BearFan PHX

oh yes, thats exactly where we are, and it is just as awful. Like I said, all the ideas for changing things are terrible ideas. Hopefully we get some guys back from IR soon. like Bates, and maybe even Borom. But this is definitely our biggest weakness. I imagine our roster next year will be much more complete. But i hate saying that now before week 3.

Pryor got some snaps at C in camp, but he's gotten blown up some in game action at guard too.

oh for sure re: nervous to stick him in there, like i said all my ideas about fixing this with what we have on the roster are terrible. Then again Jenkins was an OT converted to OG, and i think they say playing inside is a little easier? Like I said, terrible.

Shelton, Davis and the scheme are all to blame for sure. I dunno about Kramer, but I don't see how it could be much worse than it already is. I find myself wondering if Kiran can play guard, how good Bill Murray (and Kramer!) really are and other assorted terrible thoughts.

totally agree. the scheme is too ambitious, and they arent trained to do what youre talking about. Plus we are supposed to be running a zone scheme, so hitting the open man is the right thing to do. I feel like they are doing the matchups outside-in, which is wrong.

The defense has been playing well, but I dont think the necessarily means Flus is a good DC. I mean, hes certainly decent, but would the defense be worse without him, and with another average DC? I dont think so.

its one thing when you get physically beaten, and another when you make unforced errors. How about delay of game after a timeout? How does that happen? ANd going for it on 4th and 1 deep in your own territory in the middle of the second quarter down 6? Thats fireable.

I think Williams is doing fine. I saw a bunch of good pocket passes in rhythm this week. The problem is the running game, and you can tie that right back to the OL and specifically the ridiculous blocking schemes we are running. We also fail at pass protection. In that case the players just arent performing. They are in the right place in protection (mostly) but losing their battles. We will get blitzed non stop until we prove we can punish defenses for doing it. Chris Morgan is a liability, and if Waldron cant see that and step in, then he is too. Meanwhile Eberflus is mediocre at best. More unforced errors - going for it on 4th and 1 early int he game backed up, stupid challenges means poor timeout management.

I agree, swift isnt the issue, the OL is, and the blocking scheme is.

YES!!

The reason our running stats were good last year was the extra yards Justin added. I think Morgan is asking the line to do things that arent realistic. Just block the guy in front of you, or pull a guard and stop pulling tackles and tight ends its not real football, and it takes too long to get there.

Yup - we shouldnt have kept Eberflus. I've been saying that all along. The 4th and 1 call was another total mistake. Unforced error. and a delay of game penalty after a timeout with commercials? Illegal formation? Even false starts - thats coaching.

The run blocking "rules" are broken. I will wait for the film, but did you see guys pulling and arriving too late to make the block? We are trying to do things that arent normal football. Too cute. Chris Morgan is a problem. Shane Waldron is allowing it, he's a problem too. And going for it in the middle of the 2nd quarter down 6 backed up in your own territory? WHAT? AGAIN? Using challenges on things that definitely wont work, losing a timeout in the second half? The coaching is a real problem. Same problems as last year. Caleb grew again this game. More rhythm throws from the pocket than Justin had all year. But they blitzed him all over the place. We did nothing to counter it - no screens, no slants, no draws. We got waaaay outcoached.

Looks like Odunze may play after all. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2024/9/15/24245502/chicago-bears-inury-update-rome-odunze-to-play-per-report-keenan-allen-houston-texans

Someone offered something for Velus (!) so ya never know. Of course now, something tells me if you call them back, they dont want him anymore.

I agree about Davis. Screw that guy. I also agree that the players will gel and play better, and we wont always be facing a defensive interior that is as talented as the Titans. But I do now worry that the scheme, the blocking rules etc were fundamentally flawed in our first game. We're doing things like pulling a tackle and asking him to come all the way across the line and then turn up and make a block, and of course that player will be late, because it's not sound football. They are trying to out trick the defense, and reinvent the run blocking assignments. That might be something you do when your team sucks and needs an edge, but this roster is pretty good, let's just play football? It reminds me of Nagy's cuteness. Smartest guy in the room crap. I REALLY hope they see it on tape and make adjustments to get back to regular running plays. It's one thing to have a player lose physically, you tell your guys to toughen up and you hope to get better. But when the play is flawed the way it's drawn up, that's something else entirely.

my brother and i still have a bet as to who will be All Pro first; Wright or Skoronski.

right, hes the same guy we had last year. I cant claim to be an expert on blocking fronts, but the guy i watch does, and i think he's right. It may also be possible that there are new innovations that the guy i watch doesnt know about and our team is trying to install. But what he diagrammed and showed sure made a LOT of sense to me. I really hope Im wrong, but I am concerned lets say.

I watched my favorite film study guy, and he made a LOT of good points about flaws with the Bears' run blocking scheme rules. Now Im more concerned about the OL than I was. Hopefully, they find a way to show me that there is more than one good way to do it, and their way works too, but what i saw last week was NOT good. Im not speaking about whether players won their battles or not, that's a whole other topic - but whether the blocking assignments were even solid or logical. Hmmm

hahahaha

you cant handle the bull rush! LOL

youre right about him tripping, in my mind I had that rep happening with one of the DTs, but I was confused. So there is a different rep where the DT blew him up and he didnt trip. And, there were several other awful plays by Shelton too. I feel like if we have Ryan Bates for a reason, and he was the expected starter, we ought to put him in there. Of course the coaches will know better than I do, so I should say "I wont be surprised if there are one or two new starters on the OL this week." looking at you Davis.

I agree with all of this. The Chase Daniels breakdown shows where the errors were - it wasn't that everything was on fire, but in each play a different specific thing went wrong, even as everything else was working. Caleb is definitely playing NFL QB. I am a bit concerned about the batted balls - Caleb needs to find throwing lanes. But i am confident that the coaching staff is seeing everything on the film and will work on making it better. the only thing that's harder to "see" on the film is that we got away from running with Swift. We need to feed him more, and I didnt like seeing Everett out there so much while Kmet was on the bench. Anyone know why that happened? A few times i saw evidence that Waldron is thinking Xs and Os but forgetting how his personel grouping interact with that. So hed put Allen on a speed clearout route for example. Allen did have a pretty good game though. He was open a lot, but he did drop that TD. I also agree that the middle of the Titan DL is special, but that linebacker canning Shelton was just ridiculous. I think we need to look at Ryan Bates in there. Pryor also disappointed me a few times. It's hard to get a great OL, but they need to be better too. But yeah, from the film, Caleb is getting it.

The JT OSullivan breakdown this week highlights some weird personnel groupings. Favoring Gerald Everett over Cole Kmet, and using Keenan Allen on routes that would better fit the skill set of faster receivers. I mean, using Allen as a speedster in a route that is meant to do nothing but clear out a zone makes NO sense if he takes longer to do it?! I think Waldron has some growing to do. We need a cohesive approach, not just calling plays on an Xs and Os basis without regard for who is resting etc.

He had a bunch of good rhythm throws in the second half. Im not saying he was awesome, because he score a total of zero touchdowns. But I am saying that he did make a bunch of rhythm throws. And the playcalling and OL were terrible right along with him. He also needs to be more disciplined in finding throwing lanes. Too many batted balls.