shouldn't the WR's adjust more?

[selection7]

That got your attention! But in fact, I'm not here to defend Grossman, even with his lack of reps and playing a great D we should expect well more from him than we got. He sucked today. But that topic is pretty cut and dry so why bother.

 

What I instead want to bring up is our WR's continually not adjusting. Possibly the worst case was the Devin Hester bomb, beat his man, turned around to look for the ball, and promptly slowed down to 80% speed while watching Rex's ball land where he should have been. Man, if your name is Devin "freaking" Hester, slowing down on a post route cut is absolutely inexcusable. Even with Rex stinking it up, that one silly play would have put the Bears up to 21-21 in the 4th quarter. But I'll give him a break since he's not been a WR for long.

 

How about Mary Booker? Rex throws a poor pass (too short) about 15 yards downfield to the right sideline and Booker literally...just...stands...there. "Dude, wake up! You're on a football field. React! That ball belongs to you, so go get it!" I don't actually expect him to catch that of course, but he got lucky it wasn't a pick...that play so reminded me of Moose in the Superbowl. Then twice (a medium distance in-route and a short out) Rex throws passes off the mark and the receiver doesn't adjust. OK. So the reciever had his momentum at full speed and couldn't adjust right?? NOPE. Both times...just jogging...and yet could not be bothered to go all out to the spot where the ball was headed to try and make the catch. On that short out the receiver couldn't even bring himself to pick his speed up from a medium jog. If I'm a WR coach, that kind of cluelessness/laziness would drive me nuts.

 

It appeared they weren't getting open a lot of the time too, since Rex sometimes had plenty of pocket time yet couldn't find an open receiver, but I maybe that was just Rex. On the TV they don't show the secondary so it's hard to tell. Anyway, I'm pleased with our WR's overall this season, so hopefully once we get Lloyd and Orton back we'll be in better form. It was a boring game overall (I've been spoiled by some great ones so far this year), but at least we were in it until the end thanks to the rush defene.

[Bears4Ever_34]

I see your point but let me just say this.. The receivers didn't seem to have any trouble making plays when Kyle Orton was the QB.

[GrizzlyBear]

I see your point but let me just say this.. The receivers didn't seem to have any trouble making plays when Kyle Orton was the QB.

 

Exactly!!!!

[Guest TerraTor]

Exactly!!!!

how can u adjust to terribly thrown balls? behind the route, over your head, out of bounds.... hes so bad it makes me sick

[nfoligno]

I don't think Hester slowed up, or at least not nearly as you are making out. They showed the replay numerous times, and he seemed to keep up his stride all the way through. It was simply a bad pass, plain and simple.

 

Regarding the play w/ Booker, I felt the same thing until watching replays. My first reaction, like you, was the WR needs to become a DB and ensure the CB has no shot on the ball. Then it showed replays, and there was really little Booker could do. They were running down the sideline, and Booker was moving/breaking for the sideline, expecting the pass to be high and outside. He positioned his body for such while running in stride. The ball was short. Way short. Booker simply had not way of not only stopping, but totally turning his body in a way to affect the play. The pass simply took Booker completely out of the play on that one.

 

It appeared they weren't getting open a lot of the time too, since Rex sometimes had plenty of pocket time yet couldn't find an open receiver, but I maybe that was just Rex. On the TV they don't show the secondary so it's hard to tell.

 

Someone at the bar said the same thing, but then I and others pointed out how the same was said for years, then Orton starts, and suddenly our WRs are open. IMHO, more likely is our WRs were open, but Rex was unable to find them. I too used to believe the WRs were a big part of the problem, but now I think it was just Rex. I have a feeling that if Orton were under center, we would have seen open WRs. Maybe that is not fair, but Orton has seemed capable of finding open WRs thus far this year, so I just find it a bit hard to believe suddenly our WRs are blanketed, like the old days.

[Wesson44]

I don't think Hester slowed up, or at least not nearly as you are making out. They showed the replay numerous times, and he seemed to keep up his stride all the way through. It was simply a bad pass, plain and simple.

 

Regarding the play w/ Booker, I felt the same thing until watching replays. My first reaction, like you, was the WR needs to become a DB and ensure the CB has no shot on the ball. Then it showed replays, and there was really little Booker could do. They were running down the sideline, and Booker was moving/breaking for the sideline, expecting the pass to be high and outside. He positioned his body for such while running in stride. The ball was short. Way short. Booker simply had not way of not only stopping, but totally turning his body in a way to affect the play. The pass simply took Booker completely out of the play on that one.

 

It appeared they weren't getting open a lot of the time too, since Rex sometimes had plenty of pocket time yet couldn't find an open receiver, but I maybe that was just Rex. On the TV they don't show the secondary so it's hard to tell.

 

Someone at the bar said the same thing, but then I and others pointed out how the same was said for years, then Orton starts, and suddenly our WRs are open. IMHO, more likely is our WRs were open, but Rex was unable to find them. I too used to believe the WRs were a big part of the problem, but now I think it was just Rex. I have a feeling that if Orton were under center, we would have seen open WRs. Maybe that is not fair, but Orton has seemed capable of finding open WRs thus far this year, so I just find it a bit hard to believe suddenly our WRs are blanketed, like the old days.

 

You also have to say that Rex was throwing the ball away alot because our WR were not open and he was trying not to force anything ....he did that well. But I blame Turner for his play calling. You know Rex is great with the play action roll out to the TE, but you never used that play. WHY???? We have slow WR and that that. We donn't run Hester deep to make the corners move back, we have slow Booker running short routes, you don't use Clark Olsen across the middle or down the seam at all what do you expect form Grossman since his timing was off. What he should have done was use Forte,Jones and Wolfe out of the backfeild more. Use the Te in the middle and on out. Those are the plays that will give us the control of the game to bust Hester deep once in a while.

[nfoligno]

One. you assume the WRs were not open, but really, we have no way of knowing that as you can not tell from TV. I just question this a bit because the same WRs seemed to get open w/ Orton under center, so I am not sure we should be so quick to assume they were covered simply because Rex was holding the ball. It very well may be that Rex is simply not as good finding the open WRs.

 

Two. You wanted to see Hester running deeper patterns, but it is also possible that we didn't run as many deep routes to try and hasten Rex being able to get the ball out of his hands quicker, thus trying to negate the pass rush more.

 

Three. You want to use the TE in the deep seem more, but again, that means Rex has to hold the ball more, which allows the DL more time to rush the QB. Again, we may have been trying to avoid this.

 

Four. You want to use the RBs out of the backfield more, but (a) that takes away a blocker, and that is not often a good thing w/ Rex under center and ( wasn't Forte our leading receiver? Seems we did use the RBs out of the backfield quick a bit, even going w/ an empty backfield at times as the RB would split out, which frankly I am not a fan of.

 

I am not saying Turner couldn't have done more, but I think he has done a good job this year. The offense seemed to work pretty well w/ Turner/Orton, so I am not sure we should be so quick to blame Turner when Rex fails to deliver. I think the greater issues were (a) Rex staring down his receivers and ( Rex missing open WRs.

 

You also have to say that Rex was throwing the ball away alot because our WR were not open and he was trying not to force anything ....he did that well. But I blame Turner for his play calling. You know Rex is great with the play action roll out to the TE, but you never used that play. WHY???? We have slow WR and that that. We donn't run Hester deep to make the corners move back, we have slow Booker running short routes, you don't use Clark Olsen across the middle or down the seam at all what do you expect form Grossman since his timing was off. What he should have done was use Forte,Jones and Wolfe out of the backfeild more. Use the Te in the middle and on out. Those are the plays that will give us the control of the game to bust Hester deep once in a while.

[selection7]

Some good responses...

I thought I'd add a little to this one though.

 

I don't think Hester slowed up, or at least not nearly as you are making out. They showed the replay numerous times, and he seemed to keep up his stride all the way through. It was simply a bad pass, plain and simple.

 

#1 Did you notice that when that ball came down, had Hester extended his hands it would have missed by about 4 feet? 80% speed was an exaggeration, but to even drop to 88% speed for a fourth of the route is enough to end up 4 feet short.

 

#2 As someone who's always loved football and spent much of my youth at it, I developed the attitude that as a receiver, any overthrown pass that was anywhere near me was my fault if I wasn't going 100%. That carried over to my (attempts at) playing QB. Don't let me overthrow you. Go get it (unless you're slow of course). As I watched Devin Hester I saw 2 things, he slowed down when he made the cut and turned to look (which I always HATED as a QB and always was first to admit back at the huddle if I was the WR), and when he figured out he needed the afterburners, he freaked out and sort of stumbled forward for the ball. When fast people turn on the afterburners, they get more fluid in movement, not less. I believe Rex threw the ball where Hester should have been able to get to it.

 

So we can agree to disagree, but based on my perspectives I've just outlined, at least you can see where I'm coming from. That doesn't mean that a QB should aim for the spot that requires every last drop of speed from his WR, that's cutting it too close and you have to assume that the CB won't be draped all over your WR's back. About 3 ft shorter than where it went is where Rex should have ideally put it. It's not my motive to suggest the pass was perfect. I just thought that the WR was more to blame.

 

#3 You guys realize that deep Hester pass was 45 yards in the air? I've not personally known too many people (none, actually) that could regularly put a ball right in a reciever's hands (in terms of distance thrown) on a 45 yard pass after reading a defense and having 300lb guys trying to knock your head off. Now, this is the NFL, so we expect much more, but how much more? IMO, some of the value in the deep ball is the threat, to show that you'll do it if their D doesn't respect it, but you should expect to not complete it 2/3rds of the time (even less if you don't catch them by surprise). By my guess, a good third of the time you should expect that a too short/long pass outright ruins the play, with passes landing right on the mark only about 25% of the time. It seems from the commentary I've seen from fans and the media that not everyone shares my perspective. No one has really been taking it to Rex for his deep pass miss last Sunday, so I'm not referencing that one episode as much as just a general trend I've noticed in terms of reaction from the peanut gallery. I don't feak out about a missed deep pass unless it's happening a lot, it's just the cost of doing business, so-to-speak.

[Guest TerraTor]

Some good responses...

I thought I'd add a little to this one though.

 

 

 

#1 Did you notice that when that ball came down, had Hester extended his hands it would have missed by about 4 feet? 80% speed was an exaggeration, but to even drop to 88% speed for a fourth of the route is enough to end up 4 feet short.

 

#2 As someone who's always loved football and spent much of my youth at it, I developed the attitude that as a receiver, any overthrown pass that was anywhere near me was my fault if I wasn't going 100%. That carried over to my (attempts at) playing QB. Don't let me overthrow you. Go get it (unless you're slow of course). As I watched Devin Hester I saw 2 things, he slowed down when he made the cut and turned to look (which I always HATED as a QB and always was first to admit back at the huddle if I was the WR), and when he figured out he needed the afterburners, he freaked out and sort of stumbled forward for the ball. When fast people turn on the afterburners, they get more fluid in movement, not less. I believe Rex threw the ball where Hester should have been able to get to it.

 

So we can agree to disagree, but based on my perspectives I've just outlined, at least you can see where I'm coming from. That doesn't mean that a QB should aim for the spot that requires every last drop of speed from his WR, that's cutting it too close and you have to assume that the CB won't be draped all over your WR's back. About 3 ft shorter than where it went is where Rex should have ideally put it. It's not my motive to suggest the pass was perfect. I just thought that the WR was more to blame.

 

#3 You guys realize that deep Hester pass was 45 yards in the air? I've not personally known too many people (none, actually) that could regularly put a ball right in a reciever's hands (in terms of distance thrown) on a 45 yard pass after reading a defense and having 300lb guys trying to knock your head off. Now, this is the NFL, so we expect much more, but how much more? IMO, some of the value in the deep ball is the threat, to show that you'll do it if their D doesn't respect it, but you should expect to not complete it 2/3rds of the time (even less if you don't catch them by surprise). By my guess, a good third of the time you should expect that a too short/long pass outright ruins the play, with passes landing right on the mark only about 25% of the time. It seems from the commentary I've seen from fans and the media that not everyone shares my perspective. No one has really been taking it to Rex for his deep pass miss last Sunday, so I'm not referencing that one episode as much as just a general trend I've noticed in terms of reaction from the peanut gallery. I don't feak out about a missed deep pass unless it's happening a lot, it's just the cost of doing business, so-to-speak.

 

 

less than half of his passes were on target, lets be realistic

[GrizzlyBear]

Some good responses...

I thought I'd add a little to this one though.

 

 

 

#1 Did you notice that when that ball came down, had Hester extended his hands it would have missed by about 4 feet? 80% speed was an exaggeration, but to even drop to 88% speed for a fourth of the route is enough to end up 4 feet short.

 

#2 As someone who's always loved football and spent much of my youth at it, I developed the attitude that as a receiver, any overthrown pass that was anywhere near me was my fault if I wasn't going 100%. That carried over to my (attempts at) playing QB. Don't let me overthrow you. Go get it (unless you're slow of course). As I watched Devin Hester I saw 2 things, he slowed down when he made the cut and turned to look (which I always HATED as a QB and always was first to admit back at the huddle if I was the WR), and when he figured out he needed the afterburners, he freaked out and sort of stumbled forward for the ball. When fast people turn on the afterburners, they get more fluid in movement, not less. I believe Rex threw the ball where Hester should have been able to get to it.

 

So we can agree to disagree, but based on my perspectives I've just outlined, at least you can see where I'm coming from. That doesn't mean that a QB should aim for the spot that requires every last drop of speed from his WR, that's cutting it too close and you have to assume that the CB won't be draped all over your WR's back. About 3 ft shorter than where it went is where Rex should have ideally put it. It's not my motive to suggest the pass was perfect. I just thought that the WR was more to blame.

 

#3 You guys realize that deep Hester pass was 45 yards in the air? I've not personally known too many people (none, actually) that could regularly put a ball right in a reciever's hands (in terms of distance thrown) on a 45 yard pass after reading a defense and having 300lb guys trying to knock your head off. Now, this is the NFL, so we expect much more, but how much more? IMO, some of the value in the deep ball is the threat, to show that you'll do it if their D doesn't respect it, but you should expect to not complete it 2/3rds of the time (even less if you don't catch them by surprise). By my guess, a good third of the time you should expect that a too short/long pass outright ruins the play, with passes landing right on the mark only about 25% of the time. It seems from the commentary I've seen from fans and the media that not everyone shares my perspective. No one has really been taking it to Rex for his deep pass miss last Sunday, so I'm not referencing that one episode as much as just a general trend I've noticed in terms of reaction from the peanut gallery. I don't feak out about a missed deep pass unless it's happening a lot, it's just the cost of doing business, so-to-speak.

 

Well I played FB and LB in High School and for the Big Red One Army team. I been on pass patterns and if a pass missed me it was his fault. (joking) The problem is you look at Rex and then look at Quinn, Both had strong arms and could not hit target. Rex had a couple of incredible games with passer ratings above 120. But those couple games dont give him pass on missing recievers as bad as he did. Orton plays within what the defense gives him with gambles limited to minimal risk during a game. There is no adjustment that recievers do with him, why the critcal finger pointing at them. I think we are the only team right now with all of our recievers over 200 plus yards. We rotate them like underwear.

[Controlled Chaos]

With respect to that deep ball to Hester...Rex put that ball where he needed to. You saw Hester kick into his next gear when he saw where the ball was. That's the gear he should be running from jump. What was he only going 85-90% because he didn't want to blow by the DB?? If Hester is running full out he catches the pass. If you want to blame Rex as I heard tons of callers and people on this board do, then it's because of a pre existing bias. You can always sloow down your route if you have to to adjust to the ball, but you run full out until that point....not the other way around. Other than that, Rex played a pretty piss poor game.