The Bears-Offense

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

So general thoughts after thinking about the game.

 

Not concerned about Caleb looking so crappy.  Would have been cool to have him come out blazing but he is still a rookie no matter how talented.  The reassuring thing here is that he started camp slow and constantly improved. 

I clicked on the facebook comments just to confirm; there are already people calling him a bust and calling for Bagent.  Remember they can drive too and be careful out there.

I REALLY didn't like much of the offensive playcalling.  It's truly weird how familiar it seemed to last year, but there were lateral plays when we needed like 8 yds,  weird blocking assignments and the personnel usage seemed ill matched to the Titans D.  That said, it's fair to say that there was ZERO film on this iteration of the Titans.  I felt there were good defensive adjustmnets by Flus, but the changes to the O after halftime were still meh even if some improvements. 

It's a good reminder that our "best WR room in the league" is two injuries away from Velus Jones being a WR again.  Sucks for Odunze, but both Moore and Allen looked gimpy for moments Sunday.  

I absolutely hate how sloppy this team seems to start the season. THe best prepared they have ever looked in an opener was the SF game, and they had some benefit of the unknown and a storm cell.  This was better than last year but it's annoying that they always seem underprepared.  That said, full credit to the D getting fired up and ST won us this game. 

I think the Bears get annihilated Sunday night.  I think their pass rushers are going to have a field day when the Bears have to try and help the IOL stand up.  

The interior OL of the Bears isn't good enough, in a very predictable way.  Ryan Bates is that "stop trying to make fetch happen" meme. He's not very good and I don't know why he was a priority.  THe Bills other IOL guy would have been a better pickup.  This is a very risky OL to break in a rookie QB with, and it's fair to wonder (again, sorry) if they should have prioritized OL over all the positions we're now stacked at. 

[JibjeResearch]

The Bears should be able to run the ball against the Texans.  This will help CW a lot.

I think the Titans' D is better than the Texans' D.

[soulman]

On 9/9/2024 at 4:43 PM, Madmike90 said:

I think as much as our offence did look under prepared it is something that was seen right across the league on the opening weekend...

 

Defence will always be further ahead than offence in the first few weeks...it's like Belichick always used to say...you never know what sort of team you have until October...I think the bigger concern for me when it comes to the offence was just how physically overmatched we looked and that given we were struggling to protect Caleb & run the ball we barely played Kmet at 6-6" 260lbs or Lewis who is 6-6" and probably at this point of his careers is probably 270lbs even less...we needed those guys on the field more and we badly need the interior to turn up next week.

Except we had 100 yards less than the league average.  I realize there were multiple contributing factors but it's becoming quite evident that Flus decision to rest his starters throughout most of the preseason is a major one.  They do not come out prepared to play and win.

[soulman]

On 9/9/2024 at 6:34 PM, dafreak said:

At what point is it a coaching / coordinator problem?

It is to a degree but until I can see differently I'll lay it as Flus feet.  As I posted.  His decision to rest his starters to much during preseason isn't working especially when there's two week or more between the final preseason game an the opener.  Hasn't this been one constant we've seen from Flus three years in a row?

Another factor is with the injuries to the OL and our inability to get a starting five set early enough in camp and preseason.  Even with the added depth this year we failed.  Maybe they should've started those who were able to play and practice.  Davis has been worthless both years he's been here.  The guy never shows up to play game one.

As for the rest Morgan is one of the best OL coaches in the NFL.  Waldron hasn't been here long enough for me to have an opinion yet.

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

5 hours ago, soulman said:

 

As for the rest Morgan is one of the best OL coaches in the NFL.  Waldron hasn't been here long enough for me to have an opinion yet.

It seems he has a good reputation, but if you were just evaluating his time with the Bears I don't think there's much positive to say.  Understand that we have serious limitations on personnel, but Sunday was a good case in point where in addition to just getting pancaked, the OL was often just in the wrong place as well.   They seem to make a lot of mistakes as well as just lacking the power or speed to hold up. 

[JibjeResearch]

I'm seeing that too.  The IOL is not good.  However, the Titans' DTs are great and strong.

I'm waiting to see the next game.  If the IOL can't handle the Texans' DTs, then put Bates at OC and Pryor at OG.  We can do this during the game.

The Bears' IOL needs to get better fast!

 

[dll2000]

On 9/8/2024 at 7:32 PM, soulman said:

What is it with Velus Jones?  Is it a vision or depth perception issue?  Does he just get nervous? Is he looking upfield for a path before he secures the ball?  Is he simply snake bit?  I've never seen anyone make the exact same mistake as often as he does and he knows it.  His first priority is to secure the catch and for whatever reason he just can't do it.  That botch today could be the end of his KOR gig.

He has game day yips and can't shake them.

I coached 3 kids like that over years.  Each one was best athlete on the team.   It's tough call on what to do.  2 of them played RB and lost playoff games for us with 2 lost  fumbles in each. 

Other was a QB and I had to move him to defense - where he thrived.  His dad never forgave me though.  

You both need them and can't rely on them. For Bears it is easier.  It is not a need, but a want.  They didn't want to give up on most explosive player on team.   Neither did I, I argued for giving him another chance up to last week, but at some point you just sadly have to.

Edited September 11 by dll2000

[soulman]

On 9/11/2024 at 7:37 AM, BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW said:

It seems he has a good reputation, but if you were just evaluating his time with the Bears I don't think there's much positive to say.  Understand that we have serious limitations on personnel, but Sunday was a good case in point where in addition to just getting pancaked, the OL was often just in the wrong place as well.   They seem to make a lot of mistakes as well as just lacking the power or speed to hold up. 

Injuries have been a major factor again this year.  Two years in a row we've been unable to establish a starting five during camp and preseason and it shows in the results early in the season.  I'd look more to the success he's had with Jones and Jenkins than I would Davis who should be gone next spring and Bates whose only just arrived and is playing injured.

It's not a power blocking scheme it's a zone scheme so more emphasis will be placed on an OL athleticism and quickness since they need to pull with the flow of the blocking scheme and also reach out to make second level blocks on LB and Safeties.  I agree they're not executing well but I'm not an OL guru so I can only see the more obvious mistakes.

But more than anything this scheme required a whole lot of coordination between the linemen and we're not getting it probably due to to many injuries and the lack of time all of the starters have had to work with each other.  The talent and depth are better than before but the coordination isn't.  That's what needs to be fixed.

[Sugashane]

23 minutes ago, soulman said:

 

It's not a power blocking scheme it's a zone scheme so more emphasis will be placed on an OL athleticism and quickness since they need to pull with the flow of the blocking scheme and also reach out to make second level blocks on LB and Safeties.  I agree they're not executing well but I'm not an OL guru so I can only see the more obvious mistakes.

 

OL and DBs are notoriously hard to grade accurately because they can have so much adjustment pre and post snap too. I remember someone (Gilmore?) talking about how they changed a call preplay and Belichick was like "What the hell was that?" So he had to explain what he saw and what adjustment he made,  just for Bill to be like,  "Oh, OK.  That's good then."

So even one of the GOAT coaches needs context on what and why things happen,  so I think it's noting even obvious mistakes is a positive.  Lol

[soulman]

On 9/11/2024 at 9:19 AM, dll2000 said:

He has game day yips and can't shake them.

I coached 3 kids like that over years.  Each one was best athlete on the team.   It's tough call on what to do.  2 of them played RB and lost playoff games for us with 2 lost  fumbles in each. 

Other was a QB and I had to move him to defense - where he thrived.  His dad never forgave me though.  

You both need them and can't rely on them. For Bears it is easier.  It is not a need, but a want.  They didn't want to give up on most explosive player on team.   Neither did I, I argued for giving him another chance up to last week, but at some point you just sadly have to.

That fits the way I see it and maybe Flus and Poles as well.  After having given him as many chances to prove himself as they have at some point a decision to move on needs to be made.  What bugs me is why he can't seem to get into his head that ball security on each kick off is far more important than taking one to the house.  With these new rules he'll get his shot at that but he needs to be in possession of the ball when it happens.  For a guy of his age he doesn't seem to be very mature or intelligent.

[soulman]

56 minutes ago, Sugashane said:

OL and DBs are notoriously hard to grade accurately because they can have so much adjustment pre and post snap too. I remember someone (Gilmore?) talking about how they changed a call preplay and Belichick was like "What the hell was that?" So he had to explain what he saw and what adjustment he made,  just for Bill to be like,  "Oh, OK.  That's good then."

So even one of the GOAT coaches needs context on what and why things happen,  so I think it's noting even obvious mistakes is a positive.  Lol

It's talent AND cohesion.  Poles has added talent but we still struggle with cohesion which I attribute to not being able to get a starting five set early in camp and allowing them to work out their respective roles with each other.  We can't seem to keep the same five guys healthy long enough for them to function as a unit.  It's like a dance where they just don't have all of the steps down.

Edited Friday at 07:39 AM by soulman

[AZBearsFan]

4 hours ago, soulman said:

For a guy of his age he doesn't seem to be very mature or intelligent.

I don’t think it’s either of those things at all. I think he just struggles under pressure. He’s hardly the first super athletic guy who has a hard time when the lights come on. Were he not highly overdrafted in round 3 we would’ve dismissed this as the typical such case that it is a while ago. 

[dll2000]

5 hours ago, soulman said:

That fits the way I see it and maybe Flus and Poles as well.  After having given him as many chances to prove himself as they have at some point a decision to move on needs to be made.  What bugs me is why he can't seem to get into his head that ball security on each kick off is far more important than taking one to the house.  With these new rules he'll get his shot at that but he needs to be in possession of the ball when it happens.  For a guy of his age he doesn't seem to be very mature or intelligent.

Well to have a muff under new kick off rules is hard.  That one by Velus may be only one in NFL all year.  Fumbles sure, but muffs?  No.  Even if you don’t catch it clean you can still gather it or let it go to end zone.  The odds of him both muffing it and kicking it to other team are incredible, but they happened.  Maybe God just has other plans for him.  

[JibjeResearch]

I'm gonna go ...  Bears 27  Texans 24 ... because the Bears will run over the Texans DL and the Bears' 2 shutdown CBs will dominate.

[JibjeResearch]

Horrendous plays by the OL.  Should try Pryor at LG and see how that turns out.