Bears vs Chiefs - Preseason Week 3

[Superman(DH23)]

21 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said:

I will never understand how people can be persuaded so easily by the media and also put so much trust in the media trained players/coaches.

I wonder how many pre-social media fans who now claim preseason games are useless were taking the same stance before it got so much attention in the media and became the "cool" thing to say. Or did it not matter as much then? (*waits for the usual "I have been saying this forever"*). I almost guarantee that those of you who were old enough to understand the game 10-20 years ago were not preaching what you are now and as often.  

This is the same thing with the whole idea that "the new CBA has made every team start off sloppy in the first few weeks" because of the new restrictions. When, in fact, the data shows that teams have been more consistent on a week-to-week basis than any other point in time going all the way back to 1989.  It changed how coaches and players prepare for the season/games but there is no indication that teams have been starting slow since 2011. This is media persuasion BS and nothing more. There are certain teams who start slow for various reasons and there are others who start fast. This is nothing new.  

You cannot replicate a real game in practice. There is no substitution for that. Calling something "meaningless" would imply that there is nothing to gain from it - which is far from the truth.

This is a young team--which cannot be overstated enough.  Most young players can't learn how to adjust to the speed of the game, in practice. A player can't learn how to pick up on hidden signals and learn tendencies by playing against the same players on their team, in practice. A player can't learn how improvise on-the-fly when an opposing team picks up their tendencies and signals, in practice.

Those are things players pick up on along the way and learn through film study and "on-the-field" trial and error. And not just rookies or sophomores either (although it is tougher for them). Even for veterans because, hell, even vets continue to learn these things as they develop. 

/end rant.

What's your definition of start fast vs start slow?  Bc every year I see poor tackling, high penalties, defense ahead of offense, etc... at the start of the season.  I'm sorry but you aren't going to convince me or any NFL coach that the CBA that allows for 14...14 out of 100+... padded practices.  2 a days, which are a mainstay of football...completely gone at the NFL level.  A CBA that prevents any coaching contact with the players from the end of the season until OTAs start 4 months later, even if the player wants it.  

As for the decision to rest the starters.  I thought Nagy did a great job explaining why and the thought process in the post game press conference.

[JAF-N72EX]

4 hours ago, Superman(DH23) said:

What's your definition of start fast vs start slow?  Bc every year I see poor tackling, high penalties, defense ahead of offense, etc... at the start of the season.  I'm sorry but you aren't going to convince me or any NFL coach that the CBA that allows for 14...14 out of 100+... padded practices.  2 a days, which are a mainstay of football...completely gone at the NFL level.  A CBA that prevents any coaching contact with the players from the end of the season until OTAs start 4 months later, even if the player wants it.  

As for the decision to rest the starters.  I thought Nagy did a great job explaining why and the thought process in the post game press conference.

Let me reiterate this. 

Quote

It changed how coaches and players prepare for the season/games but there is no indication that teams have been starting slow since 2011.

-- Slow start meaning teams getting progressively and/or significantly better after the first 3 or 4 games of the season while the players are trying to make up for what they "lost" in the CBA. If this were true then we would've, at the very least, seen a slight rise in inconsistent play -league wide- across the board on a week-to-week basis and this would reflect in the data. But it doesn't. It shows the opposite. Teams have been more consistent. 

All of those things that you mentioned are more of a result of the constant rule changes, higher emphasis on certain rules and poorly trained refs than anything else. They would've happened anyhow with or without the changes in the CBA. 

You can't tell a player "ok, this is how you tackle as per the rules" then come back the next year and say "ok, forget what I told you last season, this is how you tackle" and not expect a steep learning curve. You combine this with the poorly trained refs throwing BS flags and you're going to get those same results, regardless. Last season was the first time that no defender amassed 100 or more solo tackles since it's been tracked because players are simply afraid to try to tackle anymore. And that is certainly not because of the CBA.....that's the rules and the refs and I would not be surprised to see that trend continue.  

And just to be clear, I am not in no way supportive of the new CBA guidelines but I'm also not gonna sit here and blame everything on it while disregarding all other factors either.