Week 3 Thread

Knex*

I feel sorry for Matt Forte, tbh.

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D9Male wrote: »

The Bears offence was really, really bad. I haven't seen as much NFL as you guys, but I struggle to remember an offensive performance as bad as last night.

I didn't actually think it was bad. It was just nothing. No risks taken whatsoever, and therefore no capacity to make gains and big plays. Not going for it on fourth, twice, when we were up against it, was indicative of that. But if you watch the running game in the first half, I thought we were actually really good, Forte made some big gains, certainly not the worst offensive performance I'd have ever seen? The problem was that ultimately the Hawks just had to stop the run because there wasn't a passing threat. A bad backup QB throwing to second string WRs will have that effect though.

kennyb3

It was basically an exercise in time wasting and not losing 45/60 - 0 (or 3/6/7/10 had they been less conservative).

It was a nothing game, it was over before it started, time to move on.

D9Male

Maybe I need to dial it back a bit, but it was terrible.

Aside from Forte, the offense got only 60 or 70 yards. Even Forte was not very good by his standards.

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D9Male wrote: »

Aside from Forte, the offense got only 60 or 70 yards.

Did we? That's actually way better than I thought...

We'll be better when Cutler comes back. I'm just not sure I want us to be better, at this point it'll just cost us draft picks...

D9Male

Actually, I need to check, I may have exaggerated.

Seems I am not far wrong.

Offense got 146 yards. 74 for Forte. So 72 yards without him.

cosatron

D9Male wrote: »

Dalton is having a seriously good season. I just wanted everybody to note that. Yes, I know people will say this has happened before he crumbles in the playoffs in previous years, but I think he looks different.

I only mention it as reading back through this thread, the only time his name is mentioned was in the one real mistake he made in the game (he was strip sacked).

He came through with multiple big plays to lead two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

He now has a variety of weapons. With the win last night and the QB issues in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, I fancy them to get a home playoff game at least this season.

The Bengals' D is decent, too.

don't worry man, when his on prime time at the business end of the season, I have no doubts that he will sh1t the bed.
P.S as paully can testify, that Baltimore secondary is beyond septic, and i think the pats were trolling the ravens when they let kyle Arrington go to them

TheDoctor

The Bears punter will be holding out for a higher salary if this keeps going.

D9Male

cosatron wrote: »

don't worry man, when his on prime time at the business end of the season, I have no doubts that he will sh1t the bed.
P.S as paully can testify, that Baltimore secondary is beyond septic, and i think the pats were trolling the ravens when they let kyle Arrington go to them

Yeah, their secondary is pretty poor alright, but Dalton did his stuff under a bit of pressure.

I am exaggerating for effect, of course. But life is good for the Bengals at the moment.

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TheDoctor wrote: »

The Bears punter will be holding out for a higher salary if this keeps going.

He was only drafted last year so we're squeezing as much work as we can out of him right now.

StringerBell

Dalton is Dalton, a solid qb in a very talented team both offensively and defensively. Unfortunately when the time comes that the team will need to really rely on him to pull out a big play when it matters, history has taught us that he will fail the test.

I expect nothing different this season

Paully D

The issue with Dalton has never been what he can do in the regular season. He bounced backed superbly after the strip sack, but what he did against Baltimore (who's secondary it must be said is arguably the worst in the league and that's not an exaggeration) last night is nothing out of the ordinary for him. He has bounced back from adversity more than a few times throughout his career in the regular season. The issue with Dalton is the fact that every year we hear that this is the year he takes that next step and then when he gets to the playoffs he falls apart. Everything about coaching, playcalling etc aside (and it has been a problem no doubt), he has legitimately being very poor in all 4 of his playoff games. He's in his 5th year now, the time for giving him the benefit of the doubt is over and 4 years in a row is enough of a trend to suggest it would be a surprise (but long overdue) if he actually wins a playoff game this year.

However, I would argue that he should be putting that team on his back and if they don't make the Super Bowl I'd put their season down as a failure. The reasons for that in no particular order are 1) man-for-man, they're arguably the most talented and balanced team as a whole in the league. 2) they have arguably the best offensive line in the league, thus giving him a huge amount of protection and time (yesterday was the first time he had been sacked this season). 3) they have a rushing offense that will rank in the top 10 maybe even top 5, thus taking pressure off him in the passing game and ensuring that teams have to give respect to the play action. 4) they have one of the best WR's in the league, 5) they have a top 10 defense that are extremely difficult to rush on and 6) the AFC is relatively weak. Patriots and arguably Broncos aside, Dalton will only need to be good, not even great, to win.

I just think there's a number of QB's in the league who are seen as being in that same tier as Dalton that if you put them in the position he is in in terms of the above, that they'd be expected to do more than just win a playoff game and would do so too. If Dalton wins a playoff game it seems the narrative is that he has taken the next step and subsequently had a successful season but I personally don't agree with that. This is a team equipped on both sides of the ball to be a challenger and anything less is failure IMO.

For what it's worth, just to comment on the home playoff game - he also had a home playoff game in 2013 against the Chargers. In that game he lost a fumble without actually being touched and threw 2 silly INT's on consecutive drives.

D9Male

I don't think he was that poor in the playoffs last season, was he?

D9Male

Actually, just checked and he was 18/35, 0 TD, 0 INT and only 135 yards. I thought he was a bit better than that.

Paully D

D9Male wrote: »

Actually, just checked and he was 18/35, 0 TD, 0 INT and only 135 yards. I thought he was a bit better than that.

To cut him some slack, their offense was decimated by injury for that game but nonetheless he was very average. He missed on a number of throws he should have connected on whether it was A.J. Green or myself playing as receiver, there was no real excuse for missing those throws.

D9Male

I remembered him being okay in that game. I don't have a good memory though.

Anyway, don't blind me with facts. Dalton is great, okay?

StringerBell

Dalton from Roadhouse is pretty great yeah

matthew8

It's really unfair how much Dalton gets criticised for his playoff performances. Joe Flacco was absolutely brutal in the playoffs in his first 3 seasons but never got any blame because his defense got him through. Sure enough, the next 2 seasons he was outstanding in the playoffs. Dalton hasn't had any help from the rest of his team in the playoffs. It's really unfair to judge a player on a small sample of games against typically the best defenses in the league.

StringerBell

Manning also sucks in the playoffs for the record, Peyton of course.

Knex*

Its not that unfair though, he has 1 TD, 6 INTs on a stacked team. Passer rate of 57.8. No wins, four losses.

It doesn't need a narrative, its poor no matter what way you draw it up.

Unfair is saying 3 Super Bowl appearances, Peyton Manning, sucks in the playoffs.

StringerBell

Meh, look at his performances rather then just t he team getting there. Even the SB he won he was pretty terrible in. (playoff record that year for him was 3tds and 7 int in 4 games! He went for under 250 and 1td 1int in the superbowl itself. Vinateri and Hayden were more important The interception returned for TD in the 4th quarter from Hayden killed the Bears, Colts D was very good and Addai carried the ball well

I would agree re Dalton though, the facts speak for themselves, just because his team didn't carry him doesn't mean he can't be criticised

Paully D

matthew8 wrote: »

It's really unfair how much Dalton gets criticised for his playoff performances. Joe Flacco was absolutely brutal in the playoffs in his first 3 seasons but never got any blame because his defense got him through. Sure enough, the next 2 seasons he was outstanding in the playoffs. Dalton hasn't had any help from the rest of his team in the playoffs. It's really unfair to judge a player on a small sample of games against typically the best defenses in the league.

Flacco was very poor in his first 2 playoff seasons, but he started to take the leap in the 3rd season. I don't think it's at all fair to say he was "absolutely brutal" in 2010. Against the Chiefs in the wildcard game he went 25/34 (73.5%) for 265 yards, 2 TD's and 0 INT's.

He was poor against the Steelers in the divisional round no doubt, though it's also worth mentioning that the Steelers went on to reach the Super Bowl that year and had the second best defense in the NFL behind the Chargers. None of Dalton's playoff opponents thus far have managed such a feat and 3 out of the 4 teams who beat the Bengals in the playoffs since Dalton has been with them have lost in the very next round.

That sort of performance Flacco put in against the Chiefs that year alone, while nothing spectacular, is on another level to anything Dalton has managed to do in the playoffs yet and isn't deserving of the "absolutely brutal" tag IMO.

eagle eye

The biggest problem with the Bears the other night was Jimmy Clausen. You won't see me saying bad things about a Fighting Irishmen very often but Clausen looks very immature and he is not a guy that others will give their all for imo.

They need a QB badly, I think they should pick up a dual threat one while Cutler is out because their OL looks like a good run blocking unit.

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eagle eye wrote: »

They need a QB badly, I think they should pick up a dual threat one while Cutler is out

Yeah, if you know where all those guys hang out waiting to be given jobs, that'd be great.

[Sarcasm I know, but there's nobody around, meatheads are literally talking about Tim Tebow!]

Billy86

Definitely would be worthwhile to try and convince Orton back for just the few weeks. There is also Jason Campell, though he declined a number of offers back in April according to wiki, but after that yeah - the best options seem to be Matt Flynn, Christian Ponder and Tebow. Not exactly what you would call spoiled for choice.

GoldFour4

The Bears have had this problem with Cutler before and yet they persist with having a very low level backup. Their own fault really. Clausen couldn't hold the job for a terrible Carolina team a number of years ago, don't know why people think he's changed. Theres a reason he was out of a job for so long.

Paully D

The Bears are 0-3 now and play in the same division as Green Bay. Their season is done. I say this time and time again and I'm not sure how others feel, but in this situation I'd rather just **** the season away and take the high draft pick.

If I was them I'd be happier to roll with Clausen and not risk winning too many games. I know some will see that as ridiculous and I know players and coaches won't throw games as they're playing for jobs, bonus money etc. But as a fan give me a high draft pick over an 8-8 or 7-9 season any day of the week.

The Bears have a lot of work to do and the 2016 draft is loaded with defensive talent at the top end of the draft. A poor season will sharp be forgotten about if they land a gamechanger in April.

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malistheman wrote: »

The Bears have had this problem with Cutler before and yet they persist with having a very low level backup. Their own fault really. Clausen couldn't hold the job for a terrible Carolina team a number of years ago, don't know why people think he's changed. Theres a reason he was out of a job for so long.

Dunno what you mean by persisting in not having a good backup. We had a very good back up in McCown the year before last, but he was considered too good, and went elsewhere to start and get paid accordingly. Again, who should we have gotten instead of Clausen, that was actually available? Especially a dual threat, specifically? I mean Christian Ponder is a dual threat in that he threatens to cost you with both interceptions and fumbles...

StringerBell

Did anybody mention Tebow time?

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StringerBell wrote: »

Did anybody mention Tebow time?

They did...

I should say I'm in agreement that allowing a situation to develop where Clausen was the backup wasn't at all ideal, given that Cutler has virtually never had a 16 game season (he could have had one last year except Trestman in his infinite brilliance benched him so that he'd have a scapegoat for how crappy we were).

matthew8

matthew8 wrote: »

It's really unfair how much Dalton gets criticised for his playoff performances. Joe Flacco was absolutely brutal in the playoffs in his first 3 seasons but never got any blame because his defense got him through. Sure enough, the next 2 seasons he was outstanding in the playoffs. Dalton hasn't had any help from the rest of his team in the playoffs. It's really unfair to judge a player on a small sample of games against typically the best defenses in the league.

I think dalton has a great team around him though for me the bengals are like the bills but with a better qb but with that team he should be playing well

GoldFour4

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Dunno what you mean by persisting in not having a good backup. We had a very good back up in McCown the year before last, but he was considered too good, and went elsewhere to start and get paid accordingly. Again, who should we have gotten instead of Clausen, that was actually available? Especially a dual threat, specifically? I mean Christian Ponder is a dual threat in that he threatens to cost you with both interceptions and fumbles...

I agree that of course McCown was good but he left before last season. That's two seasons of Clausen which is just too long with an injury prone QB like Cutler.

malistheman

malistheman wrote: »

I agree that of course McCown was good but he left before last season. That's two seasons of Clausen which is just too long with an injury prone QB like Cutler.

Is cutler that injury prone? I'd say hindsight is 20/20 to be honest it's hard to get a quality backup qb there are plenty of teams who are snookered if there qb goes Down look at the cards last year

matthew8

Leslie Blue Ibex wrote: »

I think dalton has a great team around him though for me the bengals are like the bills but with a better qb but with that team he should be playing well

He has a great team but they haven't played like it in the playoffs. Also last year at the Colts in the wildcard round he basically had no receiving corps to throw at and was left with a hopeless task.

matthew8

matthew8 wrote: »

He has a great team but they haven't played like it in the playoffs. Also last year at the Colts in the wildcard round he basically had no receiving corps to throw at and was left with a hopeless task.

Has the team stepped back though even if we ignore last year he's made some very very questionable divisions in playoff games decisions that I don't think he would have made in the regular season. I know people will say peyton was the same but obviously he was a compleatly different standard of qb. You look at guys like Wilson and flacco who have been successful but people have quiestioned if it's more them or the team well the same applys to dalton but he's not won like they have

Kylo Ren

My friend is beating me by 0.06 points in FF. I have Kelce. Fingers crossed.

raze_them_all_

nice little reverse for cobb there

Billy86

Packers to win, forgot to make picks for yesterday!

Great play with Cobb.

raze_them_all_

so much time for AR, handy TD there

Billy86

That drive was an absolute masterclass. :cool:

The presnap casualness on the TD play was fantastic - I got worried for a second, and then looked down to see 12 seconds still on the play clock! :eek:

eagle eye

Rodgers is just awesome, as close as you'll get to perfection at QB.

Billy86

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

so much time for AR, handy TD there

After years of him having a line ranging from OK-to-awful (and above average in 2011), I absolutely love our underrated group this year and last - apart from Bulaga (23rd overall, currently and often injured), the highest draft picks are both guard TJ Lang and LT David Bakhtiari both in the 4th round at 109th overall.

raze_them_all_

It's odd seeing our defence actually go after and stop Rb's after years of letting them saunter up the field as they wish

matthew8

KC getting dominated here. They need to wake up or they'll be several scores down.

Billy86

Speaking of underrated - Mike Daniels. Possibly our best defensive player after CMIII for the last few years.

Banjo should've had the pick!!

Billy86

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

It's odd seeing our defence actually go after and stop Rb's after years of letting them saunter up the field as they wish

If Raji keeps up like he did last week, we could have a pretty good unit on that side of the ball too (pending the play from our young secondary, who I really like). He's been terrible and injured for a while but was amazing in 2010 and McCarthy wasn't exaggerating in saying last week was probably his best ever game in GB.

raze_them_all_

Rodgers streak at home is insane, especially with all our injuries

raze_them_all_

Gains replacement comes on at3 yards out, rodgers goes right after him to cobb for another td

eagle eye

14-0 and this could get a lot worse for the Chiefs I think.

matthew8

No resistance from the Chiefs on defense and the offensive line being battered also.