Alaskan Grizzly

I know most of you guys like Swifty reviews. He does a good job of good and bad analysis here.

Most of the routes reviewed were long distance routes (not within the hashes) with single man coverage. And yes, the receivers were not getting open. I didn’t see hardly any flat, slant, comeback or dig route. Why wasn’t there more or that style sprinkled in? I realize this was just a sample size but as you said, Justin was getting little relief from coaching or his recievers.

I would agree.

Like Jay Cutler? Who said “fuc# Mike Martz” and did this to Mike Tice? https://youtu.be/E3YORvqu4cw?si=4CRoS4sp99eHTTWX

If I’m reading this correctly that’s the point. What they’re trying to do isn’t working. Square peg, round hole.

It was about 50/50 inside the hashes and some outside. Actually there's an even better video that shows this but it had NFL copyright issues. This was a shorter version of that same video (about 1/2 as long). From my count there were at least three to TE's (between the hashes - or in the seam) at least two to ESB, and another to Harry for a TD (although that was on the fringe of "the hashes"). Speaking of...since when did we suddenly hyper-focus and critique a QB on their ability to hit passes in the crease? Isn't this about him "not being able to see the open receiver" wherever that may be? At the risk of using a punny cliché but it seems the goalposts are getting moved in expectations for Fields' performance. The point here is that I see more a coaching problem than QB problem. These highlights were from last year. Some of the passes; inside the hashes or outside were designed passes. Some of the passes were a result of him scrambling and not necessarily designed plays. Why are the "coaches" not using his talent more and letting him play more freely? There's been a heck of a lot of talk, here and amongst the experts, that he has adjusted his footwork. Why? So he could be a more true pocket passer. Why is that? Theory has said its so he can survive longer but as we saw last week, Mahomes makes a living out of improvising. Is Fields the next Mahomes? No, but I really don't think he's the next Bortles or JeMarcus Russell either.

This will line up perfect for being able to draft Arch Manning in 2026/27. ?

And why is that? What is different from what we saw last year (below) to what is going on now? Is it him or the “coaching”?

I have further thoughts on Justin I’ll continue with later BUT… many here predicted AT BEST the team would win 6-7 games. We all agree there’s still a rebuild in progress and after three weeks both the Oline and defensive backfield are down to third stringers in some cases. IF the team still manages to win 6-7 games (as you predicted) then what?

So I lost the feed to the game for a little bit but did Fields get hit at some point? Enough where he had to go through concussion protocol? https://x.com/jasrifootball/status/1706079605495300558?s=46&t=KrpJmhSTc4DI1sACtjisOQ

Here we go again with drafting the next QB in line. When Trubisky was drafted there were several that thought it a great draft FINALLY they had found a franchise QB they could get behind (he even backed it up with a *Pro Bowl appearance his sophomore year) then the wheels came off. So they 'fixed their mistake' by picking the next guy (again not a Poles pick...but a Poles "commitment"). Fields was and IS a talented player, with that Terry is absolutely right. As an aside, why is it that the Bears can't seem to EVER get the QB position figured out? Cutler seemed to be the fix and looking back, man was he good...in comparison to what we've seen since. Anyhow, I truly think the issue with Justin currently is he's not being utilized right. Yes he's gone backwards since getting drafted but whose to blame for that? I would imagine if he hasn't already Adam could show how his stats have stacked up since he 'first became a starter' until now. Something tells me he looked better during Nagy's last year that he has the last two. If we think drafting Caleb Williams next will fix all this...we are kidding ourselves.

I saw a funny Tweet earlier that highlighted Cousins' stats that said something like 'at the rate Cousins is going he'll have ~5,000 yards passing, 35 TDs, 12 INTs and be 0-17 this year'.

Both the wife and I think Fields improved today…oddly enough. When he threw he was much more decisive although there were a few times he hesitated in the pocket. It surely didn’t help that Moore dropped a great pass earlier in the game (then miraculously caught one one-handed in slop time) and another tipped pass resulting in an INT were not on Justin. His receivers need to catch. I think Getsy isn’t the solution and if Flus has any chance to save face he’s gonna hafta cut bait.

And now my Sunday Ticket fails me. No more coverage. Guess that’s what happens when your team is that bad. Speaking of…Bears will be playing Denver next week. Broncs and Sean Payton will be looking to make a statement. Bears offer the perfect opportunity.

Both throws, the drop by Moore and the INT were not on Fields.

Curious if Greg Olsen would be interested in a HC gig? Or at least an OC one? ??‍♂️

I was actually just saying that. Other options include Marinelli and Leslie Frazier.

That was the example of a rookie against a premier player mismatch. One on one the rookies gonna lose every time. Justin should have seen that on the pre-snap and floated more left but hey…it’s easy for me from my couch to see it.

One huge unfortunate part of all this are the players having to be distracted with all this extra “noise”. They’re having a hard enough time with their performance on the field and being called out about that then this comes along. At some point, someone(s) internally will need to lead them away from this and help keep them focused. If I had to guess, the teams legal counsel is more than likely driving how this is being handled internally. If it is an HR issue then there’s not a lot the “team” can say about it without themselves facing some form of liability. However the team’s PR group could do a better job with the flow of information (externally) and not leave it as open to interpretation. They should get with legal and ask for guidance in that regard if they haven’t already.

Some guy made an IG reel with NFL QBs as super heroes. This was the one for “the owner”. (*Disclaimer: I may have had consumed an Old Fashioned when posting this).

For the record, I don’t see Claypool as a complete failure (yet). Sure he didn’t look great last season, lots of reasons for that of which mostly unfamiliarity with the system had to do with. Sure there was some immaturity but not completely the reason. He showed up during training camp and started to perform. He laid in egg in game one but apologized when he got called out on it and did his part in the next game (as the announcers pointed out during the game last week) and caught one of the only two TDs our team scored. And that catch was slightly tipped and changed directions just before he caught it. If he stays THAT type player, he’s a keeper.

Ain’t that the truth. ?

I saw something earlier today that said SF is sorta in a ‘win now’ mode. Several of their key players are in the top 5 wage earners of each of their positions to include FB Kyle Jusczyk (sp?) who is the top paid FB in the league. They are saved by things like Purdy who was picked in the seventh round and still on his rookie contract. However if anyone of those key players are injured, they don’t have much depth nor money to bring in a decent veteran to help. And they aren’t sure about how they’ll go about paying for a player like Aiyuk next year as I understand he’s due a new contract. They are at a tipping point. In relation to this I like what Poles is doing and how he’s doing it through the draft. The team has been starting rookies these last two seasons in key positions and not paying a lot for players who were not drafted (Sanborn and Bagent among them). He’s trying to set a good base with young players while he works this rebuild. The results aren’t miraculous but give it time I think it’ll all come together .

I saw a tweet earlier where CB Stevenson stated Eberflus hasn’t yet addressed the team. And that they are focused on playing KC. A lot of what we’ve been reading and hearing is based on conjecture. A lot of story without filling. Kind of the norm these days with how social media works. We do know that Eberflus took over defensive play calling last weekend. We know since then Williams has resigned. We know his reasons cited ‘health and family’. We also know the organization has claimed ‘no one raided Halas Hall (at least not the FBI). However this evidently occurred over the last week as well (below). To say this team doesn’t have a lot of potential distractions would be outright wrong.

Hardly anyone here predicted much better than a .500 season. Many of us were (are) hopeful they’d do better. At any rate, things are still on course to at least make that mark of “mediocre” which unfortunately would be an improvement to last year. And many have said, Poles included, this is a rebuild. I agree they can’t go much lower than they have and as the old adage goes, there’s only one way to go.