BearFan PHX

Nothing personal meant by this: I just think you're too forgiving if people are already part of the team. And thats your fan thing, so I respect it from that perspective. But i think building a real winner that bullies other teams on the field means being tough and harsh in evaluations as well. If someones doing OK, thats good for regular life, but it doesnt win championships. I want greatness. And the fact that i think it is possible is my version of optimism. I believe in the Bears future, but not everyone currently part of the organization. I also think you have to look at long term trends and what you learn about players and coaches. I dont agree with you when you say if someone does something good the next 4 or 5 weeks that they save themselves, if they already have years on tape of subpar performance. The games come down to the last minute, but these kind of decisions really shouldn't. I dont really give up on anyone right away. I didnt blame Flus for year #1. I didnt blame Fields at first. Rookie players need time to grow. And if they make lots of different mistakes, that's easier to ride with. But when they make the same mistakes over and over, then that's who they are. Justin is a good example. Justin Fields is a hell of an athlete. He's probably in the top 40 QBs in the world. I recognize that he is immensely talented. But I want to be the #1 team in the NFL. So I'll move on from a guy who is really damned good, but not good enough to win superbowls. And let's face it - there are probably less than 10 Qbs in the world that can do that. And none are available. So you draft, and try and when you know he isnt that guy, you move on. Not because he doesnt have positive aspects, but because if your goal is truly multiple superbowl victories, then the 15th best guy isnt enough. That's why I move off of guys sooner than you do. I dont need to think they are terrible, just to know they arent going to be top 5. ANd you know that sooner than you know if they are never going to be top 20.

We've had such inept coaching, we have to be careful we don't fall in love with simple competency. Based on small sample size, Thomas Brown has looked competent for sure. He is an obvious upgrade in every way. But I want us to do a comprehensive coaching search and make sure we get the best option from everyone that's out there and get the absolute best coach (and staff) for this team. We've done too many internal arranged marriages, like keeping Morgan as OL coach and run game coordinator. Let's get the best coach we can, and let that guy pick his staff without pressure to keep anyone we currently have. If it turns out that for example, Hoke is the best DB coach out there for us, then great, let's keep him, but not out of loyalty, but simply because he is the best option.

it's a pink picture with hearts that says "Afraid of what could go wrong? Start being excited about what can go right!" basically it's an enticement to be a fanboy and not criticize anything, to promote from within and not have any accountability. It assumes that if someone wants to fire the people who are doing their jobs poorly, that theyre a hater, instead of an optimist that believes that things could get better with some changes. Personally I think we have the best QB we've ever had, and the roster has a lot of talent on it. I want a new better coaching staff, and a GM that I can trust to get that decision right. I have optimism that we could find those guys.

yeah, especially for a team that acts like a corporation worshipping HR, they sure dont actually know how to organize anything do they? This whole things feels like a home spun bake sale. I wish we had a competitive owner with some vision. I do think if we get the head coach right, we can win with this structure, but it isnt the best for sure. Can it pick the right head coach?

Belichick is too old and needs full control - not that he wouldn't be better than what we have, but he wasn't so great the past few years. Belichick was a genius, but he's too old now I think.

dont forget, the defense bailed him out a lot, and we were always trying to out trick the opponent. Waldron did that too. EVeryone in the NFL is smart, and theyve seen pretty much everything before. The trick is talent, execution and discipline. You want a coach who scouts good matchups and takes advantage of them - someone who sees what the other guy is doing and knows when to counter off of it - a master rock, paper scissors player. Nagy, like Waldron, never had any rhythm to counter off of. We didnt have an offensive identity - something we could do even if you tried to stop us - something to make the defense over commit so we could catch them with a counter. Ive always believed good offensive play calling doesnt mean being unpredictable - it means beaing mostly predictable with things that succeed anyway even if the defense knows its coming, and then a counter off of that at the right moment. For example, establish the run, pound the ball behind a great guard or tackle, until the defense has to bring an 8th guy into the box and then punish them over the top. That's one example of how to do it, although in the modern age a short passing game can do that too. But the festival of bubble screens was really frustrating as you remember, and once the league got a book on us, it wasnt working at all.

dude it is SO frustrating. I truly want to believe that if we get the right coaching staff, and fill a few holes, that were headed to top 5 territory. The hardest thing to find is the QB, and we have him. We also have good talent in the defensive back 7. We need help in the trenches on both sides, and as Allen ages out, we'll need another WR. We probably need another DB for Stevenson. Or maybe the new coaching staff will rejuvenate him. But i totally agree, we are not that far from being a tough team to beat. It all hinges now on getting the right coaches, and protection for Williams up front. And a good OL will help the running game too of course. I truly hope this can work, and we dont need to wait for the McCaskeys to sell. If they get in the way of bringing in the right HC, and opt instead for another HR friendly muppet it will be a disaster.

Im just sayin, if Im a hater, then youre definitely a fanboy. Also I am aware that he could have been a good DC and a terrible HC. Of course that is possible. But I think the performance of our D, such as it is, is the players, and I credit Poles for that. (see, not a Poles hater ) I suspect we will see no drop off in Defensive play, and that will prove that Flus didnt add anything on that side of the ball either. And to reiterate, my point in saying all of this is to say that anyone who defended Eberflus on the basis of what he added on the defensive side of the ball was wrong. And i dont mean fans like us, I am speaking about WHY Poles kept him? I think Poles has done some good things in drafting players, but he has also been consistently terrible in picking coaches. Not just Flus, but the coordinators too. I dont want him picking the next head coach. Thats really my main point. Anyway, if the defense continues to play at the same level going forward, or better, then Flus didnt add anything there. Thats just logic too?

I like seeing the Lions do well too. I like good teams, and the Lions look like a great blue collar team. I wish it was us.

LOL that is funny!

because Im not all about sunshine and rainbows, and I think it's important to see where things were bad and whose fault that was so we can learn and grow. I dont like participation trophies, and I dont like excuses. If Poles kept a guy that actually didnt add anything to the defense, and all this time it was the roster, then we know Poles picks defensive backfield players well, but not coaches for example. Im not hating on Eberflus. Im saying i dont think he had as positive effect on the D as you do. Its not to belittle the guy, but to understand we kept a guy that gave us nothing, and to use that information when we remember who wanted to keep Flus, and who should pick the next coach. This is about the difference between being a fanboy and accountability. I wanna know who is good and who is bad and who to replace so we can be great.

amen

that is true of everything posted on this site, isnt it? Im not thinking that the Bears should call me on the phone, but i do think they have made a bunch of mistakes, and a lot of us here have seen them coming. For me, Poles should not be the one making the decision on the new HC. This doesnt make sense to me. Everyone is saying hes a candidate for GM that other teams are looking at, and we should know him well enough now to know what we think of him internally? Also, youd have to know what Cunningham has been saying about these decisions all along. We dont, but Warren does. Maybe Warren already knows enough to know that my hunch is wrong. if they go to Cunningham then they could do that at any time, before the coaching heats up - plus no doubt Cunningham is already involved in the internal coaching search, so he has as much info as Poles right now. I agree I want a GM making that decision. But if you get someone wh has run a modern offense, and has leadership skills and alpha energy it's not THAT hard to do. I can make you a list of guys that dont have that energy and never should have been hired: Trestman, Nagy, Eberflus - I knew the moment I saw them speak they didnt have that thing that for example Dan Campbell has just dripping out of him. Campbell may not have Xs and Os like some genius nerds, but he has that alpha thing for DAYS.

it is a broken measuring stick with NO informational value. PFF has been SO wrong over the years - especially on OL. I agree with you about B Jones being a fine swing tackle for sure.

We do need more than a couple players, so I get you, but Jones gets beaten ont he bull rush way too often. Its not a question of being beatn inside or outside, where putting a player to help will fix it, the D linemen just push him back into the pocket. He just doesnt have the strength or technique to compete with that and the NFL knows it now. THey all see it on film. They save it for the right moment. This is why right at the end of the game suddenly Caleb is being sacked more. A lot of times that pressure comes over Jones in a bull rush.

and at some point Caleb will take leadership to do the right thing even if it breaks someones rule. So I agree with you about that too.

Im glad we didnt bring anyone in from outside. Strategically, it didnt matter when Flus got fired, but its good to see Warren and Poles can exercise some authority. I think we can take this to mean that we arent looking at Belichick or Vrabel for HC at the top of our wish list next year. I wouldnt want Belichick right now either. 10 years ago, sure! I agree that Brown needs to focus on Calebs development most. Most of us from the couch could do at least a mediocre job of handling timeouts and challenges and stuff like that. Hopefully Brown can do that stuff without getting too distracted. One interesting thing now to watch is how the defense plays. If they are at least the same, then Eberflus brought NOTHING, and all that smoke about him being a good DC clears to reveal what a fake he was the whole time. If they drop off, then that says something about Eberflus having had some positive effect.

ranked by PFF, who gets linemen wrong all the time. Braxton Jones has been incredible value for a 5th rounder. We rode him for several years. But whenever you need a sack, you can just bull rush him, and he loses every time. I dont want him at LT next year. Not starting anyway.

Flus needs to be fired, but I dont personally care if it happens now or at the end of the season. An interim coach is probably just more chaos and noise. Even if he wins, or gets everyone together, if he isnt the HC next year, then it was just more to learn and forget. And I think we need to make our decision of the next head coach with the full plate of options available, and a lot of them are currently coaching somewhere else right now. So falling in love with an interim coach because he is mediocre instead of awful is a trap. Also, as you all know, I dont hate Poles, and if we could somehow get the right coach, I wouldnt mind keeping Poles after that. My gut says go with Cunningham, but I dont really have any strong evidence for him over some other candidate I dont know anything about. But more than anything else, we have to get this next Head Coach right, or we are back in hell and Caleb is done in Chicago. I mean, he'll play here, and at some point hold out, if it's all regular Bears all around him. We need a head coach to take this window, with Caleb and make it into a winner we can support for 10 or 15 years. It's that or hell. THere is no in between right now, because Caleb wont stay for it after a couple more years. So the decision about the next Head Coach is EVERYTHING. Who do we trust to make this biggest franchise decision in the last 30 years?

for sure. I just dont know if theyve given him that responsibility yet? If they havent, as a rookie, he did the right thing. Eberflus could have called it at any moment there.

right. this wasn't on Caleb.

I agree with you regarding the first time Poles hired Flus. But when he kept him after last year, that was the second time. He also OK'd Getsy, Waldron and forced Waldron to keep Morgan as OL coach and run coordinator. Whoever the next head coach is, no more arranged marriages. Let them pick their staff! Is Poles the right guy to make that decision? And to find the OL we need?

I assume you meant Wright at RT and Banks at LT? I'll definitely check out your names. it's good to have some idea some players worthy are available! I dont think I can see extening Jenkins though. Hes a pretty good player, but hes injured too much to rely on. Maybe Kiran A will be in the mix next year, and Ryan Bates at OG too?

sounds like your house is in order even as Halas Hall isnt. And of course that's much more important than our loveable, frustrating but ultimately not as important Bears

This is the general wisdom, for sure. There has to be a path to a decent OL if youre willing to spend the draft picks and cap space. i think we are, so I have hope (but no names yet) that we can do it. The two main things we need, are the two things Poles has struck out on: head coach and offensive linemen.