Week 5 Vikings Official Game Thread - SUN 12pm CT

[McGowan]

Fields is making good reads, he has no time and is inaccurate af. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Starting the second half a whole lot better than the first.  Nice work Justin.

 

Id be curious to see if the stats support the Bears being a better second half team.  Seems they improve as the game continues. 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Fields did better and the Bears were in position to possibly tie. 

The ex viking WR handed the ball to his old team for the W when he should have got out of bounds.  He decision to go for extra yards was bad. 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

How best to summarize this game?  Short term loss, long term win.  Bears came out the second half and played a helluva lot better than in the first half. Fields ended up being 15/21 for 208 and 1 TD 0 INT.  Defense showed up with an INT and a fair amount of pressure. 

[BearFan PHX]

Another improved game by Fields. Lots of dropped balls, and failures in other parts of the offense. Fields had his errors too.

But he did get better, and if he keeps this up, we're gonna keep him around. He's not there yet, but you can see what these coaches are doing with him as far as opening his eyes, and while it's incremental, and not good enough yet, you can see clear measurable progress over the last 2 weeks.

Best possible outcome - we look like we are growing, but dropped balls and stupid plays by receivers who won't be our starters next year are giving us losses, and improving our draft pick.

Before the season began, I said I wanted to see Fields making good reads, and putting the ball on target, and if receivers were dropping the balls, that'd be the best way to lose games. I mean, I'd rather see us winning, but until we deserve to win, I'm glad that increasingly, the reasons for the loss AREN'T Fields. That's the purpose of this year, and we are right on track.

I really like this coaching staff.

[BearFan PHX]

3 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Fields did better and the Bears were in position to possibly tie. 

The ex viking WR handed the ball to his old team for the W when he should have got out of bounds.  He decision to go for extra yards was bad. 

 

 

1 minute ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

How best to summarize this game?  Short term loss, long term win.  Bears came out the second half and played a helluva lot better than in the first half. Fields ended up being 15/21 for 208 and 1 TD 0 INT.  Defense showed up with an INT and a fair amount of pressure. 

I totally agree. This is what we were expecting, and we are right on schedule. Staying on schedule is another thing, and we will have to grind that every week, but after 5 games with these coaches, Fields is starting to get it.

Every week, I think Nagy was worse than I ever knew or even thought the week before.

[AZ54]

1. I still like Justin Fields and think he continues to play better each game.  He made some really good quick reads this week, the sort we've been asking to see.  He could use a couple WRs who can hold onto the ball.  

2.  Kyler Gordon had a good game.  Everyone will go after him on a play he missed but he's starting to make positive (negative) plays too.  Patience with rookies is needed. 

3.  I'm really heartened by this team coming back from being down 18pts to take the lead.  It would have been easy to throw in the towel and wait for next week.  There's a lot of goodness here with the coaches and the young players.  A lot more talented players are needed to close the gap, however, just having Jaylon Johnson on the field might have been enough to sway this one in our favor. 

4.  Welcome back David Montgomery.  He's still the RB I want to see with the ball in heavy traffic at the LOS where he often fought just to avoid a loss on a play.  His big plays were nice to see too.    

 5.  Hurry back Cody Whitehair, we miss ya!  

[BearFan PHX]

7 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

1. I still like Justin Fields and think he continues to play better each game.  He made some really good quick reads this week, the sort we've been asking to see.  He could use a couple WRs who can hold onto the ball.  

2.  Kyler Gordon had a good game.  Everyone will go after him on a play he missed but he's starting to make positive (negative) plays too.  Patience with rookies is needed. 

3.  I'm really heartened by this team coming back from being down 18pts to take the lead.  It would have been easy to throw in the towel and wait for next week.  There's a lot of goodness here with the coaches and the young players.  A lot more talented players are needed to close the gap, however, just having Jaylon Johnson on the field might have been enough to sway this one in our favor. 

4.  Welcome back David Montgomery.  He's still the RB I want to see with the ball in heavy traffic at the LOS where he often fought just to avoid a loss on a play.  His big plays were nice to see too.    

 5.  Hurry back Cody Whitehair, we miss ya!  

Enthusiastic yes! to all of these points, especially the middle of #3 - imagine adding a bunch of talent to this culture and system. Add 4 starters and you're probably playoff bound. And we will add more than that next year. Especially on the D line - we aren't talking much about it, but we are not getting pass pressure from the defensive front.

Poles made a great choice - in a sea of Offensive-Gurus-To-Be he seems to have found the right head coach, even if he's a defensive guy. And this really is year zero, not one.

 

[Mongo3451]

It's really good to be able to relish in a loss.

[BearFan PHX]

34 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

It's really good to be able to relish in a loss.

It's not something I'd want to do in regular years, but we are so hollowed out by Pace and Nagy, that when you find yourself in a year zero situation, growth is what you look for.

It is really fun to see the beginning chapter of the Justin Fields story. If he turns into a stud, it will have been incredibly rewarding as a fan to have seen all of this.

[AZ54]

4 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

It's not something I'd want to do in regular years, but we are so hollowed out by Pace and Nagy, that when you find yourself in a year zero situation, growth is what you look for.

It is really fun to see the beginning chapter of the Justin Fields story. If he turns into a stud, it will have been incredibly rewarding as a fan to have seen all of this.

Late in the game his read of the Vikings blitz and the hot throw to Kmet was as good as any I've seen from any QB this year.   I think it went for a 1st down too.  

15/21 for 208yds.  That's a 71% completion rate and there were at least 2 clear drops by Pettis, maybe 3 IIRC (2 Pettis, 1 ISM).  Also the TD pass to Mooney late in the game was pass interference as Harrison Smith hit his arm early.  I would have liked to see Mooney be more emphatic about it and urge his coach to challenge it.  At a min with the 2 drops we saw Fields throw well enough for an 80% comp rate.  There wouldn't be anything significant in the yards for those dropped passes, maybe another 15yds but we can call it 220yds.   He added another 47yds rushing.   That's a productive day and to he looked the most comfortable I've seen him in the pocket despite a lot of early pressure and some players getting a free run at him.   

It appears Whitehair means a lot to our running game.  Patrick and Mustipher not so much.  Lots of folks don't like Kmet but he had a good day too.  Velus' speed  (his coach calls him V12) showed up on the TD run.  I didn't think he could get in that gap fast enough to score.  He'll help as he gets more involved in the offense.  

Either this week or the MNF game a week afterward we'll have N'Keal Harry.  He's good enough to get ISM off the field.  Hopefully Jaylon Johnson returns too.   Two prime time games in a row.  

[Stinger226]

I was putting a Gazebo together for my daughter and was listening on the radio. It was 21-3 when I started to watch, and then it started to change. You have to give the coaches credit, they have these players believing they can win and usually show up after they adjust. Itmir Smith-M actually lost that game for us. He had a penalty on the Fields run that was called back that we had to settle for a FG. Then instead of going out of bounds, Smith-M makes a play to the right and gets the ball taken out. If that didnt happen , I totally believe we would have tied the game. Not sure if we would have won, but I dont feel bad after this lost. I normally bang my head against the wall when we lose but didnt feel like it this time. Barring injuries, we will slowly get better and the second half of the season will look a lot better. The second half, the OL played excellent. It didnt seem like the same line. 

Of all the teams I follow , I am not sure why, but the Bears are the only team that bums me out when they lose. It literally bothers me all day while I listen to Bears talk after the game.

They are starting to get Kmet and Mooney involved in the offense. We just need one more WR to show up regularly and our offense will look much better. 

I have to say that one catch by Mooney was one of the best catches in the league all year. That reminded me of Beckham Jr when he first came into the league. That ball went 50 yds in the air and Fields put that in the only place he could have caught that.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Despite having his own struggles early on Fields was asked about Smith-Marsette and his own struggles yesterday.  JF is our QB guys….

 

[Mongo3451]

5 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Despite having his own struggles early on Fields was asked about Smith-Marsette and his own struggles yesterday.  JF is our QB guys….

I loved what he had to say.  Other than that, sometimes you can't coach the I idiot out of someone.  He did dumb stuff at Iowa to lower his draft stock that won't be tolerated in the NFL.  The kid explained what he was trying to do, which is in direct contrast to what he was coached to do, per Eberflus.  This was a perfect opportunity to Eberflus to show some empathy to a young team.  But, bet money it won't be tolerated again from a rookie with a low ceiling.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

16 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

But, bet money it won't be tolerated again from a rookie with a low ceiling.

Don't doubt that one bit.  Especially if (when) Harry gets back and is productive.  Of course at this point Pettis is making as good a case to get cut so there's that.

[Mongo3451]

On 10/9/2022 at 4:41 PM, Mongo3451 said:

It's really good to be able to relish in a loss.

Had some dialog with my best bro, a retired green beret who now trains special forces and CIA on joint ops.  His quote about yesterday's game is pretty cool, "Trained men most of my life... you can see a win.. even in defeat".  Love it!

[killakrzydav]

Man, I loved what Fields had to say. Such leadership!

[Alaskan Grizzly]

A sample of what Justin was (and has been) up against.  Watch the whole left side of the line and of course Mustipher. (Of who I’m rescinding my support of). 
 

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

9 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Despite having his own struggles early on Fields was asked about Smith-Marsette and his own struggles yesterday.  JF is our QB guys….

 

This is awesome. In general - yesterday was a win. Best game all season from Fields and 2nd straight game of progress. Let’s see a 3rd straight game of positive momentum on Thursday! 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

26 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

A sample of what Justin was (and has been) up against.  Watch the whole left side of the line and of course Mustipher. (Of who I’m rescinding my support of). 
 

 

Wow, that is complete garbage by 3 pro football players.  Makes me question Poles. Eberflus, and staff about their offensive line "expertise".  Lucas Patrick has not been the missing link, more like the weakest link, Braxton Jones is learning on the job but at a price of possibly damaging Fields, and Mustispher is fine to be a backup.  Then I question the whole Jenkins debacle. He has been one of their best and to be honest he could be just as good at RT.  

[AZ54]

3 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

A sample of what Justin was (and has been) up against.  Watch the whole left side of the line and of course Mustipher. (Of who I’m rescinding my support of). 
 

 

I’m guessing That’s Braxton Jones run blocking or blocking for a screen with everyone else pass blocking.  After the screw up Mustipher just decided it would be best to block nobody.  

[Mongo3451]

Mustipher and Patrick are abysmal.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Not to ‘beat the dead horse’ that is post-game analysis, but since a lot more people seem to be noticing the progression Justin is making, why not continue the vibe?  Below is a link to a Bleacher Report story with three different analysis’ of how well Justin did Sunday.  The Tom Thayer one is mostly focused on how Kmet is getting more involved and because of it, helping Justin get better.  (I’m getting some Mahomes / Kelce vibes).  One play he missed but I think was extremely pivotal in evidence of Justin’s improvement was late in the game (think a play or two before the game ending fumble).  It resembled the second play Thayer talks about but this time the protection broke down and for half a second you could tell Justin thought about taking off and running.  But instead, after talking a step or two he saw Kmet cross in front of him and dumped it for a sizable gain.  There’s no doubt Fields is getting more comfortable and Kmet is becoming a big piece is that progression.  Of course Mooney’s spectacular one-handed catch also helped.  ?

 

[killakrzydav]

It would be nice if Kmet was more than dumpster juice, I had been thinking that was another wasted pick.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 hour ago, killakrzydav said:

It would be nice if Kmet was more than dumpster juice, I had been thinking that was another wasted pick.

Until the oline is better, I cannot fault Mooney, Kmet, or any other receiver.  They are all learning and it seems the line is running behind.  Kmet is more you Kyle Rudolph TE than a Greg Olsen or Kelce.