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A mere three weeks after giddy Chicago fans had the bunch of bums currently calling themselves Chicago Bears primed to run the table and claim the "wide open" NFC North title, this is what it's come to - a first half without a first down, more penalty yards than offense through two quarters, a 3-and-8 record, and far more questions than answers in Year 3 of a rebuild that seems to be going nowhere fast. Against the Eagles, the Bears looked impotent and resigned to their fate, celebrating the moral victory of a third quarter field goal that kept them from a deserved shutout as respite from the beatdown they seemed intent on enduring from the coin toss. As has too often happened during the John Fox regime, the Bears weren't ready to play and knew it, having prepared themselves only to spend 3 hours on the football field against the 9-and-1 Eagles and nothing more. An honorable forfeit is what we saw on that football field today. And thus does the shoopster break it down . . .
. . . It starts as always with the quarterback, Mitch Trubisky. Coming off several games of incremental - not significant - improvement, The Frisky One took a step back against the Eagles. Looking shell-shocked behind a porous offensive line, Trubisky's happy feet and poor mechanics manifested themselves in wild inaccuracy all day long, with passes sailing wide of receivers and most often two to three feet over their heads. That, of course, was when Trubisky threw the ball. After half a season under center now, it is time for Trubisky to start showing improvement in pocket presence. It is no longer acceptable for The Frisky One to continue to hold the ball waiting for a receiver to come free and clear in order to attempt the perfect completion. All he's doing is contributing unnecessarily to the eventual sack.
It is time for Trubisky to learn how to throw the ball away, either out of bounds over the receiver, into the ground in front of him, or - and this has to start happening in spite of the pi55-poor receivers "If I'm Lyin' I'm" Ryan Pace has given him - throwing a receiver open. Far too often Trubisky underthrows receivers - perhaps he should start overthrowing them and giving them a chance to run the ball down rather than creating contested attempts for receivers who can't fight off or outjump quarterbacks. There's little doubt Trubisky hasn't been given the offensive tools he should be given, particularly at receiver. But it is time for the #2 pick in the draft to stop being reactive, and start making plays that create opportunities. Trubisky is doing NONE of lthat.
It's also time for someone - be it the quarterback coach, or the quasi-quarterback coach Mark Sanchez - to put some time in with Trubisky working on his poor mechanics before they become ingrained. Trubisky is a mess in the pocket, which may be why he seems to be more accurate when on the move than when his feet are fixed.
The bottom line is - rookie or not - it is time for The Frisky One to start showing improvement ON HIS OWN. ELEVATE the people around you, not to Pro-Bowl status if they are as terrible as we know they are, but something above the incompetence we are looking at now. It is time.
For Trubisky's part, he did not appear to have himself ready respond today. Far from the hulking alpha-male the Bears were so intent on promoting a few weeks ago when The Frisky One supposedly barked profanely at linemen to respect his command in the huddle, Trubisky looked resigned to his fate from kickoff on, accepting the butt-whipping the Eagles put on him with a shrug of the shoulders and - late in the 4th after yet another offensive penalty - with a smile. He did not look like he was in charge out there. Has the inevitable failure the Bears have engineered for him with below average personnel and an ill-advised conservative gameplan that plays AWAY from his athletic, improvisational strengths begun to affect him mentally? It is a question worth asking in the wake of today's beat-down, which Trubisky accepted ass-up . . .
. . . Jordan "Hubba Hubba" Howard gained 6 yards on 7 carries. Bear fans will lambaste Duh-well Loggains for abandoning the run, but what quite frankly is he supposed to do when Howard comes out and runs like Eddie Lacy after Thanksgiving dinner? Howard looked fat, slow and listless on the field in limited first half action and is one of the Bears who must answer for coming out of the tunnel unprepared to play, though encouragingly he did catch - rather than knock down - a couple of screen passes, albeit in garbage time . . .
. . . Can the Tarik "The Freak" Cohen now come to a close? Cohen continued to run backwards most of the time he had his hands on the ball, discounting kickoffs, on which he appears to have learned what to do reasonably well. On offense, Cohen is a gimmick the NFL has completely figured out. Cohen ran the ball twice for minus-11 yards. That's a gimmick exposed . . .
. . . Having said that on the Bears running backs, the "vaunted" Bear offensive line, once thought to be a strength of the team, was completely lifeless today. There was too much pressure on Trubisky - notwithstanding The Frisky One exacerbating the problem by holding onto the ball - and there were NO holes for the running backs. Kyle Long was on the field but noteworthy only for one play in the second half for showing his "leadership" by yelling at the team after yet another stupid penalty. This former "strength" is now another hole the Bears have to address this offseason . . .
. . . Was there a receiver on the field other than Dontrelle Inman? It didn't appear that way. Inman's nothing special, but at least he appeared to get open once in a while. One week after a sort of coming-out party, Adam Shaheen was invisible. And where was Pace's big offseason receiver signing "Mucus" Wheaton? One week after Fox balleyhooed a new play package put into the gameplan for Wheaton, he has 1 catch in 2 games. $6 million for that? And Bear fans wonder why the shoopster continues to insist the Bears' pro-personnel scouting might be the worst in the NFL . . .
. . . Duh-well Loggains did the offense no favors by going back to the run-run-pass gameplan that has served Trubisky so poorly since he took over under center. Bear fans want to blame John Fox for the offensive woes, and certainly Fox sets the tone. But it is Loggains calling the offense. When the Bears actually started to move the ball a bit in the second half, they still found themselves in repeated third-and-longs set up by Loggains' refusal to shake things up. This guy is hurting Trubisky's development every bit as much as John Fox and is every bit a problem on the staff as the Head Coach . . .
. . . On defense, "Vaunted" Vic Fangio looked as if he was going to have his cake and eat it too, starting the game calling the same pu55y defense he's reverted to the last three games after a mid-season diversion into high-pressure blitzes and challenging defii (pl: defense) that created turnovers that seemed as if they would incomprehensively lead a Bears resurgence. And yet despite Fangio's lack of fortitude, the Bears got a couple early turnovers, though it turned out that was due more to the Eagles' sloppy play than the Bears' aggresiveness. Alas, Fangio's bend-don't-break defense broke in the second quarter, and broke big as the Bears found themselves down 24-to-nothing at half. Combine that with several missed interceptions and it's clear Fangio is not a guy who is going to coach to prioritize turnovers, and a passive bend-don't-break defense doesn't work with the offense Fox and Loggains are implementing. So what's Fangio doing here? He's the wrong Defensive Coordinator for this team, and certainly not worthy of any interim consideration to lead the Bears the rest of the season, regardless of how tempting it is to launch Fox now . . .
. . . A special call out to the not-so Special Teams, who have flown under the radar all year due to all the other problems on this team but deserve scrutiny. This unit is poorly coached, unmotivated, and ineffective. The Bears tried to play a field position game in the first half and the "Mega-shunt," Pat O'Donnell, blew that with a bad punt and the unit by allowing a block. Again, with Fox and Loggains playing scared-to-death offense, lackadaisical Special Teams won't cut it . . .
. . . Which leaves, of course, Barnaby Jones himself, John Fox. There isn't much left to say about Fox, who is 12-and-31 as Head Coach of the Bears and a few easily achievable losses away from eclipsing the immortal Abe Gibron as worst coach in the franchise's history. Think about that - despite the history of ineptitude this "storied" franchise has dumped on its fans, despite the one-win seasons in the '60s and the laughable teams in the '70s, John Fox's regime has been less successful than nearly all of them. Whether we realize it or not, we are in the midst of the nadir of Bear football over it's nearly 100 year history. And Fox leads it.
Against the Eagles, the Bears came out of the tunnel ass-up, prepared to lose. Fox had them that way. It was the latest example of a Head Coach negligently attempting his job duties on Gameday. After the game, Fox was asked during his postgame presser whether he was concerned about his job security, to which he reportedly responded "I don't give a rip." Whatever a rip is, he's coaching like it. Fire his a55 because a loser is a loser . . .
. . . By the way, it's not just John Fox who's 12-and-31, it's Ryan Pace too. How long is Pace going to hide inside Halas Hall. This is his mess, and we're in Year 3 of it. It's not going anywhere . . .
. . . It starts as always with the quarterback, Mitch Trubisky. Coming off several games of incremental - not significant - improvement, The Frisky One took a step back against the Eagles. Looking shell-shocked behind a porous offensive line, Trubisky's happy feet and poor mechanics manifested themselves in wild inaccuracy all day long, with passes sailing wide of receivers and most often two to three feet over their heads. That, of course, was when Trubisky threw the ball. After half a season under center now, it is time for Trubisky to start showing improvement in pocket presence. It is no longer acceptable for The Frisky One to continue to hold the ball waiting for a receiver to come free and clear in order to attempt the perfect completion. All he's doing is contributing unnecessarily to the eventual sack.
It is time for Trubisky to learn how to throw the ball away, either out of bounds over the receiver, into the ground in front of him, or - and this has to start happening in spite of the pi55-poor receivers "If I'm Lyin' I'm" Ryan Pace has given him - throwing a receiver open. Far too often Trubisky underthrows receivers - perhaps he should start overthrowing them and giving them a chance to run the ball down rather than creating contested attempts for receivers who can't fight off or outjump quarterbacks. There's little doubt Trubisky hasn't been given the offensive tools he should be given, particularly at receiver. But it is time for the #2 pick in the draft to stop being reactive, and start making plays that create opportunities. Trubisky is doing NONE of lthat.
It's also time for someone - be it the quarterback coach, or the quasi-quarterback coach Mark Sanchez - to put some time in with Trubisky working on his poor mechanics before they become ingrained. Trubisky is a mess in the pocket, which may be why he seems to be more accurate when on the move than when his feet are fixed.
The bottom line is - rookie or not - it is time for The Frisky One to start showing improvement ON HIS OWN. ELEVATE the people around you, not to Pro-Bowl status if they are as terrible as we know they are, but something above the incompetence we are looking at now. It is time.
For Trubisky's part, he did not appear to have himself ready respond today. Far from the hulking alpha-male the Bears were so intent on promoting a few weeks ago when The Frisky One supposedly barked profanely at linemen to respect his command in the huddle, Trubisky looked resigned to his fate from kickoff on, accepting the butt-whipping the Eagles put on him with a shrug of the shoulders and - late in the 4th after yet another offensive penalty - with a smile. He did not look like he was in charge out there. Has the inevitable failure the Bears have engineered for him with below average personnel and an ill-advised conservative gameplan that plays AWAY from his athletic, improvisational strengths begun to affect him mentally? It is a question worth asking in the wake of today's beat-down, which Trubisky accepted ass-up . . .
. . . Jordan "Hubba Hubba" Howard gained 6 yards on 7 carries. Bear fans will lambaste Duh-well Loggains for abandoning the run, but what quite frankly is he supposed to do when Howard comes out and runs like Eddie Lacy after Thanksgiving dinner? Howard looked fat, slow and listless on the field in limited first half action and is one of the Bears who must answer for coming out of the tunnel unprepared to play, though encouragingly he did catch - rather than knock down - a couple of screen passes, albeit in garbage time . . .
. . . Can the Tarik "The Freak" Cohen now come to a close? Cohen continued to run backwards most of the time he had his hands on the ball, discounting kickoffs, on which he appears to have learned what to do reasonably well. On offense, Cohen is a gimmick the NFL has completely figured out. Cohen ran the ball twice for minus-11 yards. That's a gimmick exposed . . .
. . . Having said that on the Bears running backs, the "vaunted" Bear offensive line, once thought to be a strength of the team, was completely lifeless today. There was too much pressure on Trubisky - notwithstanding The Frisky One exacerbating the problem by holding onto the ball - and there were NO holes for the running backs. Kyle Long was on the field but noteworthy only for one play in the second half for showing his "leadership" by yelling at the team after yet another stupid penalty. This former "strength" is now another hole the Bears have to address this offseason . . .
. . . Was there a receiver on the field other than Dontrelle Inman? It didn't appear that way. Inman's nothing special, but at least he appeared to get open once in a while. One week after a sort of coming-out party, Adam Shaheen was invisible. And where was Pace's big offseason receiver signing "Mucus" Wheaton? One week after Fox balleyhooed a new play package put into the gameplan for Wheaton, he has 1 catch in 2 games. $6 million for that? And Bear fans wonder why the shoopster continues to insist the Bears' pro-personnel scouting might be the worst in the NFL . . .
. . . Duh-well Loggains did the offense no favors by going back to the run-run-pass gameplan that has served Trubisky so poorly since he took over under center. Bear fans want to blame John Fox for the offensive woes, and certainly Fox sets the tone. But it is Loggains calling the offense. When the Bears actually started to move the ball a bit in the second half, they still found themselves in repeated third-and-longs set up by Loggains' refusal to shake things up. This guy is hurting Trubisky's development every bit as much as John Fox and is every bit a problem on the staff as the Head Coach . . .
. . . On defense, "Vaunted" Vic Fangio looked as if he was going to have his cake and eat it too, starting the game calling the same pu55y defense he's reverted to the last three games after a mid-season diversion into high-pressure blitzes and challenging defii (pl: defense) that created turnovers that seemed as if they would incomprehensively lead a Bears resurgence. And yet despite Fangio's lack of fortitude, the Bears got a couple early turnovers, though it turned out that was due more to the Eagles' sloppy play than the Bears' aggresiveness. Alas, Fangio's bend-don't-break defense broke in the second quarter, and broke big as the Bears found themselves down 24-to-nothing at half. Combine that with several missed interceptions and it's clear Fangio is not a guy who is going to coach to prioritize turnovers, and a passive bend-don't-break defense doesn't work with the offense Fox and Loggains are implementing. So what's Fangio doing here? He's the wrong Defensive Coordinator for this team, and certainly not worthy of any interim consideration to lead the Bears the rest of the season, regardless of how tempting it is to launch Fox now . . .
. . . A special call out to the not-so Special Teams, who have flown under the radar all year due to all the other problems on this team but deserve scrutiny. This unit is poorly coached, unmotivated, and ineffective. The Bears tried to play a field position game in the first half and the "Mega-shunt," Pat O'Donnell, blew that with a bad punt and the unit by allowing a block. Again, with Fox and Loggains playing scared-to-death offense, lackadaisical Special Teams won't cut it . . .
. . . Which leaves, of course, Barnaby Jones himself, John Fox. There isn't much left to say about Fox, who is 12-and-31 as Head Coach of the Bears and a few easily achievable losses away from eclipsing the immortal Abe Gibron as worst coach in the franchise's history. Think about that - despite the history of ineptitude this "storied" franchise has dumped on its fans, despite the one-win seasons in the '60s and the laughable teams in the '70s, John Fox's regime has been less successful than nearly all of them. Whether we realize it or not, we are in the midst of the nadir of Bear football over it's nearly 100 year history. And Fox leads it.
Against the Eagles, the Bears came out of the tunnel ass-up, prepared to lose. Fox had them that way. It was the latest example of a Head Coach negligently attempting his job duties on Gameday. After the game, Fox was asked during his postgame presser whether he was concerned about his job security, to which he reportedly responded "I don't give a rip." Whatever a rip is, he's coaching like it. Fire his a55 because a loser is a loser . . .
. . . By the way, it's not just John Fox who's 12-and-31, it's Ryan Pace too. How long is Pace going to hide inside Halas Hall. This is his mess, and we're in Year 3 of it. It's not going anywhere . . .
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