind this line... I mean turnstiles.  The only thing Mitch could have provided today that Nick couldn't is mobility. I don't think the result would be much different. This team is doomed with this line play.  We are constantly losing the line of scrimmage.  Can't run the ball, and the little short pass plays used like a run game won't do it.  We are completely one dimensional.   Right up there with main culprits of this offense is the play calling.  I like Naggy as a coach, but can't call a good game to save his life.  I think we're close to another "rebuild" than we are contending for a title.  

[Connorbear]

The offensive line is a dumpster fire.  If Whitehair is out for long, it will only get worse. 

Peace

[ASHKUM BEAR]

I know the line is and has been on fire, a dumpster fire.  Now the people who were Foles ppl, not saying on here but more media, are saying it is because of the line.  They couldn't say it with Mitch.  They said he couldn't read, throws off his back foot, has bad accuracy.  What the heck has Foles been?  He struggles too and the excuses of getting accumulated are over that is why the oline play is now spoken. I put more blame on the play caller.  Good player coach sure, but this offense is garbage.  He was hired to make Mitch and make the offense great.  

[Bears4Ever_34]

The Bears are going to get their asses kicked in these next two games. This season has the potential to unravel if things don't get corrected before that Packers game. 

Ryan Pace still probably thinks we don't need help at NT or OL, which is why I can't wait until the day he is no longer Bears GM. So sick and tired of him.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 minute ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

The Bears are going to get their asses kicked in these next two games. This season has the potential to unravel if things don't get corrected before that Packers game. 

Ryan Pace still probably thinks we don't need help at NT or OL, which is why I can't wait until the day he is no longer Bears GM. So sick and tired of him.

The Bears hands are tied.  They are over the cap next year unless they cut or restructure some players.  One offensive tackle will be gone if not both, Fuller will have to agree to a new contract.  Then throw in the cap allowance getting lowered because of loss of revenue this year. Pace will have hands full.  Not a good year to try to try to bring in a new GM either.  

[DABEARSDABOMB]

1 hour ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Was it Griese that noted Graham coming out right as they most needed him?  Seems an odd call for sure now that it blew up.  Nagy is proving he's not up to the job.  (And now Whitehair is out...ugh).

Defense is gassed, plain and simple.  

Nagy is too focused on out smarting the world and he's failing miserably at it. Put your best players in positions to make plays, period.  Instead we get way too much Patterson, way to much Harris and not enough of the playmakers out there. Very damning quote from Griese late in the game stating Foles was talking to him over the weekend and basically stated he gets calls in and knows they won't be able to execute them. Really daming.

You saw it a lot tonight - Foles looking over his shoulder at Nagy just pissed.  Nagy thinks he's smarter than he is. He may not be a bad head coach, but he's a horrific offensive coordinator.  Horrific.  And Montgomery - NOT GOOD.  Oline - Not good; Skill position - not good enough.  

[DABEARSDABOMB]

51 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

It's getting harder to make a case for Nick Foles remaining as the starter. He has been every bit as awful as Mitch was in his 2.5 games as the starter.

I actually think he's been worse - mainly because the ground game was actually working with Mitch.  Another week like that and I won't be surprised if they switch things up.  

[Bears4Ever_34]

48 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Nagy is too focused on out smarting the world and he's failing miserably at it. Put your best players in positions to make plays, period.  Instead we get way too much Patterson, way to much Harris and not enough of the playmakers out there. Very damning quote from Griese late in the game stating Foles was talking to him over the weekend and basically stated he gets calls in and knows they won't be able to execute them. Really daming.

You saw it a lot tonight - Foles looking over his shoulder at Nagy just pissed.  Nagy thinks he's smarter than he is. He may not be a bad head coach, but he's a horrific offensive coordinator.  Horrific.  And Montgomery - NOT GOOD.  Oline - Not good; Skill position - not good enough.  

Nagy thinks he is what McVay actually is. It was pretty obvious from watching the two offenses out there tonight, who is the better coached group. That quick tempo rushing to the line and snapping the ball at the goal line was a thing of beauty, and it's something you would never see from a Matt Nagy coached team. Everything the Rams do on offense, from a playcalling standpoint, makes sense, logically. He calls a game the way a pitcher and catcher set up a hitter with ball location. You'll see them stretch the edge of the defense out, and then run a playaction rollout on the backside when the D gets too aggressive.

With Nagy, every play call is seemingly selected at random. They'll run the ball up the middle for 1-2 yards, then throw a deep out for an incompletion, and then run a play on 3rd down where the ball is thrown short of the sticks... If I had a nickel for everytime that happened throughout the course of a Bears football game, I'd be making some serious money from this offense. They are just a low IQ football team on offense, and I think it starts with the head coach. It's time to give up playcalling duties.

[Bears4Ever_34]

56 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I actually think he's been worse - mainly because the ground game was actually working with Mitch.  Another week like that and I won't be surprised if they switch things up.  

You might not be wrong, but Trubisky also faced probably 3 of the worst defenses in the NFL—certainly at least 2 defenses that are bottom 5, and I'm not sure where DET ranks, but it can't be that good.

Foles came in and immediately faced the #1 and #2 defenses in football in back to back weeks, which didn't help his cause, but he struggled against a below average defense in CAR and played even worse against a good but not great defense in the Rams. It's crazy to me how the Bears scored 20 against the Bucs defense, and only scored 3 against the Rams. Makes no sense.

As bad as Foles looked, I don't see any way Trubisky gets put back in there, barring injury. I think Nagy has seen enough to know Mitch isn't the answer doesn't want to go down the road again. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

33 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

You might not be wrong, but Trubisky also faced probably 3 of the worst defenses in the NFL—certainly at least 2 defenses that are bottom 5, and I'm not sure where DET ranks, but it can't be that good.

Foles came in and immediately faced the #1 and #2 defenses in football in back to back weeks, which didn't help his cause, but he struggled against a below average defense in CAR and played even worse against a good but not great defense in the Rams. It's crazy to me how the Bears scored 20 against the Bucs defense, and only scored 3 against the Rams. Makes no sense.

As bad as Foles looked, I don't see any way Trubisky gets put back in there, barring injury. I think Nagy has seen enough to know Mitch isn't the answer doesn't want to go down the road again. 

Great post and agree with everything you said. 

[Bertva]

8 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I actually think he's been worse - mainly because the ground game was actually working with Mitch.  Another week like that and I won't be surprised if they switch things up.  

Nagy can't switch that would mean he was wrong to switch in the first place.

[adam]

First off, Ted Ginn should be left in LA. What a waste of oxygen. What the hell. If he was going to do that on every punt, then rush 11 and go for the block. There is no way the coaches told him to not fair catch the ball. He cost the team at least 40 yards of field position and made it near impossible to salvage a few drives starting at the 1. 

Secondly, Nagy needs to give up play calling. It can't get any worse. On the 4th Down CP run, EVERYONE in the world knew what was about to happen. You know what would've worked perfectly there, a play fake to CP then a pass back to the other side. He is too predictable and doesn't make any in-game adjustments (see 3rd quarter scoring).

Third, Foles is not much better than Trubisky. His boneheaded INT in the end zone took 7 pts off the board. However, did anyone notice the drive that led to the INT, how the Bears were moving the ball with tempo and some no-huddles? It worked, why, because Nagy couldn't sub in a player package that wasn't going to work. To me, that is how you know who the main problem is. On up tempo and no-huddle situations, even the running game gets going. This was also the same thing with Trubisky, if you remember. 

Fourth, the defense can only do so much. Outside of a couple of plays, they were solid. Skrine was late to his guy for an easy TD. If you are the coaching staff, how do you not see that and call a timeout? The defense gave out 3 first downs with penalties, extending drives again. The Hicks hands to the face was BS and ultimately led to a LA TD. That play and the Foles RZ INT were the difference (both 7 pts) in the game. 

Fifth, the officiating is still an issue. For me, it's the inconsistency of the calls. How does one team get away with clear holds, yet the other team touches the other team, and that is a foul? If you get a chance to rewatch this train wreck, watch the Rams jet sweeps. On one particular play, I think it was Woods around the right side, there is a clear hold (more than what Ifedi did to Donald that was called) at the edge and nothing was called. EZ first down. If the calls are going to go like that, what can you do?

Lastly, the Offensive Line. What an absolute dumpster fire. I get that Daniels is hurt, but what the hell. Massie made Leonard freaking Floyd look like a HoFer. Leno, Ifedi, and Coward looked like they were playing patty cake with the Rams. Then Whitehair goes down. This is on Pace. What a joke. He overpaid to keep Massie and Leno (who are well below average), and then brought Ifedi in for league minimum to be a STARTER. Defenses literally just rush straight into the gaps and either they plug the run lanes or are in the passer's face. 

With all of that, I am still optimistic about the team turning it around though. The law of averages was going to eventually catch up to them and the Rams were the last good defense they play this year. Every team has a bad game. I will be more concerned if we lose again in NO on Sunday. Right now though, all the naysayers who were wrong for 5 weeks can say they were right for 6 days. 

[Connorbear]

1 hour ago, adam said:

First off, Ted Ginn should be left in LA. What a waste of oxygen. What the hell. If he was going to do that on every punt, then rush 11 and go for the block. There is no way the coaches told him to not fair catch the ball. He cost the team at least 40 yards of field position and made it near impossible to salvage a few drives starting at the 1. 

Secondly, Nagy needs to give up play calling. It can't get any worse. On the 4th Down CP run, EVERYONE in the world knew what was about to happen. You know what would've worked perfectly there, a play fake to CP then a pass back to the other side. He is too predictable and doesn't make any in-game adjustments (see 3rd quarter scoring).

Third, Foles is not much better than Trubisky. His boneheaded INT in the end zone took 7 pts off the board. However, did anyone notice the drive that led to the INT, how the Bears were moving the ball with tempo and some no-huddles? It worked, why, because Nagy couldn't sub in a player package that wasn't going to work. To me, that is how you know who the main problem is. On up tempo and no-huddle situations, even the running game gets going. This was also the same thing with Trubisky, if you remember. 

Fourth, the defense can only do so much. Outside of a couple of plays, they were solid. Skrine was late to his guy for an easy TD. If you are the coaching staff, how do you not see that and call a timeout? The defense gave out 3 first downs with penalties, extending drives again. The Hicks hands to the face was BS and ultimately led to a LA TD. That play and the Foles RZ INT were the difference (both 7 pts) in the game. 

Fifth, the officiating is still an issue. For me, it's the inconsistency of the calls. How does one team get away with clear holds, yet the other team touches the other team, and that is a foul? If you get a chance to rewatch this train wreck, watch the Rams jet sweeps. On particular play, I think it was Woods around the right side, there is a clear hold (more than what Ifedi did to Donald that was called) at the edge and nothing was called. EZ first down. If the calls are going to go like that, what can you do?

Lastly, the Offensive Line. What an absolute dumpster fire. I get that Daniels is hurt, but what the hell. Massie made Leonard freaking Floyd look like a HoFer. Leno, Ifedi, and Coward looked like they were playing patty cake with the Rams. Then Whitehair goes down. This is on Pace. What a joke. He overpaid to keep Massie and Leno (who are well below average), and then brought Ifedi in for league minimum to be a STARTER. Defenses literally just rush straight into the gaps and either they plug the run lanes or are in the passer's face. 

With all of that, I am still optimistic about the team turning it around though. The law of averages was going to eventually catch up to them and the Rams were the last good defense they play this year. Every team has a bad game. I will be more concerned if we lose again in NO on Sunday. Right now though, all the naysayers who were wrong for 5 weeks can say they were right for 6 days. 

I agree with a lot of this. 

1. Ginn should be gone this week. He's a waste of a roster spot. 

2. Foles was supposed to have a beautiful deep ball but has missed on a wide open receiver at least 4 times since taking over the job. Mooney should have 2 to 3 more TDs. 

3. How did Mustiphar look replacing Whitehair? Can we have him take over at center and slide Whitehair back to left guard (if healthy)? 

4. Why is Harris getting more playing time/targets than Kmet? This should change immediately. 

5. Two of the first three picks next year need to be on offensive line. Massie and Leno have to go next year.

6. At least we have solved the kicking situation.

Peace

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 hour ago, Connorbear said:

2. Foles was supposed to have a beautiful deep ball but has missed on a wide open receiver at least 4 times since taking over the job. Mooney should have 2 to 3 more TDs. 

3. How did Mustiphar look replacing Whitehair? Can we have him take over at center and slide Whitehair back to left guard (if healthy)? 

4. Why is Harris getting more playing time/targets than Kmet? This should change immediately. 

 

2.  I didn't watch most of last night but the little bit I did see highlighted the two largest blights on this team.  Nagy's playcalling and the line's inability to block.  I had just tuned in after Foles missed the wide open Mooney streaking down the left side of the field.  As Griese pointed out, the reason Foles could not get that ball to Mooney was because he could not step into the throw.  Same for many of the throws last night and really throughout this season.  Was that also why Trubisky couldn't hit anything longer than 20 years with consistency?  Dunno.  Naqy's playcalling is hampering Foles' abilty to run the offense.  Last week I commented that Foles is better at running the offense than Nagy is calling it and I still believe that.  The only reason I would suggest a change between Foles and Trubisky at this point is because of Mitch's mobility, but that's about it.  What he gains in mobilty, he lacks in decision making and consistency.  

3. From what I could see Mustipher seemed to do ok.  Of course the whole O-line was pretty much a sieve for most of the night so it really was hard to see whether he specifically held his own.

4. Again...Nagy.

Historically speaking, at least during the Pace age, the success of this team has been largely on the defensive side of the ball.  Fox ushered in a defensive mindset with a vanilla offense that was perfect for the team rebuild needed at the time.  He also brought along with him Vic Fangio. There is no question Vic built the defense to what it is and has been since that time.  Pagano has continued that but with a few adjustments of his own.  Ironically enough the struggle we see and have been is on the offense side of the ball.  Nagy most likely isn't the answer to fix it.  

 

[Stinger226]

You guys make all good points on changes.

We need to play Bars instead of Coward for the first step, at least he cant be worst. The bad Oline is screwing up everything we do. Foles may look a little better when not under attack all the time. WITH a running game it makes the passing game run smoother. The trade deadline is one week away, go and get a starter somewhere for a 5th or 6th round pick. 

We need to (when we try to run) go to a power game. Stick Comet in there and leave him. Stick Holtz at fullback and just try blocking forward instead of a step back. Quit playing Patterson at RB and try Miller or Pierce, it cant be worse. 

We have to remember we are 5-2 and still in the running for a playoff spot. Nagy has to give up play calling or nothing we do will matter.