BearFan PHX

adam, do you have a link to anything? This is the first I heard of it. I dont doubt you, your info is always good here, but id like to learn more? EDIT - I've searched the internet for any reference of this, but can't find anything. All I can say is for the past three years, he's been dead on about everything. The TTNL film is why I knew Leno sucked before anyone else was saying it, and why I knew Fields was holding the ball. It's also why I knew Wright was the better option than Skoronski too. And it wasnt because they said so, it was from watching the all 22. They point things out, like Skoronski catching blocks while Wright hits first. I don't take that as gospel because they said it, but I can see with my own eyes whether it's true. And they don't cherry pick plays, they usually show entire games, or halves from multiple opponents, so you see the good and the bad in context. And if he was really not credible, I doubt Adam Rank, Courtney Cronin, Olin Kreutz, Chris Zorich etc would associate themselves with them. Im not saying what Adam said didnt happen, but if it was a scheme to increase viewership, thats different than reporting false things? Its still not great of course, but not the same as lying about Bears info. Former Bear Steve Edwards even has his own "show" on their channel. Anyway, you guys can watch it or not, it's all good, but until they let me down, I think what they say is valuable. And they often disagree with the Kurt Warners etc of the world, and when they say why and show examples, i can see why they think what they do. And again, if you do watch them and find them arrogant and abrasive, I get that too, because they are. But it's the best analysis I've found anywhere if you wade through the rest.

I dont know anything about that scandal, if it happened it was before my time, but ive been following him and watching (some of) his content for a few years now, and i always find it to be excellent. Especially his breakdown of tape. You can see he really knows what he is talking about. His father was a college football head coach, and he himself played at Rutgers. He is extremely knowledgeable about football, and i admit he can be very abrasive and egotistical. But at least as far as I have known about him, he's always been spot on on his info, especially when no one else had it either for a while. Adam Rank and Courtney Cronin trust him enough to associate themselves with him too, so i think whatever it was that was going on, at least as far as his football stuff, he's solid. And also, he never cites the sources, fake or otherwise, he just says what he heard, and in my experience, it usually ends up common knowledge like a month later.

Oh, and to who "my source" is - it's called TTNL, "the tape never lies" They do amazing tape breakdowns and often have inside info before anyone else. I fully admit they are also egotistical and difficult to watch. Half the show is about themselves and who they are fighting with that week. But they are not shy about saying things, and dont play both sides of anything, and generally they are right, or are eventually proven right. The film analysis is excellent and thorough. I have learned a ton from watching them over the years, but I would not be surprised if people who have watched them dislike them. They can be very abrasive. But in the end I prefer that to tap dancing and CYA stuff. At least they have the guts to put it out there early, and again, I see and hear things from them long before it gets into mainstream media. And you don't have to take their word on anything, they show the tape, so you always know exactly why they are saying something, and you can use your own eyes to decide if you agree with what theyre saying or not. I often do agree, but sometimes I dont too. It's the best $7 I spend every month. Their pre draft player breakdowns are excellent as well.

I didnt take it as aimed at me at all - and not even much of a slam at Getsy either, just a disagreement. It's all good. In the first game i'm sure he eased him in, but you were talking about why he would keep Bagent after the 4th game. Remember Bagent put up 30 points on the Raiders. And while it's true he only threw the ball 14 times in his first game, the next four games his attempts were 29, 37, 30 and 33. Also Bagent didnt start the game in which he only threw 14 times, he only came in after fields was injured. I think a lot of us wondered if Bagent was a better choice than Fields at that point, but obviously with the money invested, and the timetable to make a decision on Fields that wasnt going to be possible. I think it's one of those things where what's best for the next game, and what's best for the franchise long term are not the same thing, and they chose the franchise long term. I like Bagent a lot, but I also know that his arm wasnt strong enough last year. I loved his quick decision making, but he did also throw some interceptions - as a lot of rookies do. Interestingly, I have heard that the Raiders tried to trade for Bagent after they hired Getsy, so that does add some weight to the idea if true.

I dont think Getsy dumbed down the offense for Bagent. All I can say is that this is what this guy was hearing in December of last year from players and others in the building. He does have current and former players on his podcast, and people like Adam Rank and Courtney Cronin regularly appear on hios podcast, and he goes on their podcasts too, so it's not like he isnt connected.

I agree it would have been incredibly disfunctional, but this guy is never wrong, and he speaks to players and insiders regularly. I dont know how that communication would have been handled, maybe by an email, maybe by Poles, or through an intermediary. Possibly, it meant that they rarely spoke, and avoided each other, rather than never spoke. I dunno. But like I said this guy is very reliable, and apparently it was very tense between the two.

Just heard two interesting rumors about Getsy from a reputable patreon Bears insider source who is usually right. In fact, I cant remember a time he's said any inside info that turned out not to be true. Anyway the rumors are: 1) Getsy wanted to stay with Tyson Bagent after Fields was healed 2) Flus and Getsy did not speak directly to each other all of last year 1 is easy to believe. 2 is incredibly disfunctional if true.

yes and yes!

so far. but of course we are both entitled to our opinions about it. the good news is that even with my negative opinion about Flus, i STILL think there is enough talent on the roster and with the other coaches to succeed!

agree. I assume that there are enough good voices around Eberflus now to moderate that stuff, and maybe Flus himself would be less conservative with an improved roster anyway. My beef with him is less the mistakes that he's already made, and hopefully won't repeat, but instead whether he gives an active edge in winning or is just a good caretaker and organizer of the team. Either way, we have a ton of great coaches and position coaches and a good roster and we should be able to win. I dont see Eberflus holding us back per se, but if the time comes that Waldron is getting HC offers because he was good here for us, Id rather promote him and lose Flus, than to keep Flus and lose Waldron, but in the real world, without a smoking gun like more close losses because of HC decisions, I dont see how you can realistically do that.

and Lovie got fired after a season with a good record too. It's a tough business!

That makes sense. I still think the way this new rule will evolve is unknown to everyone, and I hope it doesn't become a source of too many touchdowns and overtake the rest of the game, but what Wanny said makes a lot of sense based on my understanding of the play as it currently stands.

I understand the generalized comments about growing in experience etc, but the unforced errors that Eberflus made that lost us 3 games last year were not complicated decisions. They were things that even high school football coaches know better than to do. I do think that with the staff around Eberflus we will be fine, and Flus should not prevent us from winning, but at the same time we have lost the opportunity to put in a head coach that can give us an active edge in winning. At best Eberflus is neutral to the team. I also think that Poles didnt want to lose the locker room. Moving on from Fields was a big move, and he probably wanted to keep Flus so that he didnt lose the defense. I dont know that Flus can or will do anything so bad that he would get fired at this point. He's like Ringo in the Beatles - extremely lucky to be where he is, and he's going to get brought along for the ride. But if Waldron is offered head coaching jobs next year or the year after because he has done a stellar job with the offense, I think it would be fair to say that it would be better to keep Waldron as head coach than to keep Eberflus and lose Waldron. Unfortunately, there's no real way to do that without a smoking gun against Eberflus, which I dont expect. So we are where we are, and I think this team can go far in the next few years, even with Eberflus. But in a hypothetical purely logical world, where players dont have emotions, he would not still be head coach. But we live in the real world of human beings, and the situation has evolved as it has. Eberflus is going to possibly win multiple super bowls and all the coaching accolades that go along with that, but it wont be because of his skills. We can hope that it wont be in spite of them.

for sure, and if Waldron is good, he becomes head coach, which would be great.

awesome. It's not easy to get over that kind of stuff, you guys must be very proud.

totally agree. but it's hard to know whether Fields was being egotistical, or he knew the Nagy staff was crazy. Or both

it sounded like purposeful rejection of Dalton and Foles. I always thought Fields was somewhat Cutler-like in his press conferences. He always spoke softly and minimally, and kept his words inside his mouth. I wasnt sure if that was humility, or a lack of respect for the press. When I heard his interview a few months ago on a podcast with former players, his speech patterns were very different, and I felt like that was the real Justin, and he was more likeable then to me too. I think the looking at his phone thing wasn't a matter of him being distracted, but more disrespecting that Foles or Dalton had anything to teach him. I always thought he was somewhat sullen, but I chalked it up to me misreading him, and that just being his style. Once I heard him speak differently on the podcast, then i thought it wasn't his style, but keeping them at a distance. And that's not always bad either. Belichick was a master of that kind of sullen, low speak style in press conferences, and he was doing that purposefully and to good effect. So it's not always a social issue. I also think that Fields WAS focused on football. He apparently put in tons of work, watching film etc. I think at the end of it all, he just didnt see the field as a passer, and was probably defensive about that, since nothing was working. He seems like a nice kid, and I do wish him success. He's a hell of an open field runner. I've compared him to Hester many times before - another great open field runner who didn't really have a position (CB and WR both failed) on the football field other than as a returner. He may light it up as a returner for Pittsburgh, especially with the new rules, and his superior throwback ability that you dont usually see in returners. For whatever reason though, he didnt succeed as a passer, and didnt seem to want to take coaching. It might be that Nagy's staff's coaching was awful and was right to resist it too.

yes, if we are playing well, i do expect flex games later in the season for sure. I think Williams is going to be a media star in the league. Maybe not right away, but once he starts winning.

I read more that clarified, the Giants are the offseason version of Hard Knocks, the preseason version is yet to be decided. I would imagine the Bears would make a very attractive candidate, but we would like to avoid it if possible.

I dont know how much this goes on at the league headquarters, but all these things will make the Bears more likely to win the division. Not saying they will, just more likely. I also see where the Giants are this years Hard Knocks team, so theres that piece of good news too.

Well the Bears' schedule has been released, and we don't play ANY divisional games until the last 9 weeks of the season. That's kind of amazing, because it gives Williams time to grow before he fights for a playoff berth. I haven't looked at any other teams yet, but maybe the NFL is pushing divisional games later int he year on purpose so playoff hopes stay alive as long as possible for each team, or maybe the Bears just got lucky, or are being helped by the league (less likely!) Whatever it is, it's good news for us this year.

there is nothing better than having a QB who is worth that top salary. If that happens, we should be happy indeed! Also, maybe Williams will take a page from Tom Brady's plan and take less than he is worth so they can still afford a team around him, which results in more wins, and more SB wins means more $ in endorsements too?

I totally agree that he is brash and that doesnt fit well if your results are mediocre. The other side of the argument is that his floor is probably pretty high, so even if he doesn't end up great, he might still be pretty good. I dont want to see that though. Im here for a team that dominates, and it seems like the stars have aligned to give us a good shot at that. Go Bears!

they sure are. and people pay for what you might become too, because having that franchise QB is what the league is all about, and there arent really very many of them in the world. Certainly not enough for every team to have one. We sure got lucky with Lovie winning that last second TD, getting the first pick overall and the Poles masterfully turning that into a haul and lucking into the first pick this year and having Williams be there this year.

agree. no matter what happened with Justin, or what was his fault, it's on the coaches and GM to create and maintain the culture they need. If you cant control your players it means you are kind of scared of them, and that speaks to a lack of leadership ability in the coaches and GM. It is possible that they decided to cut Justin loose years ago, and just rode with him while they built the roster. But then the hugs, and the effusive praise wouldnt fit that narrative. So I guess they didnt think they could control him but still wanted to keep and develop him. Strange, because those are contradictory ideas. In any case, Williams seems to be all in on succeeding, and at least at this point seems to be taking coaching well.