AZ54

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2024/9/29/24257156/bears-vs-rams-inactives-keenan-allen-caleb-williams-thread-updates-game-rome-odunze-cole-kemt-byard we have some key players active for today. Velus is not one of them.

That's what I saw out of Daniels last week. Plus he was very slow or uncertain on his reads. It's still early but what I've seen of Caleb he's way ahead of what Daniels showed in Wk 3.

Please don’t extrapolate the interceptions.

Because of my addiction I watch far too many football analysis and breakdown videos. I was a big proponent of keeping Justin and taking the haul in a trade down scenario. After just 3 games I’m willing to say I was wrong. Caleb IMO is already even with and maybe ahead of Justin when it comes to reading defenses. His arm talent and pocket awareness, which were never in doubt, are very good. i get all the emotion after a disappointing loss but I was happy to the steady improvement throughout the Colts game. That upward trajectory has been there from game 1. Regarding the intent of the OP Poles has not been perfect but no GM has been. However he did build what is clearly a top 10 or better defense in just 3 years. The angst is on offense and here I agree he made decisions that were more necessity versus BPA. At the end of the day he needs to field a football team. Every GM has to fill out a roster and using third and fourth round picks for depth at positions of need like DT or WR seems logical to me. I can easily point to first and second round draft failures in KC as an example yet that team keeps winning. Y’all know why. Somebody needs to fix the Oline blocking assignment issue. QB performance is trending up. If those two things happen talent gaps in the roster will look much smaller and more fixable this coming offseason. Like last year the body of work will decide for me not three games with a new offense and a rookie QB.

I wish it was all that simple

I only care if we finally have the right QB.

Watching another Bears rookie QB really tests my patience at times. Give me more 4th quarter Caleb taking the short to intermediate stuff and less 3rd quarter Caleb tossing deep passes over the head of a WR who could have had an easy first down.

...and here we go: https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2024/09/21/report-bears-to-start-matt-pryor-replacing-nate-davis/75330801007/

Bad blocking actions do not necessarily mean bad blocking assignments. We have Nate Davis wandering around blocking nobody on some plays so if his teammates see that in live action are they then stepping out of position to try to cover for him? Shelton getting rocked backward all the time and missing on stunts across his face likewise put everyone in a bind. They all have to trust each other but if I were next to Davis I wouldn't trust him. Nor would I trust Shelton to pick up a stunt. As far as Flus goes this is the only time I can recall a head coach putting a slacker of an Olinemen on a rotation with a backup. I've seen it for injury returns to limit snaps. Usually guys just get pulled. That started in preseason. The coaches are sending messages to Davis. The injury to Bates forced them to alter the plan whatever it might have been. IMO the issue with Davis is disappointing but not surprising and I think the trade for Bates was always the backup plan coming into the season. The surprise is that Shelton can't even play competently. I figured he'd at least be better than Lucas Patrick. Alas, I was wrong.

It’s official Davis and Pryor will be rotating at RG. We’ll see how that goes. If this works it also hints at Bates coming back at Center

I'm not happy to see Keenan Allen out this week. Caleb really needs that sure thing on quick routes to help him feel confident. Rome better step his game up. https://www.chicagobears.com/news/injury-update-bears-rule-out-keenan-allen-three-others-for-colts-game

I think that's Flus' primary coverage these days although he mixes it up a fair amount. Caleb has to have seen a ton of that in practice. Let's hope it pays off.

Of course Oline play has been poor but we also shouldn't be surprised by this from Caleb. This is exactly how Caleb played last season as USC where he often bypassed the quick reads holding onto the ball looking for the bigger gain. Except in the NFL he's got to learn everyone is bigger and faster. Almost every single scouting report was focused on if he could play on time. Most said he had played on time, most said he only extended plays because his defense was so bad he knew he had to score. That defensive excuse is out the window. Bad oline play is still with him but despite those struggles Caleb is still leaving plays on the field. That includes easy ones where receivers are wide open deep or on intermediate routes. In each of his two games he should easily have at least 50-70 more yards passing. Add some help from Keenan and Rome and those numbers would be even better. Early in the Texans game he played in rhythm, late in the game his eyes got down on the rush and the old Caleb showed up. Don't like getting sacks on blitzes? Hit your wide open hot read with 3 blockers in front of him. If I can see Caleb playing scared I'm certain the Texans' DC saw it too and wasn't concerned about the risk of a calling a blitz like that late in a one score game. Overall I think there is room for improvement at QB, Oline, TE (Everett has been horrible), RB, and WR. Above all if there is to be a future with Caleb he'll show it on the field soon regardless of the issues around him. I think he will get there.

Yeah. I lost my mother a few months ago and I still show up to work, even worked late on Fri afternoon. However, it is true I do not have $20mil in the bank.

Kiran can play OG but with him having zero experience there in the NFL to adjust to the speed and power I'd be really nervous putting him there. If we have to rely on him at all I think he'd find it easier on the outside.

I've been thinking who should get benched on the Oline. You get to choose one because it's highly doubtful we'll swap out two players in a single week. I'm close on either Shelton or Davis but I lean toward pulling Shelton first because he's just getting run over or run past play after play. The one caveat is who do we have more confidence in at backup - C (Kramer), RG (Murray/Pryor)? The answer to that question should decide things. Being on the road and against some backup Dline players maybe it's better to stick with Shelton at Center than having Kramer deal with the silent counts. Can our OTs hold up better against the Colts edge rushers than they did against the Texans'? If so, that makes it easier to keep the RB inside for pass pro.

I’m not worried about Caleb yet. I felt in game he showed progress and the film reviews I’ve seen back that up. In the second half the Texans got him to keep his eyes down after the snap and he missed some easy throws. On one blitz he had Homer in the left flat on the hot read with blockers. Perfect blitz beater and he never looked that way. He’s still playing checkers but given the step up from game one to two I think soon he’ll be playing beginner chess. Shelton is my single biggest concern on the team He’s clearly not that strong but as a veteran his eyes and assignment discipline should be much better I’m not even sure there would be a drop off if we put Kramer out there If we have to live with assignment mistakes I think Kramer would put up more of a fight and this line really needs someone to start showing that

I saw growth from Caleb. Just not enough but also not unexpected for his first road game ever. It wasn’t helpful to have the entire stadium know the snap count right after Davis tapped Shelton. Our Oline have enough issues but if you could just change that one aspect of the game it would have helped especially the tackles who were often late off the ball. Williams clearly missed his safety blanket in Keenan Allen too. Last year we’d have lost that game by 20pts.

We're closer as a team overall but the IOL issue is a killer flaw. All game I kept wondering why Caleb doesn't look Odunze's way. The last play made it clear why. It also explains why he was leaning on Keenan Allen so much in week 1. This game was primarily DJ Moore. Still I think Caleb showed far more positives than negatives. Give him 3 seconds and he'll be ok.

Whoever is upstairs telling Flus to challenge plays is bad. If Flus does not have somebody up there doing that he’s really bad.

Here I thought you were not allowed to land with your body weight on top of a QB. Nor hit QB out of bounds. Nor throw punches.

Because our rookie QB can handle that and changing the pre snap calls at the LOS. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that out of a rookie QB in just his second game and first game on the road.

Weak link in pass protection. Just like last week run the stunt across the face of Davis right past Shelton.

I do think some of what they are doing is going to give us a shot over the top of the D.

We have a QB. I know it’s way early but this QB play is different. in other news we need an Oline to protect our franchise QB.