AZ54

That is my vote too. Flus has proven he has the leadership needed to hold a locker room together through the worst of times (a complete roster overhaul). He's also proven he can get a good defense on the field, and he's doing that with a lot of contributions from rookies and 2nd year players. The offense has some talent but lacks attention to detail. I don't know if it's a missed assignment by Braxton Jones but having him head upfield to block a LB and leave the edge defender free to make a TFL on a 3rd and 1 makes no sense. Even if we were doing a slide right he should have chipped the edge to hand him off to Wright (or whoever was next to him). Just block the guys on the line in front of you and you get the yard. Whatever happened to Mooney we may never know but he plays like he's stoned. Standing still while a pass is in the air and making no effort to come forward to catch the ball which let a DB nearly have an INT. Fields got in his face for that one, as he should have. Later he just whiffed on a block, never even moved to get in front of the guy and worse, he pushed the DB toward Fields enabling him to make the tackle on Fields and prevent a first down.

How many of those GMs need a QB this off-season and won’t have a top 5 pick?

Sounds serious.

You didn't key in much on Braxton after that because I don't think there was much to key into. IMO since he returned from injury he has very quietly gotten better this year and I think fans are underrating him. He's not perfect but he's also not a finished product either. I'm so old I can remember when people complained Kmet can't score TDs. I'd have to rewatch the entire game (or find positional snap counts somewhere) but it appears after the Lions first played the Bears they still chose to keep Hutchinson against Wright the majority of the second game. It seems to me if they thought the matchup against Jones was more favorable they'd have put Hutchinson at RDE more often. After some struggles in the previous game, but not bad overall, Wright responded well in the follow up. That learning curve as he gets to know defenders, and learns how to scout opponents, has me excited for his future.

Yeah there's a shrinking violet theme to his work. He's also not Justin Fields fast or strong. I've come to realize how spoiled I've been watching Fields run.

Yeah, the eye test says we're not losing much. We're not gaining much either but Walker is more stout on the edge as a run defender. If we can get a bit more rush up the middle the edge will be ok. Meaning we need the rookies to skip hitting the "rookie wall" and step up.

Yannick broke his ankle and stayed in the game?

After watching GB lose last night I can confidently say the best NFC North team I’ve seen play in the last month is clearly the Bears. I wonder if Love has some of the fear factor Trubisky had under the bright lights of big games. He looked horrible and I’ve seen him play better than that. Although some of the same bad traits he had in college are still part of his game when under pressure.

What we’ve seen with Flus since he took over the D is better attention to detail. IMO that is exactly what we are missing on offense. Using the WR screens or now routes as an example they just don’t get blocked well. On a lot of those plays the numbers are there to get a good gain. The most obvious one against Detroit was when Fields changed the play and Kmet leaked out to block a Db. Mooney blocked the same guy leaving a DB to tackle Moore. Is that on Getsy or the WR coach? On the other hand I like what CMo has done with the Oline and I’d like to keep that together.

Good read about Vikings defense. https://www.matchquarters.com/p/minnesota-vikings-hot-coverages-brian-flores?r=1m67m3

From a premium position the one for me has to be edge. Better pressure offsets the FS need quite a bit. I could say the same for an elite 3 tech given this scheme. Tommie Harris made average DEs look good enough for years and we already have Sweat who is better than that.

I saw a bit of Mahomes press conference after that game. I’m not sure he’d survive what Fields has had to endure in Chicago.

What a statement game and I say that seriously. It wasn't all perfect, or one of those games where Detroit can say they were off their game. Just like Detroit, the Bears had adversity and mistakes. The better team overcame them and won the game. Monkeys are being cast off weekly: Bears can't win 2 in a row - gone. Bears can't win in the division - gone. Bears can't come from behind to win - gone. Bears can't close out game - gone. Bears can only beat teams with losing records - gone. Fields can't handle pressure (there isn't any more pressure than everyone calling for you to be fired) - gone. We've owned Detroit's offense and the "elite OC/HC candidate" Ben Johnson for literally 117min out of 120min in the last two games. Even within the game TV announcers were complimenting him throughout the game. Yet no GM who simply watched the last two Bears-Lions games (admittedly not a full sample size) would be thinking he's some offensive genius. They'd be asking him why can't you beat a simple Tampa2-style D? This offense needs a decent #2 WR, or a legit #1, and let Moore slide into the #2 role where his versatility and skillset fits like a glove. Mooney couldn't run for most of the offseason and that still shows on the field, he just doesn't have the quickness we've seen in years past. Fields looked good most of the game. He still had a few mis-steps around the pocket but overall his pocket presence has improved a ton since week 1. FWIW the mis-steps, and misfires, were nothing that I didn't see from Mahomes or Allen in their game this afternoon. That sore shoulder seemed to hinder Fields' throws, almost like he couldn't follow through as he normally does leaving the ball high. He played through it and if it were any other QB the announcers would have been admiring his toughness. Kmet is the real deal and if we can add one more good threat to this offense he can take off even further. I'd still like to add a good receiving TE to this roster to compliment him. This D continues to come into their own. If Johnson and Goff represent one of the NFL's best offenses (5th most passing yards in NFL) then we just held them to 161yds passing. We gave up more yards rushing than expected (Detroit is 4th best rushing offense, Bear 3rd), or desired: 140yd. Yet it's the bottom line at 13pts against one of the best offenses in the NFL that really stands out. Next week we play Cleveland and that D is tough but they have Flacco at QB. Not sure what that means since they won today but more film on any player only helps.

Stay. You contribute valuable content. It’s hard for me to believe it but this group has been together a long time. I’d like To keep it that way.

I don't know about refusal to engage. Helping my wife fight cancer is my priority. My in-depth review time is mostly spent reading medical research papers. I've been able to watch all games via some streaming "links" I came across but not with my usual cadre of family around. I scan and post here as I can to keep in touch. If you want, I'm willing to debate this.. You said Scott was just 2yd beyond the sticks and wide open. I count the hashes differently and see 6 but called it 5yds. I still say if Getsy called that deep of a route, for the "first-read" option, against that pass rush when he only needed 7yd then that's a OC issue not a QB problem. If it was supposed to be a 7yd route to get the 1st down; then I don't care if it's backyard football the moment a WR screws up and keeps running past the break point I'm coming off him and looking elsewhere. As a QB I wouldn't know what you're going to do next and against this pass rush I don't have time to wait and find out. I generally don't like focusing on just a few plays in a game and prefer to look at things in aggregate. Early in the season my assessment was that Fields was often frozen and indecisive and I said so. by the way, that's exactly what you saw in the Mahomes' film study with Kurt Warner. That's the best of the best so I have no clue how QBs get into that headspace. I also said it was time for me to start watching college QBs for the draft. Fields started improving around week 5/6 before the injury. Against Detroit and Minn he is clearly moving through his progressions more quickly. He's buying time in/around the pocket more often to buy time for receivers to get open. I never said it's all good with Fields. As you showed he over-ran a Kmet block on the rollout forcing himself into a bad spot where he missed the wide open DJ Moore. There are other examples too. Yet I see some of that stuff in every game with every QB (again as shown w/ Mahomes). On balance I don't see Fields as lost in the defensive reads like he was in the first 4 weeks. You have made your decision on Fields, which is fine. You put a lot of effort into getting others to agree with you. Also your prerogative. I'm watching and waiting to see how he closes out the season. I've also come back from watching those college games and concluded there is no Andrew Luck in this class. I don't think that makes me an apologist for Fields. I feel I'm simply looking at what gets this team the best chance to win long term. I don't see any of the top 4 college QBs giving us a better chance than what I see with Fields lately. Aside from the best QB option there is the opportunity cost of using another high pick on a QB instead of drafting a Pro Bowl WR or LT (my top options at the moment). Lots of folks talk about the opportunity cost of the cap hit and that's valid. Since I don't see any better option in the draft if Fields continues as he's done the last couple games then I would like to see him with DJ Moore on one side and MHJr on the other. Even if we draft MHJr at #1 overall. (p.s that doesn't mean I wouldn't grab one of the top 4 QBs in Rd 2 to hedge my bet. If I can get that pick the opportunity cost in Rd 2 is much lower) Last year Poles played his hand early and went for the big haul. I'm going to bet this year he holds his cards until draft day. This year everyone knows he might be willing to drop back to 9 again for the big haul. Or he could draft the top QB. If he sticks with Fields that could be enough to push the team at #2 or #3 to move up for their QB. I don't want to drop lower than 3rd overall...yet but that could be enough to garner a 2nd Rd pick.

I actually want Flus to stay. I like what he's done with the D and with the team overall. I'd like him to improve on some things just like everyone else. The flipside is that it can be very hard finding the leadership in a HC to guide a young team through very tough times. When he was hired the Bears coordinators jobs weren't exactly a prime job opening among league options. He took a long time searching for the DC and seemingly finally settled back on "best option" Alan Williams but I never sense that Williams was high on his wishlist. He went after Luke Getsy pretty aggressively. Last year the offense was stuck in the weeds until we had a mini-bye and Eberflus stepped in and changed some things. I think Getsy just isn't creative enough with the routes for the defense we face each week and it leads to stagnation. This year the D was stuck in the weeds until Williams was booted and Flus took over. It's been all upward since then. That also pulled Flus further away from the offense. In summary, looking back over the last 1.7 seasons Flus has been able to make corrections with his roster/staff that improve the performance of the team so I think he gets it. He also has demonstrated the leadership in keeping the team together and focused. I don't think he has/had the right coordinators. He'll be looking for a DC this offseason and that will be a more coveted job this offseason among candidates. I hope he'll be looking for an OC too. Like the D there are a lot of good pieces in place now for any talented upstart to build their resume with.

I simply see things differently and I watch a little too much of this stuff. Literally I occasionally watch breakdowns on other QBs to learn. The lesson with Mahomes and Tua IMO is that confidence in the receivers and Oline makes a big difference. You see the drop in Mahomes play with poor receivers and subsequently a drop in his confidence on when and where to throw. Miami added talent and you see the inverse with Tua over the last season to this year as he got more comfortable with his receivers. I see Brock Purdy who I watched for 4 years in college and never felt he was "the QB" now having success in SF...with players he can have a lot of confidence in, and who cause a lot of headaches for defenses. For example you call Scott open on one play (it's buried in that long post with screenshots) when I see a WR running too far past the 1st down sticks where IMO he should have cut in. Fields looks at him but comes off him as soon as he passes the sticks. I watched Mooney run bad routes throughout last season (Mooney's words not mine). Now I have no clue what the play expectation is nor how these WRs are taught to read the coverage to determine their route. Maybe Scott is supposed to run a 15yd in vs. 10yd. As a QB if you are not on the same page as the WR, then a bad throw down the middle is a likely INT. You say potato I say potato.

Here's another breakdown where the QB can't figure out what's going on. 1st play he has a great pocket, wide open receivers yet QB runs for no reason. 2nd play against the easily-defeated Cover 2 defense and QB can't find just one of two wide open receivers for the TD with no pressure in the pocket. This dude has been in the NFL for 7 seasons and still can't figure it out!

At the risk of causing another roof on the board: Would you prefer Brock Purdy or Justin Fields? I’ve watched both for years now and I’d takeJustin in a heartbeat. But that doesn’t mean it’s not close. I just think he’s better on the deep passes and his elite running ability gives him the edge. Purdy has the edge on reading defense but based on the last couple games including last night that gap is closing rapidly. Some of Purdy’s limitations have been exposed in recent games. Yet he has elite talent at RB TE and WR helping him. Plus a much better offensive coach. FWIW after week 4 I’d have taken Purdy.

Absolutely no fully guaranteed money to an average kicker. I don’t like fully guaranteed money to any athlete.

QB is easy. If you aren’t convinced Fields is the answer just hedge your bet and draft another one. Let them compete. He’s got Fields locked up for two more seasons if he wants him. the only downside is the opportunity cost because it likely means bypassing MHJr. There are other good options among the WR and TE with Bowers that can help.

I couldn't tell for sure but it appeared Hockenson was able to hit the tail end of that ball as JJ was securing it. I'll be looking for a highlight but yeah JJ wasn't gifted sticky hands.

I'd be in the trenches with you. We were on the road against a superior opponent, in front of a national audience and while it wasn't pretty, we won the dogfight. That goes a long way for the confidence of every player on the team. I don't get as much time to write here as I used to for family reasons but tonight here we go... Kudos to Eberflus for having this team ready to go. Kudos to him for calling a great defensive game. I know he's still learning on the job but the top trait I want in a HC is leadership and nothing shows that more than guiding a team through all the rough spots and performing well like they did tonight. Plus his expertise on the defensive side of the ball is really showing. Even the announcers begrudgingly gave him credit for having the top rush defense in the NFL, then quickly moved on. TV idiots couldn't even put together a graphic for a short discussion on it. So they obviously came prepared with all the Vikings and Josh Dobbs stuff queued up and couldn't use it because our D was suffocating them. Getsy...that 2nd half WR screen after WR screen showed he needs to go. I kept thinking there's a big play coming on one of these with a fake but it never was to be. For all those decrying the lack of quick slants the issue with that is the LBs/DBs routinely fake stack the LOS and then quickly drop off. You could never rely on hitting a quick inside slant. I'm no OC but I suspect you could work the WR stacks better to the outside on short routes than what we did, or find inside gaps behind the LBs as we seemed to do early on. After seeing this D earlier in the season I was curious what he would dial up to counter it. If this is your best counter punch it failed. Fields deserves a game ball simply for stumbling and then getting back up and leading the team to victory. If you never had the sports monkey hanging on your back in the middle of a game (I have) then you may not realize how hard it is to do what he did after making those two big mistakes. I think he was getting frustrated with all the WR screens and safe calls. You know when coaches are reeling it in. I'm still waiting to see the full season before making my QB decision. Danielle Hunter just auditioned for his next contract. If he can finish the season healthy he'd look really good in a Bears uniform. Focus on the 3-tech in the draft. Kyler Gordon is playing at a Pro Bowl level. How many NBs can stuff a RB in the hole like he did? Run a TE out of bounds short of the 1st down marker as he did? And cover WRs? It's not a coincidence the Bears D resurgence began when he returned to the field. His injury had me worried because I love watching great defense. JJ had himself a day. Edmunds is finally starting to get it and head downhill on run downs. Coverage was good too. While the Vikings' ESPN announcers couldn't figure it out, Dobbs had to throw over him to get the ball into Addison on one play. That high throw led to one INT when the receiver bobble the ball. Dexter is starting to become a beast. I also thought Billings played well although he doesn't get much credit for the dirty work. Roschon is finally starting to feel the cutback lanes and hit them. I think it was him who took on two blitzing players up the middle at once. I have to find that highlight and IIRC he enabled Fields to complete a pass. For awhile I was wondering why Roschon was getting so many snaps but I came to suspect he was likely there for better pass protection. Yet I wanted Herbert running because he's so much better at finding the crease. This will be some good film for the rookie to learn from. DJ Moore is simply awesome. We have to pair him up with a good talent on the other side of the field to see his true potential. Of course I'd love to see MHJr in that role next year. Do you think the Vikings would keep playing a single high safety with Moore and MHJr on opposite sides?

I'd have fired Getsy on the spot if he tried to run any plays against that front inside the 15, when you can just run the clock down as they did, make Minn burn their two remaining timeouts, and then kick a FG which has something like a 99% success rate.

Even with his bad games this season Fields easily slots in above Tannehill at $30mil. $40mil per year would put him 14th on the list. That will rank lower after this off-season https://overthecap.com/position/quarterback