AZ54

The NFL doesn't take kindly to teams putting out speculative injury information. Players are not held to the same standard. That's why all teams typically follow a strict protocol when it comes to releasing injury status and typically do so along league required deadlines. I don't really care that Nagy didn't go out of his way on a Monday when he's game planning with his staff for this week's game and take 10min and tell us that Larry Borom should be back practicing. Especially if they want him to be cleared by the medical staff first which might be something that happens on Tue. Wed is press conference day. Both Borom and especially Jenkins will need practice time before they are ready to play. I like what I've seen of Borom but I'd be surprised if he was starting this week. I expect Elijah Wilkinson back at RT but if Borom is his backup that is a far better option than Simmons. Also nice to see some positive news about Jenkins returning. If he's expected back in a few weeks that could mean he's already back in the building working out.

Headset turns off after ~15s so last 10s of play clock there is nobody yelling in his ear unless the Bears were in a hurry up offense mode at that time? I didn't see that part of the game. Regardless, if the Bears use a spotter to catch that in the defensive huddle then Fields and the rest of the offense have to be able to take that from the huddle and process it realtime. Fields said he went with a quick snap but the receivers weren't ready for that so they left late. It sounds like that Oline had it right. Brady and Rodgers know where to scan for that 12th man running off the field who is typically sprinting to get off the field. Fields on the other hand is likely still focused on reading the D and setting up protection. I say you keep putting it on his plate so he learns it.

I'll disagree with Romo, bringing in Dalton isn't going to save his confidence and more likely will harm it. if you've told him we believe in you, just go out and learn how to run the offense and we'll live with the mistakes. Then a few weeks later... well we can't live with those mistakes so your benched and we'll let Andy finish this game. If the opinion is the other way around and we'd bench him to protect him from such a poor Oline performance well then I say he's a competitor and I believe he's a good teammate. I can't imagine he'd want any special treatment on a day the offense was struggling. I'm ok standing alone on this one. IMO I saw Fields getting to reads across the field, and to checkdowns. He's doing it faster than he was but still too slowly to be effective with that level of pass protection. Was he doing that all the time? No. Neither did he have time for that and he knew it. I just think he's moving in the right direction and pieces are starting to come together for him. On the high passes that led to INTs. I think Field's altered his throwing motion a bit to speed up the release because he'd been from behind so many times. I'd have to do some side-by-side video comparisons but it felt like he'd was short arming the passes or not doing his normal full wind up. Plus he got happy feet. He's fought through adversity in high school and again in college and made his way back to the top. I'm staying with him.

i saw most of the game but missed many key plays. I agree with the sentiment that we can lose Jackson and ARob and not miss a beat. There's plenty of well deserved negative comments so I'm going to focus most of my comments on the good things I saw. With a few gripes mixed in so I can vent. First, I think Fields is starting to read the defense better. Simmons was fodder for their edge rushers and the lack of time eventually got to Fields and affected his feet and accuracy. As far as the gameplan I think the coaches wanted to give Fields a chance to test their secondary and I'm ok with that game plan. Staying with that after the late scratch of Wilkinson? Not sure. I see the argument that says you prepared Fields for a batch of plays all week. Do you abandon that and make the rookie go with stuff he didn't practice? OTOH I like and agree with what Jason said about the play calling. Why not stay within that same cluster of plays that has given him some success? Kalil Herbert is really good, at least running with the ball. Pass pro is lacking as is normal with a rookie. We have a great 1-2 combo with him and Monty going forward and this run game is going to be Fields best friend in the 2nd half of the season. I liked the defensive effort in the second half. Especially the goal line stand. There is some heart to this team and in these situations I really want to see who is going to keep fighting (and that's not a reference to Nichols). Roquan was exhausted late in the game yet was still working hard. Others followed his lead. Desai will build on that. I missed some big plays but the secondary with backups in DHC had some good plays in the 2nd half with passes defensed. I know Tampa was being nice running the ball for a while but Brady wanted that next TD and then they let him throw for it and we shot it down. Forget about Eddie Jackson for a bit; when I see guys like DHC and Shelley playing their best football (I'm not saying great football just the best in their careers which means they are getting better as the season moves on) that bodes well for coaching the future talent we'll be adding. I like our new returner Grant. Oline: Whatever wasn't happening in pass pro they managed to run well today and they did it on their field. I don't focus in on their play during a live game like others might but several players had to be doing something right for Herbert to get 100yd rushing against a good front 7.

Maybe there are no good options?

Can't throw good money after bad. He'll be gone next year post Jun 1 and, as you say, we can use the $6.1 mil to find someone who will contribute more. He's not the first guy to get a big payday and then stop being a football player. I supported the move to extend Jackson's contract at the time as we had space available and it seemed to get in early before it got way overboard. Yet here we are throwing life preservers off the deck to salvage whatever we can.

Having watched a few Bengals game now, I'm waiting for when the Bengals fans realize they drafted Andy Dalton 2.0 in Joe Burrow. Yes I get all the hype on Burrow but I never cared about the media. All I have to do is put on my "Mitch glasses" where every minor infraction is highlighted and the gaps in his passing skills are obvious. Burrow may yet overcome his lack of arm strength and some of the poor throws but today, I'd take Fields in a heartbeat over him. Said the same about JimmyG a few years back when everyone was in love with him and where is he now? None of that makes me a QB savant, I really just ignore the NFL hype train, ignore stats somewhat, and just focus on the question: Would I be happy with that pass if he were my QB? On the contrary it does have me convinced that a perfect QB is a really rare thing (duh) and if we're ever going to see it happen in a Bears uniform i understand it takes time to develop. Fields is not picking up the offense as quickly as I'd like but he's also done some things we haven't seen in some time. His deep passing skills are the best I've ever seen in a Bears QB. Keep in mind my fan experience only goes back to the Vince Evans era. I can be patient (as if any Bears fan has a choice) and still believe Field is worth the risk of the draft investment and he's worth investing time to develop. If Field's doesn't fully develop into his full potential then we definitely need to put a coach and team around him to win football games. In other words I think Fields floor will be good enough to win games with while his ceiling is high enough that he wins games.

No. My experience is that you need to be careful making assumptions of next-level readiness based on short-term results in current role. In other words, I've made the mistake of promoting someone too early. He's improving, I like what he's doing on D, the D players all seem to be responding to it, and I think we're in good hands going forward. Does that mean he's ready with his vision of what offense he wants to run? Is he fully prepared for all HC responsibilities? Pace took that gamble with Nagy and I think we've all seen how cracks in the foundation lead to problems.

Yes and that was another reason to get Fields on the field this season.

Didn't get to see the game so thank to all for the summary. We're going to have to do something with Jackson. Bush or DHC might also give up some big plays but they also makes other good plays to somewhat offset things.

I don't think it's likely they are extending Quinn as that would have rolled up into his new deal. More likely they realized Quinn's performance made them comfortable he should be staying around in 2022 and 2023. Shuffling the money likely didn't affect cap space much in future years but will affect dead money and cap savings in those years if we were to cut him. Putting it in post here so we can if the numbers change. https://overthecap.com/player/robert-quinn/1343/ 2022 dead - $9.3mil, savings $6.7mil 2023 dead - $6.2mil, savings $10.9mil They are making room for someone else's extension and the most likely target IMO is Roquan not ARob, and definitely not Hicks. At this point ARob seems replaceable, Roquan is not. Unless ARob suddenly realized his market value is crashing and he'd like to stay here with Fields on a team friendly deal. Either way any money they can pull into this year on a new contract probably helps. 2021 cap hit $6mil 2022 Smith is on the books for $9.7mil for the 5th year option. We have to expect this is the baseline deal for Roquan and Leonard's cap hit for 2021 is $8.2mil. The Bears can now handle Roquan's cap hit increasing from $6mil to ~ $9mil. https://overthecap.com/player/darius-leonard/6921/ "Darius Leonard signed a five year, $98.25 million contract extension with $52.5 million in guarantees on August 9, 2021. $33 million is guaranteed at signing including a $20 million signing bonus."

Me too mostly because I thought Edmunds would offer more as a pass rusher and we needed that help in a bad way pre-Mack of course. In their careers Edmunds has 5.5 sacks and Smith 13 so I freely admit I was wrong. Edmunds is on a team with lots of good defensive players around him, especially up front so no excuses there.

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/13/bears-packers-justin-fields-aaron-rodgers-week-6-matchup/ “My job is to win,” Fields told reporters Wednesday. “My job isn’t to be better than any quarterback. As long as we win, I’m doing my job the right way.” He's willing to just play his role. This kind of leadership from a top draft pick who was a big time collegiate star will permeate the entire roster.

We'll probably have to cut our losses on that contract but it won't happen this year. In the meantime, I like what I see so far from Desai. He's got a lot on his hands as a new coordinator but as he settles in, along with his assistants learning what he wants from their position group, I'd like to see if he can turn around Jackson's performance. As mentioned Bush and DHC seem to be playing better than past years so if they continue then I think we'll see some snap count adjustments.

It's getting more interesting. As I said many people knew about all this a decade ago so why now, and who is behind this? https://nypost.com/2021/10/13/jon-gruden-scandal-washington-cheerleaders-furious-over-photos/ ...and a good bit on the hypocrisy of the NFL in its treatment (firing) of Gruden versus NFL players who have been accused of far worse (Antonio Brown, DeSean Jackson come to mind and both are getting an NFL paycheck). In the meantime lets get ready for the rappers at the Superbowl halftime show because if the NFL is legit with these standards it will be highly entertaining to watch the after-show. I'm sure all their lyrics fit the "Gruden" standards. I'm not part of the holier than thou club and I do believe in 2nd chances and that people can a do change for the better. I also think the NFL has every right to decide who represents them in the public space. If they want to be taken seriously they should be consistent in their standards but... https://spectatorworld.com/life/jon-gruden-nfl-raiders-roger-goodell/

This will be a good game to flip the script and start rolling out Fields more often especially from play action. I believe they've seen enough of our run-heavy sets the last couple games and will come out hard against the run to make Fields beat them through the air. Based on what I saw in their last game (yes I scouted a Packers' game) they don't have the edge rushers to challenge him (as Cleveland did). Use the heavy formations in the run game but start using the TEs on routes more like we've been waiting to see happen. Their LBs will have to make a quick decision on run support, pass coverage, or chase Fields to the outside. This might be a good game to use that play they ran with Jesse James in the preseason that got him a wide open TD pass, but do that with Jesper. It's the type of play that has to be setup a few times to get the whole defense running that way and their backup DBs might not be as disciplined as they should be. Maybe I should just say we shouldn't expect the same running game to be as easily done this week and we're going to have to do something different to win.

What do you know and when did you know it?

Yes it is. Remember the offense took a bye week during the Cleveland game.

The stuff he's been saying has gone on for years. The bigger question is who out'ed him and why? Why now and not 10 years ago? Why were they, and apparently many others, willing to cover this up for so long and how is that acceptable?

If you watch the All-22 can you take a look at ARob and let us know if he's able to get any separation? Seems like on all of Fields' throws in ARob's direction he's tightly covered. I know he can make contested catches but that alone is not worth $20mil/yr. It can also be that Fields is just late on the timing and that's obvious on some plays.

I agreed with your assessment during the game. He never made it but I have to say I like the fact the league has moved away from overturning anything and everything and is leaning toward letting the call on the field stand unless it's totally conclusive.

Maybe one day I'll be motivated again to subscribe and get the All-22 tape. That's where you get to see the good and the bad. Today is not that day so I'll take your word here. The backups (DHC, Bush)are finally starting to play better but it took years to see them play like this. If I'm not mistaken they were doing a rotation with Gipson on the field part time against the Raiders. Maybe we ran some 3 safety schemes? If Jackson continues to struggle will they use this type of rotation with Bush/DHC taking snaps away from Jackson? At this point drafting a safety in Rd 2/3 is my plan this offseason. You are correct his contract for next year in untenable but the whole league knows that. We'd have to give away a pick or another player in a deal (no good options) to move him but I'd just as soon keep the pick to help find a replacement. snap counts against Raiders:

We really need to be giving Desai more credit for the way our D is performing. Each week they seem to get better perhaps minus Bo Jack. I say that just because game broadcasts don't show safety play that well but the obvious miscues on coverages are still there on his side of the field. Regardless, the overall view is that we went on the road and held the Raiders passing game to 206 yds, and nobody got over the top of the D. There was a 50/60yd drop late in the game that should be added in but whatever. We gave up no passing TDs which no other team has done this year to the Raiders. Overall that's a good day so I tend to think there is improvement in the secondary and Jackson is part of that. I also think he's being more physical, mostly around the LOS, so someone or something is getting to him. The first thing about making tackle is you have to want to do it. I don't think he wanted to tackle in the first couple games. I'm likely in the minority but I liked his play at the goal line where he stole the ball from the RB. If not for a few inches or 0.1 second that's a game day highlight. If he's getting back the emotion and desire to be a football player then the passes defensed and interceptions will show up in the 2nd half of the season. I think Desai is starting to bring back the swagger our D had years ago under Fangio.

I can't see the Giants doing anything for a concussion issue unless or until it becomes a serious 4-6 week ordeal. Nor are they a playoff caliber team that really wants to stay in the hunt thinking they can get healthy and make a big run in the post season. Any team short of that is probably ok with a higher draft pick. In any case I say we keep Dalton. He's got this offense down better than Foles and Fields needs that help on the sidelines. Damien Williams was asked about Fields going out and he said it without hesitation: No problem we know we got 14 coming in. Dalton got a first down for the team and then Fields went back out there.

100% agree. He's the leader of the defense and needs a new contract. It shows in his post game press conference. https://www.chicagobears.com/video/roquan-smith-on-20-9-victory-over-las-vegas-press-conference