BearFan PHX

Another improved game by Fields. Lots of dropped balls, and failures in other parts of the offense. Fields had his errors too. But he did get better, and if he keeps this up, we're gonna keep him around. He's not there yet, but you can see what these coaches are doing with him as far as opening his eyes, and while it's incremental, and not good enough yet, you can see clear measurable progress over the last 2 weeks. Best possible outcome - we look like we are growing, but dropped balls and stupid plays by receivers who won't be our starters next year are giving us losses, and improving our draft pick. Before the season began, I said I wanted to see Fields making good reads, and putting the ball on target, and if receivers were dropping the balls, that'd be the best way to lose games. I mean, I'd rather see us winning, but until we deserve to win, I'm glad that increasingly, the reasons for the loss AREN'T Fields. That's the purpose of this year, and we are right on track. I really like this coaching staff.

PFF is a joke. Their analysis means nothing, and is often entirely wrong in laughable ways.

That's the plan. I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't bet against it either. I sure hope so.

Yes, I agree. Fields has this season to show what he can do. If he gets a season ending injury that would be a disaster. I DO see growth in Fields, but he isnt there yet. Will he get far enough this year? We will all see, I cant bet either way.

so youre not an Eislen fan? I mean, I want to be, but I dont see him in practice. I assume that the staff knows what they have in him, and they arent using him for a reason. So you're probably right. But the fan in me, the one who always thinks the second strong QB might be our savior, also wants to see Eislen. LOL

I hear you, and agree with some of it. I dont think Simien can ever be a franchise QB, so id stay with Fields to see how he does. If he makes serious progress, then yeah keep him around. He doesnt need to be the franchise guy by the end of this year, but he definitely needs to be showing major progress toward becoming that. And since these guys didnt draft him, unless they see serious growth, I dont see them giving him next year too. If that's the case, they might keep him around as the backup if they cant find a trading partner, but I think wed definitely be drafting a QB in the first round then. And maybe even (gasp) trading up to get him. This is Poles and not Pace, so if he sees someone he thinks is the guy, we oughtta support his vision. Trading up wasnt the problem. Trading up for the wrong guy was.

The Bears official site has the depth chart as : LT Jones LG Whitehair C Patrick RG Jenkins RT Borom and they have Carter as the 2nd string LG. I'm assuming that hasn't changed in weeks. Clearly not since Whitehair went on IR. It is possible the ESPN computer just bumped Carter up because Whitehair is on IR? If so, there is really no information there. Intriguing tho. Which is better? a) Patrick at LG and Mustipher at C b) Patrick at LG and Eislen at C c) Patrick at C and Carter at LG d) Patrick at C and someone else at LG

I dont think that they will give fields another year to see if he develops, given the excuse that he had crap around him. That's the old Bears thinking that got us an extra year of Nagy etc. If they get to the end of this year and don't have a solid answer on Fields, then we will be looking for a new QB. Now that doesnt mean Fields will need to be a Franchise guy by December. If he does show enough to stay it will still take more time for him to fulfill his entire potential, but this staff is not going to burn next year, they dont need to and it would be a threat to their jobs. I really like Mongo's idea of a chart of progress made for players under 27. Great idea. I think that is exactly what this season is for. But not next season!

Is Eislen ready? If Patrick has to play LG, and they were waiting to replace Mustipher, then maybe it's Eislen's chance to audition?

yes a 3T is necessary to make the cover two work BUT we may need to be in the market for a first round QB too.

I saw this too. I think of it like this. A stone archway holds itself up because each stone leans on it's neighbors. If you have 10% of the stones in or 70% it still falls. It's not until the last stonw gets in place that the whole system works. Fields is adding stones to his game. He is improving, even if the final result is still falling down. He may well put it all together later this season and be an amazing QB for us. or not. Similarly, the whole team is an arch too. Until everyone can do their job, they can't win. There definitely is progress each week. You cant use the results alone to judge the incremental progress, but you sure as hell can use the final results to say whether the entire product is good enough, and right now it isnt. Agree, plenty of blame to go around, including Fields, but also reasons for hope and signs of growth.

I think he is taking too long to make each read, and isnt trusting what he sees with a fast trigger. That means when he does throw it, the defense has had a bit more of a bead on where the ball is going. Eberflus said that they focused on his footwork and timing, the idea being that the footwork is the tempo, and the reads come in specific rhythms at that tempo. I did see Fields moving through his progressions more quickly - his head was moving in faster intervals, but I didnt see decisive moments when he took the first or second read in rhythm. I think he may be progressing, but it's not enough to change the outcome yet. A few more bits of growth, and they may start to connect into something more solid. Can he make that growth? I dunno.

exactly. year zero.

thats on plays where he was kept clean while he took too long to make his reads. If he gets the ball out of his hand more quickly, then the OL doenst need to hold blocks as long to "keep him clean" The best example was Dan Marino beating the 85 Bears. No team brought more pressure than that defensive front, and yet with a 3 steps and it's gone Marino perfection, even unblocked rushers couldnt get to him in time. Somewhere in the middle is the successful possible future for Fields. But this OL stat still says a lot about Fields' ability. Fields has all the physical tools. He just needs the light to come on seeing the plays. Maybe he never will, or maybe week 9 it will suddenly show. Im rooting for him to find it, but Im sure not betting an $ that he will.

I completely agree. 8-9 and a base to build next year off of with a full draft including a first rounder, and a ton of cap space.

So I cant disagree with what we have all seen, but I would like to put it into perspective. Things are changing, and the team is growing. If we need to be a 70 out of 100 to win, we used to be a 20, and now we are a 50. The wins we have were somewhat lucky, yes, but we were there to fall into them, and that is growth. Today Fields had better tempo and was getting through his reads faster. It didnt end up in completions, but it was growth. Yes, I have serious questions about him too, and we may well be drafting a QB in the first round, but Fields is not out of time yet, and if he keeps progressing, he may be a very different player at the end of this season. We all see the intangibles, the first downs he gets running etc, and on the long pass today you see his downfield accuracy. He has the tools, but he isnt seeing it all yet. Maybe he never will. But maybe he will. In the meanwhile, the team is playing harder now than they have in years. The defense and the offensive line are building an identity. They are not as consistent as we'd like to see, but the effect of the new culture is clearly evident. I think what we can say here, is what we said before we got excited that the Bears might show up early this season. The Bears dont have the roster yet to reliably beat the decent teams. We could have beaten the Giants today, but it wouldn't have made us a good team. We arent. But we are building the foundation of something here. Im not ready to throw any of our coaches under the bus, including Getsy and his play calling. Theyre trying to make a gourmet meal with leftovers. I think we can forgive them for not having the full playbook open at this point. So yeah, we are going to win 5 - 8 games this year. This is what we thought going in to this season. The fact that we are disappointed is almost proof of the growth we've had. We looked like the light was going to come on - there was hope. That hope comes from the increase in quality weve seen. We are frustrated that they cant take that next ztep and become winners. But we didnt even used to be just a step away. Put another way - if you could add 3 more good players at whatever position you choose, would you think this team was a 9 win team? If so, you see how far weve come too. Now to the meat of it - youd say "well one of them would have to be a QB" and that's also what we knew going into this season - that this was Justin Field's chance to grow, and either ascend to the long term guy, or be finished here. And we are still on that. And Im going to agree, it isnt looking very good for Justin. But he has the rest of this season to learn how to see the field, and you gotta admit, the rest of the team around him is starting to show some areas of strength. Bottom line: Were on the right path. We have the right coaches. Thanks to Pace, this is year zero, not one. And Justin Fields is under the microscope and has not yet taken the reigns. If doesn't, then the Poles era really begins.

he's out with an injury, and nowhere near losing his starting position when he is available.

I said earlier, if we win this game, and we certainly can, we will set the record as the worst ever NFL team to go 3-1 lol That doesnt mean we will be terrible at the end of the year either. But right now, we deserve our rankings. A breakout game (or two) for the offense would go a long way in dispelling that.

true, and for all the growth weve seen on the line so far, they still dont even have the preferred starting 5 out there yet. When Patrick is at OC they might be even better.

Eberflus is the real deal. When the roster is right, we will be a team to watch out for. I cant say who will be on that roster yet, but i dont think these guys are the kind to screw around with someone that isnt working out.

Im still a BIG David Montgomery believer. I think he is a stud. And that doesnt mean that Herbert isnt a stud in the making too - just need to see more of it.

It might be a mistake, or it might be a "touchdown - checkdown" order of reads from the coaching staff, which if so, are probably a good idea, but he needs to process them more quickly.

yup, we agree. thats the basis of my hope. Right now Fields is trash, but can he overcome the issues? Time will tell.

Yes, looking at that film and analysis it wasnt as bad as i thought. This is gonna be a bumpy year - lets hope at the end we have a real QB

I agree. We are moving people, and it's very early in the development of the line. Patrick's not even at center yet. Id like to see better pass protection too, but I see they are growing, so I look forward to more growth.