AZ54

ISM: Ihmir Smith-Marsette

On Patrick's first week back he wasn't a sure thing to even play. Then by end of the week the plan to rotate him in with Jenkins showed up. I'd say there is a plan for "what we'd like to do" and another for "what we have to do".

Eberflus has clearly worked with many talented rookies, or young players, and really seems like he has a good sense of how to help them handle the ups and downs of the season. He spends some 1on1 time with Gordon each week to help him too. Both coordinators seem to echo that as well.

Roquan started and he didn't practice all week before the Houston game.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned here but in his press conference on Mon Eberflus stated that Jenkins didn't start at RG because he had a poor practice on Wed. Thur and Fri practices were better but Patrick got the start at RG. The tough love project continues but his potential to be a top RG in the NFL has been on display on many plays.

Yes, years of running behind poor blocking, including all the years I watched him at Iowa St., can do that to you. This year so far our run blocking has been good and he's also running behind a FB for the first time. I'm curious to see how he adapts to this and if those bad habits fade away. His adjustment from SF to GB games was pretty big IMO. Against SF he routinely went away from the lead blocking and tried to find his own path too quickly without letting the play develop. A week later he held to the initial path longer and then found his way forward with a lot of success.

I'd like to see some of that as well. Make a good quick decision and then down the road we'll work on how to make a better quick decision. After watching the film reviews I'm not as discouraged as I was, not even for the passing offense as a whole because players can get open. Pass protection could definitely be more consistent. I'd guess DEs have tape on our OTs now and are attacking their weaknesses better. A quick check of the stats shows the Giants near the bottom of the league in sacks so perhaps this week Fields gets a bit more time to settle down in the pocket and gains some confidence.

More from Tim Jenkins...

I realize there will be tougher defenses but one of them was GB and we ran for 180yds. Sadly our D has been equally as bad at stopping the run but at least against Houston the LBs showed signs of slowing that down. The Giants have been nearly as bad stopping the run so they know what's headed their way.

At what point can we start saying we have a good run blocking Oline?

After watching the film I posted elsewhere he had options on almost every play. One of his biggest mistakes was the tendency to roll out of the pocket instead of stepping up when it was wide open in front of him. I don't see anything magical needed, just a QB who needs to relax and take the quick and easy play the D gives him. He doesn't need to lock onto the deepest target for so long hoping for big gains. Based on what I saw last night the Giants will give him similar opportunities to complete easy passes.

Montgomery is the better back in tight spaces. Herbert makes better decisions for daylight at the 2nd or 3rd level where too often Montgomery seems to be looking for another cut. Compare their runs against GB and you can see how Herbert gains less than Montgomery on similar plays with tight spaces/blocking, a lot less on many runs. Then you switch to plays where the Oline gives them a good initial crease and Herbert is in and out of there, while Montgomery is making another cut. There is nothing wrong with having two backs who have complimentary styles. Ebner is still finding his way and had some poor runs, poor decisions.

Brisker has had his share of mistakes too and Gordon has the more difficult job by far. I still think both have a good future.

He might have more credibility if he'd at least spend 1min to do some research. This take is also stupid because Pringle signed a 1yr deal betting on himself to get a big deal next year. He literally has millions of dollars at stake every time he misses a game. https://overthecap.com/player/byron-pringle/7313 "Byron Pringle signed a one year, $4.125 million contract with the Bears. $3.9 million is guaranteed."

There are a couple plays I disagree with him especially the first one because that is a bad pass. Overall the breakdown does explain a few of the bad plays but also shows some positive stuff that I didn't pick up during the game such as Fields switching the play from pass to the Herbert 50yd run. He's still locked on some reads too long but it's still early in the season.

Yes Nickel. Gordon in slot at left of Morrow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPwaWw6USpw

I hope our 2nd string TE Griffin can return this week. I'm just wondering if with him out did we have a different set of plays last week from what we ran in Wk1 and 2? If so, was that one piece of the puzzle for Fields not being comfortable with his reads or protection? Maybe Adam knows where to dig up stats on formations and how often we use 2 TEs?

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/roster-moves-bears-put-byron-pringle-on-ir-sign-joe-thomas

We are starting Pettis who they discarded. I imagine they are saying the same.

After watching MNF I'm not sure what to think of the Giants matchup. Their losing a WR in Sterling Shepard will help but that was a freak no-contact injury on the last play of the game.

I agree with this assessment. Eddie Jackson just led a secondary comprised of 3 rookies, 1 a UDFA, and Vildor in just his 16th start. It wasn't always pretty but they also kept their heads up and made some big plays that helped win the game. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/eddie-jacksons-guiding-hand-leads-bears-secondary

Post-game Eberflus said it wasn't serious and he expected him to be day to day. I'd say week to week might be more accurate.

100% agreed. He can't force passes to Mooney just because he hasn't had many catches and it felt like that was on his mind today. It also seemed as if when Montgomery went down he felt he had to make bigger plays and it just spiraled down from there. That was not the case at all and the rest of the team carried him to victory. Hopefully he'll learn from that. I remember the biography video about him and when he transferred to Ohio St. he wasn't comfortable and felt he'd made a mistake. He said he called his father who told him he had to stay there and work through the issues. I said earlier this is really the first time I've seen him lose his confidence. I'm not saying he's not comfortable with the Bears but I would bet money he had a similar heart to heart conversation tonight. In this case it's about learning and adapting to the NFL. There is nothing easy here and it couldn't be more obvious on a weekend where Rodgers and Brady (backup WRs like Fields) put up 14pts and 12pts. Mahomes 17pts, Allen 19pts, Herbert 10pts (I know he played injured but if you're on the field...). As a QB you have to get a perspective like a CB where you can't let the last bad pass or bad game ruin things going forward. People will focus on yards thrown but the job is to score points and they didn't score enough. Nobody cared about Roethlisberger handing off early in his career because they won games. In year 4 it turned around. Fields needs to do what needs to be done to win games and right now if it's handing off so be it. I still believe the passing game will show up down the road.

I should add that I'm always looking for the moment where a young team finds ways to overcome adversity and win close games. This team did that today and we shouldn't overlook that on a day where Miami beat Buffalo and Indy beat KC. I'm not comparing our victory to those, just the fact of how close the NFL is on any given Sunday. We had a lot of key players out, especially after the 1st quarter, and still found a way to get it done.