Between this year and last year, this period may be the most exhausting as a fan. There is random hints of promise only to be crashed back down to the depths of hell. The NE game last year feels like the WSH game this year. After that game, everyone figured that the Bears had righted the ship and things were going to continue to trend in a positive direction. Then they finish the year with 10 straight losses.

This year they start out exactly the same, like literally nothing has changed after an entire offseason, they start out with 4 straight losses and then go into Washington on a short week in prime time and whoop up on the Commanders. Everyone gets excited, the Bears are back, Fields is legit, let's go! Then they crash back down again, and lose an ugly game and Fields gets hurt. Now they have to play LVR, LAC, and NO, who all have at least average teams with Tyson Bagent starting. 

Poles knew Fields was an injury risk and this was his backup plan? If Bagent looks worse than Fields, you have to start considering Poles ability to field an NFL roster. 

It looks like Hoyer will start for the Raiders. At this point, I don't even care about the outcome. I want to see some development out of the young players (actually visible improvement) and it will be curious to see how Bagent looks in the same offense and behind the same OLine as Fields. If he plays even average (as a D2 rookie in his first start), then it will look really bad for Fields. 

Raiders win by 10. 

As much as we are losers, we were very close to beating both Broncos and Vikings .The defense is starting to get better. We had our best 2 RBs out that would have totally changed the outcome of the game. If you take out Jackson and Whitehair, we are the youngest roster in the league. The problem is the bad play calling isnt going to go away. Hopefully Getsy makes it simpler for Bagent to allow him to be the best he can be . In the Washington game he rolled the pocket out 7 times against Minny he did it once. He got stuck on thinking we were better than we were. Fields was under duress all day and is now injured. I would love us to win all the games going forward but between our injuries and the same coaches will will find ways to lose. The light at the end of the tunnel will be the top 2 picks in the draft and 111 mil cap space. If that happens the coaching staff will be fired and probably a new QB. Hard to say right now if we win more games next year because of that but it changes our hope for the future. Fields will be back (as of now) so we get to see what Bagent can do and still have some games to evaluate both. That is a blessing in disguise for us  to be able to know what we have. I am one of the only posters on here that thought we could have a winning record  (misguided optimist). the truth is 1 and 1/2 years into a complete rebuild that wasnt going to happen. 

3 hours ago, adam said:

Poles knew Fields was an injury risk and this was his backup plan.

You aren’t serious are you? 

1 hour ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

You aren’t serious are you? 

No lol, it was sarcasm, I should've made it green, will edit. It was more of a rhetorical question. Phrasing Adam, Phrasing. 

It's Secret Bagent week.  Let's go!

2 hours ago, adam said:

No lol, it was sarcasm, I should've made it green, will edit. It was more of a rhetorical question. Phrasing Adam, Phrasing. 

Ha!  Sometimes I’m Sheldon-esque. Bazinga! 

I know you don't win games from a press conference, but I have to say, I was impressed at Bagent's composure and his answers for his first presser as QB1. Very few cookie cutter answers, and the moment didn't seem to big for him. Kudos to him.  He said he told the coaches that they didn't need to shrink the playbook, that he knew all the plays, which if true, would be very impressive, especially when you are not getting reps with those plays.

 

We win this game.

On 10/18/2023 at 4:00 PM, Mongo3451 said:

We win this game.

I love your confidence, I am changing my prediction, Bears by 7! 

O/U on Bagent passing yards? 200?

Braxton Jones-out, Nate Davis -out, Darnell Wright-out. How is any QB going to perform well in that situation against the best pass rusher this year, Max Crosby . We are moving Whitehair, Jenkins around to compensate. I think we need to start doing mock drafts and pre free agent looks for now.

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Braxton Jones-out, Nate Davis -out, Darnell Wright-out

In hindsight, it looks like Flus was wise in playing the 2nd and 3rd stringers more during the preseason (and less the starters). Who else knew we’d be using them as much during this part of the season? 

Ok then, Bagent looks solid, doesn't look confused. Offense playing inspired, Foreman running hard. Bears 7-0 early. 

1st quarter is over, Bears up 7-0. Outside of a drop by Foreman, a few soft coverages by Stevenson on Adams, the entire team looks competent, which is shocking considering how they looked recently.

The offense is moving the ball, and plays do not look as predictable. Also, Bagent is really selling some of the play action and RPOs with his back to the LOS. The cameraman got faked out twice already on those. Nothing crazy over the top, but for a D2 rookie in his first start, it is hard to not be impressed.

Edmunds with another INT off a tipped pass, and the Bears actually capitalize and score another TD, Foreman's 2nd TD run. Bears up 14-0 early. Bagent looks comfortable, and offense is moving. 

1 minute ago, adam said:

Bagent looks comfortable, and offense is moving

Who knew we already had a “generational QB” on our team?  ? 

3 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Who knew we already had a “generational QB” on our team?  ? 

Glad to have him.  Now for Fields to learn from this and if he cannot, then we move on.

28 minutes ago, adam said:

Nothing crazy over the top, but for a D2 rookie in his first start, it is hard to not be impressed.

Yeah, Bagent may not be a superstar in the making, but the ball is coming out on time and it makes ALL the difference. It looks like a regular football team.

When Fields is in there it never looks like regular football. Its always a crisis. Sometimes Fields does amazing things to win in those crisis moments. But it never looks calm and regular with 7 yard passes in rhythm.

Bagent's performance is telling us something about how Fields isn't the guy.

Whatever other skills our new QB has, I want him to have that kind of calm quick release.

3 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Bagent's performance is telling us something about how Fields isn't the guy.

At best he’s being a great game manager (9/16 for 62 yards so far). Nothing wrong with that but yes the offense does appear to be running efficiently in the short gain game. 

2 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

At best he’s being a great game manager (9/16 for 62 yards so far). Nothing wrong with that but yes the offense does appear to be running efficiently in the short gain game. 

Right. I'm not saying Bagent is, or ever will be a top NFL QB. I'm saying being a game manager is the floor one should accept for a QB. If you cant do that, all the extras and intangibles in the world dont matter enough to win games. That's what we need to have learned.

Bagent is very crisp. And suddenly normal things like slant routes work.

6 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Yeah, Bagent may not be a superstar in the making, but the ball is coming out on time and it makes ALL the difference. It looks like a regular football team.

When Fields is in there it never looks like regular football. Its always a crisis. Sometimes Fields does amazing things to win in those crisis moments. But it never looks calm and regular with 7 yard passes in rhythm.

Bagent's performance is telling us something about how Fields isn't the guy.

Whatever other skills our new QB has, I want him to have that kind of calm quick release.

With many QBs there is a hero complex that takes over and they believe their talent alone will win in every situation. They are trying to win the game every play. Great on paper, but in real life they can not score on every play. ImDo that's Fields' problem and I see it in Williams. they hold the ball way too long and think they are back in high school or college where there was such a talen discrepancy they often did sucede. The NFL is not like that and they hit a wall.

We are starting to jell as a defense and having a game manager at QB with a good running game will get us some wins along the way.

Just now, ChileBear said:

With many QBs there is a hero complex that takes over and they believe their talent alone will win in every situation. They are trying to win the game every play. Great on paper, but in real life they can not score on every play. ImDo that's Fields' problem and I see it in Williams. they hold the ball way too long and think they are back in high school or college where there was such a talen discrepancy they often did sucede. The NFL is not like that and they hit a wall.

Exactly. When you look at QBs like Montana and Marino - they played calm and fast. The numbers are flashy, not the athletes. Bill Walsh would love Bagent.

Meanwhile, Eberflus mismanaging the clock again.

The kid can throw on the run, roll him out to avoid Crosby.

3 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

We are starting to jell as a defense and having a game manager at QB with a good running game will get us some wins along the way.

right, and this is just base competence! thats how bad we've been for so long.

20 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

right, and this is just base competence! thats how bad we've been for so long.

We should have looked like this 5 games ago. Maybe we're  building for next year, but that would mean Eberflus stays and I don't think he is our answer as head coach.