BearFan PHX

or even try. "Eberflus is not only worth keeping, he is the best option out there" really.

Im with you. I havent seen anywhere near enough, and a lot of what I need to see, no one has edited yet LOL And I look forward to your first hand accounts of their body language - do they stand apart from, or joke around with the other QBs etc. I wanna see if the other QBs like him on a personal level while they are there?

Exactly. We dont object to running QBs, we object to QBs that cant read defenses and throw in rhythm. Mahomes does that all day.

I think its a wasted year, but if it gets rid of Eberflus then as long as we get a 2025 first round draft pick out of it, to package with our first rounder, to go up and get a rookie QB next year, then it wont be a franchise kill shot. Just a waste of a year on the window of the roster weve built. If on the other hand we stock up the team around Fields, and leave no ammo to replace him in the 2025 draft, then I think we lived through 2022 for nothing and will be right back to the same awful place we've been for 30 years. 6 to 9 wins. Good enough to not get a top pick where the difference makers are, but bad enough not to win anything in post season. If they trade Fields, then Im still not thrilled with keeping Eberflus, but at least we'd still be on schedule with the roster. Fields had this year to prove his case, and all he did was prove that he doesnt belong as a starting QB. Will he grow next year? Who knows? Maybe! But I wouldnt bet on it personally. And i wouldnt pay him the big money right now, i think that's a huge error. Put another way - what is the fair market price for CJ Stroud right now? at least 3 first round picks. You couldnt offer the Texans just our #1 pick for Stroud. Why take a risk when they already have what they have, right? So whatever you get trading that thing down, no matter how amazing, no matter how many positions you fill, it isnt worth a CJ Stroud, no less a Pat Mahomes or a Payton Manning etc. Now, if there is not a great QB in this draft (maybe there isnt) then just taking a guy with the first few picks doesnt magically make him CJ Stroud. I agree. But there are 4 or 5 tantalizing prospects in this year's draft, and one of them at least is gonna be good. Which one? That's the tough question. But keeping Fields isnt a tough call at all - for me. Also, having your cake and eating it too could be just trading down to #3 or so, and still taking a QB.

Justin Fields wants to tell a pretty girl hello, but he hesitates until the moment has passed, and then either deftly runs into a bar to pick up someone else, or asks her too late after shes already married. 1 in 10 times, the girls husband beats him up too. And at least once a game, he fumbles too. I dunno what he fumbles in this metaphor - his phone? His testicles? LOL

I do think any player can develop, so i wont make unsubstatiated guesses at what he could become, but so far no way. He is neither of those QBs. I think you have the argument backward. There are two different abilities. One is reading defenses, and getting the ball out to the right guy in rhythm. Let's call that Pocket Passing. Then there is exceptional extra athleticism. Some QBs have it and some dont. Justin has about as much of it as any QB ever. The guys you listed have BOTH. So when I say you need to be a capable Pocket Passer, you hear me saying that Exceptional Athleticism doesnt work. But Im not saying that at all. Im saying it has to come along WITH Pocket Passing. Mahomes has a ton of it. And Jackson is a lot better at it too - more than JF has ever been able to do it. Im not against running, but I am against QBs who cant read a defense. Running alone isnt enough. You heard the Packers LB say that their plan was to take away JFs first read because then he gets flustered and runs. They know it. You saw our coaches take the ball out of Fields hands and limit his plays where he reads defenses. They Know it too. The reason we called so many roll outs and screens is because those are passes where the QB has to throw the ball, and doesnt make a read. Yes, some of the roll outs have a high low concept so you make a single read. But our opponents know it. Our coaches know it. The pundits know it. The GMs who wont trade a first rounder for him know it. Saying Fields has shown that he can execute an offense from the pocket is simply false. Saying that he is very athletic and can still grow to do better at reading defenses is an opinion. I dont share it, but anyone is entitled to it. But stop telling me that Fields is already great at that or even serviceable at it and its just everyone else's fault that we havent see it, cuz that's nonsense LOL

I think we've all seen many many clips of Fields staring down open receivers and not pulling the trigger in time. He hesitates, and the window closes, then he runs. This isnt new or controversial at all. It's a lot of excuses out there for Justin, but it's been the #1 criticism of him even before the Bears drafted him. All the pre draft analysis of him says it. So does three years of film. Hes got a ton of athleticism, but he doesnt execute the offense. This isnt just my little pet theory, it's widely discussed, even among those who think Justin will eventually break through. Some may think that Justin will grow and become a great passer. I have my opinion, but no crystal ball. But you cant say that hasnt been his primary issue up until now - thats just peein on me and telling me its raining? The future is unknown, but the past is written and on tape and the truth is the truth. Justin is not secretly already an awesome executor of the offense, but we just cant see it because of the OL and WRs. Thats ridiculous.

oh Id settle for just one of them LOL

that's what its supposed to look like. especially completion percentages over 70%. That gets it done.

coaching matters! Is there anyone here that wouldn't trade Matt Eberflus for Matt LaFleur striaght up right now?

Grizz, are you actually arguing that Fields doesn't hold the ball too long? I mean every article pro and con about Fields concedes that he holds the ball and is hesitant to pull the trigger. Some say hes getting better, some say its someone else's fault, Getsy, WRs, OL. Maybe thats true. But the idea that he doesn't have this problem at all is brand new to me. We saw much lower sack percentages from other QBs playing behind the same OL under the same system, with the same WRs. If Justin Fields was a GOAT QB, and just had this line and WR squad, we'd already know it. He isn't.

of course. we all hope every Bears player and coach plays well and makes great decisions. That includes Poles though too. I am cynical about this year we are heading into. The offseason will bring lots of great value to the Bears' roster, and I sure hope it excels. But especially if we bring back Fields as the starter, Im really afraid that we will be saying "told you so" next year and have lost a year ont he window of this improving roster, squandering what we bought by tanking in 2022. We put up with that for change, not for consistency. Not until youre winning the division at least do I want to hear about consistency. We did the brave stuff we needed to do, now is not the time to take our foot off of the gas pedal, or we are going to go back to being trapped at 6 to 9 wins every year like we have been for decades. Filling out the 2nd WR is important, but QB and head coach are probably the two most important positions, and looking for continuity there from last year is a mistake in my view. I hope Im wrong.

if you count one one thousand etc, and see Fields hold the ball - that's why. Good NFL QBs would get rid of the ball before the rush got to them. Yes sometimes it's the line, but a lot of times it was Fields. Also, it's good to see you posting more here, I hope things are progressing well toward health for your wife.

every week is a different game plan, and you know you cant say that because team A beat team B, and team B beat team C, that means that team A would beat team C. Also, GB only scored 17 because it was enough to win. Yes our defense is good and getting better, but if GB had needed another touchdown to win the game, they would have called the plays differently too. And Lucky isnt saying the players, hes saying the play calling on defense. Even Brisker criticized it after the game. And this is the same playcaller that lost THREE games in historic ways by being too safe and too soft and blowing what should have been historically insurmountable leads. It is absolutely fair to say that Poles has built an excellent defensive roster while simultaneously criticizing Eberflus' scheme and playcalling. Those things are not mutually exclusive, and pointing to the success of one doesnt mean the other isnt substandard. I'll tell ya what we can agree on - let's not replace Eberflus with Dallas' DC

Our defense is getting good. Our offense, and specifically our QB was impotent in that game.

gap - cool way to think about it.

that does track.

YES and Brisker complained that they had the DBs playing too soft (too safe!) no matter what the coverage was. Its a joke.

yeah because they have coaches that call plays well. Eberflus gets into his too safe zone and lost three games that were historic losses given how likely we were to win them going into the last minutes. Eberflus is not great like those offense coaches are. In fact, he should have been fired. But I dont think anyone can argue that Eberflus' play calling gave us any kind of edge in winning.

they dont want a DC, they want an asst DC and Eberflus is the DC i.e. a puppet, This franchise is ridiculous

no doubt

No matter what it is, if it happened it's disfunctional. And Warren's job definitely includes hiring and firing the GM at the least, but i am also uncomfortable with him getting into football details. The whole thing seems like a giant shitshow and they are gonna squander the momentum we bought with the last two seasons. We, the fans, paid the price in 2022 to allow for change. And now theyre already reverting. Hire a GM. Let that GM hire a coach. Then the coach fills out his staff with the GMs approval. Then together they draft a QB. That's how the flow chart works. But the Bears do it all upside down. Over and over. And what is the common element from above? Our ridiculous ownership.

ha! I was typing the same thing. we agree.

or he knows it's smart to sit on both sides of the fence. If Eberflus succeeds then outwardly he was the one to steady the ship, and if it blows up, then he fires Poles and everyone below him next year, and hey Poles wasnt his guy anyway. Also, if a GM generally gets to hire a second coach before they get fired, then a Kevin Warren gets to hire to GMs, and thats four coaches, so Kevin has a long term invite. No reason to get too active too quick. But Poles might have taken similar advice, because if Eberflus fails, Poles will go too, so in a sense, his second coach was Eberflus again. All I can say is I believe the report. I cannot say that Poles isnt right. yet. lol

OK, this is juicy. There's a non traditional media pundit that I follow on Patreon who I almost always agree with, and he definitely has relationships with people inside Halas Hall. He goes on shows like Adam Rank's, and had him and Courtney Cronin from ESPN on his show multiple times as well as current and former Bears players. He doesnt always have inside information, but when he does it's usually true. I dont really recall anything being fake from him ever. He also gives a lot of strong opinions that some people might disagree with, but when he says insiders are telling him things, I believe he is telling the truth. That at the least these rumors exist and he isnt the source of them. Anyway, he says that Warren disagreed with Poles about bringing Eberflus back and things got pretty heated. McCaskey and Poles were on the same page. Interesting. So if this loving reunion doesn't pan out, especially if they keep Justin, you might expect Warren to fire Poles and everyone beneath him. It sounds to me like Poles gets his chance to prove it, and Warren is cynical about it. And it goes along with my "Is Poles too loyal? Does he want to be friends with the team?" questions.