I chose "Other" too cuz, as many of us expected, it wasn't a competitive game at all. Let's be honest, it was 95% over at halftime and GB could have scored way more than 3 in the 2nd half if they had needed to. They didn't need to.
I think this game may have finally convinced the last few dead-end homer fans out there just how bad off the prior regime left this team. How Pace/Nagy weren't fired after the 2019 season is still a tragedy as it delayed the inevitable rebuild a year and wasted a year of Fields' rookie contract.
Bottom line: the Bears are early in the rebuild process and they have a long, long way to go. There's a ton of holes on this team and the roster simply is well-below-average in terms of NFL talent. The Packers aren't even as good IMO as the elite teams of the AFC (KC, Buffalo) and yet they blew the Bears out by the 2nd quarter.
So picking a "deflated ball" is a waste of time as virtually every aspect was uncompetitive. I'll say a few emblematic things:
The Bears "top 2 receiving weapons" (Mooney & Kmet) have a combined 2 catches for 4 yards in 2 games. There's no way to sugarcoat that turd. They have both been utterly ineffective and the Bears receiving group as a whole is among the NFL's worst. Let's not pretend otherwise.
Bears OL needs a lot of work. They have long stretches where they can't pass or run block worth a damn. Which results in constant 3rd and longs.
In case anyone thinks the problems are just on offense, last night showed that the defense has plenty of holes of it's own. Bears are gonna need an edge rusher (Quinn will be gone), a CB, a DT, and probably a ILB upgrade. Rodgers and Aaron Jones made them look pathetic and this Packers O is a shadow of what it was a few years ago.
Just when we thought we had a good coaching staff in place, we found out there's plenty of work to do there too. Bears were back to their old tricks of too many penalties, wasted timeouts, and predictable play calls. I don't think even Bellichick could have coached a win last night with the talent deficit we had, but Flus/Getsy/Williams didn't exactly shine either.
Finally, and I'm not panicking yet, Justin Fields really needs to step it up. I'm fully aware that he has crap receivers and a shaky OL but yeash he did not good at all. The "he's still green" excuse won't play forever. Put it this way, if Fields is still playing in week 17 like he did in week 2, the Bears will be picking top-5 and should be drafting another QB. Packers D is solid but hardly a HOF unit. Kirk f*****g Cousins ripped them to shreds just a week prior. Lot of inaccurate throws and pocket unawareness last night from JF, no bueno.
I'm sticking to my preseason prediction of this being a ~ 7-10 team, It would be 5-6 wins if they didn't have such a soft schedule. I expect this isn't the last time this season we will see the Bears simply look bad and uncompetitive. When you can't hang for more than the 1st quarter, your team is nowhere near ready.
Remember when people were saying Mooney is a #1 WR? I remember...
Even though Robinson wasn't doing great last year. He still demanded attention from the #1 CB on the other team. Mooney will never be a good #1 WR.
That said, with all that the Bears did poorly, this should have been a one score game instead of a turnover on downs at the 1 inch line. Can thank the play call for that, can thank the refs for that, can thank the players execution for that. However, there was some positives to take from that game. The Packers are good and the Bears held them to 3 points in the second half.
I think the rotation with Jenkins and Patrick needs to end. When he's healthy he can slot in at center and it will drastically improve this o-line. The Bears have 2 winnable games coming up...lets flush this one down the toilet.
+1 I just finished re-watching the game. It was a tough opponent this early in the season. There is a lot of opportunity to improve because a lot of mistakes were made. We should see the team get better as the season progresses. Fields did look bad. Maybe the best thing in store for Fields and the Bears (hopefully) will be the Texans. They're 27th against the pass. Should be an easier day for the Bears passing.
The Bears are one of the few teams in the league that still use a FB (and do it well). Line up under center, sneak it, and have that big FB push you over the line.
Bears pulled a "Nagy" on that one. Totally overthought it and it cost them a TD. Nagy was so like that. Not saying this regime = Nagy. But that 1 play was a Nagy one to the core. Get under center, snap the ball and QB sneak that puppy. Take your 7 points.
That said, with all that the Bears did poorly, this should have been a one score game instead of a turnover on downs at the 1 inch line. Can thank the play call for that, can thank the refs for that, can thank the players execution for that. However, there was some positives to take from that game. The Packers are good and the Bears held them to 3 points in the second half.
I think the rotation with Jenkins and Patrick needs to end. When he's healthy he can slot in at center and it will drastically improve this o-line. The Bears have 2 winnable games coming up...lets flush this one down the toilet.
Its a minor point but yeah I totally agree. Jenkins looks like he's gonna be good so LET HIM PLAY.
To the larger point, Getsy needs to loosen the reins on Fields and start to let him sink or swim. You can't "protect him" forever. I'm not suggesting he drop back to throw 40 times but 12-15 is too little. A big chunk of what this season is about is getting Fields experience, developing and evaluating him.
That said, with all that the Bears did poorly, this should have been a one score game instead of a turnover on downs at the 1 inch line. Can thank the play call for that, can thank the refs for that, can thank the players execution for that. However, there was some positives to take from that game. The Packers are good and the Bears held them to 3 points in the second half.
I think the rotation with Jenkins and Patrick needs to end. When he's healthy he can slot in at center and it will drastically improve this o-line. The Bears have 2 winnable games coming up...lets flush this one down the toilet.
Its a minor point but yeah I totally agree. Jenkins looks like he's gonna be good so LET HIM PLAY.
To the larger point, Getsy needs to loosen the reins on Fields and start to let him sink or swim. You can't "protect him" forever. I'm not suggesting he drop back to throw 40 times but 12-15 is too little. A big chunk of what this season is about is getting Fields experience, developing and evaluating him.
Get on with it vs Houston and the NYG.
My gut feeling is that Fields will be allowed to do more in these next two games. Maybe the plan originally was to be conservative in the first 2 games of the season due to the offense being in a totally new schemes with new coaches and players - with very questionable talent around Fields (I am being "kind" here and not saying crap talent) - and facing 2 of the better defenses in the NFL. That may have been the motivation behind the super conservative passing game. I'm not saying I agree with it. But I think that may have been the reason for the game plans in the first two games of the season.
Now it is very very very different. The Texans are one of the worst pass defenses in the entire NFL so far. Now would be a good time to take the training wheels off of Fields and see if he can ride the bike. The problem is that the talent around him is still the same. Not good. But I could see Fields having a good day on Sunday. Not magically night-and-day better. But significantly better. It will be interesting to watch what actually happens in that game. The defense has work to do too. Stuff to clean up.
Its a minor point but yeah I totally agree. Jenkins looks like he's gonna be good so LET HIM PLAY.
To the larger point, Getsy needs to loosen the reins on Fields and start to let him sink or swim. You can't "protect him" forever. I'm not suggesting he drop back to throw 40 times but 12-15 is too little. A big chunk of what this season is about is getting Fields experience, developing and evaluating him.
Get on with it vs Houston and the NYG.
My gut feeling is that Fields will be allowed to do more in these next two games. Maybe the plan originally was to be conservative in the first 2 games of the season due to the offense being in a totally new schemes with new coaches and players - with very questionable talent around Fields (I am being "kind" here and not saying crap talent) - and facing 2 of the better defenses in the NFL. That may have been the motivation behind the super conservative passing game. I'm not saying I agree with it. But I think that may have been the reason for the game plans in the first two games of the season.
Now it is very very very different. The Texans are one of the worst pass defenses in the entire NFL so far. Now would be a good time to take the training wheels off of Fields and see if he can ride the bike. The problem is that the talent around him is still the same. Not good. But I could see Fields having a good day on Sunday. Not magically night-and-day better. But significantly better. It will be interesting to watch what actually happens in that game. The defense has work to do too. Stuff to clean up.
Davis Mills is on a crap team with crap talent too. So is Geno Smith So is old man Joe Flacco And Fields draft compatriot, Trevor Lawrence
All are outplaying Fields by a wide margin through the first 2 weeks.
Loosen the shackles. Put your big boy pants on, Justin.
It's time to sink or swim. Or at least to start sinking or swimming.
Not asking for Dan Marino here. Just ~ 20/27, 210 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT -- is that too much against a crap defense?
My gut feeling is that Fields will be allowed to do more in these next two games. Maybe the plan originally was to be conservative in the first 2 games of the season due to the offense being in a totally new schemes with new coaches and players - with very questionable talent around Fields (I am being "kind" here and not saying crap talent) - and facing 2 of the better defenses in the NFL. That may have been the motivation behind the super conservative passing game. I'm not saying I agree with it. But I think that may have been the reason for the game plans in the first two games of the season.
Now it is very very very different. The Texans are one of the worst pass defenses in the entire NFL so far. Now would be a good time to take the training wheels off of Fields and see if he can ride the bike. The problem is that the talent around him is still the same. Not good. But I could see Fields having a good day on Sunday. Not magically night-and-day better. But significantly better. It will be interesting to watch what actually happens in that game. The defense has work to do too. Stuff to clean up.
Davis Mills is on a crap team with crap talent too. So is Geno Smith So is old man Joe Flacco And Fields draft compatriot, Trevor Lawrence
All are outplaying Fields by a wide margin through the first 2 weeks.
Loosen the shackles. Put your big boy pants on, Justin.
It's time to sink or swim. Or at least to start sinking or swimming.
Not asking for Dan Marino here. Just ~ 20/27, 210 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT -- is that too much against a crap defense?
Yeah, I fully expect the Bears will let him try to do more in this Texan game. And I also expect him to do better. Like you say, not asking for Dan Marino, but at least show improvement in this game. On a related topic, it amazes me how the Bears approach the QB position on their teams - spanning several years now. I just don't get it. They treat the QB position as an afterthought as far as their actions to support the QBs. If the QB position is important in the modern NFL that is HEAVILY slanted towards the passing game on offense now (and it is) then why on earth would you not pull out all the stops to support a young drafted QB? Why would you not try everything within your power to help these kids transition from college to the NFL? The NFL quarterback gig is infinitely more challenging to these young guys - on several levels. Can you just draft a kid and tell him to "sink or swim" - well that's pretty much what Chicago has historically done here.
How well has that worked for the Bears? I totally agree with riczaj01 who recently posted that yes, some of these young QBs are destined to fail no matter what you do. But others fail due to not being given an environment where they CAN succeed in the NFL. I believe that totally. We will never know how many of the 40+ starting QBs for the Bears failed here due to not really having a fighting chance to succeed. Maybe most were bums... I don't know, but I strongly suspect some of them could have been very good QB's if they had the coaching/player support that would have enabled them to succeed. I believe a young college QB can be ruined if he is the kind of kid who can be decent but you fail to develop and support him. The Bears just toss these kids into the deep part of the pool and watch 'em down.
It really makes me angry. It is so stupid to watch this repeated failure in this Chicago franchise.
And my pet-peeve is comparing players. Every NFL player is a unique person in a unique environment. Not all develop at the same rate. Certainly the surrounding resources for each player are not the same. LOL, I'm rambling now. But personally I would move heaven and earth to give my young QB every opportunity to swim and not sink here. I've watched 40 or 50 years of these QB swimmers down here in Chicago. I'd like to see one swim. Especially Fields since he's already cost us some serious draft capitol and is "here" right now.
And here's the deal. If you do have the infrastructure in place and Fields sinks anyway... well at least you don't automatically drown the new kid you draft. Maybe HE will have a fighting chance to survive being a QB drafted by Chicago. I've thought many times how if my son was a good college QB and he heard his name called in the draft by Chicago... I'd crap my pants right there. It's a death sentence. You are NOT gonna swim there. You are a dead man.
Davis Mills is on a crap team with crap talent too. So is Geno Smith So is old man Joe Flacco And Fields draft compatriot, Trevor Lawrence
All are outplaying Fields by a wide margin through the first 2 weeks.
Loosen the shackles. Put your big boy pants on, Justin.
It's time to sink or swim. Or at least to start sinking or swimming.
Not asking for Dan Marino here. Just ~ 20/27, 210 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT -- is that too much against a crap defense?
Yeah, I fully expect the Bears will let him try to do more in this Texan game. And I also expect him to do better. Like you say, not asking for Dan Marino, but at least show improvement in this game. On a related topic, it amazes me how the Bears approach the QB position on their teams - spanning several years now. I just don't get it. They treat the QB position as an afterthought as far as their actions to support the QBs. If the QB position is important in the modern NFL that is HEAVILY slanted towards the passing game on offense now (and it is) then why on earth would you not pull out all the stops to support a young drafted QB? Why would you not try everything within your power to help these kids transition from college to the NFL? The NFL quarterback gig is infinitely more challenging to these young guys - on several levels. Can you just draft a kid and tell him to "sink or swim" - well that's pretty much what Chicago has historically done here.
How well has that worked for the Bears? I totally agree with riczaj01 who recently posted that yes, some of these young QBs are destined to fail no matter what you do. But others fail due to not being given an environment where they CAN succeed in the NFL. I believe that totally. We will never know how many of the 40+ starting QBs for the Bears failed here due to not really having a fighting chance to succeed. Maybe most were bums... I don't know, but I strongly suspect some of them could have been very good QB's if they had the coaching/player support that would have enabled them to succeed. I believe a young college QB can be ruined if he is the kind of kid who can be decent but you fail to develop and support him. The Bears just toss these kids into the deep part of the pool and watch 'em down.
It really makes me angry. It is so stupid to watch this repeated failure in this Chicago franchise.
And my pet-peeve is comparing players. Every NFL player is a unique person in a unique environment. Not all develop at the same rate. Certainly the surrounding resources for each player are not the same. LOL, I'm rambling now. But personally I would move heaven and earth to give my young QB every opportunity to swim and not sink here. I've watched 40 or 50 years of these QB swimmers down here in Chicago. I'd like to see one swim. Especially Fields since he's already cost us some serious draft capitol and is "here" right now.
And here's the deal. If you do have the infrastructure in place and Fields sinks anyway... well at least you don't automatically drown the new kid you draft. Maybe HE will have a fighting chance to survive being a QB drafted by Chicago. I've thought many times how if my son was a good college QB and he heard his name called in the draft by Chicago... I'd crap my pants right there. It's a death sentence. You are NOT gonna swim there. You are a dead man.
I hear this argument from people, you and Ric especially here, all the time. Yeah I get it--in an ideal situation you would draft a 1st round QB and magically surround him with a stellar OL, good receivers, and a solid running game. Let me wave my magic wand and I'll be happy to do that. I'd love it.
Reality intrudes however. Situations like that are rare in the NFL. Most times teams that are drafting a high-1st round new QB are, by definition, CRAP TEAMS. That's why they are picking high in the 1st round. Or why they are desperate enough to trade up into the high 1st round (and keep in mind that doing so means trading away lots of future draft capital which impedes the "surrounding resources" you spoke of).
These teams are often the same ones going through GM and HC changes too. New regimes and new QBs tends to go hand-in-hand and, guess what, teams that are stocked with good talent and winning a lot of games don't tend to be the ones drafting new QBs in the top-10 or so.
For every Mahomes situation (ideal), I can cite you 3 or 4 Joe Burrow/Justin Herbert/Kyler Murray/Daniel Jones/Justin Fields/Trevor Lawrence/Zach Wilson situations (new QBs coming to shit teams in a rebuild). Taking just the first one, Burrow came into a team that went like 2-14 the year before and in his rookie year played behind a horrific OL--way worse than Fields has right now. Even the following season when he took them all the way to the SB in a cinderella story, his OL was still garbage. The main difference was they hit on Jamar Chase big time in the draft.
In the Bears specific circumstances, ownership dithered for a year in cleaning house so not only did Fields join a team low on talent, he also had a coaching change and a new GM came in who was stuck cleaning up the $60m in dead cap left over by the previous GM's overpaid/aging/injured/loafing veteran contracts. [I'm looking squarely at Trevathan, Hicks, Robinson, and Goldman here specifically.]
So, I'll ask this: Given the circumstances in Chicago this offseason, what specifically did you want Poles to do?
People say he should have drafted Pickens (WR) instead of Brisker (S). Ok, well George Pickens hasn't done squat yet this year.
Should he have signed a major acquisition at OL or WR? Ok, well who? And how? Bears didn't have much $$ to spend and no big name FA would want to come here for a rebuild with an unproven young QB. That's a pipe dream.
The earliest Poles can start adding "resources" is next year, which is Fields' 3rd of his contract. If you want to blame someone for that, then blame Pace for jacking up the cap and roster and McCaskey for not firing him faster.
Yeah, I fully expect the Bears will let him try to do more in this Texan game. And I also expect him to do better. Like you say, not asking for Dan Marino, but at least show improvement in this game. On a related topic, it amazes me how the Bears approach the QB position on their teams - spanning several years now. I just don't get it. They treat the QB position as an afterthought as far as their actions to support the QBs. If the QB position is important in the modern NFL that is HEAVILY slanted towards the passing game on offense now (and it is) then why on earth would you not pull out all the stops to support a young drafted QB? Why would you not try everything within your power to help these kids transition from college to the NFL? The NFL quarterback gig is infinitely more challenging to these young guys - on several levels. Can you just draft a kid and tell him to "sink or swim" - well that's pretty much what Chicago has historically done here.
How well has that worked for the Bears? I totally agree with riczaj01 who recently posted that yes, some of these young QBs are destined to fail no matter what you do. But others fail due to not being given an environment where they CAN succeed in the NFL. I believe that totally. We will never know how many of the 40+ starting QBs for the Bears failed here due to not really having a fighting chance to succeed. Maybe most were bums... I don't know, but I strongly suspect some of them could have been very good QB's if they had the coaching/player support that would have enabled them to succeed. I believe a young college QB can be ruined if he is the kind of kid who can be decent but you fail to develop and support him. The Bears just toss these kids into the deep part of the pool and watch 'em down.
It really makes me angry. It is so stupid to watch this repeated failure in this Chicago franchise.
And my pet-peeve is comparing players. Every NFL player is a unique person in a unique environment. Not all develop at the same rate. Certainly the surrounding resources for each player are not the same. LOL, I'm rambling now. But personally I would move heaven and earth to give my young QB every opportunity to swim and not sink here. I've watched 40 or 50 years of these QB swimmers down here in Chicago. I'd like to see one swim. Especially Fields since he's already cost us some serious draft capitol and is "here" right now.
And here's the deal. If you do have the infrastructure in place and Fields sinks anyway... well at least you don't automatically drown the new kid you draft. Maybe HE will have a fighting chance to survive being a QB drafted by Chicago. I've thought many times how if my son was a good college QB and he heard his name called in the draft by Chicago... I'd crap my pants right there. It's a death sentence. You are NOT gonna swim there. You are a dead man.
I hear this argument from people, you and Ric especially here, all the time. Yeah I get it--in an ideal situation you would draft a 1st round QB and magically surround him with a stellar OL, good receivers, and a solid running game. Let me wave my magic wand and I'll be happy to do that. I'd love it.
Reality intrudes however. Situations like that are rare in the NFL. Most times teams that are drafting a high-1st round new QB are, by definition, CRAP TEAMS. That's why they are picking high in the 1st round. Or why they are desperate enough to trade up into the high 1st round (and keep in mind that doing so means trading away lots of future draft capital which impedes the "surrounding resources" you spoke of).
These teams are often the same ones going through GM and HC changes too. New regimes and new QBs tends to go hand-in-hand and, guess what, teams that are stocked with good talent and winning a lot of games don't tend to be the ones drafting new QBs in the top-10 or so.
For every Mahomes situation (ideal), I can cite you 3 or 4 Joe Burrow/Justin Herbert/Kyler Murray/Daniel Jones/Justin Fields/Trevor Lawrence/Zach Wilson situations (new QBs coming to shit teams in a rebuild). Taking just the first one, Burrow came into a team that went like 2-14 the year before and in his rookie year played behind a horrific OL--way worse than Fields has right now. Even the following season when he took them all the way to the SB in a cinderella story, his OL was still garbage. The main difference was they hit on Jamar Chase big time in the draft.
In the Bears specific circumstances, ownership dithered for a year in cleaning house so not only did Fields join a team low on talent, he also had a coaching change and a new GM came in who was stuck cleaning up the $60m in dead cap left over by the previous GM's overpaid/aging/injured/loafing veteran contracts. [I'm looking squarely at Trevathan, Hicks, Robinson, and Goldman here specifically.]
So, I'll ask this: Given the circumstances in Chicago this offseason, what specifically did you want Poles to do?
People say he should have drafted Pickens (WR) instead of Brisker (S). Ok, well George Pickens hasn't done squat yet this year.
Should he have signed a major acquisition at OL or WR? Ok, well who? And how? Bears didn't have much $$ to spend and no big name FA would want to come here for a rebuild with an unproven young QB. That's a pipe dream.
The earliest Poles can start adding "resources" is next year, which is Fields' 3rd of his contract. If you want to blame someone for that, then blame Pace for jacking up the cap and roster and McCaskey for not firing him faster.
That's not what i say, I'm saying you BUILD then get the QB. Or you build up the draft and FA resources to get the QB AND get the stuff around the qb w/in the next year. What you cannot do; and what most teams do, and why they fail so often, is draft a qb w/nothing around them, then start them, and then not even bother to try and build up the OL and WR's around them as if a young qb will just magically fix the O like a bag of pixie dust for the OL. Again last time the Bears actually went all in w/the QB, the OL and getting weapons for him the team got to a SB; just lost to Indy.
KC succeeded w/Mahomes b/c they were already all set in everything, Balt went ALL IN revamping what they would do and how they would do it right away w/Jackson. Mia has completely surrounded Tua w/OL and WR talent 1yr later. None of them sat around trying to build their Def back up w/what little resources they had while ignoring the QB and the O.
Burrows was brought into having everything BUT an OL; and it's showing how bad of an idea that is now; caught teams off guard last year, this year they are already done. Indy never was able to build an OL and destroyed one of the best QB prospects in the last 20 yrs, and did nothing w/him. Fields isn't Burrows or Luck, and the Bears are doing him dirtier then either of those franchises did those qb's.