Week 3 Official Game Thread - HOU @ CHI, 09/25, 12PM CDT, CHI -2.5 O/U 40.5 (Lovie Tribute)

[DABEARSDABOMB]

3 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Fields didn't look like an NFL QB at all.  This was the first game I've really seen him get so mentally out of it.  Poor throws poor decisions.  If the heat from the poor game against GB, or all the crap he got after the post-game press conference got to him then we have a problem because I don't want another shrinking violet trying to run the offense.  In the past if he made a mistake he had a fighters mentality and came back throwing another punch. 

The Oline was really poor today too and I'm not happy they keep benching Jenkins for Patrick.  I was ok early on to help Patrick get back into game shape but Jenkins has done enough to earn his spot and Patrick hasn't done enough to take it away IMO.  If Patrick can't beat out Mustipher to start at C then sit on the bench.  These snapping issues need to stop.  I can't say it's always Mustipher but for sure on the 2nd one that snap hit his right leg.  That said the bigger issue today was both OTs.  However, we ran the ball well so at least that part of the equation is something we can hang our hats on.  

This might be the first game ever where I felt like missing our 2nd TE caused so many problems.  Or maybe it just exposed the other gaps because we couldn't rely on the 2 TE sets and had to rely more on the WRs.  I'm not totally down on Fields yet because I'd like to see him in a few games at least with Pringle and especially Velus' speed on the field.    

The D lacks talent in a few spaces but they kept plugging away.  Roquan woke up from his slumber and started playing downhill again, as did Morrow.  That was great to see.  I'm not sure Roquan makes that INT if the ball isn't tipped.  He might defend the pass.  

My view is - the 1st quarter of the season is about Fields getting used to the new system and to kind of test himself. Than the middle 2 quarters of the season are about growth - and showing true growth.  The final quarter of the season is where you see whether that growth (or hopeful) growth is sustainable and you have an idea that you have a dude or by that point you have a clear indication that he isn't the guy and now you know.  

The one thing I will note is today Fields was horribly inaccurate - which I do not think I've ever really said about him in the past.  For me his make it or not factor is about whether he can adjust to the speed of the game.  He hasn't yet - the game is still too fast for him.  And if I were a glass half full guy - I'd say that he is someone who relied on pure athleticism at the collegiate level for so long that he never really got hit back hard enough where he really had to truly adjust. Now - in the NFL - no matter how elite his athleticism is - the reality is the game is way faster and the defense is too good to rely on that alone and it is going to force him to either adjust (or not). 

He has to pick up the speed and quit thinking so much and start reacting.  He has to play fast.  If he does that - he's going to have a long and successful career. If he keeps thinking and hesitating (which he does so much) - he will struggle. It will mess with his mechanics and consistency and just allow too many incompletes / negative plays. The guy has to learn to play with speed and take the quick wins when the defense gives him to him and learn to take play after play and than when you get the kill shots - when you have done that - I have no doubt he'll crush it.  

Whether he can adjust or not - no idea. It has been ugly, but seeing Tua grow this year after almost 2 years of lousy play gives me some hope as does the fact that he is someone who could rely on skill for so long that it doesn't shock me that now that he's hit this rock it is tougher (cause it will take more for him to get through this), but he does seem to have the work ethic and I was glad to see him smiling at the very end of the game and how he owned things. 

Part of this is - he wants it so bad - I think he's thinking too much out there and he's just gotta relax and play ball.  

[AZ54]

2 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

My view is - the 1st quarter of the season is about Fields getting used to the new system and to kind of test himself. Than the middle 2 quarters of the season are about growth - and showing true growth.  The final quarter of the season is where you see whether that growth (or hopeful) growth is sustainable and you have an idea that you have a dude or by that point you have a clear indication that he isn't the guy and now you know.  

The one thing I will note is today Fields was horribly inaccurate - which I do not think I've ever really said about him in the past.  For me his make it or not factor is about whether he can adjust to the speed of the game.  He hasn't yet - the game is still too fast for him.  And if I were a glass half full guy - I'd say that he is someone who relied on pure athleticism at the collegiate level for so long that he never really got hit back hard enough where he really had to truly adjust. Now - in the NFL - no matter how elite his athleticism is - the reality is the game is way faster and the defense is too good to rely on that alone and it is going to force him to either adjust (or not). 

He has to pick up the speed and quit thinking so much and start reacting.  He has to play fast.  If he does that - he's going to have a long and successful career. If he keeps thinking and hesitating (which he does so much) - he will struggle. It will mess with his mechanics and consistency and just allow too many incompletes / negative plays. The guy has to learn to play with speed and take the quick wins when the defense gives him to him and learn to take play after play and than when you get the kill shots - when you have done that - I have no doubt he'll crush it.  

Whether he can adjust or not - no idea. It has been ugly, but seeing Tua grow this year after almost 2 years of lousy play gives me some hope as does the fact that he is someone who could rely on skill for so long that it doesn't shock me that now that he's hit this rock it is tougher (cause it will take more for him to get through this), but he does seem to have the work ethic and I was glad to see him smiling at the very end of the game and how he owned things. 

Part of this is - he wants it so bad - I think he's thinking too much out there and he's just gotta relax and play ball.  

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.  

  

 

[adam]

There are a few cases where players turned it around after a string of bad starts, but Fields right now is off the charts (in the wrong direction). When the other QBs were bad, they were bad, but they weren't this bad. Fields would have to improve just to get to their rookie levels (Big Ben, Lamar, Allen). 

If Fields was a 3rd Round pick (like Mond), he is probably going back to the bench to learn some more. At this point, it is hard to tell if this experience he is getting is even helping. It is much easier to shoot a rifle when you aren't being shot at. I am thinking, if he has another game like this AND the Bears lose, you have to at least consider going with someone like Siemian and let Fields speed up his process in practice.

Is Siemian a long term answer? No, but he is at least a semi competent QB, who has a career 81.2 Passer Rating, more TDs than INTs (41-27) in 29 starts. In the other thread, I like to use INTs+Sacks/Attempts as a better determiner for how the QB is playing. Siemian's has been sacked 75 times and has 27 INTs in 1029 attempts. That is 9.9%. Fields has been sacked 46 times and has 14 INTs in 315 attempts (19.0%). Fields is on pace to have 2x the number of sacks and INTs with Siemian's attempts which would literally be the worst QB ever to start more than 20 games. Fields has 13 starts, he has 7 more before it is officially official. I am giving him to the bye to show that he can be a competent starting QB.

[AZ54]

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