maybe it's coaching that those 5th rounders are quality tackles? Chris Morgan should join Waldron in the unemployment line.
The Charger's two tackles though, are high 1st round picks. Slater was 1st round pick #13 in 2021 draft. Alt was 1st round pick #5 in the 2024 draft. Their LG, Zion Johnson was a 1st round 2022 draft guy. Pick #17. Their RG Pipkins was a 3rd rounder.
So they have a blue-chip offensive line. Harbaugh can be criticized for some stuff, but not for skimping on the OL. He 100% understands that you win with quality people in the trenches. And it's not so much where those guys were drafted, as much as the fact they are good.
Harbaugh might have had a say in the drafting of Alt. But he was in Michigan when the Chargers drafted the other linemen.
Honestly, Flus was in a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't all based on the outcomes of the final play.
If Santos isn't blocked, we aren't complaining other than to complain that Flus should have run the ball but its OK because they won. If they gain 5 yards and Santos is still blocked do we fell any better? If Johnson/Swift/Williams fumbled the ball we are screaming about "WHY RUN!!!! Waste clock and kick!" etc etc
To me its more an issue of Flus, again, not valuing those last yards and again making a decision that ends up costing his team. Yes GB made a play (could have been a flag but...the Watson pass was incomplete so....refs.) But the issue is, Flus needs to make decisions that take away the possibility of GB making that particular play. Shorter kick, higher arc, etc.
Some of it is due to injures: 2nd LS, backup OL-men, etc....Its all tied together.
BUT, IMO Flus again had a chance to change something for the benefit of his team AND to the detriment of GB and he chickened out. The most likely outcome there with an interior run to Johnson was somewhere between -3 to 3 yards. -3 yards really doesn't change much and neither goes +3. However, the chance of +3 yards or -3 yards are way greater than Johnson/Swift fumbling. Dobbins ran through 10 defenders to score his TD from almost the exact spot in the Chargers/Bengels game. And Dobbins is not that much better than Swift or Johnson. Chargers OL is better but the DEF knew a run was coming and I'd trust almost any defense is that situation.
He Flus-ed it.....again.
The point is NOT the blocked FG.
The point is the PROCESS. If Flus had handled the process properly and the kicked still got blocked, then well that's on the ST unit and Matt Pryor in particular.
Matt LaFleur actually did you a favor by calling TO after the Keenan catch. There was 36 seconds left and you had a timeout. Patrick Mahomes could score 2 TDs with that.
Flus completely turtled up and played scared. At the very least you could have run the ball twice. You could have run, spiked it, run again, then called TO for the kick. You could have run it twice and then called TO. Your QB just made 3 straight great passes and you took the ball away from him. You could have rolled him out with a high low read (Kmet low, Rome or DJ high). If open, throw the ball. If not open, run OOB or throw it away. You could have called a go route to Rome who had 1 on 1 with them stacking the box. Throw it to the corner of the EZ--its either a TD or incomplete.
The point is you go for the kill shot just like Harbaugh did last night. You don't turtle up and just settle for a 48 yard FG attempt. You could have had 2, maybe even 3, more plays to shorten the kick. You had the GB defense back on its heels and demoralized after giving up 3 big plays on a 3rd and 19.
The PROCESS is what was wrong. And that's what happens when you keep a crap coach who is just hoping to eke out a win to save his job. Nagy and Trestman both did the exact same thing with the same failed result. Good opponents aren't gonna hand you the game. You gotta TAKE IT. Eberflus coaches like the bare minimum of offense is all that he wants. Any coach worth his salt would drive the dagger in there.
He's the MVC
Most Vaginal Coach
Exactly. Its the process where he is failing.
This is not a team that wins yet, its a team that needs every yard it can get. Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Lions....these teams can leave 10, 15, even 50 yards on the field and still win games. Bears need EVERY.YARD.THEY.CAN.GET. 5 yards might have made a difference, maybe, maybe not but Flus didn't even care to get those yards. That Flus doesn't know this at this point is really bad.
Honestly, Flus was in a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't all based on the outcomes of the final play.
If Santos isn't blocked, we aren't complaining other than to complain that Flus should have run the ball but its OK because they won. If they gain 5 yards and Santos is still blocked do we fell any better? If Johnson/Swift/Williams fumbled the ball we are screaming about "WHY RUN!!!! Waste clock and kick!" etc etc
To me its more an issue of Flus, again, not valuing those last yards and again making a decision that ends up costing his team. Yes GB made a play (could have been a flag but...the Watson pass was incomplete so....refs.) But the issue is, Flus needs to make decisions that take away the possibility of GB making that particular play. Shorter kick, higher arc, etc.
Some of it is due to injures: 2nd LS, backup OL-men, etc....Its all tied together.
BUT, IMO Flus again had a chance to change something for the benefit of his team AND to the detriment of GB and he chickened out. The most likely outcome there with an interior run to Johnson was somewhere between -3 to 3 yards. -3 yards really doesn't change much and neither goes +3. However, the chance of +3 yards or -3 yards are way greater than Johnson/Swift fumbling. Dobbins ran through 10 defenders to score his TD from almost the exact spot in the Chargers/Bengels game. And Dobbins is not that much better than Swift or Johnson. Chargers OL is better but the DEF knew a run was coming and I'd trust almost any defense is that situation.
He Flus-ed it.....again.
The point is NOT the blocked FG.
The point is the PROCESS. If Flus had handled the process properly and the kicked still got blocked, then well that's on the ST unit and Matt Pryor in particular.
Matt LaFleur actually did you a favor by calling TO after the Keenan catch. There was 36 seconds left and you had a timeout. Patrick Mahomes could score 2 TDs with that.
Flus completely turtled up and played scared. At the very least you could have run the ball twice. You could have run, spiked it, run again, then called TO for the kick. You could have run it twice and then called TO. Your QB just made 3 straight great passes and you took the ball away from him. You could have rolled him out with a high low read (Kmet low, Rome or DJ high). If open, throw the ball. If not open, run OOB or throw it away. You could have called a go route to Rome who had 1 on 1 with them stacking the box. Throw it to the corner of the EZ--its either a TD or incomplete.
The point is you go for the kill shot just like Harbaugh did last night. You don't turtle up and just settle for a 48 yard FG attempt. You could have had 2, maybe even 3, more plays to shorten the kick. You had the GB defense back on its heels and demoralized after giving up 3 big plays on a 3rd and 19.
The PROCESS is what was wrong. And that's what happens when you keep a crap coach who is just hoping to eke out a win to save his job. Nagy and Trestman both did the exact same thing with the same failed result. Good opponents aren't gonna hand you the game. You gotta TAKE IT. Eberflus coaches like the bare minimum of offense is all that he wants. Any coach worth his salt would drive the dagger in there.
But we need talent upgrades too. I'm about done with Braxton Jones and I had high hopes for him. He's a good run blocker but gets blown up too much in pass pro. That 2nd sack on the last drive was 100% on him and inexcusable with the game on the line.
I'm done with Tevin Jenkins too. He's a FA this spring and hasn't stayed even remotely healthy in 4 seasons so its time to let him walk and go Nate Davis some other team.
You need at least 3 upgrades on the OL this offseason
I'm hoping for at least 5. All of them quality. I know that's hard to do, but if you don't make the effort you get nothing.
Note: I misread 5th pick as 5th round, didn't realize they were high pick guys. My bad.
Joe Alt was picked #5 this year. He was discussed here forever leading up to the draft and was the top OT prospect on most boards.
He is the ONLY player I would have considered moving off Odunze for (had he fallen to #9 which he didn't).
Getting back to Brax, he seems to grade out well if you buy such things but man he has moments where he looks like total ass.
The point is the PROCESS. If Flus had handled the process properly and the kicked still got blocked, then well that's on the ST unit and Matt Pryor in particular.
Matt LaFleur actually did you a favor by calling TO after the Keenan catch. There was 36 seconds left and you had a timeout. Patrick Mahomes could score 2 TDs with that.
Flus completely turtled up and played scared. At the very least you could have run the ball twice. You could have run, spiked it, run again, then called TO for the kick. You could have run it twice and then called TO. Your QB just made 3 straight great passes and you took the ball away from him. You could have rolled him out with a high low read (Kmet low, Rome or DJ high). If open, throw the ball. If not open, run OOB or throw it away. You could have called a go route to Rome who had 1 on 1 with them stacking the box. Throw it to the corner of the EZ--its either a TD or incomplete.
The point is you go for the kill shot just like Harbaugh did last night. You don't turtle up and just settle for a 48 yard FG attempt. You could have had 2, maybe even 3, more plays to shorten the kick. You had the GB defense back on its heels and demoralized after giving up 3 big plays on a 3rd and 19.
The PROCESS is what was wrong. And that's what happens when you keep a crap coach who is just hoping to eke out a win to save his job. Nagy and Trestman both did the exact same thing with the same failed result. Good opponents aren't gonna hand you the game. You gotta TAKE IT. Eberflus coaches like the bare minimum of offense is all that he wants. Any coach worth his salt would drive the dagger in there.
He's the MVC
Most Vaginal Coach
Exactly. Its the process where he is failing.
This is not a team that wins yet, its a team that needs every yard it can get. Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Lions....these teams can leave 10, 15, even 50 yards on the field and still win games. Bears need EVERY.YARD.THEY.CAN.GET. 5 yards might have made a difference, maybe, maybe not but Flus didn't even care to get those yards. That Flus doesn't know this at this point is really bad.
5 yards almost certainly would have won the game. Like 99% chance. The kick would have been slightly higher trajectory and it was just barely tipped as it was. It was right on target and would have been center cut.
Regardless, what annoys the shit out of me is that Flus didn't even try. 36 seconds + a TO and he barely tried. That's PLENTY of time.
The Charger's two tackles though, are high 1st round picks. Slater was 1st round pick #13 in 2021 draft. Alt was 1st round pick #5 in the 2024 draft. Their LG, Zion Johnson was a 1st round 2022 draft guy. Pick #17. Their RG Pipkins was a 3rd rounder.
So they have a blue-chip offensive line. Harbaugh can be criticized for some stuff, but not for skimping on the OL. He 100% understands that you win with quality people in the trenches. And it's not so much where those guys were drafted, as much as the fact they are good.
Harbaugh might have had a say in the drafting of Alt. But he was in Michigan when the Chargers drafted the other linemen.
That's true about the others, but Michigan had some epic good offensive lines under Harbaugh. In 2021 and 2022 they won the Joe Moore Award for having the #1 offensive line in the entire nation. Then in 2023 they graded top-3 in the nation according to PFF (lol, I know, the accursed PFF ). But Harbaugh knows the value of the OL. He is old school that way. The Bears are new school. Slap crap together and then wonder why your offense sucks year after year and QB's fail.
"The most consistent thing about the Chicago Bears under the leadership of head coach Matt Eberflus has been their unbreakable resolve to lose winnable games."
"There is no precedent for an NFL coach who is this bad at the end of close games"
LOL, there may not be a precedent, and Flus may be a one of a kind. Kudos for Bears management for being able to find him
"There is no precedent for an NFL coach who is this bad at the end of close games"
LOL, there may not be a precedent, and Flus may be a one of a kind. Kudos for Bears management for being able to find him
It's a gift they have here in Chicago. Poles told us "We're gonna take the North and never give it back." Unfortunately, all Eberflus heard was that "give it back" part - and he's trying his best to do just that at the end of these games. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.