Week 17 Official Game Thread - Get the Misery out of the way early Thu Game - SEA @ CHI, 7:15PM AMZ

[adam]

The Bears last national embarrassment game of the season.

Short week, the only advantage is Seattle is playing right now in Seattle against Minnesota. So they are going to have a short week and have to travel. With Seattle expected to lose to Minnesota and already down by 10, they have to win out to even have a chance to make the playoffs. So for them, it is a must win. The Bears have only pride to play for, and based on recent weeks, I don't know if that is enough.

I am going with Seattle 27 - Bears 23.

I revised my prediction score. I think both teams score 3 TDs, but SEA also gets 2x FGs. 

[jason]

It’s prime time.

It’s Thursday night.

It’s Seattle.

The Bears are in complete shambles.

Seattle 30 - Chicago 14

[BearFan PHX]

29 minutes ago, jason said:

It’s prime time.

It’s Thursday night.

It’s Seattle.

The Bears are in complete shambles.

Seattle 30 - Chicago 14

maybe 31 - 14 but yeah this is sure looking like it.

[adam]

I really hope they can score on more than 2 drives at home on a short week against Seattle.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, adam said:

I really hope they can score on more than 2 drives at home on a short week against Seattle.

They may be better off not preparing for a game and just roll it out. It would be perfect Bears to win this game and lose a top 10 pick in the draft. Seattle has something to play for and we do not, likelihood of us getting it together is slim. Walker will be back and Geno Smith proves bad QBs can get better.  I see that happening to Justin Fields in the future.

[adam]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

They may be better off not preparing for a game and just roll it out. It would be perfect Bears to win this game and lose a top 10 pick in the draft. Seattle has something to play for and we do not, likelihood of us getting it together is slim. Walker will be back and Geno Smith proves bad QBs can get better.  I see that happening to Justin Fields in the future.

The great thing is they can do no worse than #10 right now as the Saints are the only 5-win team. They would have to win the last two to drop out of the top 10.

[AZ54]

On 12/25/2024 at 8:34 AM, adam said:

The great thing is they can do no worse than #10 right now as the Saints are the only 5-win team. They would have to win the last two to drop out of the top 10.

It appears we are locked in at 10 or better.  I don’t have a clue why they say that.  Regardless I’m just here for the quarterback play …which is something I’ve never said about a bears game.  
 

“Following Week 16 action, the Bears currently hold three picks in the top 41 in the 2025 NFL draft, according to Tankathon. And with just two weeks left, Chicago cannot pick worse than 10th overall in the draft, which is great news for landing a top prospect to shore up the roster.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/2025-nfl-draft-order-bears-can-pick-no-worse-than-this-spot/ar-AA1wqWTw

 

[Stinger226]

Caleb may be the future but missing a wide open WR 12 yards down the field isnt a good look and he does that a lot.

[BearFan PHX]

Glad to see Dexter out there.

[BearFan PHX]

3 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Caleb may be the future but missing a wide open WR 12 yards down the field isnt a good look and he does that a lot.

I think that was a case of Odunze not working up and across the field. Not on Caleb.

[Mongo3451]

38 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

I think that was a case of Odunze not working up and across the field. Not on Caleb.

It was both.  Caleb throws heaters way too much.

[BearFan PHX]

28 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

It was both.  Caleb throws heaters way too much.

I have to disagree on that one, Odunze throttled down, to settle into the zone, but the zone was even wider if he had continued across and gained depth. Had Odunze been there, the ball would have been fine for a nice throw.

Settling down into a zone isnt a bad thing, and continuing across and up is a great thing to do too. Caleb has to throw long before Odunze's final position can be known from what you see, with anticipation, so it's a matter of what the team is preaching, and what the anticipation rules are.

Clearly, by Caleb showing "go deeper and across" with his hands to Odunze, Caleb was convinced that was the right answer. Maybe he was wrong, but usually it's what the QB wants that is the right answer?

It's gonna be one of those things that is clearer in the all 22 film later in the week I think. I'm personally convinced that was on Odunze.

[Mongo3451]

11 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

I have to disagree on that one, Odunze throttled down, to settle into the zone, but the zone was even wider if he had continued across and gained depth. Had Odunze been there, the ball would have been fine for a nice throw.

Settling down into a zone isnt a bad thing, and continuing across and up is a great thing to do too. Caleb has to throw long before Odunze's final position can be known from what you see, with anticipation, so it's a matter of what the team is preaching, and what the anticipation rules are.

Clearly, by Caleb showing "go deeper and across" with his hands to Odunze, Caleb was convinced that was the right answer. Maybe he was wrong, but usually it's what the QB wants that is the right answer?

It's gonna be one of those things that is clearer in the all 22 film later in the week I think. I'm personally convinced that was on Odunze.

Disagree all you want, I don't think the pass trajectory would have been a completion if Rome continued the route as Caleb wanted.  It was high and hot...

[BearFan PHX]

16 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

Disagree all you want, I don't think the pass trajectory would have been a completion if Rome continued the route as Caleb wanted.  It was high and hot...

it's OK to disagree. I dont see it the way you do, it's all good.

Also, the ball is following a ballistic path, so further down the field the ball wouldn't be as high, and after 12+ yards velocity doesn't need to be touch.

With better coaching, and time, Caleb and Odunze should hopefully be more on the same page next year.

[BearFan PHX]

Holy crap! That 4th and 1 throw and catch by Moore! Wow!

[jason]

This is the most peewee, rudimentary, visionless, cowardly offensive strategy I’ve ever seen. There is no misdirection. No creativity. No execution. It’s atrocious.

[BearFan PHX]

dont forget clock management too - it's like Eberflus is still doing it.

[jason]

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

It was both.  Caleb throws heaters way too much.

100% correct. Part of the reason he has the rookie lack of interceptions record is partially a reason his receivers have so many drops: he throws rockets regardless of route. On probably 9 of 10 passes he guns it in with all his might, like the anti-Greg Maddux. 

[adam]

Thomas Brown looked like the OC of the 2023 Panthers coaching the 2024 Bears. The one game in the last 3 months that the defense actually shows up and that is what the offense looked like? How about Kmet? Zero targets. That is 2 out of the last 4 games without a target, and only 3 total in the last 4 games. For a top 10 TE contract. Unbelievable really. 

The defense actually played much better with their gaps. Fant was their leading receiver, so JSN, Metcalf, and Lockett were kept in check. 

I really hope these brutal offensive concepts and now all the sacks piling up haven't killed Williams already. He looked terrible. Outside of 2-3 throws, he was out of sync, missing throws, running into rushers. He seemed to revert back to needing to see someone open, and that extra .5 sec was causing some sacks.  

The O-Line was worse than I expected. I knew they would be bad, but wow. Borom and Curhan were revolving doors. 

Brutal loss, one more and this abortion of a season is done. 

[Bears4Ever_34]

That was as bad as Caleb has looked all season. Right up there with the Patriots game. The Bears are one of the only teams I see on gamedays that presumably don't have a hot read package to exploit a blitz. I simply can't fathom how one could run an offense without them. Is the quarterback not adjusting protections, or is it Thomas Brown not giving him the right options to work with? This season cannot end soon enough. I hate everything about this team.

We've all been through a lot as fans over the years, but I think this might be the most miserable I've ever been about a season in my 25-ish years of watching this franchise. I legit don't think I'm even going to watch next week, and I've never voluntarily chosen to not watch a Bears game. I want this to be over and done with today. Just hire Ben Johnson, fire Ryan Poles, and let's get to the draft so we can have the annual 4-5 months of off-season optimism before reality kicks us in the face again once the season starts.

[Bears4Ever_34]

2 hours ago, adam said:

Thomas Brown looked like the OC of the 2023 Panthers coaching the 2024 Bears. The one game in the last 3 months that the defense actually shows up and that is what the offense looked like? How about Kmet? Zero targets. That is 2 out of the last 4 games without a target, and only 3 total in the last 4 games. For a top 10 TE contract. Unbelievable really. 

Man, was I wrong about Thomas Brown. I defended him against the notion that moving him to HC was going to dramatically impact the offense, but those people have proven to be correct. He looks totally clueless, as inept as his processor. Of course, it also could just be a case where he would have been figured out anyways by opposing coordinators. Bears OC's have a tendency to look good for short bursts and then fall into a permanent stasis of bad the more film there is to examine.

The Bears never have coordinators who've ever been able to make the appropriate counters after an area of weakness has been exploited. It's a tale as old as time.

Thomas Brown has been so bad that an interview would be a waste of time, at this point. I'm not so sure he'll be getting any looks at an OC job next year, either. Just truly awful, in every regard.

[Daventry]

1 hour ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

That was as bad as Caleb has looked all season. Right up there with the Patriots game. The Bears are one of the only teams I see on gamedays that presumably don't have a hot read package to exploit a blitz. I simply can't fathom how one could run an offense without them. Is the quarterback not adjusting protections, or is it Thomas Brown not giving him the right options to work with? This season cannot end soon enough. I hate everything about this team.

We've all been through a lot as fans over the years, but I think this might be the most miserable I've ever been about a season in my 25-ish years of watching this franchise. I legit don't think I'm even going to watch next week, and I've never voluntarily chosen to not watch a Bears game. I want this to be over and done with today. Just hire Ben Johnson, fire Ryan Poles, and let's get to the draft so we can have the annual 4-5 months of off-season optimism before reality kicks us in the face again once the season starts.

I agree, I feel lower about the team than before because my expectations were high.  Wrong again.  The people I thought would turn the ship around capsized it again.  I expect the owners, the real albatross around the teams neck, to keep Poles and extend the misery.  People were chanting “sell the team” after the game but I doubt they will.  I don’t know how to feel optimistic for this franchise anymore.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

16 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

Disagree all you want, I don't think the pass trajectory would have been a completion if Rome continued the route as Caleb wanted.  It was high and hot...

It was a touchdown if Rome didn’t sit in the zone. Was a total dime. 

[Mongo3451]

3 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

It was a touchdown if Rome didn’t sit in the zone. Was a total dime. 

How do you see a dime when it's a piss missile three feet over his head?  If Rome was supposed to run a post, I can't see it being a dime, because he wouldn't be far enough horizontally.  Rome was running more horizontal than vertical.  If Rome cut from vertical at a 45° angle and accelerated through the ball, it would still be a high catch, taking him off stride.  Not a dime.  See and say what you want, I'll argue it was both.  

[BearFan PHX]

Ok, so a reporter asked our OC about that play, and he confirmed that Odunze should not have throttled down, and it wasn't Caleb's fault.

Also on the all 22, you can see Odunze stop running at the exact moment Caleb releases the ball, so no way Caleb could have seen he was going to do that ahead of time.

Our OC confirms that Odunze should have worked up to the second window, and Caleb read it the way he was supposed to. And you can see that had Odunze kept running full speed, he would have been deeper and the ball would have been lower (since it has a ballistic path) and not as far out in front of Odunze - it would have been a dime.

Now Im not mad at Odunze either - this is advanced stuff, and he and Caleb need to build rhythm together, but the fault was on Odunze, not Caleb as per our OC himself.

But the way I saw it at the time is confirmed here.