Week 9 Game Thread Mia @ Chi

[adam]

Fields breaks Michael Vicks single game rushing record, Kmet gets 2 TDs, and Green Bay loses to the Lions with Rodgers throwing 3 INTs. 

This loss effectively kills any chance at a playoff berth, as the Bears are just one game back from the worst team in the NFC.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

49 minutes ago, adam said:

Fields breaks Michael Vicks single game rushing record, Kmet gets 2 TDs, and Green Bay loses to the Lions with Rodgers throwing 3 INTs. 

This loss effectively kills any chance at a playoff berth, as the Bears are just one game back from the worst team in the NFC.

Meanwhile our offense is coming along great led by Fields’ continued improvement and Getsy’s adaptive play calling. A few weeks ago I wasn’t sure Getsy was ‘the guy’ but he’s starting to convince me otherwise.  

Now that the offense is off and running it’s time to get the defense on track.  Consistent they’ve been gutted from talented players, we’ll have to trust the process.  

I certainly prefer being in this role than I would be as a Packer fan right now. Their one-dimensonal offense is starting to break.  

[adam]

21 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Meanwhile our offense is coming along great led by Fields’ continued improvement and Getsy’s adaptive play calling. A few weeks ago I wasn’t sure Getsy was ‘the guy’ but he’s starting to convince me otherwise.  

Now that the offense is off and running it’s time to get the defense on track.  Consistent they’ve been gutted from talented players, we’ll have to trust the process.  

I certainly prefer being in this role than I would be as a Packer fan right now. Their one-dimensonal offense is starting to break.  

What is exciting is this is just the beginning. If Fields looks like this now, he is going to be unstoppable next year. That TD run was Vick-like on a day where he breaks his record. At least the media is finally on Fields side and believe the Bears got robbed by the refs. 

[BearFan PHX]

I agree. And these are the same players we had six weeks ago. The difference is that they've been coached now for 6 weeks by these guys.

I'm sold on Eberflus and Fields. I am about to be sold on Poles too, but he needs to draft and Free Agent his butt off first. When he does that, I'm all in!

It's great to see us growing into a real sustainable team. This isnt done with smoke and mirrors and free agents. This is homegrown, already, with a bare roster and 2/3 the cap of everyone else.

Oh, and one more thing. Screw you Nagy.

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Meanwhile our offense is coming along great led by Fields’ continued improvement and Getsy’s adaptive play calling. A few weeks ago I wasn’t sure Getsy was ‘the guy’ but he’s starting to convince me otherwise.  

Now that the offense is off and running it’s time to get the defense on track.  Consistent they’ve been gutted from talented players, we’ll have to trust the process.  

I certainly prefer being in this role than I would be as a Packer fan right now. Their one-dimensonal offense is starting to break.  

FWIW this week Getsy said he's called 7-9 QB runs every game since the beginning of the season.  It's just that Justin was either changing the play based on what he saw or handing the ball off.  With that we were only seeing a few "planned" QB runs.  With that, I think what has changed is Justin is reading defenses better pre-snap.   Seeing his comfort now on play fakes, good fakes hiding the ball and pausing as if he handed it off even when he knows a DE is unblocked is remarkable.  He's just baiting them to come a little closer so it's harded to chase him down once he takes off.  He's still learning but in a lot of ways the game has slowed down for him.  

[Stinger226]

We need at least two DLineman. There may be some we can get in free agency off the edge but DT has to be in the draft. DeRon Payne is out there but he probably gets tagged. Jason Hargrove is having a very good year but will be 31.  If Rodgers retires this yr maybe we can grab Elgton Jenkins and put him anywhere on the OL. 

[Stinger226]

I think what the addition of Claypool that the attention he gets, it opens up more plays for Kmet and Mooney. I think that extra threat is huge for the passing game. Once Claypool is up to speed, we will be more dynamic than we have been the last three games. V Jones had some injuries to start the season and some miscues once he got to play, but I think once he gets up to speed, he can have an interesting addition to this WR room. We could say he's a bust but we need to remember 3rd round WR dont usually break out in their first season. So he still has time to establish himself. We can see what low end WRs bring to the table as the Pettis and ESB show us, inconsistent play. I think going forward they bring Jones into the picture to see what we have in him. If he fails we need to draft another playmaker. 

[Connorbear]

Soldier Field was rocking yesterday. Fields was simply fantastic. I can't believe how awful the officiating can be at times but the loss will actually benefit us at the end of the season. It's just great to see Justin break out. His development is the #1 priority this year. 

Peace

[Stinger226]

 

 This is worth a watch. Let me know if it doesnt work, its off of Twitter

[BearFan PHX]

amazing! earlier in the season we were talking about him holding the ball too long, or being "afraid" to throw it. But you know what? hes not throwing interceptions either. Smart.

Id like to see him get into the 250 - 300 yards passing area on a regular basis soon too. Then we will know he is complete.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

6 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

 

 This is worth a watch. Let me know if it doesnt work, its off of Twitter

Literally spine tingling stuff.  Some of the observations made (like hiding the ball when doing the fake) were the same ones I noticed earlier in the season.  I recall both Rodgers and Daniel Jones doing that earlier this year and was like 'man I wish Fields would do stuff like that' and...whattyaknow?  I remember seeing him during that 60 yard run thinking the (what looked like a fake throw) pump was to get certain players to freeze.  I didn't realize his receiver (Mooney in this case) had changed direction just as he was  getting ready to throw...amazing!  Yes, his evolution is really quite incredible and the more he does it the less likely its a fluke.  Gents, we got us a keeper.

Just think 'what could have been' this year if ISM hadn't of had a few mental breakdowns, V. Jones hadn't muffed that punt, a few other receivers hadn't dropped sure passes (looking at you ESB) and the refs hadn't frigged up the calls yesterday...where would we be right now?  If only....

[Pixote]

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

amazing! earlier in the season we were talking about him holding the ball too long, or being "afraid" to throw it. But you know what? hes not throwing interceptions either. Smart.

Id like to see him get into the 250 - 300 yards passing area on a regular basis soon too. Then we will know he is complete.

I was thinking the same thing. I know, if given the time to throw, and receivers that can separate and catch the damn ball, that Fields can easily be a top 10 passer. His completion percentage lately has been top notch. (I am getting really pissed at some of the drops that has cost us games this year.)

[Alaskan Grizzly]

6 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

 

 This is worth a watch. Let me know if it doesnt work, its off of Twitter

Another cool angle of that play.

 

[AZ54]

His leadership is being underrated as well.   He's been through some very difficult times this season and even has had to deal wiht numerous bad drops and mistakes by WRs and yet he keeps staying positive with his teammates.   Compare that to Rodgers meltdowns on the field yesterday, for his own errors.   Claypool has to be thinking he got lucky he's not playing with that @$$ up north.  This will only help recruting FA next year.   Who was the Rams Olineman who turned us down to stay in LA for same or less money?  How's that working for ya?  

[lemonej]

There is a part of me that thinks Velus Jones Jr might be used going forward like Deebo Samuel or Cordarelle Patterson. Maybe even switched to RB.

[Pixote]

30 minutes ago, lemonej said:

There is a part of me that thinks Velus Jones Jr might be used going forward like Deebo Samuel or Cordarelle Patterson. Maybe even switched to RB.

Hell, I would just like to see him used, period. 

[ChileBear]

31 minutes ago, Pixote said:

Hell, I would just like to see him used, period. 

And hold onto the ball as well.

[BearFan PHX]

3 minutes ago, ChileBear said:

And hold onto the ball as well.

Seriously. He's young and talented, but he's made too many mistakes in too short a period of time. Hes going to have to prove it a lot in practice before he should be allowed to handle the ball in any critical situations. Including any third downs.

With all the attention that Claypool is going to get from the staff getting him up to speed, I won't be shocked if Jones has to wait a few weeks before they give him enough attention.

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

Seriously. He's young and talented, but he's made too many mistakes in too short a period of time. Hes going to have to prove it a lot in practice before he should be allowed to handle the ball in any critical situations. Including any third downs.

With all the attention that Claypool is going to get from the staff getting him up to speed, I won't be shocked if Jones has to wait a few weeks before they give him enough attention.

I have no issues whatsoever with the accountability being shown toward the WRs.   ISM was cut.  I think Pettis at one point was close to losing his job but at that time he had less competition and when players started returning to good health he had corrected or improved enough.  Velus as a healthy scratch needed or at least deserved that message.   If Velus earns his reps back in practice then (hopefully) we'll see him again if not we'll see him next year.  

I don't think his role was ever going to be that of a top 3 WR for us.   He'll be used in the occasional jet sweep plays, screens, and some crossing routes and they'll toss in an occasional deep ball.  However, with Claypool on board there is almost no need for Velus to run deep routes.  Mooney and Claypool can work those just fine and mix in something here and there for Harry or Pringle.   We should just let Velus use his YAC ability on the short to intermediate routes.  The catches aren't as difficult for a player with less than ideal hands and we've already seen how his speed and strength challenges defenders.   In a 1on1 open field situation I like the odds with Velus to make that guy miss.  We've already seen him gain 10yds on plays where it looked like we should get 5.  As teams adjust to Claypool's deep threat the underneath stuff will open up even more.  Add in that Fields can just as easily roll out to the weakside and defenders have a lot to watch for.   

I think he could do that role for us well enough to take Pettis off the field now except for the return issues.  

 

[AZ54]

Here's the J.T. O'Sullivan review.  Justin has improved quite a bit on many plays but there is still room to improve.  He's 9 games into this new offense and now working with what might be the 5th combination of WRs on the field.  I'd heard that N'Keal Harry said he ran one route incorrectly.  The arrow is pointing up overall for the offense.    Watching these play breakdowns and it's easy to see how our WRs struggle against man coverage.   

When Trent Dilfer reviewed this Miami game he brought up the point that now with several games of film on Fields running he expects to see defenses revert to more zone coverage.  That allows the entire defense to keep their eyes on the QB.  Miami used a spy defender on some plays but it didn't work.  Coverages are always mixed throughout a game but more zone will make it easier for the WRs to get open.  It also puts the burden back on Fields to read it quickly and take the simple play which he wasn't doing well earlier in the season.