AZ54

I start with firing the OC and WR coach. There are clear scheme issues and while I personally lean towards the benefit of the doubt for coaches and players there are just too many poor details in the play calls and play execution. Then I bring in more talent.

I can accept your premise on the Fields question. I disagree on your premise that the only two possible answers are yes or no. i agree on the belief that if there is a clear top 5 QB caliber rookie then you just draft him. If that player were in this draft we likely don’t have this thread. What interesting is your list of elite QBs includes Purdy. Purdy has no elite traits whatsoever. Rather he is the poster child for using draft capital elsewhere to build the best possible roster around an average QB. That is the nature of the debate. At least for me because I’m solidly in the maybe category when it comes to Fields. Even if I don’t think he’ll ever be top 10 could he be top 15 with the right OC? After some of the crappy plays we ran against Cleveland for me that answer is yes. Or at least most likely yes. Because of that and the middling QB class (IMO) I prefer to keep drafting Pro Bowl caliber players Rd 1. There are two LT candidates. Bowers at TE and a few WRs. By the way. After some reflection it’s clear how much an elite TE has meant to both Brady and Mahomes. Neither was the same without them on the field. Still good but not unstoppable. If you want to come down a notch look at Goff and LaPorta. I could make a strong case for Bowers as the must have receiving option.

Who said their strategy was to draft a difference maker at QB in the 4th Rd?

If the Bears weren’t my favorite team I couldnt think of a better player to replace Justin Fields. But they are and I would not replace him with someone who has the exact same issues I read about here every day. Add in that Justin is already a proven leader in the locker room and Williams is?

Very nice

In AZ they blame it on the fact Murray quit on his team. That was the topic on the Cards show last night plus how do we get out of this contract.

I don't think i've ever been able to say this since I moved to Arizona in the 1990s but I haven't watched a single Cards game all year. I have no clue what that team looks like on the field. Beyond Kyler Murray I can't even name a single Cards player. But it is Dec and us Arizonans hate cold weather, at least those of us in the southern part of the state. Bears win.

To make matters worse our RBs are horrible at pass blocking. That includes Roschon. He’s getting playing time solely because he’s the best blocker among bad options. He’s far from the best RB with the ball in his hands.

Which good HC candidate do you think wants to come here knowing he’s on a 2 year leash?

MHJr and Bowers are like 7-11 they are open all the time. Even with a DB in perfect position you can throw these two open.

Make it so!

What he said.

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.