Week 9 Official Game Thread - CHI @ CIN, Nov 2nd, 12PM CST, CBS, CHI -1.5

[BearFan PHX]

41 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I think of it more of - they are that good and Caleb is certainly a part of it - but he also has a lot more room to grow and take it up another notch - which is real exciting! This team still has lots to work through - but I expect a lot of growth this second half of the season. Not sure they make the playoffs but this team is going to learn and grow a ton this year and a foundation for sustained success will be built. 

exactly. if this was the finished product for Caleb, that would be a tremendous disappointment, but I think this is just the beginning and hes already somewhere in the middle of the league as a QB.

This season's mission was to increase his consistency, and learn the various tricks defenses will throw at him.

We also all kind predicted we'd be on the cusp of the playoffs - and thats where we are too - all on time, but frustrating because I know we all want to see it all together already. Soon!

[DABEARSDABOMB]

25 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

I think he bought himself more time after today, but I completely disagree with you that there was zero shot had he been awful.

The new system talking point can be drastically overstated by the team with the QB who's struggling. Didn't seem to affect Jayden Daniels or Bo Nix last year, or Drake Maye this year. There's a learning curve, certainly, but come on. The Bears have more offensive talent than most teams in the league. Caleb was the #1 pick. We should hold him to a higher standard than everybody else.

I agree - I expect a lot out of him, but I don’t see Stroud or Daniel’s crushing it this year. I see a qb being pushed a ton vs coddled this year. BJ didn’t just have him doing a bunch of shotgun / read option stuff - he has him doing playing behind center a ton - something he never did in college and which required new footwork etc. That takes time. 
 

He is 12th in yards and 19th in TDs. Great - no - but awful - no. His sack rate is down a ton - YPG is up - yards per play is up a qb rating and qbr are up - all in a new system. I see more good than bad, but acknowledge he hasn’t proven shit yet - but he also flashes some real good stuff too. 

[BearFan PHX]

6 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I agree - I expect a lot out of him, but I don’t see Stroud or Daniel’s crushing it this year. I see a qb being pushed a ton vs coddled this year. BJ didn’t just have him doing a bunch of shotgun / read option stuff - he has him doing playing behind center a ton - something he never did in college and which required new footwork etc. That takes time. 
 

He is 12th in yards and 19th in TDs. Great - no - but awful - no. His sack rate is down a ton - YPG is up - yards per play is up a qb rating and qbr are up - all in a new system. I see more good than bad, but acknowledge he hasn’t proven shit yet - but he also flashes some real good stuff too. 

right - this is right where he is. The pushed vs coddled thing will prove out after a couple years when those other guys are still learning, and Caleb is fully dimensional.

Hes showing examples of getting it, and he needs to increase his consistency.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

3 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

right - this is right where he is. The pushed vs coddled thing will prove out after a couple years when those other guys are still learning, and Caleb is fully dimensional.

Hes showing examples of getting it, and he needs to increase his consistency.

I will say - Drake Maye looks very good. He reminds me of Herbert. Has played some bad defenses too (like Caleb this week) but he has looked the part. 

[Stinger226]

A couple of those Bengals TDs also had good coverage but a great player (Higgins ) made a great play.

Penalties' were down but still to many at critical times.

Caleb played a lot better but still had some bad decisions along the way. The best trait of Caleb is making plays late in games that put us in position to win games. The Loveland pass was perfect. I think BJ will get him to be more consistent going forward.

Theo is still a weakness but I also did not see much chip help given him during the game. Maybe with the Kmet injury that changed some of the blocking scheme. 

Most people wanted another RB added to the room. Now we can see why they didnt add anyone. . Monangai was a beast. Brown looked good in spelling him also.  i think going forward the carries will be split. The two games Monangai looked good he had 15 touches and 29 touches. 

The pick six with that Chase Brown touch before Edmunds went down with the interception was bogus. I thought he had to touch him when he was on the ground? Mongo ? That would have given us a 21 point lead with 2.30 left in the game. 

90% of Flacco's passes were under 10 yards. When he gets the ball out that quick its hard to have a consistent pass rush. We did have a few big plays from the front 7. 

Booker, Loveland, Monangai all showed up which is encouraging Poles is getting some of the draftees right. 

I listened to Olin right after the game and he said how difficult it is to stay up after those late plays by the Bengals. We are developing a winning culture when our team finds ways to win under the worst circumstances. These are games we would have lost last year. 5-3 in not chump change. 

Gardner-Johnson played well for only 5 days with the team. If he keeps his attitude in check, he's a keeper. That's a big IF.

[Stinger226]

9 hours ago, AZ54 said:

He's not judging a pick with that statement he's judging a draft strategy.  We paid the best OC $13M/yr to be our head coach.  I think there was some deference to Johnson in deciding where to use the first overall pick of his tenure.  For all I know that was part of the negotiation and hiring process.  If that were true I'd be ok with it because I still think Ben was the best HC choice for this team. 

Regardless, at the end of the day Jason wanted a trench player in Rd 1.     

I dont disagree a trench player probably would have been a better choice looking at our weaknesses but that was a BJ pick and I have to let it play out . 

A Ersery has given up 4 sacks and 17 pressures. Also has 4 penalties so he isnt setting the world on fire at this point of in time. 

Josh Connerly has given up 6 sacks and 8 penalties. 28 pressures while playing RT. 

Josh Simmons has 1 sack and 3 penalties, 12 pressures in 318 snaps which is the only rookie we could have drafted that is playing decent. 

Theo has 4 penalties and  one sack in 290 snaps , 10 pressures. He hasnt looked good doing it but they are similar to Simmons stats. 

How much better would we be if we drafted Simmons? I would say at this point its basically a tie. 

The 3 edge players taken after our 9th pick in the first round has 2 sack between them. None of them are making a big impression after 9 games. 

As far as a future for any of our other choices  we could have had, they may all be all pros but so might Loveland. So at this point in time , no one has made a huge impact on their team . We just had Loveland win a game for us. 

 

[adam]

7 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I agree - I expect a lot out of him, but I don’t see Stroud or Daniel’s crushing it this year. I see a qb being pushed a ton vs coddled this year. BJ didn’t just have him doing a bunch of shotgun / read option stuff - he has him doing playing behind center a ton - something he never did in college and which required new footwork etc. That takes time. 
 

He is 12th in yards and 19th in TDs. Great - no - but awful - no. His sack rate is down a ton - YPG is up - yards per play is up a qb rating and qbr are up - all in a new system. I see more good than bad, but acknowledge he hasn’t proven shit yet - but he also flashes some real good stuff too. 

Mayfield and Allen are MVP candidates, and Williams is right there, but if you listen to the media, Williams is the only QB in the NFL missing easy throws, etc, etc.

Mayfield - 1919 Pass Yds, 13 TD, 2 INT (6-2)
Williams - 1916 Pass Yds, 12 TD, 4 INT (5-3)
Allen - 1833 Pass Yds, 13 TD, 4 INT (6-2)

The media is so bad that you would think that Williams has the worst Comp% in the league or at least the lowest of any 2nd Year QB. Nix, Penix, McCarthy are all lower, and Daniels is only 1% higher. The standout is Maye who has had the easiest schedule of the bunch. 

This was at the point of Goff's time with Johnson where you saw a visible improvement to his game. I am hoping we see that from Williams from here on out.

[adam]

PFF Grades

Top 5 Offense
Wright - 94.1
Jackson - 91.1
Williams - 90.8
Loveland - 86.3
Dalman - 84.8

Top 5 Defense
Booker - 90.0
Byard - 76.9
Edmunds - 67.8
Sweat - 65.0
Dexter - 60.4

Worst Offense
Odunze - 51.8

Worst Defense
Stevenson - 26.5

Wright is playing at an All Pro level.

[AZ54]

4 hours ago, adam said:

Mayfield and Allen are MVP candidates, and Williams is right there, but if you listen to the media, Williams is the only QB in the NFL missing easy throws, etc, etc.

Mayfield - 1919 Pass Yds, 13 TD, 2 INT (6-2)
Williams - 1916 Pass Yds, 12 TD, 4 INT (5-3)
Allen - 1833 Pass Yds, 13 TD, 4 INT (6-2)

The media is so bad that you would think that Williams has the worst Comp% in the league or at least the lowest of any 2nd Year QB. Nix, Penix, McCarthy are all lower, and Daniels is only 1% higher. The standout is Maye who has had the easiest schedule of the bunch. 

This was at the point of Goff's time with Johnson where you saw a visible improvement to his game. I am hoping we see that from Williams from here on out.

Proves the point it’s just narrative because those teams have a winning record.  Both Allen and Mayfield struggled early in their career. Allen didn’t look steady good as QB until last year.  Prior to that there was a lot of hero ball.  Now he can beat you both ways.  

[jason]

19 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Making sure you develop the QB is goal number one.  As much as the defense needs infusion up front, the Bears are actually doing the right thing for once.  I wouldn't be shocked to see them draft LT/RB early even with Monongai showing he can be a force. 

That’s been my philosophy on here for years. Why draft a QB high if you’re not going to protect him and give him weapons? Looks like that’s finally occurring this year. I just wish they had believed in Kmet as #1 pass receiving TE and drafted someone to whelp the defense.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

29 minutes ago, jason said:

That’s been my philosophy on here for years. Why draft a QB high if you’re not going to protect him and give him weapons? Looks like that’s finally occurring this year. I just wish they had believed in Kmet as #1 pass receiving TE and drafted someone to whelp the defense.

I think they viewed Loveland as a special talent.  Like if Jeanty was available to draft when they have Swift.  At least they can play both Kmet/Loveland at the same time.  Now that the Bears have a run game and they are running a more successful offense, they can add wrinkles especially in 12 man.