AZ54

I agree with this. Nagy is not a bad guy just not a good OC. OTOH Meyer has lost his team: https://news.yahoo.com/jaguars-players-yelled-grind-huddle-145355492.html

Geno looked good subbing in for Wilson. Can't see them making any changes in the next couple weeks unless Geno returns to his old ways.

Thankfully my college grades couldn't go negative. Not that I didn't stress the system because after all, a man has to find his limits. Apparently there is still DVOA room at the bottom for Nagy to explore his.

I had forgotten the Dolphins came up to Chicago during training camp so aside from the usual film from his games, we got a close look at Grant in a couple days of practice against our team. Just another piece of the puzzle as they searched around the league for a returner.

I corrected point 2 for ya.

I have the same set of glasses, but not the same whiskey.

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2021/10/6/22712938/chicago-bears-name-justin-fields-full-time-starting-quarterback-qb1-andy-dalton-breaking-news

CPat was great as a gunner on punt coverage. Don't think we're going to get that with Grant.

That may end up as the final tag line for him. I'm going to hope Pace, or maybe Nagy's wife talks some sense into him and tells him to shut up and enjoy being the Bears head coach.

Considering the first impression of this injury this is about the best possible news. Here's to hoping Williams and Herbert keep the torch lit so Monty can get fully healed up before he returns. With his running style I don't want him back on the field with anything less than full strength in that knee.

Surprising after we gave up 9 sacks to the Browns.

Roquan maybe but after watching the Chargers D against them I think the key is just get to the QB. We have a better pass rush than what the Chargers brought against Carr and yet they were able to get him off balance and missing some throws. Then it's just stop the run on the way to the QB.

Aside from Webster's issues I think keeping Herbert fresh for RB duties is a big part of this. I checked out Overthecap.com and it appears Grant just took a big pay cut from Miami and he's a FA after this season. You'd think it would have motivated him to perform well in Miami but maybe that negotiation left some hurt feelings. If he wants a new deal in 2022 anywhere now he needs to put it on film. We'll see what kind of energy he brings to the game this weekend. https://overthecap.com/player/jakeem-grant/4899/

https://www.nfl.com/news/bears-acquire-wr-jakeem-grant-in-trade-with-dolphins It appears we are done with Webster and in walk Jakeem Grant. Which version are we getting as the quote below from his old coach doesn't make me optimistic? This is relatively low risk as it's a 2023 6th Rd pick but the "get more draft picks" crowd won't be happy. His skill set mirrors Cohen's quite a bit, likely less shiftiness more long speed. I can't see us keeping both on the roster long term. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/2021/10/05/ap-source-dolphins-send-jakeem-grant-to-bears-for-2023-pick.html “Obviously Jakeem struggled a bit. ... He’s been very productive for a number of years but struggled a bit (Sunday). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT5NNDhBKDY

I have no problems with Lazor and Nagy using Kmet as a primary blocker. He should have done that in Cleveland. As Fields' game speed improves we'll be able to use Kmet more on routes but giving the rookie time to process the defense is job 1. Down the road this will be an advantage because the Raiders, or some future opponent, will be expecting more of the same from Kmet. He might chip block and then get into the flat uncovered a few times for big gains. We all know what is in the Nagy TE playbook from years past so it's just a matter of how quickly Fields is ready for more plays. Us Bears fans complain when there isn't success and we still find reasons to complain when there is success. We have no patience to develop players. Fields said he likes throwing to "Jasper" Horsted so I'm certain we're going to see some of that before this season is over.

I've been saying that Dalton can't get us a Superbowl this year so based on what I saw out of Fields in the preseason there really isn't a scenario, other than injury, where I didn't see Fields becoming our starter mid-season. We have $48mil to spend next year and a few years afterward to maximize the talent around Fields before his big contract. If you want a shot at the Superbowl in 2022 while Mack is still an effective player you need Fields to get experience this year. Of course Dalton is on a 1yr deal and Foles won't be around so there isn't much of an option behind Fields in 2022. Knowing that, the last thing anyone in the organization needs is to go into 2022 not knowing a thing about how Fields can play. If Fields fell apart sure bring back Dalton and let Fields learn again on the sidelines but Fields would be back out there the last couple games at least. For those same reasons if I'm Ryan "hot seat" Pace I'm demanding it at some point because I want to evaluate what Nagy can do with Fields to know if he's the right coach. There are no more QB excuses for Nagy and if he can't get this much QB talent, who played on the biggest stages in college, ready to perform at a basic level then we know where the problem is. Maybe Pace goes down at the end of the year too but he can't think like that. He still has to think long term in case he gets another year and if he does, will he need a new HC to ensure success with Fields? Knowing or at least believing he has his QB now, that would be Pace's likely path to a long career in Chicago. With those future considerations and your limited options of course I'm taking Field's and the 5 win scenario. FWIW I really don't care about Nagy stating Dalton is still our starter. If you listened closely to past press conferences he's already indicated, albeit subtly, if Fields is successful he'll stay out there. I wouldn't expect him to burn any bridges with Dalton until it is necessary. Nor do I want him telling opponents not to prepare for both QBs. They aren't stupid either. They saw the last game so nobody on the planet is expecting Dalton this week but there is no need to hand it to them on a silver platter.

um, not all men over 60.

Andy Reid had to let go of play calling too in order to save his career. Nagy would do well to learn from his mentor.

I'm watching some highlights of Fields' big throws. One thing jumps out.... our WRs are loving his ability to throw the deep ball. Watch Goodwin celebrate Arob's deep-out catch on the third highlight. Forget where receivers go to die, long term this is the stuff FA WRs are willing to sign up to be part of. Goodwin knows his turn is coming soon as long as Fields is out there. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. To ARob's credit that was a great catch too! FWIW that first highlight pass to Mooney was about 50 yards in the air perfectly in stride. For most QBs when you start getting around 50+ yards the accuracy drops because they are putting so much effort into the pass and typically you see the receiver making the adjustments to the ball. Maybe Fields can throw 60+ yards I don't know but this is getting into elite passing ability. Yes I know we all saw this on his highlights from OSU but I'm seeing it in a Bears uniform so let me enjoy the moment. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/03/bears-justin-fields-deep-ball-darnell-mooney-lions-week-4/

More than anything Nagy said about the play calling it was Fields in the post game presser complimenting how he likes when Lazor calls the plays. Fields said Nagy is too busy running the team and that (paraphrasing here) the chaos or energy of all that comes across the headset in the play calls. Lazor is just calmly reciting the play call from the booth which helped Fields. I was surprised Fields said that but he managed to do it in a way that didn't throw the head coach under the bus. Really curious to see where this goes from here.

I like the fact he didn't seem to care about that, at least I didn't hear anything in the post game press conference about it. Just win.

This is the game I expect to see from Fields, slow and steady with some splash plays sprinkled in. Except to be honest, seeing a QB who can hit WRs in-stride deep down the field in tiny windows like he did with ARob and Mooney is not something I should say I ever expected to see from a Bears QB. Cutler had a great arm but he was still more of a line-of-sight passer. Fields can alter trajectory to be line-of-sight or to rain a pass down right into the cradle as he did with Mooney. Arm talent aside he's still got a lot to learn as he was slow getting through the reads at times. However, we saw in the preseason where he can learn game-to-game, and even within a game. This week just adds to my confidence that he's going to be even better next week. I'm pretty sure Andy Dalton's half-hearted congratulations to Fields on the sideline at the end of the game indicates he knows what we all know...he just got Wally Pipp'd. That said there is even more to the offense they can add in as Field's gains experience but I'm good if they go on the road with this same run game and play-action style. A few more shoutouts: Oline. Still not perfect but 188yds on the ground in any NFL game is a very good day. They earned it after the debacle last week and we all know the boo-birds were just waiting for the first big mistake to happen. Those yards weren't because of Fields scrambling either because he only had 9yd. Shelley: looked really poor in preseason and week 1. He getting better each week. Ogletree: leads team in 10 tackles. For a late FA add he's playing really well and he's being more physical at the point of attack than I expected. Trevis Gipson: He shows up in every game and as he gains experience we might have a solid 3-man rotation off the edge by mid-season. Montgomery: He had a really good game and I'm going to miss watching him. I'm hoping for the best but it seems likely his season is over. He made our Oline look better than they are and we'll miss that. Mooney: He wasn't dropping that first deep pass near the left sideline. Great game overall with 125yds on just 5 receptions.

I don't think I want to bench Ogletree.

+100%

Did you ever think John Fox's 17pts per game would look so good?