Thoughts and Observations Week 1

[sevvy]

Nah man, that's just an excuse for Trubisky's performance.

Or... it's just reality. He is what he is. It's not an excuse for his performance, because I don't have expectations that he's going to be a top-5 QB, therefore; when he plays like shit, I'm just like, "maybe that's who he is".

Other people have those expectations. Nagy probably has those expectations. Could explain why he expects Trubisky to dropback 50 times in a 1-possession game and completely neglect the running game. Because hey, he's just as good as any other QB in this league, let's send him out there with a dogshit gameplan and dogshit playcalls and he'll just work his magic.

Lol. Nope.

 

[Pegger]

Or... it's just reality. He is what he is. It's not an excuse for his performance, because I don't have expectations that he's going to be a top-5 QB, therefore; when he plays like shit, I'm just like, "maybe that's who he is".

Other people have those expectations. Nagy probably has those expectations. Could explain why he expects Trubisky to dropback 50 times in a 1-possession game and completely neglect the running game. Because hey, he's just as good as any other QB in this league, let's send him out there with a dogshit gameplan and dogshit playcalls and he'll just work his magic.

Lol. Nope.

In this NFL you can't win without a QB making plays. Even someone like Nick Foles had to make a bunch of plays against the Vikings/Pats for the Eagles to win.

If you have accepted that the best way to succeed is to avoid what's on Mitch's plate then you are pretty much accepting a .500 team. The defense alone will walk over weaker teams, but against decent, playoff caliber ones there's no hiding him. Last night the Pack looked like one of those playoff caliber teams and Mitch didn't make plays.

 

[Les Grossman]

In this NFL you can't win without a QB making plays. Even someone like Nick Foles had to make a bunch of plays against the Vikings/Pats for the Eagles to win.

If you have accepted that the best way to succeed is to avoid what's on Mitch's plate then you are pretty much accepting a .500 team. The defense alone will walk over weaker teams, but against decent, playoff caliber ones there's no hiding him. Last night the Pack looked like one of those playoff caliber teams and Mitch didn't make plays.

But did the Packers look like one of those playoff caliber teams though??

GB looked like crap as well. To be honest, not much. Ether than CHI. If it weren’t for Rodgers obvious pedigree of being a good QB, both teams looked like garbage.

Honestly, can you say the Packers looked much better than CHI last night?

 

[Zion]

But did the Packers look like one of those playoff caliber teams though??

GB looked like crap as well. To be honest, not much. Ether than CHI. If it weren’t for Rodgers obvious pedigree of being a good QB, both teams looked like garbage.

Honestly, can you say the Packers looked much better than CHI last night?

Yes, of course they looked better. For one simple reason: they arent afraid to put the ball in their QBs hands and have him take over the game.

 

[sevvy]

In this NFL you can't win without a QB making plays. Even someone like Nick Foles had to make a bunch of plays against the Vikings/Pats for the Eagles to win.

If you have accepted that the best way to succeed is to avoid what's on Mitch's plate then you are pretty much accepting a .500 team. The defense alone will walk over weaker teams, but against decent, playoff caliber ones there's no hiding him. Last night the Pack looked like one of those playoff caliber teams and Mitch didn't make plays.

So what's the solution? Throw him out there with no help and expect him to just work his magic? Or maybe take some pressure off of him with the running game, then he doesn't have to work his magic. Maybe then he can win just by being a somewhat competent QB.

This is how you win if you have a deficiency. You do what you can to mitigate the damage of having a deficiency. That's the reality of sports if you don't have a perfect team.

 

[Les Grossman]

Yes, of course they looked better. For one simple reason: they arent afraid to put the ball in their QBs hands and have him take over the game.

It was a rhetorical question as I thought GB looked like shit as well.

 

[Speed]

Twas a shit show. Maybe they rebound, either way don't want to hear a damn thing about football for a week.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

It was a rhetorical question as I thought GB looked like shit as well.

Both defenses looked very good. The Bears DBs still don't look for the ball though.

 

[dweebs19]

Somebody needs to let Nagy know that many people thought M.Trestman was an offensive genius after his first year with us and now he's gonna be the HC of a XFL team.

the Trestman offense actually put up points. Trestman's defense is what did him in....oh and his kumbaya shit

 

[Pegger]

So what's the solution? Throw him out there with no help and expect him to just work his magic? Or maybe take some pressure off of him with the running game, then he doesn't have to work his magic. Maybe then he can win just by being a somewhat competent QB.

This is how you win if you have a deficiency. You do what you can to mitigate the damage of having a deficiency. That's the reality of sports if you don't have a perfect team.

Well, he's still developing. That means if you have any desire for him to make those type of plays in Nov/Dec/Jan he's got to see them earlier in the year and have a chance to develop there. IMHO that's what happened. My guess is they have already cut up his tape and he's got a few things he can work on for next week and another few he'll be working on for the next couple months.

I guess my point is there are certain positions you can be weak in, but can scheme where it won't hurt you. QB is just not one of those positions.

 

[Pegger]

But did the Packers look like one of those playoff caliber teams though??

GB looked like crap as well. To be honest, not much. Ether than CHI. If it weren’t for Rodgers obvious pedigree of being a good QB, both teams looked like garbage.

Honestly, can you say the Packers looked much better than CHI last night?

Sorta, but then again I truly feel you don't know what a team is until they have played 4 games. There will be a handful of underdogs that look great this week, but will show their true colors come Oct.

GB's defense looked good. Many of the catches were contested. They rushed the passer well and tackled well overall. I liked when and how they blitzed, which is typically something a good D will do. I'm not saying that's who they are, but yesterday they played that way.

 

[Les Grossman]

Sorta, but then again I truly feel you don't know what a team is until they have played 4 games. There will be a handful of underdogs that look great this week, but will show their true colors come Oct.

GB's defense looked good. Many of the catches were contested. They rushed the passer well and tackled well overall. I liked when and how they blitzed, which is typically something a good D will do. I'm not saying that's who they are, but yesterday they played that way.

I agree about their defense, but I’m sure you also agree that CHI’s defense looked great as well.

So my point is that how different did those teams really look? Both defenses played great, and both offense sucked (CHI a bit more).

It would be hard to say one team looked like a playoff caliber team and the other not imo.

 

[WindyCity]

What you do,

2020

-Pick up Trubisky’s 5th year option. Might as well it is only guaranteed for injury.

-Sign Alex Smith

-Draft a guy in round 5 and take a shot

2021

-Release Trubisky before his 5th year option is guaranteed

-Draft a QB round 1

-Keep Smith to compete and mentor

 

[nc0gnet0]

My thoughts:

Mitch - He was bad. His stat line wasn't the worst, but there were 2-3 dropped picks that were really suspect throws. He did look better in the 4th when the Packers were in a semi-prevent mode. My overreaction comment of the day is that I honestly fear that he's the next Blake Bortles.

RB Rotation - A lot of people wanting more of one guy. Let's be honest and look at good teams that have similar RB structures (I'm thinking the Pats and Eagles). They do a RBBC. When it works aside fantasy football guys everyone is happy. The RBs get less wear and tear and the offense has multiple ways to attack. When it doesn't work everyone will say "we didn't commit to getting a certain RB going". I've heard it numerous times with DeMarco Murray, Ryan Matthews and LaGarrette Blount. Nagy was never committed to getting a certain RB going last year, so let's not expect it this year.

Robinson - Love that guy. He's a better contested catch WR than Jeffery was. Add in that Mitch will go that way often and this should be a fun year.

OL - Not great. I'm didn't watch individual players, but as a unit they weren't good. Many of the good runs were the RB making people miss and along with the 5 sacks there were numerous pressures/hits.

Defensive Front 7 - This is going to be a fun season watching that group dominate. I'm sure Stafford and Cousins pooped their pants a bit last night.

Fuller - Good game. I think we will see a lot of that type of strategy from the DBs as a whole. Give a larger cushion knowing the DL will get home, then break on the ball as soon as you see it coming out. Overall good idea. Let the opposition try to earn everything.

Safety play - I know it's just one game, but Adrian Amos was the best safety on the field yesterday. Savage might have been the second best one, so considering it's a division rival and Amos left Chicago this offseason I'd classify that as 'not awesome'.

Nagy - He was 'too cute', but that's what is said about all offensive minds when it doesn't work. If he was too cute would that make the old John Fox offenses 'too ugly'? At the end of the day whenever it doesn't work the play callers have to take a brunt of the blame.

"Defensive Front 7 - This is going to be a fun season watching that group dominate. I'm sure Stafford and Cousins pooped their pants a bit last night. "

Expect a lot of 2 Te sets going against either, and a ground and pound game. If you think running the ball against Gb was hard, wait until you face these two teams. MT is going to have to beat either with his arm and quick reads, an ability he hasn't exactly mastered yet. Detroit's weakness specifically will be against the TE's, which isn't your strength.

 

[Unannounced Fart]

What you do,

2020

-Pick up Trubisky’s 5th year option. Might as well it is only guaranteed for injury.

-Sign Alex Smith

-Draft a guy in round 5 and take a shot

2021

-Release Trubisky before his 5th year option is guaranteed

-Draft a QB round 1

-Keep Smith to compete and mentor

I never thought I'd see the day where I'd welcome Alex Smith. But damn, he sounds like a fine option for this team (assuming he is healthy).

 

[MDB111™]

Some Thoughts

-Matt Nagy was horrendous last night. He got way too cute, did not run the ball, called stupid plays in key situations, and failed to really effectively get the offense in any type of rythem. Super disappointing for the coach of the year to have this performance on the national stage in that environment.

-Mitch Trubisky sucked. He looked as lost as he did at time last season. Staring down 12, over throws and poor mechanics, horrendous decisions, and generally looking incompetent. For 9 months we heard about the progression and the jump. Going to 202, liking where he is at, the growth in the playbook, then the lights came on and he looked like garbage. Whether you think he will bounce back or not I understand both side, but I think it is pretty clear that he is not going to be the top 10 QB that we had hoped for when he was the 2nd pick in the draft. A month ago we were talking about MVP odds and 1 week ago we were talking about extensions.

-Mike Davis looks like a nice solid player. He should not be featured more than David Montgomery.

-David Montgomery touched the ball and really good things happened. Then David Montgomery did not touch the ball anymore. Inexcusable mismanagement of personnel and the running game. This is a trend for Nagy.

-Tarik Cohen 0 carries. The most dangerous part of his game is that you do not know what position he is going to play, but Nagy made him only a receiver and refused to run against 6 DBs. Again, egregious mismanagement of personnel and the running game.

-Allen Robinson is a stud, throw the ball deep to him more and stop being scared.

-Anthony Miller 1 target, not good enough, and shockingly it was overthrown.

-Taylor Gabriel needs to to be involved earlier if you want to keep Robinson from getting double teamed.

-Guy gets new toy, guy over used new toy, new toy does nothing productive, the Cordarelle Patterson story.

-Shaheen, still useless.

-Leno had a rough night with the penalties, for the most part I thought his pass pro was okay outside of the crippling penalties.

-Whitehair had some moments where he looked lost at OG, maybe some preseason reps at the new position would not have hurt. Missing on stunts cannot happen.

-Daniels was bad. Kenny Clark is a good player, but he took Daniels lunch money over and over again.

-I will comment on the right side when I re-watch the game. I was watching the leftside more.



-Khalil Mack is held a ton and still influences the game to a degree that I have not seen an individual player do in my time watching the Bears. Many of the Bears sacks start with a Mack disruption.

-This version of Leonard Floyd is terrifying. He was fast, physical, used his length, and consistently walked back the OTs. I did not see the speed and then dancing we have seen in the past. His bull rush sack on Bakitiahri had me out of my seat.

-Aaron Lynch is fat, but he had a couple of nice rushes and run plays.

-Isaiah Irving is simply holding a jersey up. He is defensively useless.

-Eddie Goldman, grown man. Bilal Nichols, grown man. Akiem Hicks, grown man.

-RRH is a guy I have been high on and wanted to try and extend while we have his ERFA rights. He is too long, strong and quick for many interior players to deal with. His first sack where he long arm bull rushed Lindsley to the ground, drew a holding call and still sacked Rodgers was as disrespectful a pass rush as you will ever see. Consistently overwhelmed the Packers interior. 6'7" is a unique height inside and OGs don't have the length to deal with it.

-Roquan is a monster. His ability to come through the line clean and make the TFL was impressive.

-Trevathan is a nice compliment to Roquan because he can stand up and OG and do some of the physical dirty work that will keep Roquan clean.

-Kyle Fuller plays a little too far off in my world, but he is so good coming hard at the ball or making the tackle. I thought he played really well and the catches he gave up looked like they were mostly in front of him in zone.

-Did not see as much of Eddie Jackson as I would have liked, but I need to go back and watch more of the secondary.

i thought Trevathan was a weak leak. Anyone else notice? He got ate up in the flats and ran around without a clear mission a lot

 

[ZOMBIE@CTESPN]

What you do,

2020

-Pick up Trubisky’s 5th year option. Might as well it is only guaranteed for injury.

-Sign Alex Smith

-Draft a guy in round 5 and take a shot

2021

-Release Trubisky before his 5th year option is guaranteed

-Draft a QB round 1

-Keep Smith to compete and mentor

It’s a better plan than what jaguars did with bortles. They gave him that three year extension that he didn’t deserve and wasted what could have been a good team. Is pace the type that would walk away from mitchel?

 

[WindyCity]

It’s a better plan than what jaguars did with bortles. They gave him that three year extension that he didn’t deserve and wasted what could have been a good team. Is pace the type that would walk away from mitchel?

That is my fear. Pace and Nagy love Mitch so much that they extend him because they want him to workout so badly.

You have to extend based on what happens on the field, not what he does Mon-Sat.

 

[playthrough2001]

This is the price you pay for sitting your starters in pre-season. I understand the concern about injuries and I believe you can get away with sitting your defensive guys because they tend to be ahead of offenses early in the year anyway. However, the offense needs live reps at game speed against an opponent that is actually tackling and not thudding. The offensive line needs the time to build continuity and work out the kinks in the line calls especially with a new center. On the first sack Thursday, Daniels made the wrong call that led to Martinez being a free runner at Trubisky. The QB and receivers need to work on their timing at game speed.

I heard a professional gambler on the Action Network Thursday afternoon. He predicted a muddy, poorly played offensive game on both sides. He said he didn’t know who was going to win but it would be ugly and the only wager to make was the under, period. He said neither team had taken offensive reps with their starters in preseason, and the result would be the equivalent of a preseason game.

If Nagy had committed to running the football primarily with Montgomery, I believe the Bears could have won this game comfortably. You have to give your o-lineman a chance to build their confidence in each other and allow them to be aggressive. The best way to do that is running the ball. A running back like Montgomery, will wear out a defense because he’s big, has balance and fights for yardage. The Packers aren’t particularly good at inside linebacker, so why not exploit that?

Also, I realize this is what Reid and his disciples do but the offensive attack is always too lateral and when they go vertical it’s typically outside toward the sideline. Nagy needs to start attacking the seam and start taking some deep shots down the middle. He has to make the defense respect that he will attack that part of the field. The Packers showed plenty of looks with 8 or 9 guys at the line of scrimmage. Set up some inside releases and make them pay for that over the middle.

Also, Trey Burton must be the offensive MVP because both times he has missed a start for the Bears, they have struggled mightily to move the ball and score points.

The defense was awesome. Pagano’s first crack at Rodgers was a better performance than anything Fangio did against the Packers in 6 games. His defense gave up less points and sacked Rodgers more times than any of the games coordinated and called by Vic. Fangio’s D actually had two massive breakdowns (one at home and the opener last year) that cost the Bears two different Packer games. I respect Fangio but Pagano is a great replacement. With this talent, he can be aggressive. Rodgers won the game but he didn’t really do a damn thing. It might as well have been Trent Dilfer out there.
Last year after Rodgers was injured, Fangio went into a shell and refused to attack Rodgers. Pagano would have tried to punish him.

Mitch did not play well but the protection was awful, he rarely had a clean pocket and Nagy refused to run the ball. Most NFL QBs will struggle under those conditions. They both need to be considerably better. There is no debate about that.

The game was easily winnable but Nagy panicked after they were behind and called the game like they were down 14 points. This loss is squarely on him. Before that, a commitment to the run could have given him control but he seems to be adverse to winning a game in a fashion that doesn’t meet his desire to score “style points.”

Bye the way, Robinson is a stud. I’m happy for him. He’s worked his ass off to regain his form.

I’m disappointed but I’m heading to Denver on Thursday for some mountain golf and hopefully a much better outcome on Sunday.

 

[ruprecht]

This is the price you pay for sitting your starters in pre-season. I understand the concern about injuries and I believe you can get away with sitting your defensive guys because they tend to be ahead of offenses early in the year anyway. However, the offense needs live reps at game speed against an opponent that is actually tackling and not thudding. The offensive line needs the time to build continuity and work out the kinks in the line calls especially with a new center. On the first sack Thursday, Daniels made the wrong call that led to Martinez being a free runner at Trubisky. The QB and receivers need to work on their timing at game speed.

I heard a professional gambler on the Action Network Thursday afternoon. He predicted a muddy, poorly played offensive game on both sides. He said he didn’t know who was going to win but it would be ugly and the only wager to make was the under, period. He said neither team had taken offensive reps with their starters in preseason, and the result would be the equivalent of a preseason game.

If Nagy had committed to running the football primarily with Montgomery, I believe the Bears could have won this game comfortably. You have to give your o-lineman a chance to build their confidence in each other and allow them to be aggressive. The best way to do that is running the ball. A running back like Montgomery, will wear out a defense because he’s big, has balance and fights for yardage. The Packers aren’t particularly good at inside linebacker, so why not exploit that?

Also, I realize this is what Reid and his disciples do but the offensive attack is always too lateral and when they go vertical it’s typically outside toward the sideline. Nagy needs to start attacking the seam and start taking some deep shots down the middle. He has to make the defense respect that he will attack that part of the field. The Packers showed plenty of looks with 8 or 9 guys at the line of scrimmage. Set up some inside releases and make them pay for that over the middle.

Also, Trey Burton must be the offensive MVP because both times he has missed a start for the Bears, they have struggled mightily to move the ball and score points.

The defense was awesome. Pagano’s first crack at Rodgers was a better performance than anything Fangio did against the Packers in 6 games. His defense gave up less points and sacked Rodgers more times than any of the games coordinated and called by Vic. Fangio’s D actually had two massive breakdowns (one at home and the opener last year) that cost the Bears two different Packer games. I respect Fangio but Pagano is a great replacement. With this talent, he can be aggressive. Rodgers won the game but he didn’t really do a damn thing. It might as well have been Trent Dilfer out there.
Last year after Rodgers was injured, Fangio went into a shell and refused to attack Rodgers. Pagano would have tried to punish him.

Mitch did not play well but the protection was awful, he rarely had a clean pocket and Nagy refused to run the ball. Most NFL QBs will struggle under those conditions. They both need to be considerably better. There is no debate about that.

The game was easily winnable but Nagy panicked after they were behind and called the game like they were down 14 points. This loss is squarely on him. Before that, a commitment to the run could have given him control but he seems to be adverse to winning a game in a fashion that doesn’t meet his desire to score “style points.”

Bye the way, Robinson is a stud. I’m happy for him. He’s worked his ass off to regain his form.

I’m disappointed but I’m heading to Denver on Thursday for some mountain golf and hopefully a much better outcome on Sunday.

Pretty much this (minus the golfing)