Have you watched any Seahawks games? I watch all of them. Geno is playing VERY well. Hawks run defense sucks almost as bad as the Bears, but unless the Bears improve, the Seahawks will probably finish slightly better W-L. I would like to be proven wrong, but that Giants loss lingers in my psyche.
Its Geno Smith...we've seen this movie before. They barely beat a Denver team who's coach couldn't figure out how to manage a clock if his life depended on it, got waxed by the 49ers...who...oh...we beat by the way, lost to the Falcons who are trying to be the 2021 Chicago Bears South, and then barely beat a Lions team that was missing its best running back and two best receivers.
Lets calm down with the hyperbole. Take the Giants loss in your psyche and replace it with the seahawks getting their ass kicked by the 49ers and barely beating a banged up Lions team.
49ers just kicked ass against the defending Super Bowl champs and their scoring defense is 12 points. Yes, I watched the Lions game. The Lions RB had a big game and the tight end had 8 receptions for 179 yards. They will probably beat the Bears. That’s what my hyperbolic psyche perceives.
I can't even remember what I predicted. But it was never about the wins/losses this year, for me anyway. I was expecting it to be a rough year on offense. But my hope was that the OL and skill positions would be better than what we are seeing - and that would allow Fields to make some improvement over the course of this season. I didn't expect to see the team look great, or Fields to. But I did not expect it to look this bad. LOL, this is really ugly football.
I'd be okay (not happy, but okay) if the team doesn't win another game this season - if we at least could see some incremental improvement as the season goes on. By that I mean we see blocking improve, some chemistry developing between Fields and the new WR unit, Kmet looking like a legit TE weapon, Fields having decent passing in games even if we are losing those games. Doesn't have to be great, or even very good - but better than THIS.
But instead this just looks so "Nagy like" this year.
It is a badly broken offense, and it looks like the team is just going to continue to be broken, and the year lost (a tough loss regarding Fields' lack of development). Fields looks like a mere shadow of the kid we drafted out of Ohio State. He looks like they broke him too. It's a damned shame what the Bears did to him. That's why I don't want to see the Bears draft a new QB until they get an infrastructure in place to properly develop a QB. That includes players AND coaches. Eberflus/Getsy are looking less appealing to me every week. Losing I can handle. I expected that. Losing like this, though, is not what I expected. And I don't understand the play calling at all.
To be fair...I don't think anyone expected us to be able to run the ball like we have...and the coaches told us all off season they really wanted to do that.
I'll preface this with the point that I "get it" Poles chose to go with this O roster for 2022. This is his team and it's what Eberflus has to work with (not much). Also, hey, having a solid run game to support a strong passing game is great. I'd love to have that to support a strong passing game every year here. Love that. But it can't be the centerpiece of your offense. If this is all Eberflus/Getsy have to offer then they are not who we want here. In hindsight I think Poles believed he had an O roster whose floor talent was high enough to get through the season. He rolled the dice and lost on that one. Fields is the one who is paying the price for that whiff. I just hope he is resilient enough to survive these initial 2 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He was mishandled here from day-1.
This problem on offense is what has killed this franchise for years here. Wouldn't you think that by now they would bring every resource to focus on fixing it? That doesn't mean tossing the stupid fans a bone by drafting more QBs here. It means REALLY fixing the problem rather than treat the symptoms of the disease. This year is done. It doesn't matter if it's 4 wins, 5, 6, 7 or whatever. It's just marking time until 2023. I've said all along that it is about 2023. Let's see if Poles invests the needed draft and cap money into top-tier roster talent on offense - or not. And I'm not talking about drafting another QB to be wasted here. OL/WR/TE units need to be fixed. Not with "hope and prayer" guys but with legit talent.
Y'know, for awhile now, I've had the conspiracy theory that the McCaskeys (note: different from 'the Bears') don't want a QB-led offense. It almost feels like there's a stubborn (senile) belief the Bears get off the bus running and someone doesn't want to see a +400 passing effort. It takes a really tight tin foil hat to come up with this sort of thing (and I have a closet full) and it doesn't explain the trade for Cutler (maybe someone in the FO made a promise that him and Martz were all just for show) but I can't see anything logical for literally trashing the careers of every QB who has been on the roster since GSH died. It's like, you can't possibly be THAT inept at getting a decent QB unless you're trying not to.
To be fair...I don't think anyone expected us to be able to run the ball like we have...and the coaches told us all off season they really wanted to do that.
I'll preface this with the point that I "get it" Poles chose to go with this O roster for 2022. This is his team and it's what Eberflus has to work with (not much). Also, hey, having a solid run game to support a strong passing game is great. I'd love to have that to support a strong passing game every year here. Love that. But it can't be the centerpiece of your offense. If this is all Eberflus/Getsy have to offer then they are not who we want here. In hindsight I think Poles believed he had an O roster whose floor talent was high enough to get through the season. He rolled the dice and lost on that one. Fields is the one who is paying the price for that whiff. I just hope he is resilient enough to survive these initial 2 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He was mishandled here from day-1.
This problem on offense is what has killed this franchise for years here. Wouldn't you think that by now they would bring every resource to focus on fixing it? That doesn't mean tossing the stupid fans a bone by drafting more QBs here. It means REALLY fixing the problem rather than treat the symptoms of the disease. This year is done. It doesn't matter if it's 4 wins, 5, 6, 7 or whatever. It's just marking time until 2023. I've said all along that it is about 2023. Let's see if Poles invests the needed draft and cap money into top-tier roster talent on offense - or not. And I'm not talking about drafting another QB to be wasted here. OL/WR/TE units need to be fixed. Not with "hope and prayer" guys but with legit talent.
I can only think of one scenario where the Bears don’t draft a WR in the first round and that would be if Will Anderson is still on the board when the Bears draft. This requires that the Bears have a top-5 pick. Otherwise, Anderson will be long gone before the Bears pick.
I also just looked at the 2023 free agent WR market. There are no big name guys there.
This is a problem. From Adam Hoge quoting E-Flaus:
"While detailing why Fields didn’t hit Mooney wide open down the seam before scrambling for 12 yards on 3rd and 10, Eberflus said:
“He certainly had time and could’ve rode the pocket a little bit more, but he decided to take it because what we were telling him is to take the check down or run on that when they’re in that defense.”
It’s hard to blame Fields for not keeping his eyes downfield when the coaches were telling him not to against a certain coverage."
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I'm reading that as saying that Fields is being told to NOT take chances or go off script in the passing game. He needed to let that one fly, but the coaching points were to check-down or run.
Y'know, for awhile now, I've had the conspiracy theory that the McCaskeys (note: different from 'the Bears') don't want a QB-led offense. It almost feels like there's a stubborn (senile) belief the Bears get off the bus running and someone doesn't want to see a +400 passing effort. It takes a really tight tin foil hat to come up with this sort of thing (and I have a closet full) and it doesn't explain the trade for Cutler (maybe someone in the FO made a promise that him and Martz were all just for show) but I can't see anything logical for literally trashing the careers of every QB who has been on the roster since GSH died. It's like, you can't possibly be THAT inept at getting a decent QB unless you're trying not to.
Pretty cRaZy, huh?
Its not just ownership, its fans too. We have this BEARS DEFENSE mentality. You see this in statements like:
Never draft a QB it should always be CB, LT or Edge in the first and then LBs/S in the second. AP QBS can be found packing groceries, you don't need to draft one. Great QBS can be found after the 4th round. High drafted WRS have never won a SB, so don't ever draft WRs in the first round. Bears are better than .500 when Mony gets 100+ yards on the ground, so just run the ball.
Bears fans as a class are mired in 70s football. (not all of us here of course, but you know the fans in your life who tell you those above statements.) I have brothers who got mad that they drafted Fields and not a RB in the first round because...run the ball to win in Chicago.
I know one likes hearing this and I will probably get flamed for it but yeah that's the best case realistic scenario.
I'm already over the hope that the 2022 Bears were gonna surprise to the upside and maybe challenge for a wildcard spot at 9-8 or something. My "ceiling" on wins is down to ~7 and I think the real number is more like 5. Bottom line, barring a major improvement on both sides of the ball, we are gonna have a top-5 pick or darn close to it.
So, lets all hope that the offense (Fields in particular) can gradually improve enough this year to have optimism for the future and then TRADE DOWN that top-5 pick to a QB-needy team in return for a bounty of draft capital. It's supposed to be a good QB draft coming up so QBs are gonna be highly sought after in the upper-1st.
I know its unpopular to root for such a scenario but, if you want to "surround Fields with talent", then that's the best way to maximize your chances.
You may be on to something there (the trade down). The QBs in this draft don't look as good as Fields did coming out of Ohio State. They'd quickly be ruined here anyway, on a team that is starved for WR/TE/OL talent (real talent, and not lower round draft picks, UDFA, waiver wire duds & cast off vets from other teams - or in the case of Kmet, a high draft pick but a meh player). Frankly, I don't want the Bears to draft another QB until they build the infrastructure to support a QB here and develop him. Otherwise it's the same cycle of doom we've seen here for years now. Just a different GM/HC. Same failed offense.
This has been a popular refrain around here. While I understand the frustration, its an unrealistic scenario and you don't see it very often in the NFL.
When you NEED a QB and you have a chance to draft one, you do it. Guess what? Teams that "need a QB" and teams that have high draft picks tend to be bad teams. The Andy Reid/KC/Alex Smith/Mahommes scenario is the exception, not the rule.
IF Fields flops miserably this year and the Bears end up picking #3, then hell yeah I want them to draft another QB. The idea that you have to "wait until the right time" to get a QB strikes me as looking a gift horse in the mouth. You have no chance in the modern NFL without a QB and it takes a minimum of 1-2 years to get a new one up to speed (for anyone not named Andrew Luck) so when you have the need and the opportunity, you draft one. You know why? The following draft for QBs may SUCK and/or you may not have a high enough pick to get in range. Then you are shit outta luck as they say.
In 2021, the Bears could have drafted a WR in the 1st round instead of Fields (recall they drafted OL in the 2nd). Would that have been better in your mind? The 2022 Bears would be the same team they are now with (hopefully) one more good WR and an expensive, overpaid, journeyman vet like Wentz or Dalton or Foles at QB1.
Is that preferable? I don't think so. At least with Fields you have a shot at a future. You don't have that otherwise.
I know one likes hearing this and I will probably get flamed for it but yeah that's the best case realistic scenario.
I'm already over the hope that the 2022 Bears were gonna surprise to the upside and maybe challenge for a wildcard spot at 9-8 or something. My "ceiling" on wins is down to ~7 and I think the real number is more like 5. Bottom line, barring a major improvement on both sides of the ball, we are gonna have a top-5 pick or darn close to it.
So, lets all hope that the offense (Fields in particular) can gradually improve enough this year to have optimism for the future and then TRADE DOWN that top-5 pick to a QB-needy team in return for a bounty of draft capital. It's supposed to be a good QB draft coming up so QBs are gonna be highly sought after in the upper-1st.
I know its unpopular to root for such a scenario but, if you want to "surround Fields with talent", then that's the best way to maximize your chances. .
7 was always my number.
7 was my number too as a most likely scenario.
I didn't think the passing O would be THIS BAD. I knew it would struggle but I didn't foresee it being #32 by a wide margin. Likewise, I knew the rushing D would take a hit but didn't think we'd be again dead last in the league.
My most likely scenario number is down to 5 now. In a few weeks the schedule gets a lot tougher.
Its Geno Smith...we've seen this movie before. They barely beat a Denver team who's coach couldn't figure out how to manage a clock if his life depended on it, got waxed by the 49ers...who...oh...we beat by the way, lost to the Falcons who are trying to be the 2021 Chicago Bears South, and then barely beat a Lions team that was missing its best running back and two best receivers.
Lets calm down with the hyperbole. Take the Giants loss in your psyche and replace it with the seahawks getting their ass kicked by the 49ers and barely beating a banged up Lions team.
49ers just kicked ass against the defending Super Bowl champs and their scoring defense is 12 points. Yes, I watched the Lions game. The Lions RB had a big game and the tight end had 8 receptions for 179 yards. They will probably beat the Bears. That’s what my hyperbolic psyche perceives.
I could see us going 1-5 in division this year. Lions and Vikings are both better. We aren't sweeping either one.
49ers just kicked ass against the defending Super Bowl champs and their scoring defense is 12 points. Yes, I watched the Lions game. The Lions RB had a big game and the tight end had 8 receptions for 179 yards. They will probably beat the Bears. That’s what my hyperbolic psyche perceives.
I could see us going 1-5 in division this year. Lions and Vikings are both better. We aren't sweeping either one.