AZ54

At a minimum it is on film so now it changes what DTs and LBs (since I believe OG is their first read) think about if they see Thuney or Jackson start to pull right there near the goal line. Ultimately it was a LB who saw it and tackled Thuney. So if you’re at the goal line and you can get them to hesitate just bit that might be enough to squeeze someone in for a TD.

First off: The Patriots did go to the Superbowl last year so they are not a bad team. The Patriots blitzed Caleb on 60% of the pass plays and he put up 300+ yds and 30pts against it. We don’t hit the quick short slants because our Oline is good and was picking up the blitz giving guys like Burden time to get 15 yards downfield and exploit the wide open gaps in coverage. If Caleb can pull it off, I’ll take the chunk plays against a blitz over the 5 yd slants all day. We were doing that all game long. We don’t have Monangai and Swift is fighting through some injuries so the passing game had to carry the day unlike how we handled the Eagles with running game sprinkled in with some passes by Keenum. Roschon is just pedestrian. Enter Caleb. IMO the difference between our offense and the Patriots, and between the QBs as well, couldn’t be more clear and I really like what I saw from the Bears and Caleb. Early on Maye couldn’t figure out our coverage and pressure packages. Then they shifted to a lateral offense with simple WR screens and other simple short-game stuff. Later they started running all WRs deep to take the coverage shell with them and dumping off to an outlet (TE or RB) who was initially held in blocking. It worked well because we have no elite pass rush threats on the Dline. It was also incredibly easy to read stuff for Maye. But we did adapt to that on defense and late in the game you saw one of our defenders peel off with the TE or RB. That also confused or bothered Maye a bit because he started becoming more erratic with his passes. Meanwhile through out the entire game Caleb was just slinging it all over the field against their pressure and coverages. He also had WRs with several big drops in the game : Raymond, Loveland 2x, Rome that would have moved his comp% from 66% to 78%. Casual stats reviewers will look at the overall numbers and say Maye and Caleb played about the same. But they didn’t. Maye picked up about 100 yards passing in garbage time against prevent defense. At least 50 was on the play before the half the rest came late when we were making sure they got no TDs over the top which worked because we forced them into burning clock and taking a FG, giving us the onside kick. Whereas Caleb never had the opportunity to throw against that. Years ago I used to look at Trubisky’s or Fields’ stats after games like that where we were trying to come from behind late and the other team was giving us easy underneath stuff. They’d end up with 250-300yds but it was just lipstick on a pig. Think about what type of offense you will need to succeed in the playoffs. Our defense is good, not bad, but it’s not great. Smart coaches will find a way to get some plays in. I can’t see where the strategy for what Maye did against us being successful against a really good playoff defense. I can definitely see where the stuff Caleb was doing translates very well. It’s also why heads around the league and media are turning in our direction. We’re 5-2 and we got there with 3 different QBs. Our defense is playing well enough to keep most teams around 20-25pts. That won’t be enough against Caleb and Ben. p.s. The D needs a couple players to be more consistent. I don’t think we’ll be able to find a DT and CB, or rather fit both in. I don’t see a CB out there who can make a difference. Then again we should have Bryant back later in the year which will no doubt help a lot versus what Cam Lewis offers. I really like the idea of adding Deforest Buckner. We’d immediately have a good front. Jarrett is playing well this year. Sweat is still a strong DE. Booker and Turner appear to be capable of giving good snaps in rotation and FWIW Dayo will return later in the year. From the AI: "If the Chicago Bears were to trade for DeForest Buckner immediately, they would take on approximately $8.67 million in salary cap hit for the remainder of the 2026 season. "

Speaking of blitz rate i just heard the Patriots blitzed on 60% of the plays tonight.

I think it was just that one s series. 7 plays IIRC.

Unc and Ocho are ripping on Cam Lewis because on the last play of the first half he owned the RB. Instead he decided to get greedy and blitz. They said he knew he messed up and that’s why he was chasing him all the way down the field. I remember seeing him doing that. Still doesn’t excuse Jaylon’s weak effort.

Or make a trade this year.

Thursday night game these are always sloppy. Nobody feels good. Plus Ben said several players weren’t feeling well and still wanted to play but no clue who. Loveland took a big hit in Atlanta on the first TD. Those hits linger.

For sure that’s a factor, especially on the quick “numbers advantage” WR screens. For the rest I think it’s the detailed blocking and timing as directed and choreographed by Ben Johnson.

Edwards is not on IR if that was the question. If the question was about Monangai he’s not on IR either. Both statements are based of the team’s website which might not be updated.

Tue is film study day since that’s when most of the pundits post on Youtube. After watching film of Luke Newman I realized playing next to him was our rookie Logan Jones. On the outside Ozzy Trapilo. Now I’m thinking Ben was toying with Atlanta. We were on the road (albeit with a strong Bear fan presence). Ben loses his starting RG. No problem, we’ll sub in the backup and still keep the rookie center out there. While we’re at it, for fun let’s also play the guy still working his way back from a serious knee injury who hasn’t played all year. Again on the road, protecting a QB still recovering from a hamstring injury. No problem, we got this. Now if it turned out poorly Bear kingdom (aka us) would have been all over this mid-game. Instead the offense just kept trucking along like nothing changed and I didn’t even pickup Logan Jones next to Newman during the game. Most of my life has been spent not wanting to see some of our starting Oline on the field, much less backups. Have we ever had a coach who just tossed Olinemen out there for a series or two mid-game like that? Wouldn’t the safe play, or at least conventional wisdom, be to put the starting OC back in the game once Jonah went out? I’m still hoping to see Jones start at OC sooner than later. Bradbury still gets walked back into the QBs lap too often. I’ll see what happens tomorrow night if Jones gets a couple more series.

Tush push stuff does not bother me. I love the scrums and seeing our Oline rally behind guys like Swift, Burden and Monangai in recent games gets the whole offense fired up. When the defense stops one it’s the same effect. On the 4th and short it doesn’t happen often but it does happen and we’ve done it. I loved the fumble Nashon took from Hurts last year on a tush push.

No. I watched him for a bit against KC and while he still hustled to the ball he didn’t look like anything special. My trade target would be a young sticky CB.

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I watched Atlanta game against Baltimore last week. You can’t come away from that game without knowing we have the better team in all phases. Baltimore did well to contain Bijan but they gave up a lot more in the passing game than we did. Dennis Allen continues to show he can get the most out of the talent he has on the field. Caleb and Ben make 31 pts feel like we left a lot on the field.