2019 Season Thoughts

[dll2000]

So I spent much of offseason talking about how Bears were a Super Bowl contender.  

On paper it made a lot of sense:

A quick summary of my offseason thinking:  A Rob was healthy, MT would take the progression leap that good QBs make in year 2.5-3.  A lot of very young talented Bears players were a year older; J. Daniels, R. Smith, Nichols, Miller to name the main ones.  We still had Hicks and Goldman and Mack and Trevathan and Jackson and Fuller and added HHCD.   Those are some talented football players.  

I had major concerns at TE and was frankly shocked when TE wasn't addressed in FA or draft, so then I had to hope that Burton could be what he was in first half of 2018 and Shaheen could show some of potential he showed in 2018 pre injury offseason.  I had major concerns about Long which I have had for last several years, but figured they would replace him and some journeymen would play the spot.  A lot of teams have to do that at a guard position.  I had small hope that without offseason surgery he could maybe come back and be good again like years ago.  

I started having doubts in training camp when offense couldn't do anything.   I even went to a practice in person and that didn't help.  As bad as O line as looked in games they looked worse in practice and drills.  Seeing it from 10 feet away is a big difference.    People write about MT missing throws, but the line and TE's was a major untold story.    It was so bad Long had a melt down in practice and not the one you read about.  This was a different one that didn't get reported.  He just beat himself up. 

After the practice I wrote some long posts about how I didn't agree with how Hiestand was coaching the O line after the practice, some technical points (poor hand placement and grip) and just way he ignored a lot of problems.   But a few people said who the heck was I to criticize Hiestand's coaching.  I didn't have the credentials you see and I agreed and deleted them because I really don't.  But I think because these guys are at NFL level we think they are geniuses.   Most of them really aren't.  Just people doing a job.   

Then after game one my only positivity wasn't rational anymore just fanboy hope.  

The defense was great like expected, but the offense was beyond pathetic. 

It seems everything that could go wrong did go wrong in 2019.

1) MT was still making same mistakes as 2018, mainly overthrows and bad reads.  Added bonus was he was trying to stay in pocket more and that made it worse.

2) OLINE:  

       a) Leno:   Came into season weaker and slower than last year for whatever reason.  Domino effect caused him to overcompensate with a lot of penalties.  

       b)  Daniels:  Also came into season weaker and slower than last year for whatever reason, I speculate that it was because he went back to school to graduate and focused on that. 

       c) Whitehair:  Also, also came into season weaker and slower than last year, I speculate it was because he had his first baby and was really into that.    

       d) Long; Absolutely had nothing left.  Was worst player on field in camp and it was obvious.   I really blame coaches here for not pulling him.   Just COULD NOT PLAY and WE STARTED HIM FOR SEVERAL GAMES.

      e) Massie; basically the same, but he was never that great and add in all above and his short coming become really magnified.  

      f) Coward: looked totally out of shape in training camp.   I think he played himself into shape in the season.

I think coaching staff really deserves a lot of blame for not recognizing and dealing with some of these issues early on.  I think there was a lot of faith that these guys were professionals and would do the right thing in offseason and that didn't happen.   Long should have been benched after day 2 of camp.  I think there was thinking that he would suddenly get better.  Not sure where that was coming from or why.

Bars showed some promise in preseason at both guard and tackle, but never got an in season shot.    I don't know why.     

3)   TEs:  This one is a little tricky because both starters were hurt through much of offseason so they could not properly be evaluated.   There was a lot of hope that they would be good when healthy.  Obviously this was a humongous, gigantic mistake.   

You have to blame both GM and coaches here.  Especially because Nagy for first several games kept calling IZ out of spread where TE is responsible for making key block on end man of line of scrimmage and the bloody TE didn't make the block every single time.   Not sure if I have been more frustrated with a single play.  

4) Miller and Cohen; Miller and Cohen two really talented football players decided to have really crap seasons.   Miller with penalties and mental errors and drops and Cohen with several drops and failure to turn up field at key moments.   

5) Roquan Smith mystery situation.   This may have cost Bears a game or two has Smith played like garbage for like 4 games and sat out another.

6) Defensive Injuries:  Obviously defense is weaker without several of its best players and many players playing hurt.   I contend that many of those injuries happened as a direct result of offense being so awful and forcing them to play a lot more plays and to press.

In conclusion:  I think there is a lot of fault to go around for 2019.  Mainly I think it was these 3 things that sunk the season.  

1) I think MT simply is a middling QB.  Not as bad as people think for this stage of his career and his surrounding talent, but clearly not a great player.   That is fault of GM because there were two superior options on the table.  One great and one good.

2) O line.  I think some excuses can be made here.  You can't control players in offseason and some clearly didn't do their due diligence.  But to keep playing Long into the season is inexcusable.  To not recognize you have a major OL problem in camp and bring someone in is inexcusable.

3) TE.  I think the hope that two mediocre players would come back and be good when healthy was really foolish.   I mostly blame GM here.  But coaches should have been pounding the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by dll2000

[dll2000]

I think even with MT at QB (and not saying he is good) Bears could succeed if they performed better up front.  Because who are you going to get at QB?  And if you do get a FA QB how are you going to fix other problems?   It takes a special QB to overcome bad surrounding talent.   

It is simply not realistic to replace 3-4 OL and 2 TEs and a QB in one off season with good players and resign your good defensive FAs.  That's like a whole offense.

So margin for error is really, really small offensively.   They have to make all the right moves AND have some luck.   

So you have to hope that Leno comes back adequate like he has been for some seasons in past, Whitehair and Daniels play to their talent, someone steps in at RG and/or RG and plays good.  Bars and/or a major FA or whoever.   

You have to find a good Y somewhere that can play right away.  Not easy.  Even talented rookies can't usually do it.  

IF you can't find a good Y you have to change your offense to one with a FB.  You don't really have a choice because otherwise you can't run the football.  AND you have then have to find a good FB.  Those are somewhat easier to find than Y's however with much less of a learning curve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by dll2000

[Sugashane]

QB regressed to an alarming rate.

RBs never had a chance. Cohen was used as a receiver rather than a receiving RB way too much early on and that accounted for a big part of his regression. It was noted by many here that he regressed as a runner and seemed more indecisive but with our OL I can understand why. TEs couldnt set an edge until Holtz came in, Leno would whiff on blocks while trying to get outside, OL was porous all across until later, etc. There was nothing to aid them. Montgomery was the kind of making something out of nothing, the number of hits behind the LOS was sickening.

TEs were garbage. Holtz looks like a solid depth TE and FB option, Horsted showed flashes but isn't ready for much PT, and Burton was a shell of himself. Shaheen was miserable.

OL was the worst. Massie was the most consistent early on, which should be alarming to say the least. Really not a single starter played up to their expected level and only Lucas outplayed his expectations as far as reserves go.

Our defense was damn good overall, but Mack needs someone opposite of him to rush the passer. Nichols, RRH, Lynch all regressed as passrushers and Goldman proved to be even more one dimensional than I had thought. Hicks may be the key to the Bears defense, he is an elite passrusher for a 300+ pound man and just as good vs the run.

Floyd needs traded or to let walk, he is nothing special and cannot warrant his 5th year option's cost. Smith came on strong after his ordeal, and DT played well too. Kwiatkoski was the big surprise here. He outplayed Floyd and right now I'd be comfortable penciling him as the starting OLB opposite Mack, and subbing him out for a better passrusher on passing downs.

I was fine with the CBs but Amukamara either need to take a pay cut or be replaced.

I didn't like how EJax was brought up so much. He should be a coverage safety, kept over the top. Same for HHCD. Losing Hicks killed us in the run game and Pagano seemed to have to respond by pulling the safeties up more.

Pineiro had 2 bad games. It only seems worse because of the kicking issues from the last few seasons but it is what it is. The kid missed 4 kicks in 2 games and 1 the rest of the season (while having a hurt knee IIRC). I'd like to see an UDFA or vet compete but I'm comfortable with him.

O'Donnell needs replaced. It's simple.

Scales continues to deliver with longsnap after longsnap, no issues at all there.

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

Trying to put my thoughts on the 2019 season initially had me googling  "endless scream" but all the good images turned out to be gifs, which as it turns out can't be shared here, or at least I can't figure it out.

So then I thought about the gentle sigh of a bat whistling by, and the sound of a cleat twisting in the dirt, followed shortly by the slap of a baseball landing in the catchers mitt. The season was the fulfillment of a huge gamble that was lost.  Using the best draft pick the Bears have had in a long time, plus some extra for icing, and then trading yet MORE picks to turn a good defense into a great one, was all going to be great it Mitch had turned out to be a top QB.   As it turns out, the traits and work ethic that led Ryan Pace to believe in him have turned out to be not enough.  The small sample of his college career turned out to be not enough to evaluate his ability, which has come up short.  The team has been exposed in a lot of other ways, but the metaphorical crack that led to the collapse was that Mitch simply isn't very good.  Specifically the accuracy he showed in college hasn't translated, and he doesn't seem very smart or at least can't see the landscape fully and doesn't have the confidence to put the ball where it needs to be. He genuinely seems like a good guy, and his teammates fight for him, but it's just not going to happen for him here. 

The team failed in lots of other areas, but the linchpin here is that sustained success after last year was going to need the QB to develop, and he hasn't.  We're very likely looking at a better season next year, but we all know they're not going anywhere.  Perhaps 2021 and a new regime and QB might be good, and then maybe we can get a good defense again to complement that.  2023?

[WindyCity]

The offensive personnel is not good enough. That was laid pretty bare before the world to see.

We also need to start the process of finding a new QB, which sucks.

[dll2000]

A lot of people puffing out chests at their 2019 Bears negative predictions.

They were right, but their reasoning was mostly wrong.

Most people said kicking game and loss of Fangio were going to be the major concerns to cause Bears to be bad.   Kicking wasn't wonderful, but wasn't really the problem with the team.  Fangio would not have made a lick of difference I think.  A healthy 2019 Bears defense with a mentally functioning R. Smith is a great defense.   

The people saying MT would be bad were mostly right.  But while he was bad, 85% of league QBs would also have been bad.

I think Brady, Rodgers, Brees and Mahomes could have done something with this team with superior pocket presence, quick accurate passing and proper reads, but anyone else would be really arguable.

 

 

 

 

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

20 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

A lot of people puffing out chests at their 2019 Bears negative predictions.

They were right, but their reasoning was mostly wrong.

HA! Take that pundits, you were wrong about why the Bears sucked, we win!

Most people said kicking game and loss of Fangio were going to be the major concerns to cause Bears to be bad.   Kicking wasn't wonderful, but wasn't really the problem with the team.  Fangio would not have made a lick of difference I think.  A healthy 2019 Bears defense with a mentally functioning R. Smith is a great defense.   

The people saying MT would be bad were mostly right.  But while he was bad, 85% of league QBs would also have been bad.

I think Brady, Rodgers, Brees and Mahomes could have done something with this team with superior pocket presence, quick accurate passing and proper reads, but anyone else would be really arguable.

The only thing I think you could kind of see coming was the OL issues, at least in the run game, and the TE issues. There was no real reason to think MT would be worse than last year or that the offense would be so disjointed. 

 

[dll2000]

4 hours ago, RunningVaccs said:

 

The foreseeable things are/were really bad.  A bad TE and Oline together is really bad.   

It means first level guys are making a lot of tackles all season. 

[WindyCity]

Here is my complete list of Chicago Bears who did not disappoint this season,

 

Allen Robinson

Pat O’Donnell

Patrick Scales

Backup ILBs

 

That is sad.

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

9 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Here is my complete list of Chicago Bears who did not disappoint this season,

 

Allen Robinson

Pat O’Donnell

Patrick Scales

Backup ILBs

 

That is sad.

No Staley? Snub!

[beardown3231]

4 hours ago, RunningVaccs said:

No Staley? Snub!

I bet Tyler Bray was a stud in the film room.

[dll2000]

14 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Here is my complete list of Chicago Bears who did not disappoint this season,

 

Allen Robinson

Pat O’Donnell

Patrick Scales

Backup ILBs

 

That is sad.

I thought HHCD met my expectations and Skrine exceeded them. 

But yeah, pretty sad. 

[Nads786]

I really think it starts and ends with Mitch. He didn't take the leap we expected, in fact we went backwards. The OL was terrible at run blocking, but pretty solid in pass protection. If we had a better QB we would have probably been in the playoffs and lost in the first or second round.

Pace bet it all on Mitch and the entire team got burned. The defense was good this year but not elite, I think we all expected that to occur. The offense and QB just took a giant step back. 

 

[dll2000]

2 hours ago, Nads786 said:

I really think it starts and ends with Mitch. He didn't take the leap we expected, in fact we went backwards. The OL was terrible at run blocking, but pretty solid in pass protection. If we had a better QB we would have probably been in the playoffs and lost in the first or second round.

Pace bet it all on Mitch and the entire team got burned. The defense was good this year but not elite, I think we all expected that to occur. The offense and QB just took a giant step back. 

 

A healthy defense with a decent offense would have been elite IMO.

Terrible offense contributed to a lot of injuries I think.  

 

[abstract_thought]

On 12/26/2019 at 12:29 PM, dll2000 said:

A lot of people puffing out chests at their 2019 Bears negative predictions.

They were right, but their reasoning was mostly wrong.

Most people said kicking game and loss of Fangio were going to be the major concerns to cause Bears to be bad.   Kicking wasn't wonderful, but wasn't really the problem with the team.  Fangio would not have made a lick of difference I think.  A healthy 2019 Bears defense with a mentally functioning R. Smith is a great defense.   

The people saying MT would be bad were mostly right.  But while he was bad, 85% of league QBs would also have been bad.

I think Brady, Rodgers, Brees and Mahomes could have done something with this team with superior pocket presence, quick accurate passing and proper reads, but anyone else would be really arguable.

 

 

 

 

Not so sure about this. The chatter I heard was that the high variance stuff like turnovers and injuries wouldn't fall so heavily in the Bears' favor and that the offense wasn't good enough to make up for any regression on defense. That's pretty much exactly what happened.

And while some of that can be attributed to poor offensive line play, Trubisky is a huge part of the offensive failure.