Bears vs Packers Official Game Thread (Sun, Dec 9, 12:00 PM CST/FOX/Bears -6, O/U 45)

[ChileBear]

11 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

??. Good one Bill!  Lol.  Yes they did...yes they did.  

Well said, both of you Bear Fans!!

[Stinger226]

I know when these gadget plays fail it makes Nagy look bad but Nagy's play calling has given life to this offense and a few misses isn't going to be a big deal. It will come in to play that ones of these type of plays might lose us a game but some of those type of plays have won us games to. He is way ahead of the curve on those fluffy plays.

MT was quite back in the groove, not great but consistent and no TOs.

My only complaint(we won) is he is using Mizzell to much, I dont get it. Cohen and Howard both are much better players. 

[Stinger226]

Finally a game where everybody is happy even with all flaws. Enjoy the ride their is no guarantee we get this far every year no matter how bright our future looks.  The Vikings and Jaguars were coming off of great seasons and look at them this year.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

7 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Finally a game where everybody is happy even with all flaws. Enjoy the ride their is no guarantee we get this far every year no matter how bright our future looks.  The Vikings and Jaguars were coming off of great seasons and look at them this year.

Yeah ok... I’ll be happy for today.  ?

But I actually see the Bears more like last year’s Eagles (minus the SB) to this year.  

[Stinger226]

I heard on the SCORE that Jackson has a ankle sprain and said its no big deal.  I say he doesnt play the next two weeks and gets ready for the playoffs.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Flipping awesome. Defense was nails (Mack and Floyd played stellar) and Trubisky was absolutely fantastic. Only real thing to knock was Cohen going out of bounds in the redzone and where the coaching staff got too cute on a couple 3rd and shorts and the fake punt.  That said, it was fantastic to knock the Packers out of the playoffs and clinch the division.  

I hope Eddie Jackson's injury is minor and he'll be able to be 100% for the first playoff game. Playoffs peeps....we get to talk about playoffs!!! Don't stop now boys!!! This has been such a fan magical year....now lets make it even more magical

[Stinger226]

A few game notes:

Floyd is starting to become one of the better players on this D. He is all over the place, Since he got the cast off, he has 4 sacks, 1 interception for a TD and plays the run exceptionally.

MT was calm and consistent, his running skills are amazing and keeps drives alive.

One of the reasons for this run is the fact we have good luck with injuries, the best in the league for lost starter games.

[Pixote]

Does anyone remember MT throwing deep during the game?

I can remember some medium length passes to gain first downs.

MT has been struggling all year overthrowing many of the deep passes.

I suspect that Nagy knew MT needed a BIG game to get his confidence back and took out the deep pass plays.

It certainly worked, MT had a fantastic "bounce back" game and should be even better as we head to the playoffs.

[AZ54]

7 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

A few game notes:

Floyd is starting to become one of the better players on this D. He is all over the place, Since he got the cast off, he has 4 sacks, 1 interception for a TD and plays the run exceptionally.

MT was calm and consistent, his running skills are amazing and keeps drives alive.

One of the reasons for this run is the fact we have good luck with injuries, the best in the league for lost starter games.

Floyd is a great Robin to Mack's Batman.  I hope we find a way to keep him around because even if he's not a sack artist he's so versatile that it really helps the D overall.  We can, and will draft another sack artist although I think in time Fitts can develop in that role.  

I thought MT played great and stayed within the offense.  When we needed big plays we converted.  What he did keeping plays alive when they blitzed was outstanding and that soft pass to Shaheen on the sideline was huge.  No matter what was going on Trubisky never got flustered.   

[Stinger226]

Floyd is here through 2019 and then they can pick up the option year.

[Stinger226]

here is the Bears locker room celebration. You think they like each other? Their going much farther. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNFNmYjK5J8

[Alaskan Grizzly]

6 hours ago, Pixote said:

Does anyone remember MT throwing deep during the game?

I can remember some medium length passes to gain first downs.

MT has been struggling all year overthrowing many of the deep passes.

I suspect that Nagy knew MT needed a BIG game to get his confidence back and took out the deep pass plays.

It certainly worked, MT had a fantastic "bounce back" game and should be even better as we head to the playoffs.

In watching yesterday’s game I observed the same things.  He had one that I think was on the fringe of +15-20 yards and that was the TD to Burton (which was right on).

That being said I want to say yesterday’s result was more learning from their past mistakes.  I say ‘their’ because Trubisky is only going to be as good as Nagy can prepare him.  I think Nagy saw the same issues crop up over the season (that being overthrows on long passes) and adapted the game planning accordingly.  You may have noticed that Howard was also carrying the ball a lot more.  Nagy is adapting to what the offense will give him and tailoring where the skill level is at.  That’s what a coach should be doing.  

As far as his ‘mistakes’ yesterday; I’ll give a pass on.  I think, like the rest of us, he knew the D was capable of bailing him out IF he were to fail but I’d bet ‘dollars to donuts’ that Vic had a few words of advice to him after the game. Somewhere along the line of ‘don’t press your luck.’ 

One great thing I did like about Nagys play-calling is that he is mixing up the offense.  The announcers noted yesterday that almost every receiver and RB caught a pass yesterday . That’s excellent play calling in my book.  Makes in that much more difficult to scheme for when all the options are being used; even Bellamy. 

And lastly...not for nothing but the Rams last three losses have come at the hands of Andy Reid or one of his ‘disciples’. Hmmm....

[AZ54]

10 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

In watching yesterday’s game I observed the same things.  He had one that I think was on the fringe of +15-20 yards and that was the TD to Burton (which was right on).

That being said I want to say yesterday’s result was more learning from their past mistakes.  I say ‘their’ because Trubisky is only going to be as good as Nagy can prepare him.  I think Nagy saw the same issues crop up over the season (that being overthrows on long passes) and adapted the game planning accordingly.  You may have noticed that Howard was also carrying the ball a lot more.  Nagy is adapting to what the offense will give him and tailoring where the skill level is at.  That’s what a coach should be doing.  

As far as his ‘mistakes’ yesterday; I’ll give a pass on.  I think, like the rest of us, he knew the D was capable of bailing him out IF he were to fail but I’d bet ‘dollars to donuts’ that Vic had a few words of advice to him after the game. Somewhere along the line of ‘don’t press your luck.’ 

One great thing I did like about Nagys play-calling is that he is mixing up the offense.  The announcers noted yesterday that almost every receiver and RB caught a pass yesterday . That’s excellent play calling in my book.  Makes in that much more difficult to scheme for when all the options are being used; even Bellamy. 

And lastly...not for nothing but the Rams last three losses have come at the hands of Andy Reid or one of his ‘disciples’. Hmmm....

If I were Trubisky and Fangio said that to my face I'd be telling him ... you mean don't press my luck like the D did when they went into "prevent" against Miami and the great Brock Osweiller beat us on a couple screen passes?  Or do you mean I'm pressing my luck if I give you a 20pt lead in the 4th quarter like the first Packers game that won't be enough?   

If you are going to have a real team the first thing to do is stop blaming others and focus on how we get better together.  Trubisky has his own coaches to help him improve and it isn't Fangio's turf.  No matter what a person may think the reality is one game, or one play, it will be their turn under the mistake spotlight.  I've only re-watched a few games this year but I guarantee you with Game Pass even a casual fan can find everyone's bad game or two.  Even Khalil Mack (see Patriots). 

Fortunately, under Nagy we don't appear to have this BS going on with the team and the players seem to have each others back.  The coaches too are keeping out of the headlines (see Kromer et al).  It's not the Trestman era either where there is no accountability because Kevin White has been sitting on the bench for half the season.  Things are discussed coach to player like Howard's need to run harder when he hits the hole.  Cohen's need to run upfield and stop trying to always go outside.  Anthony MIller's need to run his routes correctly...all the time.  Eddie Jackson's need to take better angles on tackles.  Roquan Smith's need to stop standing there as his coverage responsibility runs right past him.  I suspect the players have Nagy's back when fake punts don't work.  

[Alaskan Grizzly]

9 hours ago, AZ54 said:

If I were Trubisky and Fangio said that to my face I'd be telling him ... you mean don't press my luck like the D did when they went into "prevent" against Miami and the great Brock Osweiller beat us on a couple screen passes?  Or do you mean I'm pressing my luck if I give you a 20pt lead in the 4th quarter like the first Packers game that won't be enough? 

Cmon AZ.  I’m actually trying to be on my best behvior here...‘‘tis the season, we won the NFC North and all that.  

My comment was more a ‘tongue in cheek’ metaphor than anything.  I am not disillusioned at all to think this is a repeat of ‘85 when Buddy ran the D and Mike ran the rest of the team and they agreed on pretty much nothing.  I know the chemistry between Vic and Nagy is better than that. But if you think for a second a traditionalist old school type of coach like Fangio didn’t somewhere in the back of his mind think the ‘head in hand’ emoji when they flubbed the fake punt AND wildcat play back to back, you’re kidding yourself.  I mean this guy co-existed successfully with the likes of Harbaugh for Pete’s sake.

[Stinger226]

MT had a nice safe game but didnt throw downfield. I just seen a stat where we are 5th in the league with 20+ plays on the year. 68 with 35% completion margin.

So much for complaining about that.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

29 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

MT had a nice safe game but didnt throw downfield. I just seen a stat where we are 5th in the league with 20+ plays on the year. 68 with 35% completion margin.

So much for complaining about that.

Are the Bears ranked 5th in the league with plays of 20+ yards or more?  ‘68 of (??) with 35% completion margin’ doesn’t sound good.  

I grabbed an ESPN widget that shows the Bears offense ranking and it shows them near the top in categories like total points and points per game but have to ask is that TOTAL points scored by the team or just offense?  Because we know the defense has been scoring too.

Part of why I ask this is if you look at stats like yards passing per game and total yards gained through passing, the Bears rank 22nd.  Whereas they rank 14th in rushing and rushing yards per game.  Which I find curious.  

http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/sort/totalPoints

[Stinger226]

I am not sure it was you but some remarks were made about us not throwing downfield in the game. I am not trying to find stats to make or break an argument about how good MT is. Out of the top ten in this stat we are 4th with %, so even though it does not sound good, it is compared to the rest of the league. KC has the best % with 44%.

I was just making a point that we are high in the league of downfield throws.

[AZ54]

6 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Cmon AZ.  I’m actually trying to be on my best behvior here...‘‘tis the season, we won the NFC North and all that.  

My comment was more a ‘tongue in cheek’ metaphor than anything.  I am not disillusioned at all to think this is a repeat of ‘85 when Buddy ran the D and Mike ran the rest of the team and they agreed on pretty much nothing.  I know the chemistry between Vic and Nagy is better than that. But if you think for a second a traditionalist old school type of coach like Fangio didn’t somewhere in the back of his mind think the ‘head in hand’ emoji when they flubbed the fake punt AND wildcat play back to back, you’re kidding yourself.  I mean this guy co-existed successfully with the likes of Harbaugh for Pete’s sake.

Well you don't get much sunlight and I get overdosed on it so we don't always read things the same way. 

Sure we were all thinking that.  Probably Nagy too.  But, I admire Nagy's conviction and he came right out in the press conference afterward and said we'll do it again.  So now our opponents know they must prepare for it, or anything else.   What remains on the table is Eddie Jackson on offense.  We know that was practiced a few times but I"m not sure we'll see that until he's fully healthy.    

[Alaskan Grizzly]

 

17 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Well you don't get much sunlight and I get overdosed on it so we don't always read things the same way. 

Sure we were all thinking that.  Probably Nagy too.  But, I admire Nagy's conviction and he came right out in the press conference afterward and said we'll do it again.  So now our opponents know they must prepare for it, or anything else.   What remains on the table is Eddie Jackson on offense.  We know that was practiced a few times but I"m not sure we'll see that until he's fully healthy.    

Rub it in (about the sunlight).  Not that I’m one to complain (lol) but add in that we recently had a significant earthquake up here and are now getting feet of snow, it’s no wonder I seem edgy!  Haha

Anyhow, yes I totally agree with the idea of Nagy’s willingness to take risks.  And I’m good with it.  I truly think he thought it was appropriate to do the plays when he did due in part because of the success of the defense.  I’m sure it weighed on his decision.  And you’re right that Nagy has built enough positive character capital that if he screws up, his players and other coaches will forgive him.  

I like the gimmicky stuff as long as it’s not done to the team’s detriment.  

[Pixote]

3 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

I am not sure it was you but some remarks were made about us not throwing downfield in the game. I am not trying to find stats to make or break an argument about how good MT is. Out of the top ten in this stat we are 4th with %, so even though it does not sound good, it is compared to the rest of the league. KC has the best % with 44%.

I was just making a point that we are high in the league of downfield throws.

I commented that I did not recall MT throwing downfield in the game against GB.  Nothing was meant negative in the statement. It was an observation, PERIOD. MT had a good game and I am not saying anything negative about him. I think this is the first game I can recall all year that he didn't throw downfield to stretch the defense. It was obviously Nagy's decision and I assume it was to allow MT to play a little conservative and regain his confidence after the poor outing in NY.

So no reason to get defensive. It just seemed odd to me that he didn't throw deep during the game. (Unless my memory serves me incorrectly)

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, Pixote said:

I commented that I did not recall MT throwing downfield in the game against GB.  Nothing was meant negative in the statement. It was an observation, PERIOD. MT had a good game and I am not saying anything negative about him. I think this is the first game I can recall all year that he didn't throw downfield to stretch the defense. It was obviously Nagy's decision and I assume it was to allow MT to play a little conservative and regain his confidence after the poor outing in NY.

So no reason to get defensive. It just seemed odd to me that he didn't throw deep during the game. (Unless my memory serves me incorrectly)

I noticed he didnt either, the post was not meant to condemn anyone, just showing that with NFL standards we are at the top even though we dont seem to go deep very much.

[adam]

During the press conference, MT mentioned that GB was taking away the deep ball so he had to take what they gave him.