Tony

If I'm the Chiefs or Broncos, at this point, I have no fear Fields is going to run all over me. It doesn't seem like that's in the Bears gameplan at all. And that's an issue.

This is correct. Poles created a situation with the Carolina trade to give them a somewhat easy "out" if Fields isn't the guy they want him to be. The situation becomes exponentially easier if Fields DOES end up being the guy, as you'll have two first rounders to plug holes instead of using both to get your next QB, but they have options and capital to do what needs to be done.

But I think the issue right now is the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, which is what Olsen was referring to. What it seems like in watching these two games this season, there are strict orders NOT to run, we need to see if you can figure out the pocket, so that's all we want you to do. I get that on paper, but I don't think it's the way to go about it. Sort of a weird example, but say the Mariners told Ichrio "Listen, we know you can spray it to all fields, but we need power on this team, so we want you going up there pulling the ball and putting it into the seats every time you go to the plate." That would impact his swing, you would see his HR rate rise but his average fall. And most importantly, that's not who Ichiro was. Now, if you put a strategy where you wanted him to work on his HR stroke, but not go all-in and take away what he does best from his game, I think there is a way to accomplish that where it's not so severe. Again, there is a lot of nuance here. This is not trying to totally remove blame from Fields. There were multiple times in Game 2 where he had a clean pocket and open receivers, and ended up taking a sack. Can't happen consistency. It's a problem, and he won't be a successful QB if that continues. I also understand the Bears didn't look at this as a playoff year, and they want to be sure of what they have in Fields before making a decision on what to do moving forward. I understand all that. The point is...forcing him to only throw in the pocket and not letting him improvise with his legs when available seems like the wrong approach from a growth or mental standpoint. I don't think it's helping his development.

Yesterday, in the 3pm hour, Waddle and Silvy played an interview they did with Greg Olsen from about 4 months ago, that was super interesting as it basically predicted the future. Olsen talks about his experience with Cam and how you don't want to take "the good" away from someone. We all know Justin can run, one of the best running QB's ever probably. We also know he has an insane amount of work to do in the pocket. But if you have a guy that needs work on something, that doesn't mean that's all you get out of him. Yes, we aren't learning anything by seeing Fields run, but taking the aspect of his game away from him is hurting Fields, and the team. And it's clear they have told him not to scramble, they want him in the pocket. And I just think that's such an "unnatural" request to Fields, it's hurting his growth. If you have the time, listen, it's good.

This is sort of what I was saying. This is still on Justin...but something is off here.

I was thinking about this last night. The play everyone is talking about from yesterday, where he had great pocket protection, two WR open and the RB open in the flat...everything was right there for him and he ended up taking a sack. Now, that's on Justin first and foremost. Not going to blame anyone else. However, Fields had less than 5 rushing yards yesterday. That's insane. It leads me to think the coaching staff is giving him very specific instructions, and he's forcing things. He's not able to do what comes natural to him, and it's getting in his head.

Can't argue with that and I'm not going around calling him "King Poles" and such. He has a lot to prove. But as we've seen across the NFL, when a new regime takes over, it's basically a given you're giving them 5 years to put a program together. Takes a year or so to get rid of the crap from the last group, then you start to build the foundation in Year 2-3, in Year 4-5 you better start competing. Poles is in Year 1.5. Now, I expected them to at the very least to be .500 this season. I thought a wild card was best case, but not impossible. Obviously that looks a lot different now, but I don't think that's on Poles, I would put him pretty far down the list right now. If I was in his shoes, given the situation, I gotta see if I have something in Fields. It tells me how I'm going to proceed moving forward. If he would have moved him in the offseason, you're trading an unknown asset. I know many had already made up their mind about Fields, but he was given a very shitty hand to this point. But the excuses stopped this season. Poles gave him the proper tools to work with. It's Year 3 now for Fields. This is it. And right or wrong, we're going to find out if Fields can play NFL QB for a contending team. Seems like he's sending us a pretty clear message after Week 2, but you still gotta find out.

You’re not presenting solutions either, you’re just saying “it was the wrong move.” What should Poles have done that was better than keeping Fields? Who was the trade partner? What were they going to give up where it made sense to get value? It was a calculated risk. If Fields was the guy, everything gets easier. Now you have two firsts to really upgrade your roster. Now you have use both of those to possibly get 1 player, and you still need to find a trade partner. But at least Poles got the assets to give himself the option in case Fields didn’t work out. He took a risk, and it was the right one at the time. He’s put a good amount of talent around Fields, and now they’re really be able to find out if he’s the guy or not. Given the talent on the roster last year, there was no way to really understand who he was. Tom Brady wouldn’t have won Jack s%*# with the WR/RB depth last year.

I don’t love the feeling when you’re absolutely right, but when you’re right…you’re right

Right, I can def listen to the argument they should have taken Carter, but I thought Wright made sense as well. But I still want to give Poles 2-3 years to see what he puts together

So with that in mind, what was Poles supposed to do this off-season?

It was still a good trade. You didn’t know what you had in Fields. You got DJ Moore, along with two first rounders available to you in 2024. If Fields wasn’t the guy, it means the Bears are going to have a shitty record, so both picks should be fairly high. We also don’t know what the market was like for Fields.

I heard that too, and laughed

It's amazing how many times we've seen this play out, but as the game goes on, the offense gets worse and worse. No pace, no flow, just an absolute mess. Doesn't matter who is here, who is in the Front Office..it's just the Bears

https://x.com/barstoolsports/status/1703480280592335280?s=46&t=Nd9oJCYs4TMp8_32NrPiMA

They did that already

Had all the time in the world. Not a line issue, not a WR issue. It's there for him, and it's still not happening.

That drive was such a perfect summation of him thus far. Makes some great throws, then looks like a high schooler. Those last few plays make me think he's just not the guy

No. They will be bad. But they will have a number of young players that should be major contributors to the next "great" team. And Bedard should give most fans a reason to watch every night.

Those are the least surprising comments ever. Anyone with even a slight sliver of interest in the White Sox know that's been the case for decades.

What an ending

Been a real bad 24 hours for NY Football

Jack?

What's sad is this isn't even a everything the team needs, you're still missing items.

Was at the PJ show tonight, very cool moment. But Seabrook should be up there too