BearFan PHX

I think it's tough to use stats to make the argument about Fields. The question isnt just if his numbers are improving, but if hes making reads in rhythm. Luckily, he seems to be showing flashes of that now too, so that's good. But if he throws for 3500 years off of broken plays only, he still wont be able to beat the top teams that way. The improvement has to be from the pocket too. And again, we saw flashes of that this past week, so good! But I just want to warn against the idea that, as a hypothetical example, a team is 30th ranked and then moves up to 15th ranked, that doesnt mean they will eventually end up #1 ranked. Moving up from the basement to the middle is something every team should be able to do in a rebuilding phase. But beating good teams requires a certain set of skills that arent necessarily part of ascending to 15th? To me the most hopeful sign of possible greatness was a simple 10 or 15 year throw to DJ Moore across the middle. It wasnt flashy, it wont make the stats looks great, but it was more important to me, than when fields does on the run, which he is great at. I just need to see more good games, because the specific issues with Justin, and fixing them, arent really captured in the stats.

numbers 2 and 3 are my favorites. Of course the TD to Moore was impressive, but Fields has always had a great arm, and he didnt have to worry on that "free" play. The ball placement on 2 is great, but to me the really good one is #3, showing what I hadnt seen from him yet - the one across the middle to Moore. Moore is NFL open, but he's not "wide open" hes just got body position, and Fields makes a FAST decision and puts the ball in just the right location. Any later would be too late. The throw is great, but it was the speed with which he pulled the trigger that excites me the most. That looks like a real West Coast QB, and we hadnt really seen that yet. If he can keep doing THAT, then he will be unstoppable. It's just a flash, but it's everything I've been bitching about this whole time. Just a simple route across the middle, West Coast style. The kind of thing Joe Montana and Jerry Rice made a living on. It's not flashy, it wasnt a huge gain, but it was basic QBing ON TIME and with excellent location. It's just one throw, just one game, Im not making any predictions, but for the record, that is what Ive been talking about. All the good NFL QBs do that. You can rave about heroics, and big plays - highlight stuff, but football is mostly about moving the chains, and that on time throw was as dangerous (to the opponent!) as any of the wow plays. If you can run the ball, and throw middle slants, you put the Linebackers into conflict, and when safeties come up to help, then that big stuff will be available much more easily. It's that kind of throw, that if you can do it regularly, will open the flood gates on scoring.

well thats the seduction of it, if you dont take a QB, you can play like it's Madden franchise mode and there are tons of scenarios.

for SURE

I dunno though. The numbers don't tell the whole story? A lot of these yards and completions are coming on broken plays, and the concern with Fields is playing within the design of the plays? So for example, you could have a QB who is throwing better than last year on broken plays, but that doesnt necessarily say that he is learning to read defenses better? I did see him do better this week at that, so there is hope, but I dont think those stats take that into consideration?

OK, after asking myself the question out loud I Googled and found this: "Sometimes the way that seizure medicines stop seizures also can affect how the brain works in other ways. Since seizure medicines lower the excitability of nerve cells in the brain, they can also affect normal activity. Cognitive problems - problems with thinking, remembering, paying attention or concentrating, finding the right words, or other symptoms – can be due to side effects of some seizure medicines. Some medicines may also affect a person’s energy level, mood, motivation or how fast they think or do tasks." It might not be something that would affect a normal persons day, but it might take a half a second off of an NFL QBs processing speed? https://www.epilepsy.com/treatment/medicines/side-effects

right, and for the really good ones, two seconds is not enough, but three is. It's a game of inches, but it is also a game of fractions of seconds. I'm not a Getsy fan per se, but I have seen many wide open receivers who were the first read, and Justin looking right at them and not pulling the trigger. i dont know why. I am sure that a fantastic coordinator could help Fields, but I have no idea if anything would bring him to the point of being a Super Bowl winner. But he did finally show some of it this past week, i admit. Let's see what the future brings. I think it's also worth pointing out that when Fields knew he had a free play, he had no problem ripping it to Moore for a long touchdown. i think that says something about his confidence in making these reads? When he knows there is no risk, the ball is out spectacularly with an accurate downfield throw. Something about not being sure what he's seeing is burning that extra half a second, and that's whats killing everything. This may have nothing to do with it, but I wonder if his epilepsy, or his epilepsy meds are playing a part in this?

to Justin's credit, I think he got misinterpreted with his coaching answer. On the surface, when he said "coaching" it sounds like he means "the coaches" but i think he meant something else. I think he meant "coaching points, all the things Im supposed to think about during a play" - so that wasnt a dig at coaches, but I think an honest answer to say what Ive been saying too, that reading defenses and understanding the plays quickly enough is difficult for him. I like Justin as a person, and he has amazing athletic and improvisational skills. The one thing I've said is missing, and this goes back to all the pre draft college analysis of him too, is that he doesnt process quickly enough. Hes not stupid, it's just incredibly hard to do this in tempo. Only about 20 QBs in the world can do it at the NFL level right now. If you give him, or pretty much any QB 6 seconds to throw, they are all Hall of Famers. if you give anyone less than 2 seconds, no one can make it work reliably. It's that 2 and a half vs 4 seconds where it all happens. Part of why we think Fields hasnt had a clean pocket is because he is taking that extra three quarters of a second to process. Another part of the problem is that receivers come out of their breaks, and thats usually the moment when they are going to be the most open. If you dont pull the trigger then, everything goes to hell. I also said that I FINALLY saw Fields make a few of those throws on time in this game. I'm not including the first drive of games where plays are pre-scripted - because QBs get a chance to really think about those plays before the game and do some "pre reading" Anyway, all of this to say that when Fields said that "coaching" was slowing him down, I think he was just saying what I've been saying about him, and I dont think he was criticizing the coaches at all.

Crosby and Sweat would be amazing, but in terms of pacing your salary cap, it's more likely we take a guy like Dallas Turner or Laiatu Latu with our second first rounder. That way as one gets older the other is peaking, and their contracts are not both coming due huge at the same time?

I had really never seen him read and throw on time before. Its a small sample - Im FAR from convinced, but it was a flash, and thats good.

ever since Sweat came in, they have the pieces to play very well.

true. Im sure DJ likes JF - hes a very likeable leader. I just dont think any of these guys tells the straight unvarnished truth, and I wouldnt want them to anyway? I also think around the league, players see how good Justin is at what he does best, a baller, an incredible athlete doing eye opening things. So they probably all love him. And if he adds a consistent read and throw in rhythm, he will/would be a VERY good QB.

IF the Bears win out AND WIN a playoff game, which I believe is "possible" if Fields makes reads, then I suppose that Fields and Eberflus could be back. Depending on how all that looked, I might even be willing to say I was premature in judging Fields and Eberflus. If they win, rather than lucking into wins for example. Now I wouldnt bet on this, but I'll say it as a goal. If they can do that, then obviously they would have become a team above what I thought was possible based on the previous data. I fully admit that Justin made about 5 throws today in rhythm that are what I've been wanting to see. If he was doing that every week all season long, my evaluation of him would be very different. I am cynical that it will become the norm, but that's a guess, I have no crystal ball. If that all happens, again by effort not luck, then I will be on the bandwagon. I do think the defensive roster has the opportunity to be good enough to do that. But I've always believed in them. I still think with a different DC, the defense would look even better. I am very excited for next year. Of course I mean with a new QB and Head Coach, but to be fair, if they run the table, then Fields and Eberfuls WILL be a new head coach and QB from what we've seen previously. I will also say that winning coach or GM of the year in your first year is more hype than winning it later after you built something (looking at you Nagy and Pace). If Eberflus can keep the team and win big next year, I think he'd be a candidate for coach of the year. I guess what Im basically saying is that i think thy had zero chance of doing that, and now they turned it around by about an inch. If that continues, it will be an amazing turnaround, more that i think is possible. I still think it wont happen. I see us winning maybe 2 more games this year. And that wouldnt be enough in my eyes, depending of course on how it occurred. For example, the Minnesota game counts as a W in the standings, but to me it was a loss. This game today was definitely a win. We took that game and controlled it. A lot on defense. Anyway, I hope that all happens. And Id be on the bandwagon then, but not if a little taste of it happens, but not consistently. Fair?

add another pass rusher and a better FS and this defensive roster is gonna be fearsome

for sure. having all those injuries on the OLine, and 4 games missing Fields really made it difficult. Of course all teams have adversity, and injuries, and thats part of the game. But yeah, if Fields had played like this week 4 or something, it'd be a lot easier to think about.

This was probably Fields' best game. He may have had better stats in others, but to my eye, he threw in rhythm a number of times. I wish this was 5 weeks ago so he has enough time to prove consistency, but no doubt we saw flashes today.

last time I said "Bears win we all lose" because i didn't feel they earned that victory. They played like a loss, and found a lucky last minute way to win. This win is different. This is a real win. We won this game.

I dont think the Lions are that good. Theyre a middle team, and beating them definitely shows progress.

lol I can meet you halfway

The two most important things to have to win games are a QB and a pass rush.

yeah Sweat's impact is more than his sacks. He's been a huge part of our play against the run too - not necessarily making tackles, but collapsing the running lanes.

4th down win this play and the game is over.

This is where Sweat makes all the difference. I suppose you can get away with the giant prevent zone if you can get pressure from rushing 4

any high school coach should be able to call the plays from here to win the game.

RUN. THE. BALL.