adam

They looked great for 3 quarters against Denver, then for a full game against Washington, and now a full game against the Raiders. So a bad game against Minnesota tucked in there, but that game was winnable and you could tell the defense was starting to figure things out. The defense extended that into this game. Bagent did enough not to lose, he was not needed to win the game. Fields has been in too many games where he has to win it singlehandedly. If the defense plays like they have for the rest of the season, the O-Line gets healthier, the QB won't be as important to win games. What absolutely sucks is the stupid loss to Denver and the game against MIN, with wins in those games this team is 4-3, which is hard to believe, but a total of 3 total plays are the difference between 2-5 and 4-3.

Edmunds with another INT off a tipped pass, and the Bears actually capitalize and score another TD, Foreman's 2nd TD run. Bears up 14-0 early. Bagent looks comfortable, and offense is moving.

1st quarter is over, Bears up 7-0. Outside of a drop by Foreman, a few soft coverages by Stevenson on Adams, the entire team looks competent, which is shocking considering how they looked recently. The offense is moving the ball, and plays do not look as predictable. Also, Bagent is really selling some of the play action and RPOs with his back to the LOS. The cameraman got faked out twice already on those. Nothing crazy over the top, but for a D2 rookie in his first start, it is hard to not be impressed.

Ok then, Bagent looks solid, doesn't look confused. Offense playing inspired, Foreman running hard. Bears 7-0 early.

It seems like a ton of QBs are struggling this year. Lawrence won last night, but passed for 204 yards. Carr lost, but passed for 301. However, Carr was terrible and all he did was check down to Kamara (14 targets).

Injuries would be a simple excuse for Flus and Co if last year didn't happen. However, I don't know any team that plays well when half of their starters are out. We have not seen our expected 22 starters in the same game all season, someone was always out. At times half a starting unit on offense or defense was out. Most teams would be 1-5 under those conditions. This is what makes evaluations so difficult.

No surgery for Fields, so it is a mild Grade 2 sprain. That is great news. At most that is probably 2 weeks.

Athlete and runner are not required traits for a QB. Saying Williams makes bad reads is pretty comical, that is subjective. We need to let the season play out for both of them to see how they end up. Right now Williams has had 2-3 bad games in his college career. Fields has 20+ bad ones in the NFL. Williams may flame out and not even be the first pick. Right now he still is, but another bad game and he is probably no longer a consensus.

I love your confidence, I am changing my prediction, Bears by 7! O/U on Bagent passing yards? 200?

This guy had a film breakdown with Bagent before the draft. I have seen other QBs in the "Film Room" shows and Bagent's responses are about as good as they get for understanding what he defense is showing/doing and what route is the best answer to situation.

I know you don't win games from a press conference, but I have to say, I was impressed at Bagent's composure and his answers for his first presser as QB1. Very few cookie cutter answers, and the moment didn't seem to big for him. Kudos to him. He said he told the coaches that they didn't need to shrink the playbook, that he knew all the plays, which if true, would be very impressive, especially when you are not getting reps with those plays.

No lol, it was sarcasm, I should've made it green, will edit. It was more of a rhetorical question. Phrasing Adam, Phrasing.

Between this year and last year, this period may be the most exhausting as a fan. There is random hints of promise only to be crashed back down to the depths of hell. The NE game last year feels like the WSH game this year. After that game, everyone figured that the Bears had righted the ship and things were going to continue to trend in a positive direction. Then they finish the year with 10 straight losses. This year they start out exactly the same, like literally nothing has changed after an entire offseason, they start out with 4 straight losses and then go into Washington on a short week in prime time and whoop up on the Commanders. Everyone gets excited, the Bears are back, Fields is legit, let's go! Then they crash back down again, and lose an ugly game and Fields gets hurt. Now they have to play LVR, LAC, and NO, who all have at least average teams with Tyson Bagent starting. Poles knew Fields was an injury risk and this was his backup plan? If Bagent looks worse than Fields, you have to start considering Poles ability to field an NFL roster. It looks like Hoyer will start for the Raiders. At this point, I don't even care about the outcome. I want to see some development out of the young players (actually visible improvement) and it will be curious to see how Bagent looks in the same offense and behind the same OLine as Fields. If he plays even average (as a D2 rookie in his first start), then it will look really bad for Fields. Raiders win by 10.

It does make sense, and it doesn't hurt to sit him. The 5th year option would be the interesting decision if they decided to keep Fields. Do they want to commit to a 5th year (for trade purposes), because if not, he would almost assuredly be moved by the deadline. One consideration in any trade talk, just due to QB salaries, the Bears would more than likely get a 3rd round comp pick for Fields if he left via FA. So I believe the talks start there and go up. My hope was at least a 2nd to recoup the Claypool trade.

He has value, he is still in his 3rd year, a team trading for him gets at least 2 more years on a rookie deal. SF got a 4th for Lance, and the gap between him and Fields is huge. Fields would at least get a 3rd, if not more. The bigger question is does Fields' camp want to play more in this situation? So come back, probably not 100% on a 1-9 team to get beat up some more and put more bad tape out there? There is absolutely no reason to rush back unless this team somehow won 3 or 4 in a row, and if they did that without him, why would they want him back?

Helmet to helmet then hand pushes Fields helmet into the ground. How is that not called?

It's funny because it was a luxury pick. After the 4th, teams are addressing Special Teams and not really going QB that late, because they assume the player will end up as a UDFA. For whatever reason, SF felt like that was a better option, but if they knew he was that good, they would have even drafted him earlier.

I felt it coming. Again I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I really think overall this is going exactly how Poles wanted it to. For publicity sake, they all support Fields, but in reality, he was going to be the scapegoat. They knew his ceiling after last year. Poles said this was a multi-year thing, and Flus is also probably another fall guy in all of this, because there is no way you can keep him after the worst two year stretch in franchise history (and close to the worst in NFL history). Fields has shown enough to be more valuable than Wilson and Lance for sure. I don't know what that's worth, but it would be nice to get a 2nd for him to recoup what you lost for Claypool, even if you have to give a 5th or 6th back to recoup that high of a pick, you do it. Go into 2024 draft with multiple 1st's and 2nd's, address QB, WR, Edge, and Center.

Auto-correct got me on the name. Crazy that this actually happened. Foreshadowing or Mandela Effect?

I am only interested in Bagent to see how a very young QB looks in this system. It was not apples to apples with Peterman or Siemian, one because how bad they were, but also because they were vets and it was hard to compare to Fields in development. However, with Bagent, he now gets a week of prep, he knows he will be QB1, I am sure he will study the Raiders defense more thorough knowing he is the guy, and hopefully Getsy can provide some protection so the Bears can get some tape on Bagent and see how the same plays look when he runs them.

I don't have a warm and fuzzy about it. The fact that they even mentioned surgery probably means it's on the bad side of a Grade 2. As an NFL QB, the risk of reinjury is obviously super high. If he was to hit it on a helmet or to have it swatted by a defender, he could really damage to the point where he would lose strength in it. Just like the throwing shoulder, there is a lot of risk there. You are correct, the best scenario is Fields plays well, because the Bears wouldn't be forced to draft a QB and it would keep his trade value higher. If he doesn't return this year, or does and plays poorly, it forces the Bears to draft a QB AND lowers his trade value considerably.

So if it is closer to a Grade 3, meaning the swelling and pain haven't subsided, they will probably elect surgery and shut him down for the year. The thumb is the primary finger for grip strength, so if that is weaker in any way, there is no way you can throw a football properly. I fear that they are just delaying the inevitable. Any kind of IR stint or surgery with longer term recovery (into the offseason) would obvious impact a ton of decisions, but right now if you had to make a decision on whether to draft a QB or stay with Fields and build more around him, you have to draft a QB. Fields just has not shown enough consistency in Year 3 to risk passing on a QB. Getting the #1 pick is rare, but getting back to back #1s is actually fairly common recently with two teams doing it in the last the last 7 years: 21-22-JAX, 17-18-CLE.

Looks like they are going to wait until the end of the week to determine if it is rehab or surgery. Just the fact that surgery is mentioned means that it is probably a Grade 2. You wouldn't even consider surgery for a Grade 1. If it was Grade 3, it would be auto surgery.

Oh, I am not saying Fields isn't to blame. He is, but Getsy had 10 days to prep with Fields and Co, and that is the shit sandwich they deliver? 3 straight WR screens?

Mahomes has 185 yards rushing, Fields has 237? Hurts has 257. Lamar has 327. Does Fields look off running this year? Last year he had an extra gear and some juice. This year he is running right into defenders, and is getting caught from behind. He just seems different when he is running. His longest run is 20 yards.