Mitch was 'meh' today. The story will be Parkey, who went 2/3 and would have been 3/3 with the game winner if Pederson didn't call a time out, is the reason why your team came up short, but IMO the Bears didn't get a playoff caliber performance from their signal caller. Here's what I saw:
- Eagles over-committing to the run.
- They asked their secondary, who aside from Malcolm Jenkins, were all backups, to cover his first read
- Jump routes when they can
What was the result?
- 3 dropped picks (1 could have went for 6)
- Mitch locking into his check down without looking deep (so the defense could break on him easier)
- On most of his deep completions it was where the OL held up and the WR ran a double move with no safety help and he rarely hit them in stride.
For those that think I'm some cocky Eagle fan just coming out of no where please check my post count. I was on the other board during the Grossman vs. Orton debate. I was here for the 8 year long Cutler wars. I've seen the Chicago fan base get excited before.
I should say there's a side of Mitch I can really get behind. His athletic potential, how he says the right things and heck dressing up like Ditka for a presser! You kidding me? That's just awesome and immediately shows he knows what it takes to speak to the Chicago fans out there.
As a player I'm wondering if he's Bortles or Prescott? Bortles looked great at one point and those that follow fantasy football were pretty excited about what his 3rd year. As expectations grew, he shrunk. For Prescott right now he's good, but you have to wonder if he'll ever be able to consistently put a team on his back and carry them throughout a season. He has one of the leagues best running games and defenses and yet he's still sort of a running QB that can complete balls. Personally as an Eagle fan I hope this past win over Seattle carries Jerry Jones to extending both Dak and Jason Garrett to huge contracts.
Anyway, there is a lot about Mitch is still an unknown. I think he's a great athlete and a pretty good 'thrower', but unsure if he's a quarterback. The difference between the two is how he transitions through reads and how he puts touch on throws. Statistically there is no denying that he's made a huge jump, but we can't overlook that Nagy has implemented a great scheme where it's 1-2 looks then get the ball out or run. That fits his game so well. Many trashed John Fox, but he's had some good QBs being Delhomme, Peyton Manning (in his prime) and even a dash of Cutler for what it's worth. You can't help but to think Fox, who knew his job was on the line, did all he could to avoid putting the game in Mitch's hands. Love or hate Fox he's seen QBs, knows this league and that was his best chance to succeed.
If he works that's great. Your defense is amazing and with Mack/Hicks/Smith/Jackson I'm thinking they will be that way for a while. What I would be fearful of is what happened to the Jags. The team and fans tricked themselves into believing Bortles would be good enough with that defense. After all they were only a couple plays away from beating the Pats and making it to a Superbowl not to long ago. This year proved that's not the case and if your QB has material limitations it's very tough to win against good teams.
Anyway, I'm rambling. The Bears have so many things about their core that are consistent. I've mentioned the defensive side above, but Long (when healthy), Whitehair, Howard and I'd even say Robinson are consistent NFL vets. You know what you are getting. With Mitch to take this season and just map it into this upward development is being a bit overly optimistic at this point. I'm not saying he's absolutely not the guy, but I'd also be cautious on saying that he is.
