AZ54

I don't see Rodgers running anywhere on his first sack. HIs first sack is the second play Thayer highlights in this clip. Yes, we covered the receivers for about 2 seconds because that's about how long it took for Floyd to get Rodgers to drop his eyes toward him. That's a pretty good rush on a 1st and 10 and I wouldn't put that into the coverage sack category. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...16-3860ce06dc9f

Very surprised there is not a thread on Leonard Floyd's performance last night. I was at work so I have yet to watch the game but I've seen highlights of his play. Both sacks, and even his "hurry" on Rodgers in the 1st quarter were excellent plays. Most impressive was seeing him cross the face of the OT and then fight through the double team right up the middle to take Rodgers down.

It's not so much who you are throwing to that generates YAC it's more how you throw it to them (i.e. in stride). If you throw a lot of out routes at the sideline you won't get a lot of YAC. There's also the decision on reading the defense as well so throwing to guys that aren't double teamed (as Cutler often did with Marshall, or as Hoyer often does on his frequent dump-offs in the middle) leads to more YAC. Keep in mind the type of routes run in the offensive scheme affect this too as well as pass protection. Wait until Gronkowski runs through the deep middle spreading apart the coverage and then dump off to Edelman underneath and watch him run. I don't think it's as simple as blaming the WRs for lack of YAC. Everyone has a part in it. I don't see Loggains on the hot seat to lose his job right now. It's hard to say our offense has not improved since week 1. Everyone sees where we still need improvement in the red zone but otherwise with a journeyman QB he's shown steady, albeit slow, improvement. If there's no further improvement as the season wears on then yes pressure will build.

True but we haven't yet seen Bush play as he's just now being worked back onto the field coming back from injury. Hall showed some promise before getting injured and it was the same with Houston-Carson. If one of them turns out to be a stud player for us then that gap is solved. I'm not sure that will happen and I think they'll fit the mold of the others who have played so far and appear to be just solid players for us. FWIW I read an article calling for Fuller to switch over to FS. He always seemed more comfortable with the play in front of him so that might be an option.

I've watched very little of Kizer. One full game on Draft Breakdown and parts of two other games I've seen live. There are times he hits guys in stride deep down the field with perfect precision. There are times I don't understand why his coaches have him throwing while on the run because he can't do that well. He can run decently but it's more in the mode of Jay Cutler not Cam Newton. I think he's got enough question marks, along with all the issues surrounding the ND program to have him fall to us. The flip side is Deshaun Watson and Clemson keep winning which will push his stock higher even if he too has some question marks.

No details here but Fangio sees the improvement in the young players. It can be easy to dismiss these comments as typical coach speak, but Fangio is the same guy who once said we have one good DT and the rest we'll see. He also called out Floyd and others at times. Hopefully we'll see some breakthroughs that turn into negative plays soon. My guess is we won't really see that until after the bye and we get McPhee and Goldman back into the rotation. Putting players like those two out there makes the job for Washington, Bullard, and even Floyd a bit easier. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...65-e5f9dd01d450

Just watched a Gamepass replay of the Jags game. I see a team with a good foundation of young players. We lack stars. Losing Goldman on defense was a huge loss. Young players like Washington and Bullard look a bit better each game as far as 2-gap responsibility, but neither is showing anything close to what we need in the pass rush. I expect that will improve as the season moves along and they get more comfortable in these new roles. We have zero speed on the edge rushers. That was where Floyd was supposed to come in but that hasn't shown up yet. OTOH Floyd has been ok in run support and coverage. If we can get him and McPhee back in the rotation it will help considerably. Our DBs are ok but there isn't one guy who is going to get an INT back there. I really like Callahan at NB but we need to get someone on the outside or at safety that can make those big plays for us. This is a definite focus area for the next offseason. On Oline Whitehair looked bad at times getting blown up and pancaked a couple times. He struggles with the big NTs but has been pretty good overall for us. The interior of the Oline has been ok as they settle in with Sitton and Whitehair learning on the job. We need to add more competition at OT this offseason. I can see a couple deep routes that Hoyer missed in the first half that could have been easy TDs (Jeffrey 1st qtr, Miller in 2nd qtr). We have to make those plays to help Howard find open space. Cutler will make those plays but will he also work the underneath routes when that's what the defense gives us? Cam Meredith is the real deal, he reads zone defenses well and moves into the right spots. It's no wonder Hoyer looks for him so often, just give him a bit of time and he'll find the gap. Yet he also handles the man coverage well. If we keep Jeffrey we are in a really good spot with WR for the next few years. If we don't keep Jeffrey it will be because Meredith is taking his spot on the outside.

This is football. A loss is rarely on one player, Brett Favre's 6 INT in the playoffs being one exception. That said, Hoyer's limitations are blatantly obvious when you watch film of the game. He is inaccurate beyond 20 yards. This is nothing new, go back and see what he did in AZ, Cleveland, Houston, etc. He tried to go downfield a couple times against Jax but he doesn't have the arm talent you need to challenge downfield unless a guy is wide open (i.e. blown coverage). He knows what he can do, and he knows what gets him in trouble with INTs, so he makes quick reads and throws for 7 yards. Defenses just bait him into it and drop the LBs back a bit to open up the underneath and Hoyer will jump right on it. Then Posluzny closes to decapitate your WR. When you get in the red zone nobody's dropping back. I don't think he's particularly good at reading coverages either. On one 3rd and long he had a well designed route by two WRs one running beyond the sticks and one underneath. The DB started to go with the over route but then came back to the underneath WR leaving the first down wide open. Guess who Hoyer threw to? If we have 3rd and 10+, already hard enough in the NFL, just forget about it because he'll rarely make the pass needed unless we get lucky on a catch and run. On the last pass he threw he was about 3 feet behind where it should been for Jeffrey. Jeffrey slows up and Ramsey comes underneath to knock it down and it's game over. The Packers D is good upfront and weak on the corners (injuries). We won't be able to consistently take advantage of the edges with Hoyer and they know it. Kizer can make those touch passes deep downfield outside the numbers. I"m not sure how well he reads and throws to the deep middle but he at least has the arm strength to get it there.

La di friggin' da

I disagree for the simple fact that Gase was hired for one primary reason: To fix Tannehill like he did Cutler. It's nearly 100% certain that is what his job interview focused on. If he can't get that done then he's on a short leash. Your premise is that he'd have a minimum of 3 years, maybe 4 to get the job done. I don't think the leash is that long and history in Miami shows they've had 8 head coaches in 12 years. Right now things are not going well at all for Gase. Keep in mind if he fails with Tannehill then he's already broken the biggest expectation his owner had for him. They aren't likely to wait and see him coach another young QB for 2-3 years if it starts out poorly. I'm not saying he'll be fired after this season but if he's on a really short leash next year he'll have to make moves he knows can pay off. Drafting and relying on a rookie QB is a total crapshoot. Point to Carson Wentz and in the other corner is the player who went before him sitting on the bench behind Case Kenum. From there you fall all the way to the 4th Rd in Prescott who is quite comfortable behind the best Oline in the NFL. Miami's Oline is it's own construction project. If this season continues the downward spiral, along with Tannehill's performance, then Gase will have to tuck his tail between his legs and go to the owners requesting a shot with another QB. IMO this makes it highly likely Gase will want to work with a QB who knows his system and has done it successfully, at least successfully enough to keep him in a job. Who is available from his recent past? Tebow, Peyton Manning, Osweiller, maybe Siemian, and Cutler. With Paxton Lynch's struggles I find it hard to believe Elway will go all in on him next year and let go of Siemian. That leaves Cutler, who may not be available either. If Gase trades for Cutler he has no guaranteed money in his contract so there's no long term pain for the owner. This might buy Gase two seasons and two chances to draft his future QB. The drums are already sounding in the distance: http://www.sbnation.com/2016/10/15/1324954...ehill-struggles Also in that article note that Tannehill earns $20mil next season, Cutler $16mil in 2017 then $17mil in 2018. That $20mil is also why Gase is so adamant he has to get it right this season. If they cut bait on Tannehill, Cutler's lower salary offsets $7mil of the $10mil dead money.

Not available this week but hopefully he can handle 15-20 snaps against GB. I don't expect much from him early but just giving Willie Young a rest will make Willie more productive.

He's our best DB and it's always noticeable whenever he's not on the field. If he can play this week it will be a nice boost to our defense especially with some more question marks at the outside corners.

A couple points: With Cutler's guaranteed money off the books he is a trade-able commodity, even at his current salary. Relative to the market he has a below average contract and that will only be more attractive after the next FA season. With zero guarantee there is no longer a big financial risk, cut him whenever you want. The way his season is headed Gase may not have enough time to draft a rookie QB and coach him up. He was brought in to do one thing: Win with Tannehill. If that isn't happening those owners, who have pulled the plug quickly on recent coaches, aren't likely to wait patiently to see him work with another QB. Gase may have just one more season to prove he deserves to stay a 3rd year. Sam Bradford's success, like Carson Palmer's in AZ, may convince a coach on the hot seat, or a new HC, that he could strike gold with Cutler even if he hedges his bet by also drafting a young QB to develop. Kurt Warner was damaged goods when he arrived in Arizona many years ago. If you want Cutler waiting for him to become a FA (which could happen later than sooner in the offseason) means you have to compete with other QB desperate teams. No matter what there are always a few each year. I don't think we'd get much for him, at best a 3rd RD pick and that's if he comes back and plays well. Yet, if he does that he's likely staying here while we draft someone. Sooner or later a good defense is going to expose Hoyer's limitations.

Class acts both of them.

I hope Langford learns from some of what Howard does. Langford showed some patience in the preseason but that seemed to fade away when the regular season started. Oline was also a mess early on so that didn't help. On the second play Thayer highlights Whitehall's block is impressive to me given how far he moves and how he gets to the outside of the defender. That is the key block that makes the play successful IMO. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...a1-da4e771e5e69

I know there is a lot of angst about PFF and there is valid debate about their scoring system. Nonetheless, to be listed among top 10 players in the entire league for Week 5 is a really good sign for our rookie center. Did anyone expect to see Whitehair on a list that has players such as Von Miller, Tom Brady, and ex-Bear Mason Foster? https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-top-10...-week-5-action/

It can simply be that the defense is winning the games for them and they'd rather put more on Decamilhlis' plate than distract Wade from what the D needs to do.

One way or another a QB is headed our way. With all of Chicago hating on Cutler there's no reason he should want to be here. Fox hasn't indicated any reason he wants him here. On the flip side I'm really tired of watching Hoyer's 7yd passes. Defenses don't cover guys like Jeffrey downfield because they know he never looks there. He's going to one read, maybe two at the max on one side of the field. If we're moving on, at the end of the day Hoyer will be cheaper to keep around than Cutler. What I've seen of Kizer he hasn't looked that good either although I don't get to watch many of their games. I will add that I don't like how they often have him throw on the run, he's inaccurate with those passes. When he's in the pocket he often drops passes into tight windows.

I can't say that Barth is any worse than what I saw from Gould last season or during the preseason especially with the missed PATs. Barth has a problem with over-correction. Miss left, come back and miss right. I'd say we lost because of too many penalties on drives especially those in the redzone.

Players I'm looking to see improvement from: Washington: After a good showing last week, can he add more inside pressure this week? Bullard: He hasn't flashed much this year but if he's going to show off that first step quickness this is the week. Kwiatkoski: With Trevathan back will they split snaps between him and Kwit? If he's out there can he continue to progress in his reads. Cam Meredith: What's his ceiling? Jordan Howard: Can he have a repeat performance?

Pace is running the show although I entirely agree that Fox has control over who plays/doesn't play. That is as it should be IMO. This is just reporters starting a storyline to get Fox on the hot seat. I say we keep rolling with the youngsters and it will pay off. I know I'm one of very few that were impressed by our young players last week on both sides of the ball. There's a foundation of good players building on this roster. Plus we have a couple in storage that could become good players with RRH at the top of my list. Everyone wants to say that these guys should be playing well already if they are good. I'm old enough to remember a lot of good players not doing so much in their first or even second season. I could start with Peyton's rookie season where he rushed for a grand total of 679 yds with a 3.5ypc but it's better to stick with the recent era. Charles Tillman was disliked by a lot of Bears fans for a couple years. He was often the subject of posts here about how slow he was, how he had no quickness, couldn't really cover in man, etc. Some of that lasted into the Lovie era. Urlacher did nothing in the first few games of his rookie season to make anyone think he was much more than a bust. In fact there were lots of debates about wasting the 9th overall pick on a safety converting to LB. After he was moved inside the light went on and he never looked back. That's not to imply we have an Urlacher on our roster but there's a need for perspective on allowing young players room to grow and learn. If we hadn't seen positives among these young players (as we didn't with SMC early on) then I'd be much more concerned. Floyd's lack of pass rush is a concern for me that I believe can only improve if his strength improves. Jacoby Glenn's and Bryce Callahan's ability to cover WRs deep down field is not. Jordan Howard's ability to get positive yards even after contact behind the LOS? Whitehair's blocking up front after not practicing at OC all preseason? There are still positions to address, and we'll need some elite players somewhere on the roster to win a Super Bowl, but I feel we're headed in the right direction.

He broke the fibula, not tibia so this is entirely unrelated to last year's injury. He'll be back. Whether it is this season or not depends not just on him but also other injuries with Kyle Fuller being the other likely to return from IR.

I watched a highlight of the game and noticed that on one of the plays where Hoyer did play action to the left and then reverses direction rolling out to the right the blocking scheme appeared to me to be exactly the same as this running play where they talked about the reach block. If a LB is trying to key off what the OG and RB do they are going to bite hard to stop the running play headed to their right side. It's a great fake and I don't recall seeing it before with this roll out (not that I watched that closely). Having this option should slow down the LBs a bit on the run read, which of course makes it easier to get OG on them if it is a running play. Remember in the original link how the Cowboys DE cut across the face of Massie and made the tackle? Now with the QB rolling out behind that RT space the LDE might hesitate before making his move inside. That gives Massie a bit more time to make his run block.

Despite the 0-3 start I've held that I like the young players we have. Injuries have forced some into action sooner than expected with some negative plays as a result. Instead of the flashes of goodness we've seen in the first few weeks this week it was about consistent execution. That's a big step forward for them and getting this first victory will be huge for their confidence. Offense: Kevin White: I've seen comments about waiting to see a breakout game. Not that I disagree with that, but much more than seeing the explosive big plays, which I think are in his future, I wanted to see consistent execution from him. Be where he is supposed to be on time so the QB can reliably throw his way. I think we're seeing that progress in his 6 catches for 55 yards today. Against Dallas it was 6 for 62yds. There are 100yd receiving days in his near future. Cam Meredith: I don't see big play potential in him but he's becoming a reliable chain mover. He has quietly moved ahead of Josh Bellamy and between his performance and Bellamy's nobody misses Marquis Wilson. Jordan Howard: Even when he's contacted at the LOS he gains 2 or 3 yards, sometimes more. He did have some good lanes at times but he made the Oline better today. I like the combination of him as the primary back and Langford's speed as #2. Everyone already knows about Whitehair. Defense: Timu: He's just a better football player than Anderson but he's a step slower than you'd like. I know he missed a couple tackles today but his reads were usually spot on and considering he hasn't seen game action since the preseason he should knock off the tackling rust quickly. While I liked his play I really like the potential we're starting to see with... Kwiatkoski: In his first game action against Dallas he was usually late to his read, and blocked out of the play. I saw progress from him today but I expect coaches will keep the rotation with him and Timu for the near term. Crevon LeBlanc: When Porter went out I didn't notice he was out there. Normally when we've pulled Callahan out of the slot there was an immediate and noticeable drop off. I'll have the watch the game again to see how he did. Callahan: He's turning into a really good player for us. He stepped outside for Porter and blanketed Golden Tait the rest of the game. Keep him healthy. Cornelius Washington: He's a veteran but it's his first season as a 3-4 DE. He's still got a long ways to go learning this job but that sack was nice to see because he earned it by beating his man. On the backend the young safeties played a decent game, as did Glenn. Floyd didn't do anything in pass rush but he was good in coverage. Hopefully his injury isn't too serious. Regardless, the defense with all these young players contributing did not give up a TD and in the NFL that's a damn good day.

Sooner or later this Oline is going to come together. For now we still have individual players doing well in spots: Sitton, Long, and add Whitehair to that list. http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2016/10/1...nfl-draft-class