2023-24 NFL Season Thread

[Dick Allen]

1 hour ago, Chisoxfn said:

With all that being said - I do not think Poles (nor anyone else in the building), expected Fields to be this downright bad. I think they all expected improvement and the only question was whether they would see enough improvement to make him your franchise QB or not.  

I think in zero scenario did any of them seeing Fields being as bad of a passer this year (if not worse) than he was last year.  The reality is, through 3 games - he has been as bad, if not worse, and that is despite having better wideouts than last year and being in the 2nd year of the system.  

He’s bad when they don’t play to his strengths. Why not just try to go back to that? Maybe he gets hurt, but Aaron Rodgers got hurt hanging out in the pocket. Not calling designed runs and rollouts is like drafting Michael Jordan and having him hang at the 3 point line. Maybe it doesn’t work long term. Maybe it works well enough to buy time working on pocket skills. He occassionally throws great balls. I was at the Washington game last year. He threw a beautiful pass for 6, an d was pretty horrid the rest of the game. My friend and I were telling each other, he’d probably make a great receiver. Then they changed up the offense a bit, and most, except those that would rather be right than the Bears be good, got pretty excited. He does have supposedly better weapons this year, but do you ever see them actually open?

[nitetrain8601]

6 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

He’s bad when they don’t play to his strengths. Why not just try to go back to that? Maybe he gets hurt, but Aaron Rodgers got hurt hanging out in the pocket. Not calling designed runs and rollouts is like drafting Michael Jordan and having him hang at the 3 point line. Maybe it doesn’t work long term. Maybe it works well enough to buy time working on pocket skills. He occassionally throws great balls. I was at the Washington game last year. He threw a beautiful pass for 6, an d was pretty horrid the rest of the game. My friend and I were telling each other, he’d probably make a great receiver. Then they changed up the offense a bit, and most, except those that would rather be right than the Bears be good, got pretty excited. He does have supposedly better weapons this year, but do you ever see them actually open?

 

Yes I do and so do others

[Chisoxfn]

4 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

He’s bad when they don’t play to his strengths. Why not just try to go back to that? Maybe he gets hurt, but Aaron Rodgers got hurt hanging out in the pocket. Not calling designed runs and rollouts is like drafting Michael Jordan and having him hang at the 3 point line. Maybe it doesn’t work long term. Maybe it works well enough to buy time working on pocket skills. He occassionally throws great balls. I was at the Washington game last year. He threw a beautiful pass for 6, an d was pretty horrid the rest of the game. My friend and I were telling each other, he’d probably make a great receiver. Then they changed up the offense a bit, and most, except those that would rather be right than the Bears be good, got pretty excited. He does have supposedly better weapons this year, but do you ever see them actually open?

For me it comes down to - should you completely overhaul your offense and completely customize it from anything anyone runs in the NFL.  If so - they need to go hire Greg Roman, cause he's about the only guy who has shown any ability to do something that extreme.  

Because there are very few actual designed plays that Fields runs average (let alone good or above good). The only thing he does well is run. Sure, he can make the ocassional wow throw - the problem is, you have to be decent at the other stuff - he isn't decent, he isn't meh, he is AWFUL at everything else.  

Either you literally run like a pistol, completely new offense around him, or you move on.  The next question is - can you even design an entire offense around him at this point in the season or do you actually think even if you did that, you would have a team capable of going places or would you be looking for a new player anyway?  

I go back to - the extreme changes that would be needed for Fields are so much greater than that of any good QB we are talking about.  Every offense should adjust / tailor for the QB strength(s), but that is tailoring, there is still a ton of vanilla plays that they are expected to be able to execute with a high degree of success.  The problem is - Fields doesn't have a lot of vanilla stuff he can do to any degree of success.  I think the Bears were hopeful that he would show large improvements in this area - the problem is, he hasn't.  

 

[Chisoxfn]

8 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

He’s bad when they don’t play to his strengths. Why not just try to go back to that? Maybe he gets hurt, but Aaron Rodgers got hurt hanging out in the pocket. Not calling designed runs and rollouts is like drafting Michael Jordan and having him hang at the 3 point line. Maybe it doesn’t work long term. Maybe it works well enough to buy time working on pocket skills. He occassionally throws great balls. I was at the Washington game last year. He threw a beautiful pass for 6, an d was pretty horrid the rest of the game. My friend and I were telling each other, he’d probably make a great receiver. Then they changed up the offense a bit, and most, except those that would rather be right than the Bears be good, got pretty excited. He does have supposedly better weapons this year, but do you ever see them actually open?

There has been a lot of clips floating out there of guys running open, in fact multiple guys running open and Fields not making the plays/reads/throws.  

[Tony]

So here's a question. What happens if Fields "puts it together" around Week 10. While I don't think it will happen, for the sake of the argument, what happens if he starts looking great. What do you do then? To me, that's not a big enough sample size to make an investment in him, so at this point...is the decision made? 

[caulfield12]

8 hours ago, LittleHurtCG said:

Being scared of the media because you made a trade is not how successful organizations are run. So is the scouting and projecting of college quarterbacks a complete and total crapshoot? CJ Stroud may not have been a better prospect than Fields but he is already the better NFL quarterback. Aren't people paid big bucks to scout, evaluate, and project these kids? Seems like the Bears have no idea what they are doing. Very similiar to the Sox unfortuntely. 

The opposite would definitely be the 49ers...going with Mr. Irrelevant and demoting, then dumping Lance on the Cowboys.

[Flash Tizzle]

26 minutes ago, Tony said:

So here's a question. What happens if Fields "puts it together" around Week 10. While I don't think it will happen, for the sake of the argument, what happens if he starts looking great. What do you do then? To me, that's not a big enough sample size to make an investment in him, so at this point...is the decision made? 

That’s an interesting question. In this hypothetical scenario, if Fields is still starting at Week 10 he probably had a few good starts to extend his window a bit further. Even if Fields miraculously turned it around in 7 games and overcame every metric (aside from rushing yards) which has suggested he’s a terrible QB, I can’t believe we’d trust it. At that point, wish him look and hopefully some other team buys into it

[Tony]

1 hour ago, Flash Tizzle said:

That’s an interesting question. In this hypothetical scenario, if Fields is still starting at Week 10 he probably had a few good starts to extend his window a bit further. Even if Fields miraculously turned it around in 7 games and overcame every metric (aside from rushing yards) which has suggested he’s a terrible QB, I can’t believe we’d trust it. At that point, wish him look and hopefully some other team buys into it

Even with what we've seen the first three weeks, it doesn't make any sense this season to bench him. I just don't know what it accomplishes. 

[Balta1701]

1 hour ago, Tony said:

So here's a question. What happens if Fields "puts it together" around Week 10. While I don't think it will happen, for the sake of the argument, what happens if he starts looking great. What do you do then? To me, that's not a big enough sample size to make an investment in him, so at this point...is the decision made? 

How much do they sell off at the trade deadline? Are they still bad enough for a top 2 pick (or they get one from Carolina)?

I am always hesitant about trading 3 firsts to move up (See Carolina), but if they are in position for one of the top QBs, that’s all I need to know. Fields having a few good games again for the worst team in the league isn’t enough to risk paying him $40 million for an extension, see if you can get a second round pick out of those games and let the Titans or Saints figure out if they want to extend him.

If they have the 7th and 8th picks or something like that, I might pick up his 5th year option and try one more year based on them getting 6 or 7 wins or whatever.

[Chisoxfn]

22 minutes ago, Tony said:

Even with what we've seen the first three weeks, it doesn't make any sense this season to bench him. I just don't know what it accomplishes. 

The problem is - is Fields so bad that no one around him can develop. Through 3 weeks my answer is yes. Now that doesn’t mean we should stop now, but at some point you need to do something else for the sake of everyone else on the football team if it is that bad. With that said - I really never expected this to be that bad. 

[Milkman delivers]

2 hours ago, Tony said:

So here's a question. What happens if Fields "puts it together" around Week 10. While I don't think it will happen, for the sake of the argument, what happens if he starts looking great. What do you do then? To me, that's not a big enough sample size to make an investment in him, so at this point...is the decision made? 

I feel like his career is already over and it’s just gonna be going through the motions until then. I don’t believe any other team sees anything in him or wants to try to fix him.

[Boopa1219]

I’m totally out on Eberflus.

I’m totally out on Getsy.

I’m leaning towards being out on Fields and Poles (but less so).

I didn’t buy the hype of them going to the playoffs as they won 3 games last year but they look like they took a massive, massive step back. I’m shocked that more resources weren’t dedicated to the LOS on both sides of the ball.

I think they’re so bad that they might be better off not drafting a QB with these two seemingly top ten picks. Hopefully they can land Harrison Jr. and the best DE/LT who’s on the board. 
 

 

[Chicago White Sox]

9 hours ago, Tony said:

So here's a question. What happens if Fields "puts it together" around Week 10. While I don't think it will happen, for the sake of the argument, what happens if he starts looking great. What do you do then? To me, that's not a big enough sample size to make an investment in him, so at this point...is the decision made? 

Honestly, if one of our picks ends up the 1.1, then you take Caleb Williams no matter what Fields does the rest of way.  Right now, that looks very possible and could make this s%*#-show of a season worth it.  But we’d also need to can Eberflus and hire a young, offensive minded head coach (Ben Johnson?).

[The Beast]

11 hours ago, Tony said:

So here's a question. What happens if Fields "puts it together" around Week 10. While I don't think it will happen, for the sake of the argument, what happens if he starts looking great. What do you do then? To me, that's not a big enough sample size to make an investment in him, so at this point...is the decision made? 

For me, it depends on what happens between now and week 10. What does their record look like? Have they won against a series of opponents like the Broncos, Commanders, Vikings and Panthers? I would need to see more out of Fields and less stuck in neutral/failing out of the offense.

I think they could draft a quarterback and have a competition next year or try and find a taker for Fields. There are so many variables, it is tough to imagine what they will do.

[LittleHurtCG]

19 hours ago, nitetrain8601 said:

Um, almost no FO evaluates their drafted QB until after year 3. They essentially had one year with him and saw things they liked, but also things they didn't like. They gave themselves another full year to evaluate him and an easy out if he doesn't pan out. They've done as good as a job of anyone ensuring they didn't mess up the QB room long term. 

 

Sounds like you expected the rebuild to only last one year. 

I understand that the rebuild was going to take some time. However, this year has been an absolute disaster. Another tank job for the #1 pick was not supposed to be in the cards again this year. It is becoming evident that the Bears have the wrong people in key decision making roles all throughout the organization. 

When is the tanking going to end? How does this team suddently become a playoff worthy team next year? 

[LittleHurtCG]

11 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

The opposite would definitely be the 49ers...going with Mr. Irrelevant and demoting, then dumping Lance on the Cowboys.

Yes. The 49ers have competent people all throughout their organization. The Chicago Bears do not unfortuntately. 

[SoxAce]

 

[bmags]

17 minutes ago, SoxAce said:

 

Eh, obviously this is an indictment of Eberflus when he highlights "teaching" and his scheme. however, disagree that you can't blame Poles for this. He could have still taken Carter last year, could have still taken Pickens. Packers found a new starting LT in round 5 last year that is outperforming Jones. Everyone looks mid so far.

[Milkman delivers]

10 hours ago, Boopa1219 said:

I’m totally out on Eberflus.

I’m totally out on Getsy.

I’m leaning towards being out on Fields and Poles (but less so).

I didn’t buy the hype of them going to the playoffs as they won 3 games last year but they look like they took a massive, massive step back. I’m shocked that more resources weren’t dedicated to the LOS on both sides of the ball.

I think they’re so bad that they might be better off not drafting a QB with these two seemingly top ten picks. Hopefully they can land Harrison Jr. and the best DE/LT who’s on the board. 
 

 

Not sure how you square the team taking a massive step back and not also be out on Poles. If you want to blame the defense of Eberflus, you still have a terrible offense as well.

 

With regards to the draft, they might legitimately have the top two picks or two of the top three. They might be able to land Williams and Harrison.

[ptatc]

41 minutes ago, Milkman delivers said:

Not sure how you square the team taking a massive step back and not also be out on Poles. If you want to blame the defense of Eberflus, you still have a terrible offense as well.

 

With regards to the draft, they might legitimately have the top two picks or two of the top three. They might be able to land Williams and Harrison.

One of the picks really needs to be a pass rusher. Whether they use it there or trade down a bit with one.

[Dick Allen]

5 minutes ago, ptatc said:

One of the picks really needs to be a pass rusher. Whether they use it there or trade down a bit with one.

No pass rush and bad against the run isn't a good combination.

[Dick Allen]

48 minutes ago, Milkman delivers said:

Not sure how you square the team taking a massive step back and not also be out on Poles. If you want to blame the defense of Eberflus, you still have a terrible offense as well.

 

With regards to the draft, they might legitimately have the top two picks or two of the top three. They might be able to land Williams and Harrison.

I agree. The Bears have lost 13 in a row and given up 25 points or more in each loss. No other team in league history did it 12 times in a row. The Flus is supposed to be a defensive genius. I know they stripped the team down last year, but I was told their back 7 were now as good as anyone's. They drafted a lineman in the 2nd round. They paid  10 million for a pass rusher. I get not expecting the defense to be totally staout, but it's horrible. This shouldn't be happening. 

[Milkman delivers]

27 minutes ago, ptatc said:

One of the picks really needs to be a pass rusher. Whether they use it there or trade down a bit with one.

Either way, it could be a classy problem.

[bmags]

48 minutes ago, ptatc said:

One of the picks really needs to be a pass rusher. Whether they use it there or trade down a bit with one.

I don't think you turn down a receiver prospect people are this high on for team needs.  Or at least you shouldn't.

[Balta1701]

48 minutes ago, bmags said:

I don't think you turn down a receiver prospect people are this high on for team needs.  Or at least you shouldn't.

If they have to get a QB, then yes I'd say turn down the WR and focus on QB and D-Line if you have 2 high draft picks.