AZ54

Right now he's still working through all the changes to his mechanics, both throwing and his footwork on drops. Trubisky didn't put in anywhere close to the same work to improve his mechanics. Plus Trubisky had a fatal flaw: The brighter the lights (big game) the worse he played. Fields is wired differently for the big game. It has to all come together but he's definitely working to make that happen.

That's not at all what I saw when I re-watched the game. Our LBs were to busy dancing with blockers way back off the LOS. Often Roquan was pushed back 8yds off the LOS. That was because he just stood there in the same place he was at the snap letting the OT/OG run right up to him. Most of their big runs were off-tackle and on almost every play I saw a DB set contain on the far edge. Sometimes DEs got upfield early and forced the play inside of them but they couldn't get off the blocks to make a tackle. Other times the DEs got caught up in blocks (it's what happens with double teams OT/TE just like we did to them). Nobody got in those gaps.

That's pretty much what Eberflus said... the LBs must be playing downhill more quickly to squeeze the gaps. We don't have any DTs good enough to get through the line and make a play in the backfield but they usually do a good job scraping down the line. The DTs need someone to plug the hole and force the RB back toward them before they pass the LOS and then we can hold the runs to short gains. Our LBs are usually making first contact with a blocker 3-5yd behind the LOS.

Looking at the 2nd half, at least up to the point they disallowed Fields TD and things were a bit different. First off the LBs were moving toward the LOS much quicker, including Roquan. That affected some plays and kept the Packers runs down to smaller gains. A clear win for the coaching IMO but they can do better. On the 2nd GB run of the half Morrow and Roquan were in their gaps and Morrow was tackled from behind by one of their Oline. That allowed the 5yd gain for a 1st down. Gordon played a bit better but missed what could have been an easy TFL. When they get experience you will start seeing negative plays from both Gordon and Brisker. Fields had a nice pass on our 2nd possession where he hit the back of his drop and immediately rifled off a nice 20yd gain to a TE for a 1st down. I didn't like his pass deep to Mooney as it should have led him toward center field or left hash marks away from the defender. Having watched him again I actually feel better about what he's doing in the pocket than I did right after the game. Montgomery was a total stud running out of tackles but the blocking was good too. Not only that, the linemen are following Montgomery all the way down the field even on his 25yd run ... I think there were 4 Oline there at the end to help push the pile. At some point people are going to realize Braxton Jones is actually good. He didn't have a perfect game (who does?) but I think total I've only seen a few bad plays and none were glaring assignment misses or where he flat out got beat early in the rep. On his "bad" plays he's just not quite able to anchor but much more often than not he's moving people around, or holding his ground in pass pro. On one bad play he got pushed backward off his run block and into Monty leading to a gain of just 3yd but to be fair he's already got his man back off the LOS. If he holds that block Monty gains 8-10yds. Borom is more of a concern IMO but there were still more good than bad plays with him. He struggled with Gary on a few plays in the first and second half. Jenkins struggled at times with Kenny Walker (as did others - looking at you Mustipher and Patrick) but typically held his block. I still love his potential at RG. Our FB is really good. These are the players nobody really gives credit to but his blocks are always on point and effective. You can see the difference in the two games to where Monty is now feeling where the FB is going. He trails him and then bursts left/right as Blasingame moves toward his target. Against SF Monty seemed to wander off on his own, is this another win for the coaching? Montgomery has never run behind a FB, it could be interesting to see where this running game goes.

I watched Troy Aikman in his first two seasons and there was nothing there that said Hall of Fame. Brees' first 5 seasons were good enough that, with an injury, San Diego walked away from him rather than see if he might become a HofF QB. Ben Roethlisberger took years to become a great passer. Nobody knows what the future holds after just 12 games. Like everyone else I want to see improvement but I'm not going to say Fields must improve immediately.. or else he'll never be a good starter... as he gets ready for just his 13th NFL game and just 3rd game with a new offense. We all want big numbers but for me he has led the offense while missing 3 of his top 5 receivers (Pringle, Velus, and Harry) to put up 19pts and then 17pts against two of the top defenses in the NFC. GB and SF were both top 10 in the league in 2021 against both the run and pass in terms of yards given up. There is nothing crazy good there but IMO this is the floor. I'm willing to see where it goes from here.

He's been throwing his body into a lot of blocks maybe he's dinged up bit.

Maybe. One thing that I noticed too was that on almost every play Roquan and Morrow seemed to be communicating about where to line up. Typically Morrow got aligned right away and Roquan would be moving around talking with him. I'm not talking about adjustments to motion either, of course that happened too right before the snap. I can't say who is at fault or what is going on but I don't see anywhere near as much of that among any other positions. Roquan doesn't have space eaters like Hicks, Tonga, or Goldman in front of him anymore. He can't just sit back and wait to see a play develop and still have the same amount of freedom to get where he wants to be. His skill set certainly fits the WLB role but he needs to adapt more quickly to this new scheme.

I've only had time to re-watch the first half. Things weren't as bad as they seemed. Offense: Fields had some good throws and reads in the first half. Kmet dropped one easy pass. On quick out to Mooney Kmet completely misses the block on Rasul Douglas mostly because he got too close to him, keep some space and force him to show his hand first. Fields made the right read because he had Mooney out there with just 2 defenders and 2 blockers. If Kmet blocks Douglas at all Mooney gains at least 5 and maybe closer to 10yds. In the same series Borum and Patrick got crossed on blocking the DE and he blew up the running play. Otherwise we get a good gain everything else was blocked. Patrick got completely blown up on one pass pro block leading to a negative play. One the first sack where the DE came all the way around and hit him as he escaped the pocket, Fields was correct not to pull the trigger. He felt the other DE's hand coming over the top and that might have been a fumble so he pulled the ball down and then tried to escape. RBs were good in first half. ESB played well too, although I wasn't focused on any WRs for separation as most of the action was around the LOS. I'm curious if we swap Kmet for Harry in the slot on some of these plays in a couple weeks. He should block better in space. Jenkins should not be taken out of the game for Patrick. At this point if Patrick isn't ready to play C he needs to sit next week. Jenkins hasn't been perfect but he's earned it IMO. I didn't really notice Braxton Jones even in slo-mo he just seems to do his job quietly on every play. The DTs overall were better than I expected. Not great by any means and there were some bad plays to be had. I've no use for Pennell, he's just a space eater but he keeps the others fresh. Blackson had quite a few good plays this week after looking like he was gassed last week, even drew a few holds some of which weren't called. Watts didn't do much. DEs didn't have a good game at all in run defense except Gipson. He seemed asleep last week and it was as if he and Robinson switched personalities this week. LBs were horrible. They offered no support to the Dline. Roquan in particular just sat back on every play and let the olineman run up to him and then got pushed around the field. He usually jumped on the pile late. If he had a tackle in the first half I never saw it. He's nowhere close to the guy who was all over the LOS last year. Morrow is what we expected him to be...better in coverage than around the LOS but he at least put more effort into getting around the LOS and trying to fill a gap than Roquan did. He wasn't very effective. Adams showed why he's been a career backup. I'd like to see what Sanborn can do in those limited snaps because I know he'll fight to get to the ball. DBs: Gordon had a tough game but he had some good plays and he always hustled to get in on the play. He just has to breakdown a bit when closing on the tackle and of course get in sync quicker with the WRs. One of these days Brisker is going to turn into a stud. I can't tell you how many times he ran right past Roquan to get in on the play. He over-ran some plays too but like Gordon he's at least making errors with effort. ---- Once they saw what we were doing, or could not do, for the most part GB just worked the edges in the run game. If it was Gordon (nickle) they ran outside but even when we had 3 LBs in the game they were too easy to block and seal off. My overall sense is that the D needs to clean up the gap control. We saw this in the early days of Lovie's D where it all looked horrible until one day they got their gaps right. Those LBs (Urlacher and Briggs) had a better mentality to get ahead of the play. If Roquan keeps sitting on his heels it'll never happen. Neither will that $20mil/yr he wants. Offense is similar where one guy would have the breakdown, sometimes 2. They need to fine-tune the details. I'll try to scan the 2nd half tomorrow night but for now I don't think the sky is falling, just Roquan is.

Yeah Vikings go from saints to sinners in one week. To think we put up 17pts against GB (of course I'm counting that last TD) and the Vikings just mustered 7pts against the Eagles.

Given the nature of the rebuild I still see a lot of positives after the first 2 games. Most notably the running game, which most agree is the key to getting our passing game moving, is starting to take off. I'm not as down on the rookies Brisker and Gordon since this was their first NFL road game and against an elite QB. At any point in the offseason if someone asked me if I'd be happy to be 1-1 after playing SF and GB I'd have said yes. I'm still going to keep to that. There are still glaring gaps on this roster (DT) but I haven't seen anything so far to make me think this team can't win the 6-7 games most forecasted. The schedule evens out going forward and we have Lovie Smith returning to town. Let's see how the youngsters respond their first loss of the season.

Gordon always has his eyes in the backfield and I get it when they've been gashing you on runs. It's that hesitation that gives the WR a half step. He's a rookie and still has a lot to learn because he's no longer the most athletic person on the field. He's also playing the more difficult slot role so we need to be a patient while he learns the NFL game and his reads. This team need some DTs and some LBs to step up and make some plays around the LOS. In the 2nd half they showed up at times but it seems almost every play our DBs were forced to tackle the RB. I was a bit concerned at what point this season we'd lose our discipline and it turned out to be this game. The 49ers game gave me hope the lack of penalties would continue but maybe it shouldn't be a surprise since it's the first big road game, national tv, division rival, etc. This coaching staff will get them back to the good side quickly. The way they fought back in the 2nd half gives me hope because I really thought they were going to fold. We have to get back to the process of building on that. After that first drive I wasn't happy they subbed in Patrick for Jenkins. It's ok to let a good thing continue. On the flip side I'm still optimistic for this Oline once Patrick is at center. Last week everyone wanted to bench Montgomery for Herbert. I suspect that changes this week. Forgot to add: What I didn't hear all night was Braxton Jones name.

Inactives and no surprises except perhaps that Elgton Jenkins might play. I believe he's had one practice on Fri which is typically in shells. If he starts it could be interesting. Bears WR Velus Jones Jr. TE Jake Tonges OL Michael Schofield OL Ja'Tyre Carter DB Elijah Hicks DB Lamar Jackson Packers WR Samori Toure OT David Bakhtiari OT Caleb Jones OL Sean Rhyan DL Jonathan Ford S Tariq Carpenter

It’s just not going to happen. They would jump on the bandwagon without hesitation.

It appears Eiselen is the backup C again which means Patrick and Jenkins will likely split reps at RG. As far as the release of Moore and Tavon Young I'm not sure what that portends other than we have no reason in terms of potential benefit to keep them around this year. Were their injuries so severe they couldn't return or do we simply have better options now? At WR I can guess the better option is ISM and Pettis plus we have Harry expected to return soon. At CB our depth is Lamar Jackson, Jaylon Jones, and Josh Blackwell and I don't think there's anyone promising on the practice squad. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2022/9/17/23358548/chicago-bears-elevate-dieter-eiselen-release-2-from-the-injured-list-tavon-young-david-moore

If Poles ends up with 2 legit starters at key positions LT/DE out of the 5th Rd that's a huge boost to any rebuild. After day 2 of the draft those were both spots we expected to have to address next offseason and now it might be a moot point. Assuming Fields ascends to what we want him to become then WR and DT will remain on the top of the list. Then you add where ever you want CB, LB, TE, LG, swing OT. That isn't hard to do with $100mil in cap space although that will go down quite a bit with Roquan's new deal. Toss in a full draft.

Yes but if he keeps giving away these secrets the rest of the DE club will give him the boot.

I actually didn't say Fields was better than Herbert, just that I like his potential better than Herbert. I only saw the first ~20min of the game thinking I could see a couple young gold-standard QBs to compare against what I've seen from Fields. I try to apply the same standard I would for a Bears QB when he misses what should have been an easy first down completion. I guess another way to look at this could be if Herbert can throw for over 4000 yards with his inconsistencies then Fields should be able to get there as well when talent and scheme come together.

Fields still has many things to improve upon but most importantly I'd like to see his decision making speed up by about 0.5s. In that aspect I think Herbert was more decisive. Fields is in a brand new offense so that won't happen overnight but I want to see glimpses of it across the first 4 games.

One thing worth noting from the 49ers game when Fields almost threw a pick on the right sideline to ESB. In his press conference yesterday Getsy said that was entirely his fault. He said he has never once had ESB practice that route and shouldn't have called that play.

Easy, it was all the inaccurate passes Herbert threw last night. He had some dimes mixed in for sure including a crazy good deep pass after he was injured (only saw highlight on that one). What I saw before he was injured was an inconsistent mixed bag. Even on one play the TV crew highlighted where he was so far behind his inside slant WR on an incompletion, "throw it in front of him and that's a first down". These weren't passes where he was under pressure but regardless Fields has shown better from a compressed pocket.

I watched most of the first half of the KC/Chargers game. We're in good hands with Fields. I'd take him over Herbert any day of the week. Mahomes OTOH is a unique arm talent. Of the 3 QBs you listed I'm not a big fan of Kyler Murray. I don't feel he's a QB who brings the talent level upward. You can win with him but what he did last year once Hopkins was injured is more indicative of who he is. I put Hurts in that same category as Murray, a QB you can win with but not because of. Lamar Jackson is the opposite of Mahomes because he's a unique talent running with the ball. I'm impressed though with how much he has improved his passing ability but there is still room for growth. IMO Baltimore needs to start cultivating that more because Considering what his skillset has been early in his career they've done well to maximize it on the field. I don't want to see him keep getting injured and end up with a shorter career. IMO Fields fits in nicely between them. He's very good on the run but not elite in lateral agility like Jackson. OTOH he's a much better passer than Jackson especially as compared to when Jackson was starting his 2nd season. Fields isn't too far behind Mahomes in arm talent, certainly good enough to make some elite throws which we've already seen at times. In just his 2nd season week 1 he's already using his eyes to move defenders around on the field. Just tonight the announcers were complimenting Mahomes, who is in his 5th season in the same offense for doing that. But Mahomes wasn't doing any of that in the first week of his 2nd season, he also didn't have to. We just need to have some patience.

I know and whenever I predict a loss I'm grateful for how wrong I was. Just remember the internet lives forever and what goes around comes around.

Here's a quote from the Bears website, doesn't sound at all like the above statement. https://www.chicagobears.com/news/bears-hoping-to-flip-script-on-longtime-nemesis-aaron-rodgers-packers "It's going to start with the D-line," Gipson said. "He knows how to hard-count, catch some guys in substitutions. We're going to have to be clean on that, and just disciplined. No offsides, no roughing the passer, no dumb penalties. It's a rivalry game, so we're going to have to keep our poise. He's a vet; he knows how to play this game. We're just going to have to keep our poise and disrupt him as much as possible."

That sounds like Keyshawn.