Countdown to Opening Week and Preseason Preview

[LLcheesehead12]

1 hour ago, R T said:

Guessing you are doing the fan thing of its Bears/Packers so the Packers will win and hopefully that is correct. But week one in Chicago was probably the worst time for the Packers to play them. Run heavy teams are not ideal to start the season for any defense no less one like the Packers who do no tackling with their first team defense until the opening day kickoff. 

Last season the Packers defense had 8 missed tackles in their first game and another 8 in their second game, the first team defenses unofficial pre-season. By comparison, week three they had 1 missed tackle and week four they had 2. 

That is why I am not in love with starting the season on the road against the two run heaviest offenses in the NFL. Playing those two later in the season would have been much better, but early season missed tackles could make it hard to get off the field against a high volume of runs and the fire Barry crew will be highly active out of the gate.

The Bears very well may be a bottom 5 team in the NFL by the end of the season, but that will mean very little in week one. Fans have all heard it a million time, but most still don't understand it, it is not who you play but when you play them.   

 

 

This.  The Bears are more than happy Rodgers is gone now and they've been more than eager to grab back a few, especially now when you got a very young Packers team with a ton of guys who've never started an NFL game.  Expect things like blitzes and different pressure looks that they wouldn't do against Rodgers that they will throw at Love to see how he responds.

[vegas492]

57 minutes ago, LLcheesehead12 said:

 

1. Lol, and people wonder why I'm always railing against him.  But no, in all seriousness I'm not saying it wouldn't be good to get a win right away.  Obviously it would, but you just can't draw any conclusions from the end of week 1.  We were awful week 1 of 2021 but were just fine the rest of the way, Bears killed the 49ers week 1 last year but then went back to being the same old bad Bears we all know.  Point is I could name countless examples of week 1 champs that ended up doing just about nothing else the rest of the season.  A win week 1 would be nice but doesn't mean our season is going to be great, and a loss isn't the end of the world even if it's ugly.

2. Not possible as that's 4 games played so far and you got 13 more to go.  Closest you'd get to a 500 finish is 6-7 or 7-6 from there out bringing either a 9-8 or 10-7 record.  You definitely aren't winning the div at 9-8.  10-7?  Possibly, but far more likely you gotta go at least 11-6 to do it.

3. True, but the flipside to that is the offense still has to have all the nuances like timing on throws and execution, rhythm, knowing assignments and routes right away.  Those things should be getting better as the season goes on, but I doubt they're all going to be running crisp and well oiled right out of the gate.

1.  If a W or L doesn't matter, I'll take the W, please.  It is up to our coach to get us actually ready for week one this year.

2.  Thanks for doing the math.

3.  If our offense doesn't have rhythm out of camp, then we are running camp incorrectly.

[Old Guy]

3 hours ago, LLcheesehead12 said:

 

This.  The Bears are more than happy Rodgers is gone now and they've been more than eager to grab back a few, especially now when you got a very young Packers team with a ton of guys who've never started an NFL game.  Expect things like blitzes and different pressure looks that they wouldn't do against Rodgers that they will throw at Love to see how he responds.

Young quarterbacks are going to be blitzed until they prove they can handle it. On the other sideline is a guy who has proven to be incompetent against pressure, unless you don't contain him. Then he can be a threat to run. Love can be a threat to run and pass once he breaks contain. I will not give Fields the benefit of the doubt until he proves his eyes don't go down to see the rush. I give the Packers the advantage for two reasons. 1. Our pass rush is better than theirs. 2. Our O-line is better than theirs. 

[Tperk]

9 hours ago, vegas492 said:

Well.  I got my new smoke tube.  Grill rack for smoking ribs.  Grill rack for smoking wings and drumsticks.

I'll be smoking a test batch of everything this weekend to prepare for the season.  It's my pre-season for smoking and grilling.

Thinking a 10 hour cold smoke to start.  Then the ribs go into a pan wrapped in tin foil with a little beer and cook in the oven at 200 degrees for about 6 hours.  Then finish on the grill at 400.

Wings and drummies.  Not exactly sure, but I think after the smoke it done, they will go onto the grill at around 275 for about 30-40 minutes.  Then I'll finish them on the hot grill, 400 degrees, to crisp them up at the end with the ribs.

What are you cooking on? Weber grill? Pellet smoker?

 

Thinking 10 hours of smoke for ribs is quite a long time. 

[LLcheesehead12]

58 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

Young quarterbacks are going to be blitzed until they prove they can handle it. On the other sideline is a guy who has proven to be incompetent against pressure, unless you don't contain him. Then he can be a threat to run. Love can be a threat to run and pass once he breaks contain. I will not give Fields the benefit of the doubt until he proves his eyes don't go down to see the rush. I give the Packers the advantage for two reasons. 1. Our pass rush is better than theirs. 2. Our O-line is better than theirs. 

 

We should, but Barry and those before him have had issues on D containing scrambling QBs or blitzing past them and losing them in the open field.  And he'd better get that fixed soon or he's in trouble.

And yeah, Love can move a little too, but everything he's done so far has been tied to mostly staying in the pocket.  Good news is he gets rid of the ball faster than Rodgers.

[Old Guy]

30 minutes ago, LLcheesehead12 said:

 

We should, but Barry and those before him have had issues on D containing scrambling QBs or blitzing past them and losing them in the open field.  And he'd better get that fixed soon or he's in trouble.

And yeah, Love can move a little too, but everything he's done so far has been tied to mostly staying in the pocket.  Good news is he gets rid of the ball faster than Rodgers.

I believe in years past we have not had athletic enough ILB to contain running QBs. I do believe with Campbell and 2nd year Walker that should be much improved. 

[Zycho32]

1 hour ago, Old Guy said:

I believe in years past we have not had athletic enough ILB to contain running QBs. I do believe with Campbell and 2nd year Walker that should be much improved. 

Dom Capers Years: In general the ILB tandems ranged from ordinarily serviceable(Bishop/Hawk) to flawed(Hawk/whoever he partnered with). They were either knowledgeable about their craft or athletically capable yet novice-like(Brad Jones). Mike Vick made a game of the '10 opener when he came in as a reliever for the Eagles, and everybody remembers how badly Kaepernick humiliated the team in '12. But the defense was also somewhat like apples and oranges compared to the D we have today, where the ILB weren't just on islands because not only was a 30 Front used more often than not(which helped tie down the OL) but the OLB had some coverage responsibilities every now and again, making them more apt for 'contain' roles should the situation require it. As such, in times like the rematch against San Fran in '13 or the Seattle game in '14, the mobile QBs weren't visibly ripping us to shreds.

Mike Pettine Years: After AJ Hawk left, this was largely the Blake Martinez show co-starring whomever(like Jake Ryan). Mainly 2-4 and 3-3 looks, or even 2-3 as Nickel/Dime situations multiplied. Blake, as others like AG20 pointed out from time to time, was schemed directly onto and island and given a sharpened stick and hold to hunt for his own dinner. The OLB surrounding him were much more bent towards pass rushing than the Capers years, much of it having to do with a declining Clay Matthews and an increasingly underwhelming cast of second bananas who just weren't hitting the jackpot.

Joe Barry Years: Present Day. By all accounts, the Campbell/Walker tandem is EASILY the most athletic we've had at this spot. The problems come from elsewhere; the standard alignment is 2-4 Nickel, but the OLB are just pure 9-Tech Pass Rushers and as best as I can see, the 2 DL aren't playing the traditional 1/3 Tech that the 40 Fronts used to have. They're more like 4/5 Tech guys that try to give the Edge Rushers one-on-one matchups. This permits the OL to get at least one or two guys up to the second level to engage with the ILB, who are also 90-or-so percent responsible for over-the-middle pass protection AND side-to-side pursuit of screens and RB outlets. When the team switches to a 30 Front, the OL pressure is relieved somewhat and allows the ILB more free reign, but at the cost of a DB or even reducing the ILB to one, which seems mostly suicidal unless you're playing Chicago. Frankly, I'm not sure this particular defense is suited to combat much less defeat an Elite Mobile QB offense, no matter how great Campbell and Walker can move about and read the play.

[vegas492]

14 hours ago, Tperk said:

What are you cooking on? Weber grill? Pellet smoker?

 

Thinking 10 hours of smoke for ribs is quite a long time. 

I'm using the Weber Genesis (gas) as a smoker.  No heat.  

I've done 10 hour smokes before, without heat, it is great.  If I were to turn on the propane?  Way too long, even at 200 degrees.

[vegas492]

13 hours ago, LLcheesehead12 said:

 

We should, but Barry and those before him have had issues on D containing scrambling QBs or blitzing past them and losing them in the open field.  And he'd better get that fixed soon or he's in trouble.

And yeah, Love can move a little too, but everything he's done so far has been tied to mostly staying in the pocket.  Good news is he gets rid of the ball faster than Rodgers.

Should the goal be to keep Fields in the pocket and make him go through progressions and reads?

I feel like playing Fields is kind of like playing Rodgers when he could move.  Mush rush.  Keep him contained and don't let him escape the pocket.  Easier said than done.

[LLcheesehead12]

On 8/7/2023 at 9:40 AM, Old Guy said:

Good news for all of us who do not live in Wisconsin. The game this Friday is on NFL Network so we can all watch it. 

 

Yup, and I'm thinking NFL Network will also have the final preseason game of ours vs Seattle.  I still plan on using my location spoofer though to get into the local TV like I did for family night so that way I can catch John Kuhn and the gang during the pregame show - assuming they're in it.

[{Family Ghost}]

On 8/9/2023 at 8:12 AM, vegas492 said:

Should the goal be to keep Fields in the pocket and make him go through progressions and reads?

I feel like playing Fields is kind of like playing Rodgers when he could move.  Mush rush.  Keep him contained and don't let him escape the pocket.  Easier said than done.

Yeah .. I think that's the way to go.  I think the Packers picked Van Ness with Fields somewhat in mind.  Big and fast like Gary .. hold the edge then chase.  Preston holds a good edge, but probably isn't going to beat Fields to the sidelines.  Hopefully Gary is a little more sound in his edge play this year.  He's pretty great at everything else. 

[LLcheesehead12]

Well, preseason game 1 in the books.  The takeaways ...

 

The Good:

1. Love and Doubbs should be quite the connection in addition to Watson.  Kinda wanted to see a bit more from Musgrave and Reed, but we still got time there.

2. My good feeling on Clifford turned out to be pretty good and seems LaFleur feels the same.  Yeah, he's still got learning to do, but I feel pretty certain he's got the toolset needed to be a good backup.

3. Look out for D-Wix - opposing defenses who lose track of him could pay for it

4. Defense was a mixed bag, but gotta like the QB pressure that was going on out there

5. If he doesn't crack the 53, at least put E-Wil on the PR.  I get the feeling tho if we don't sign him someone else will put him on their 53.

 

The Bad:

1. A little disappointed McGough didn't get to throw a little more.  I doubt he beats out Clifford at this rate, but I'm still curious about his abilities and even if he would be the 3 or the PR guy, might as well see what he brings to the table if anything.

2. Anders Carlson ... Damn the last FG was a boot down main street but then those extra points went bad.  We definitely are missing ole reliable number 2 and if we're sticking with him, I hope LaFleur is willing to go for 2 on TDs a lot this year.

 

 

And now Bring On The Patriots!!!

Edited August 12, 2023 by LLcheesehead12

[LLcheesehead12]

So guessing this next game against the Pats is gonna be kind of like our regular season dress rehearsal game.  Starters in a bit longer -- if we still do this kind of preseason game -- and Clifford and company closing it out and probably not much if anything at all from McGough.

[Old Guy]

4 minutes ago, LLcheesehead12 said:

So guessing this next game against the Pats is gonna be kind of like our regular season dress rehearsal game.  Starters in a bit longer -- if we still do this kind of preseason game -- and Clifford and company closing it out and probably not much if anything at all from McGough.

I still don't expect to see guys like Bak and Maybe Clarke. I don't expect Love to get more than a quarter to a quarter and a half. Not worth risking the other guys that need to be in there with him. 

We shall see though. Maybe MLF wants them to play more because of how poorly we played opening week the past two years. 

[StatKing]

We traded a HoF QB and still have two QBs on the roster better than Justin Fields.