Remainder of Playoffs

[adam]

Watching the NE vs DEN game, holy hell those teams look like crap. Maye has 55 yards passing thru 3 quarters and 3 sacks. 

Whoever wins the NFC will crush either of these teams. So many what ifs for the Bears. They had a legit shot if they beat LA. 

[BearFan PHX]

4 minutes ago, adam said:

Watching the NE vs DEN game, holy hell those teams look like crap. Maye has 55 yards passing thru 3 quarters and 3 sacks. 

Whoever wins the NFC will crush either of these teams. So many what ifs for the Bears. They had a legit shot if they beat LA. 

Absolutely. With the addition of a real defense, we will be back there many times. i expect great things in our future.

[adam]

39 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Absolutely. With the addition of a real defense, we will be back there many times. i expect great things in our future.

With our current defense, we blow both of these AFC teams out by at least 20 pts. This is some of the worst football I have seen in a long time, and it is a Conference Championship. Obviously, DEN didn't have Nix, but Payton not taking points early was the difference. The Pats are going to win with Maye having 86 yards passing.  They have now had one of the top 10 easiest schedules in NFL history, then got LAC, HOU, and DEN w/ a backup QB. Wild really. 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

2 hours ago, adam said:

Watching the NE vs DEN game, holy hell those teams look like crap. Maye has 55 yards passing thru 3 quarters and 3 sacks. 

Whoever wins the NFC will crush either of these teams. So many what ifs for the Bears. They had a legit shot if they beat LA. 

I think that weather had a huge effect on passing, but both teams are not on the same level as Sea or LA, or the beloved

[Bears4Ever_34]

Drake Maye's 3 game playoff stretch: 15 sacks, 6 fumbles, 2 INT's, 55.8% completion %. He was horrible. Injury luck is the biggest reason they're in the Superbowl. Texans didn't have Nico Collins, and lost Dalton Schultz and their starting RB early in the previous game, and then, of course, Bo Nix misses the AFC Championship game. Pretty sure the Broncos score more than 7 points with him in the lineup... Must be nice. I hope they get their ass kicked in the Superbowl.

[Stinger226]

Watching the great Seattle defense, they should have 34 points scored on them right now. We could have beaten them.

[Mongo3451]

1 minute ago, Stinger226 said:

Watching the great Seattle defense, they should have 34 points scored on them right now. We could have beaten them.

Gimme a chip and a chair!  That's why we don't quit on plays...🤪🤔😎

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

Gimme a chip and a chair!  That's why we don't quit on plays...🤪🤔😎

Drink tequila 

[BearFan PHX]

6 hours ago, adam said:

With our current defense, we blow both of these AFC teams out by at least 20 pts. This is some of the worst football I have seen in a long time, and it is a Conference Championship. Obviously, DEN didn't have Nix, but Payton not taking points early was the difference. The Pats are going to win with Maye having 86 yards passing.  They have now had one of the top 10 easiest schedules in NFL history, then got LAC, HOU, and DEN w/ a backup QB. Wild really. 

I dunno about that, or the effect of the weather, but i feel like we could hang with any of those teams. And with a pass rush, for SURE.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Playoff related.  Just reminded that of the 2018 QB draft class, one that includes 2x League MVP Lamar Jackson, 1x League MVP Josh Allen and 1st overall pick Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold is the first to start in a Super Bowl . He’s also the first to have back to back 14 win seasons with two different teams.  (Note:  current Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds was also selected that year at #16 overall).  

 

Meanwhile of the 2024 class Drake Maye is the first to reach the big game.  
 

[adam]

10 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Playoff related.  Just reminded that of the 2018 QB draft class, one that includes 2x League MVP Lamar Jackson, 1x League MVP Josh Allen and 1st overall pick Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold is the first to start in a Super Bowl . He’s also the first to have back to back 14 win seasons with two different teams.  (Note:  current Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds was also selected that year at #16 overall).  

 

Meanwhile of the 2024 class Drake Maye is the first to reach the big game.  
 

Maye is currently in a class with only Trent Dilfer as the worst playoff performance by a QB to reach the Super Bowl in NFL history. If Williams played this bad and the Bears made the Super Bowl, that would be the only discussion for 2 weeks.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

46 minutes ago, adam said:

Maye is currently in a class with only Trent Dilfer as the worst playoff performance by a QB to reach the Super Bowl in NFL history. If Williams played this bad and the Bears made the Super Bowl, that would be the only discussion for 2 weeks.

Meh.  The game conditions were pretty nasty .  Mayes performance in that game was hindered by his defensive minded HC ( and “brainchild OC” McDaniels).  Denver’s perrfomance (or lack thereof) was due to their inept backup signal caller.  
 

At the end of the day it’s quite possible Maye could still end up with the league MVP title.  

[adam]

4 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Meh.  The game conditions were pretty nasty .  Mayes performance in that game was hindered by his defensive minded HC ( and “brainchild OC” McDaniels).  Denver’s perrfomance (or lack thereof) was due to their inept backup signal caller.  
 

At the end of the day it’s quite possible Maye could still end up with the league MVP title.  

I was wrong, Maye is in a category with Jim Plunkett, as the only QBs in NFL history to win 3 playoff games with under 600 Passing Yards, multiple INTs, and 10+ sacks in NFL history. So it has not been just one game, it has been the entire playoffs. 

Maye is the only QB in NFL history to be sacked 15 times over a 3-game span and win every game.

[BearFan PHX]

Maye had a good season, and I think we have to give some of the credit to Vrabel who is an excellent coach.

Most teams would be happy to have either or both them, but honestly Im still sticking with Caleb and Johnson for the long term, given the choice.

I know if the Pats win thats going to be a difficult position to defend, but i still believe in it.

[Stinger226]

43 minutes ago, adam said:

I was wrong, Maye is in a category with Jim Plunkett, as the only QBs in NFL history to win 3 playoff games with under 600 Passing Yards, multiple INTs, and 10+ sacks in NFL history. So it has not been just one game, it has been the entire playoffs. 

Maye is the only QB in NFL history to be sacked 15 times over a 3-game span and win every game.

It's not just a QB that gets you to a SB, but winning one will not look bad on a resume.

[adam]

13 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Maye had a good season, and I think we have to give some of the credit to Vrabel who is an excellent coach.

Most teams would be happy to have either or both them, but honestly Im still sticking with Caleb and Johnson for the long term, given the choice.

I know if the Pats win thats going to be a difficult position to defend, but i still believe in it.

I am sticking with Caleb as well.

Maye is already near his ceiling. He had a 72% Comp this year.  Rarely, if ever, does a QB maintain that high of a Comp% YoY.  In reality, most drop over 5%. So if his Comp% drops to 66% next year, that's roughly 30 completions, 400 yards, and 2-3 fewer TDs. Still a great season, but he is still primed to regress from his 2025 campaign. 

[BearFan PHX]

19 minutes ago, adam said:

I am sticking with Caleb as well.

Maye is already near his ceiling. He had a 72% Comp this year.  Rarely, if ever, does a QB maintain that high of a Comp% YoY.  In reality, most drop over 5%. So if his Comp% drops to 66% next year, that's roughly 30 completions, 400 yards, and 2-3 fewer TDs. Still a great season, but he is still primed to regress from his 2025 campaign. 

I think they made things simpler for Maye with the offense. THey did something similar for Daniels last year. Its not usstainable and then you have to learn more of the offense before you can master it.

Johnson seems to be feeding Caleb with a firehose. Hes giving him the whole thing. And that means completion percentages under 60%. But it also means as the lightbulb comes on, then youre at full functional. Not another level you have to rise again from.

It takes incredible confidence to run your offense rather than simplify things to get more wins. In the long run, I believe it will play out to our advantage.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

19 minutes ago, adam said:

I am sticking with Caleb as well.

Maye is already near his ceiling. He had a 72% Comp this year.  Rarely, if ever, does a QB maintain that high of a Comp% YoY.  In reality, most drop over 5%. So if his Comp% drops to 66% next year, that's roughly 30 completions, 400 yards, and 2-3 fewer TDs. Still a great season, but he is still primed to regress from his 2025 campaign. 

I'm sticking with Caleb but I'm not going to get too down on Maye..he'll be #2 in MVP voting and is coming off a statistically spectacular season (and in year 2) and like Caleb his tools are off the charts strong.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of them right now...but to somehow say Maye hasn't been good because his first post-season run he's had some struggles just doesn't cut it for me.  

I'd also acknowledge that the Texans, Chargers, and Broncos all have outstanding defenses...especially the Broncos and Texans, so it isn't like he's going against some subpar defense.  And the weather was atrocious.  Doesn't absolve him from his play but right now I'd have those 2 (along with Nix) as the top 3 from the Caleb class (Daniels having dropped to #4 - but he's clearly uber talented too...durability is the question there).  The ceiling on Caleb, Maye and Jayden is pretty high, imo. 

[BearFan PHX]

1 minute ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I'm sticking with Caleb but I'm not going to get too down on Maye..he'll be #2 in MVP voting and is coming off a statistically spectacular season (and in year 2) and like Caleb his tools are off the charts strong.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of them right now...but to somehow say Maye hasn't been good because his first post-season run he's had some struggles just doesn't cut it for me.  

I'd also acknowledge that the Texans, Chargers, and Broncos all have outstanding defenses...especially the Broncos and Texans, so it isn't like he's going against some subpar defense.  And the weather was atrocious.  Doesn't absolve him from his play but right now I'd have those 2 (along with Nix) as the top 3 from the Caleb class (Daniels having dropped to #4 - but he's clearly uber talented too...durability is the question there).  The ceiling on Caleb, Maye and Jayden is pretty high, imo. 

I agree with this. Im very high on Calebs future, but i dont need to crap on other QBs to protect him or anything like that (not saying anyone else here is doing that!!!)

I can see fairly that Maye had a great year. Maybe Maye and Caleb will both end up being long term franchise QBs.

I dont see Jayden Daniels though. i always thought he was a fake. Bo Nix is looking good too.

[adam]

19 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I'm sticking with Caleb but I'm not going to get too down on Maye..he'll be #2 in MVP voting and is coming off a statistically spectacular season (and in year 2) and like Caleb his tools are off the charts strong.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of them right now...but to somehow say Maye hasn't been good because his first post-season run he's had some struggles just doesn't cut it for me.  

I'd also acknowledge that the Texans, Chargers, and Broncos all have outstanding defenses...especially the Broncos and Texans, so it isn't like he's going against some subpar defense.  And the weather was atrocious.  Doesn't absolve him from his play but right now I'd have those 2 (along with Nix) as the top 3 from the Caleb class (Daniels having dropped to #4 - but he's clearly uber talented too...durability is the question there).  The ceiling on Caleb, Maye and Jayden is pretty high, imo. 

I guess all I am saying is a lot of Maye's numbers are inflated and somewhat artificial in nature. The Pats had one of the easiest schedules in NFL history followed by the easiest path to the Super Bowl in quite some time. Maye's offense scored 16 points and won by double digits. They also won a game where they scored 10 pts. They didn't hit 250 yards of total offense in the last 2 games, and won both. The Bears had over 415 yards in both of their playoff games and split them.