How Bout Dem Bears?

aaronm13

Well that sucked. Interception was horrible for the Bills touchdown.

kennyb3

Long season ahead, could get real ugly real quick with our schedule. What date is next years draft?

Beaten at home by the bills with ej Manuel at qb - bloody hell. We never stop biting on play action. Jackson ridiculous yardage on the ground. Offence pathetic, jay will never change. We will no doubt be signing his praise at some stage but just no consistency apart from in his interception column.

SameOleJay

Corners were terrible. I am so sick of Jennings trying for the big play and killing us back there.
Pass rush non existent
Passing game fell to pieces without Alshon.
We needed Jay to step up and he collapsed.

Miserable stuff.

crunchie44

Bears biggest problem has been stopping the run. We sign very good pass rushers and rely on the draft to patch in few run stuffers looks silly now. Jackson is as old as my dad and he found it extremely easy to walk through the line

kennyb3

I'm honestly in shock - can't believe the bills bet us, and at home. It's so hard to keep watching them put Shea out there, we are playing a man light.

Ps we need a game manager in trestmans system, not a gunslinger, the 2nd int is just unforgivable to be honest. You wouldn't see a middle tier qb do that let alone anyway that has thoughts of making a Super Bowl. Next week I dare not watch. We ll be crucified.

I need to go kick something.

kennyb3

Having calmed down a bit last night, I had a thought;

Phil Emery really f'ucked up releasing Earl Bennett. Yes he didn't know Wilson would go down but even when he did - no move. We ended up with Holmes, who was signed how many days ago?? out there.

It's like the Izzy situation of last year. Yet again the depth isn't there and the level of turnover is way way too high.

Yes we we're unlucky with injuries, but injuries are a massive part of the NFL - look at Miami with 3 linebacker missing yesterday and backups still palying well.

Earl is still a good catcher (remember the steelers TD last year), a good back up with a comfort between him and Jay. He didn't do well last year as he didn't see much of the field, didn't get many target as BMarsh and Alshon were on it all the time. Yesterday was the sort of situation we needed him.

We ended up with Morgan, Spurlock & Holmes out there last night - who had a combined total of 0 games for us before (ignoring preseason).

That's just one thought that came to me anyway that might get missed.

Honestly I can't believe we were 'finding' our #3 receiver a few days before kickoff - bloody joke really.

Oat23

kennyb3 wrote: »

Having calmed down a bit last night, I had a thought;

Phil Emery really f'ucked up releasing Earl Bennett. Yes he didn't know Wilson would go down but even when he did - no move. We ended up with Holmes, who was signed how many days ago?? out there.

It's like the Izzy situation of last year. Yet again the depth isn't there and the level of turnover is way way too high.

Yes we we're unlucky with injuries, but injuries are a massive part of the NFL - look at Miami with 3 linebacker missing yesterday and backups still palying well.

Earl is still a good catcher (remember the steelers TD last year), a good back up with a comfort between him and Jay. He didn't do well last year as he didn't see much of the field, didn't get many target as BMarsh and Alshon were on it all the time. Yesterday was the sort of situation we needed him.

We ended up with Morgan, Spurlock & Holmes out there last night - who had a combined total of 0 games for us before (ignoring preseason).

That's just one thought that came to me anyway that might get missed.

Honestly I can't believe we were 'finding' our #3 receiver a few days before kickoff - bloody joke really.

Earl should have been brought back after Wilson got hurt, definitely.

But..

In a fan Q&A recently, he was asked ''Why was Earl Bennett not called after Wilson was hurt?''

He replied with something like ''Don't assume Earl was not called, nobody in the Bears org has said that.''

So maybe he was called and Earl wasn't willing to accept a deal at the price they wanted.

Hester had a day yesterday too :eek:

kennyb3

Thanks hadn't read that - guess we won't know. Emery and Trestman are too cute at times when they talk. Just say he was called or not.

Trestman really annoyed me yesterday with the 'clean it up' and 'lots of positives' stuff - we heard this all last year.

They are into year 3 - time to turn talking into winning. We seem to be improving talent wise, but regressing win wise.

In saying that give me them both media wise over Lovie & JA any day.

kennyb3

Saw this elsewhere;

Cutler 2-7 in last 9 games - will be 2-8 after sunday no doubt.

Beat the 0-5 Giants and the Browns (that's it!). Lost to the Saints, Lions twice, Packers, Redskins, Eagles and Bills.

That's a bit depressing - we've beaten nobody of note lately.

If we lose Sunday - history shows we've a 12% chance of making the playoffs (0-2 teams).

And for more good news - our 2015 schedule is;

@Seattle
@St. Louis
@San Diego
@Kansas City
@3 Division games
@TBD

SF
Arizona
Oakland
Denver
3 Division
TBD

I'm full of positivity this morning as you can tell!

Realt Dearg Sec

kennyb3 wrote: »

Saw this elsewhere;

Cutler 2-7 in last 9 games - will be 2-8 after sunday no doubt.

Beat the 0-5 Giants and the Browns (that's it!). Lost to the Saints, Lions twice, Packers, Redskins, Eagles and Bills.

That's a bit depressing - we've beaten nobody of note lately.

If we lose Sunday - history shows we've a 12% chance of making the playoffs (0-2 teams).

And for more good news - our 2015 schedule is;

@Seattle
@St. Louis
@San Diego
@Kansas City
@3 Division games
@TBD

SF
Arizona
Oakland
Denver
3 Division
TBD

I'm full of positivity this morning as you can tell!

Looking at the schedule on Sunday after the loss, I predicted, best case scenario, an 8-8 season. But it's early days. Presuming we lose Sunday, but who knows after that. I watched the first half last night and the offense is still capable of catching fire again like last season, certainly it's unlikely the O-line will be that bad all year (although the injuries might prove very, very costly there). Defensively, our linebackers are catastrophically bad, but I actually thought the safeties seemed to do OK. Our D line was very poor considering the moves and money thrown at the issue, but presumably they can't stay that bad all season.

Playoffs? I really doubt it. Standing still seems to be the most likely course of events.

Innish_Rebel

Yeah I have to admit - I was fairly positive for the season, but after the buffalo game, the D-Line & Linebackers really depressed me. I had hoped/expected the improved D-line would in turn allow the LB'ers to show better - early days yes but look at the schedule coming up... A tough run 6 away in next 8:

Added to fact that Vikes & Lions looked better than expected on weekend!!! Let's hope the D steps up & Jay stops the turnovers... On the positive FORTE is immense.

@ 49ers (potential SB contenders)
@ Jets (away - to 1:0 team)
v Packers (it's the packers)
@ Panthers (Cam back)
@ Falcons (Just beat a big SB tip in Saints)
v Dolphins (Just beat Brady's Pats)
@ Patriots (They are always tough)
@ Packers (it's the packers)

kennyb3

Allen not showing up sunday is a huge concern - he was very average last year and we've a lot of money tied up in him. Cordy Glenn is excellent though - but Allen is meant to be a star player.

Huge part of the defensive problem is we've one average staring defensive player out of these picks (that player is Bostic)

2012

19th pick (McClellin)
79th pick (Hardin)
184th pick (Frey)
220th pick (McCoy)

2013

50th Pick (Bostic) - the okay starter
117th pick (Greene) - still could end up a starter
188th pick (Washington)

So 7 picks - one shambolic starter, one average starter.

The McClellin and Hardin picks have hurt us bad and we haven't hit on any lower round guys yet.

Hopefully Fuller, Ferguson & Sutton can turn out to be good players.

On these I think Fuller will be very good, I'm not one bit sold on Ferguson and have concerns over Sutton.

kennyb3

Innish_Rebel wrote: »

Added to fact that Vikes & Lions looked better than expected on weekend!!!

That's a huge concern imo - least we might finally get a high pick!

padraig_f

kennyb3 wrote: »

Saw this elsewhere;

Cutler 2-7 in last 9 games - will be 2-8 after sunday no doubt.

Not generally a fan of quoting QB win-loss records, but that was a ****-show last week.

I've tried to give Cutler the benefit of the doubt as much as possible, but he's out of excuses this season....co-ordinator that makes Josh McCown look great, great receivers, great running-back, good enough o-line, 2nd year in the offense.

So just very disappointing to see him still screwing up. You wonder now will he ever learn. Don't want to overreact over one game, but when you're paying a guy $22m, you expect pretty consistent excellence. Hit-and-miss performances aren't good enough for that kind of money.

kennyb3

padraig_f wrote: »

Not generally a fan of quoting QB win-loss records, but that was a ****-show last week.

I've tried to give Cutler the benefit of the doubt as much as possible, but he's out of excuses this season....co-ordinator that makes Josh McCown look great, great receivers, great running-back, good enough o-line, 2nd year in the offense.

So just very disappointing to see him still screwing up. You wonder now will he ever learn. Don't want to overreact over one game, but when you're paying a guy $22m, you expect pretty consistent excellence. Hit-and-miss performances aren't good enough for that kind of money.

He won't learn imho - I really thought he'd made strides at the start of last season. I got sucked in! I forgave him the Minny fumble but then the Lions game happened.

That was his 8th season playing QB in the league - 9th times a charm eh?

So maybe we have to accept Jay Cutler the interception machine along with Jay Cutler the genius - there's little in between. Honestly I find it hard. We are stuck with him for 3 seasons regardless.

I think the thing is with the interceptions he'll throw you need either a) a super defense (can get off the field regularly) or b) one that's aggressive and forces turnovers.

Neither are ever happening under Mel Tucker who runs the blandest, most vanilla, placid defense. We blitzed a whole 4 times last week (Bills blitzed 12 times for example)!

Our tunovers have fallen off a cliff - when was our last Int?

And my god can we stop playing with 2 deep safties and at least try show a different look.

padraig_f

kennyb3 wrote: »

He won't learn imho - I really thought he'd made strides at the start of last season. I got sucked in! I forgave him the Minny fumble but then the Lions game happened.

That was his 8th season playing QB in the league - 9th times a charm eh?

I was optimistic Trestman might be able to coach him into not making those kinds of mistakes, first season in the offense you maybe give him a pass on some things. Game 1 of the second season, just a bit depressing to see a performance like that.

Our tunovers have fallen off a cliff - when was our last Int?

And my god can we stop playing with 2 deep safties and at least try show a different look.

Conte had that one on Sunday. Was actually a nice play, he was sitting deep at the snap, but anticipated the play, moved up and jumped the route.

While the defense didn’t have a good showing, they conceded just 20 points in regulation and 3 in the second half. With the new personnel on the defense, I’m happy enough to give them a bit more time. Willie Young was one bright spot.

Big task on Sunday for them against the read-option, and I’m not that optimistic. Remember the last game against the 49ers? Was Kaepernick's first start, when Alex Smith had the concussion. I expected them to come out running ball that night, not to expose Kaepernick too much, but they came out throwing, and killed us. Thought it was quite smart from Harbaugh.

kennyb3

Sorry yeah the conte Int - managed to blank that one in the rage.

Willie Young & Houston both bright spots. The dline in general was good but when you've no LB'ers of any quality (Briggs is fat & old these days) and not great safties - then it's going to be tough.

The defense will improve a bit imho - but they've some players there to improve a lot imho (low base).

I just have zero faith in Tucker - no scheming, showing same looks, lack of blitzes. Just generally no aggression or attitude. Staring Shea Mc when he's hopeless. He's just exposing us in all sorts of ways.

SameOleJay

I’ll say it till I’m blue in the face but to look at a group of Bostic (Atrocious year 1), Briggs, Williams (Both clearly on the wane) and Shea (Just useless) in the off-season and decide not to invest one free agency cent or ONE SINGLE DRAFT PICK is just beyond comprehension.

He didn’t value the top tier safeties on offer. Fine,. Take a mediocre free agent on the cheap in Mundy and a late round flier in Vereen. But to ignore the middle third is just unforgivable.

I’m gonna stay hopeful anyway for a mediocre D and strong offense to take us to the play-offs.

kennyb3

We ve waived fales?

Bemused.

And by cutting fiametta do we now have no fb?

SameOleJay

I'd imagine it was always the plan with Fales. Let him go when everyone's set with their QBs and hopefully sneak him onto the PS.

You're right, no FB. Maybe his injury is pretty bad after all.

If we don't have one of Alshon or Marshall back it could be 2012 all over.

Oat23

We just need Megatron and Aaron Rodgers to drive drunk/punch a baby and we'll be back on track.

Have faith!

padraig_f

@AdamSchefter: "Major questions about Bears WRs, Marshall and Jeffery. One source said "75 percent" sure neither plays tonight. Bears signed two PS WRs Sat."

Damn, was kind of assuming Marshall would play, as it's an ankle. Would be totally ****ed without both.....think you could get buy with one, using Holmes & Forte as a pass-catcher.

Oat23

Clean game from Cutty. 4TDs, 0 INTs and took a brutal hit but got right back up to lead the team to victory.

BEAR THE F*CK DOWN!

crunchie44

Nice to see your 1st draft pick step up when defence was depleted with 2 massive plays. Hope peanut isnt out for long

kennyb3

Well I think between last week and this we can all see why Jay is so devisive - he's either genius or idiot.

How you go from hitting a 300lb lineman square in the stomach last week, with 2 Int's and should have been 3 really to last night I don't know. The man is fun and frustrating in equal measures.

Delighted anyway.

I had zero faith in that happening.

kennyb3

crunchie44 wrote: »

Hope peanut isnt out for long

I'd say that could be the end of him as a Bear - once you re-injure something like that at his age it's trouble. Didn't he tear it off the bone last year? (rupture)

crunchie44

kennyb3 wrote: »

I'd say that could be the end of him as a Bear - once you re-injure something like that at his age it's trouble. Didn't he tear it off the bone last year? (rupture)

It was obv a bad 1 last year when it kept him out so long. He was very distressed last night when it happened. Pity. Great player and also does a lot off the field for charities. Not nice to see the good guys go down

Luckily for us we have ready made replacement already there. Kyle Fuller has done very well. Not just his INT but he's all round play has impressed. Can only get better.

Special mention to Young last night too. Made the most of playing against backup guard. He was constantly in the backfield disrupting the pocket

kennyb3

crunchie44 wrote: »

It was obv a bad 1 last year when it kept him out so long. He was very distressed last night when it happened. Pity. Great player and also does a lot off the field for charities. Not nice to see the good guys go down

Tillman is a legend - sent over jersey to young Irish girl with neuroblastoma as her dad is a Bears fan.

crunchie44 wrote: »

Luckily for us we have ready made replacement already there. Kyle Fuller has done very well. Not just his INT but he's all round play has impressed. Can only get better.

Special mention to Young last night too. Made the most of playing against backup guard. He was constantly in the backfield disrupting the pocket

Fuller looks the business, nice to have a 1st round pick to come in and we seem better out of nickel anyway.

Young has been Beastly - really wasn't sure if it was the Lions Dline that made him look that way but he has surpassed all expectations I had already. His size and length are great attributes.

Can't wait to get home and re-watch the game, play by play in more depth.

SameOleJay

We're all going to heaven lads.

SameOleJay

Disappointed with Willie's effort laying the hook here. Improvement for next week hopefully.

padraig_f

SameOleJay wrote: »

Disappointed with Willie's effort laying the hook here. Improvement for next week hopefully.

I heard him on the Bears All Access podcast recently, he's mad into his fishing.

Another quality performance last night, looks like the Lions may have messed up letting him go.

Oat23

Peanut is heading to IR with a torn tricep

Career ending most likely.

SameOleJay

I love Peanut more than my own mother and he deserved to go out on his own terms.

But he was done. He was just so loose in coverage. I don't wanna see him go out like this but I certainly didn't want him getting tossed around the place by Megatron, Nelson, Dez et al either.

He'll be a stellar influence on the line, I've no doubt about that.

SameOleJay

On the game itself, here are my thoughts.

The D-Line stepped up big time. Even when Ratliff went down the two rookies showed up big. I'm not sold on Allen but Young looks a beast. The great thing with Houston is that even when he struggles to get a rush on the edge he's still very useful when he kicks inside. Very decent depth on the line now, worlds away from last year.

Linebackers were much improved. I don't think Bostic is up to it but he showed flashes. Shea wasn't awful, which is pleasant and Lance stepped up with some huge plays.

Conte mixed the great with the bad again. Fuller was amazing. Jennings still frustrates me. The bonus was Vereen, who looked very decent in the nickel. Also adds a nice blitz option.

Patched up o-line was great in pass pro (Jay helped here), awful in run blocking. Slauson is a huge loss in that regard. Look, if we lost 2 linemen in the Lovie days it wouldn't bare thinking about. Hard to complain.

Alshon and B-Marsh were phenomenal. It was such a hustle. Hopefully they're in decent nick for the Jets. Marty rock solid again and Holmes also was useful.

Forte wasn't helped by the line but he was poor regardless. Seems Carey just isn't trusted yet.

Jay managed things well. We started so badly on offence and the 9ers pens kept us in it. But he did just what was needed after the half. Hopefully we'll see similar next week.

Special teams is horrid. What is the point of Perry? I mean how can Chris Williams possibly be worse?

Anyway, happy out after a pretty rubbish first half. 4 turnovers and 4 sacks. I might nearly have to praise Mel. Nearly.

kennyb3

My own thoughts from a rewatch of Q1 & half of Q2 (only focusing on them will post more later):

Defence

- Great to see Mel Tucker going nuts on the sideline, the defence needs an injection of aggression and attitude and that will help.
- Great to see some blitzes, though we were running past Kap
- Conte good in coverage, not so good in run game.
- Really like everything Mundy does.
- Tillman was very fired up and playing super aggressive
- Fuller is very physical
- Ratliff is pure beastly
- We actually contained pretty well
- Shea is a BFG (big friendly giant) - has no aggression or desire. You're an oversized LBer - hit someone for god sake. Just misses any nastiness. Got washed out in the run game twice. Made one good tackle on Kap using his side to side speed but that's it. Maybe he grows into the game but not seeing what others saw so far.
- Bostic & Williams haven't been sighted yet.

Special Teams

- Sherrick McManis to blame for blocked punt, O'Donnell didn't do anything wrong in my eyes.
- We've no return game

Offence

- Pass blocking, very good in general. Ola got murdered by J Smith for a sack but otherwise good.
- Run blocking - there was none. But I'd like to see Forte run between the guards at some stage - stop cutting outside all the time. Long gave him a huge lane on one play and it was ignored.
- Jeffrey playing at 50-60%.


That's my thoughts so far. Overall happier to see the defence showing some fire - not just accepting getting run over like last season. That resignation vibe has gone.

Glad we aren't playing till Monday as Jeffrey clearly needs time.

Will watch more later.

SameOleJay

I loved Lance’s reaction to the 2nd Fuller pick (I think). Great to see he still has the fire.

Long’s cameo on the sideline was just hilarious.

Oat23

SameOleJay wrote: »

I loved Lance’s reaction to the 2nd Fuller pick (I think). Great to see he still has the fire.

Long’s cameo on the sideline was just hilarious.

ChicagoJoe

I see that Charles Tillman has been placed on season-ending injured reserve with a ruptured triceps muscle. Big loss.He suffered the injury during the third quarter of the Bears' 28-20 win against the 49ers on Sunday night.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/11532628/charles-tillman-chicago-bears-placed-season-ending-ir-reinjuring-triceps

aaronm13

Nearly turned off the game just before Marshall's first TD. I emailed my brother in law in Chicago saying that this was going to be a bloodbath, he told me to keep watching, really glad I did. What a second half performance. Really thought Cutler was done for after that hit but fair play to him. Only downer is the obvious loss of Tillman, gutted for him. Was really looking forward to seeing him in the flesh next month against the Dolphins. Can't wait for my first Bears game. Will be great if they can build on this performance next week against the Jets.

kennyb3

Fales gamble paid off

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4694329/bears-bring-back-fiammetta-fales

kennyb3

http://thegamechicago.com/2014/09/16/week-2-rewind-time-to-give-mel-tucker-some-credit/

If you haven't seen this already, great read. Love the technical side of things myself in terms of looks, techniques etc.

Houston, young and Bostic brilliant on that video clip

SameOleJay

Brandon Marshall "A Football Life" coming up. Should be decent.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears/0ap3000000395252/Brandon-Marshall-A-Football-Life-trailer

Oat23

This guy...

Oat23

SameOleJay wrote: »

Brandon Marshall "A Football Life" coming up. Should be decent.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears/0ap3000000395252/Brandon-Marshall-A-Football-Life-trailer

Watching this on gamepass now. Good stuff so far.

Jay HATES cameras

padraig_f

Oat23 wrote: »

Watching this on gamepass now. Good stuff so far.

Jay HATES cameras

Watched it today, pretty good. Just on the lighter side, really enjoyed the Cutler-Marshall relationship, bit of a different dynamic than I thought. Described themselves as opposites and Marshall described it as like the couple that love each other, but should never be together

The mental-health stuff is interesting too, and I think he's doing a useful job there in terms of removing the stigma, e.g. his mother didn't want him to go public with it, and his psychiatrist didn't either. But I think he serves a useful role in doing so, puts a human face on it and makes it less of a taboo.

Realt Dearg Sec

padraig_f wrote: »

Watched it today, pretty good. Just on the lighter side, really enjoyed the Cutler-Marshall relationship, bit of a different dynamic than I thought. Described themselves as opposites and Marshall described it as like the couple that love each other, but should never be together

The mental-health stuff is interesting too, and I think he's doing a useful job there in terms of removing the stigma, e.g. his mother didn't want him to go public with it, and his psychiatrist didn't either. But I think he serves a useful role in doing so, puts a human face on it and makes it less of a taboo.

Just watched it there now. The lad is a legend.

SameOleJay

I'll watch it now.

Slauson, Garza, Shea, Ratlliff out Monday.

Alshon and B questionable.

SameOleJay

How funny was the Miami touchdown and throwing the ball at Jay for leaving him?

SameOleJay

Job done.

This draft class looks special boys.

kennyb3

I missed the entire thing - looking forward to catching up on it later. Delighted to see the win when I woke.