2023-24 NFL Season Thread

[Soxfest]

TB looks like a undrafted QB tonight 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

So Eberflus had dumb penalties up his sleeve for the 2nd half. 

[SoxAce]

Bagent gonna be 2-2 as starter.

[Flash Tizzle]

Terrible call by the Panthers. After driving down the field for 5+ minutes they decide to chance the 4th down on a 59 yard field goal?!

Edited November 10, 2023 by Flash Tizzle

[Chisoxfn]

Defense played great. Yeah it’s Bryce Young who is still finding his leg, but 6 points ignoring that special teams td. 

[southsideirish71]

Getsy was interviewed and the questions were specific about getting the most out of Justin Fields as part of his main responsibility.  Get the most out of the #1 asset they had at the time.  The reason was, we remember Nagy trying to make Trubisky to do "his" offense.   We have seen the best version of Justin be successful with moving out of the pocket, and using play action to setup passes.  Getsy changes and gets conservative at times, especially later in the game moving away from things that are successful.  Getsy wants Aaron Rodgers or an Aaron Rodgers clone to run his system.  Its obviously this year that Getsy feels that his system is the system and that the QBs need to work within his framework. If he had stated this in his interview, he doesn't get the job.  Just like if Nagy did the same he wouldn't of gotten the job.  In a. year Getsy will be back to being a QB coach dreaming of his next opportunity.  Getsy is a horrible play caller. He is stubborn and obviously arrogant.  He might be the worst OC that we have hired in the last 30 years.  Remember, GB had their OC get a HC job and the backup guy I believe went with him.  So this was the #3 guy who didn't have any play calling experience.  What a bad hire.    Next year we will have another QB.  And this cycle will reset.  Because the organization is allergic to hiring people with experience.  

Edited November 10, 2023 by southsideirish71

[bmags]

Was there in person and Bagent was awful. Extremely gun shy after last week.

But he still outplayed Young.

I am extremely surprised how bad he looks. Terrible situation for them.

[Kyyle23]

It took three years after he was declared a top ten TE in a previous NFL thread, but it seems Cole Kmet finally got there.  It’s been a very impressive stretch for him

[Kyyle23]

10 minutes ago, bmags said:

Was there in person and Bagent was awful. Extremely gun shy after last week.

But he still outplayed Young.

I am extremely surprised how bad he looks. Terrible situation for them.

The guy has never seen pressure like he is seeing now, Bama lines never let that happen to him.  Now he deals with it every time he steps on the field.  You can see he is turtling when the pocket closes.

also, until I just watched him last night I  never really noticed his release, man is it high.  It looks like he is trying to loft every ball

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

Since the start of 2021 (Fields’ rookie year), the Bears are 7-6 in games started by a QB other than Fields and 6-25 in games started by Fields

[caulfield12]

3 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

The guy has never seen pressure like he is seeing now, Bama lines never let that happen to him.  Now he deals with it every time he steps on the field.  You can see he is turtling when the pocket closes.

also, until I just watched him last night I  never really noticed his release, man is it high.  It looks like he is trying to loft every ball

Mac Jones is falling apart this year as well.

Irony that Hurts left Bama for OU or was basically pushed out by Tua, Caleb Williams looks like Mahomes Jr. at times, Murray and Mayfield have also had their moments.  Four OU NFL guys then Gabriel will get a backup job to make five.

Ofc Jalen Milroe might end up the best of them all...well, probably just under Tua, based on arm and feet alone.

 

 

(And Lincoln Riley still a massive disappoint because of D, though.)

[Kyyle23]

Just now, caulfield12 said:

Mac Jones is falling apart this year as well.

Irony that Hurts left Bama for OU or was basically pushed out by Tua, Caleb Williams looks like Mahomes Jr. at times, Murray and Mayfield have also had their moments.  Four OU NFL guys then Gabriel will get a backup job to make five.

Ofc Jalen Milroe might end up the best of them all...well, probably just under Tua, based on arm and feet alone.

 

 

(And Lincoln Riley still a massive disappoint because of D, though.)

Mac Jones has never been good at the NFL level.  He fell apart right away 

[caulfield12]

5 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

Mac Jones has never been good at the NFL level.  He fell apart right away 

Rookie year graded out solid/decent but still disappointing for overall draft position.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/qbr

Purdy being so high despite last three games is a bit shocking...so many weapons (Kittle Aiyuk Samuel) but loss of McCaffrey has been a massive setback from a team standpoint.

Edited November 10, 2023 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

CLE and Houston continue to shock NFL.

Baker Mayfield playing decently on a pretty bad Bucs team another big surprise...

[bmags]

16 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

CLE and Houston continue to shock NFL.

Baker Mayfield playing decently on a pretty bad Bucs team another big surprise...

I don't think Cleveland is. Shows how good that defense and team were that they are getting a QB barely better than PJ Walker and winning like this.

Houston, I hope, causes people to rethink a couple of QB-drafting-heuristics that are clearly helpful:

- "X school or X system never produces good QBs". That train of thought led, in my mind, to the biggest NFL draft day blunder with Aaron Rodgers falling as the league grew tired of Tedford-system QBs. Obviously, Stroud went 3 overall, so not as big of an nfl issue here but fans clearly bought into the Ohio State as a sign of nfl failure.

- You'd think Stroud's success starting right away and Jordan Love's struggles and Trey Lance's failure will help wash away the "sitting QBs and putting them in the right situation cures all". 

I think Stroud is probably my favorite example yet of the fact that NFL scouts are pretty good at telling who should be a first round QB, but terrible at ranking them within that round, and have no idea who will actually succeed in that bunch.

Because of that we all create a bunch of rules like "oh if they had a team that developed them" or "if they sat" or "if they played" or "if they were in the right situation" and I think Stroud just kinda washes that away with if you can pair physical traits with the unknown it-factor of "able to diagnose defenses at high speed and make strong decisions" it just makes nothing else really matter.

I also think the elevation of college QBs who can play off-script may be overrated right now. When Stroud needed to, he had the tools to play off script. But maybe elevating Caleb Williams ability to play off script when he could probably easily make a play out of the regular script is just not going to be as helpful.

After all I thought Zach Wilson would be an incredible improvisational QB. But turned out he just can't figure out how quickly he's in trouble in NFL speed, and Stroud can.

You have a big arm, are big strong fast and led an elite college offense or were the entire offense? Ok, first round pick and just know it's a lotto ticket.

The benefit to having a team "ready for a qb" is merely that they get FULL advantage of that contract. Otherwise you just get a really good QB and have to figure it out fast.

[whitesoxfan99]

15 minutes ago, bmags said:

I don't think Cleveland is. Shows how good that defense and team were that they are getting a QB barely better than PJ Walker and winning like this.

Houston, I hope, causes people to rethink a couple of QB-drafting-heuristics that are clearly helpful:

- "X school or X system never produces good QBs". That train of thought led, in my mind, to the biggest NFL draft day blunder with Aaron Rodgers falling as the league grew tired of Tedford-system QBs. Obviously, Stroud went 3 overall, so not as big of an nfl issue here but fans clearly bought into the Ohio State as a sign of nfl failure.

- You'd think Stroud's success starting right away and Jordan Love's struggles and Trey Lance's failure will help wash away the "sitting QBs and putting them in the right situation cures all". 

I think Stroud is probably my favorite example yet of the fact that NFL scouts are pretty good at telling who should be a first round QB, but terrible at ranking them within that round, and have no idea who will actually succeed in that bunch.

Because of that we all create a bunch of rules like "oh if they had a team that developed them" or "if they sat" or "if they played" or "if they were in the right situation" and I think Stroud just kinda washes that away with if you can pair physical traits with the unknown it-factor of "able to diagnose defenses at high speed and make strong decisions" it just makes nothing else really matter.

I also think the elevation of college QBs who can play off-script may be overrated right now. When Stroud needed to, he had the tools to play off script. But maybe elevating Caleb Williams ability to play off script when he could probably easily make a play out of the regular script is just not going to be as helpful.

After all I thought Zach Wilson would be an incredible improvisational QB. But turned out he just can't figure out how quickly he's in trouble in NFL speed, and Stroud can.

You have a big arm, are big strong fast and led an elite college offense or were the entire offense? Ok, first round pick and just know it's a lotto ticket.

The benefit to having a team "ready for a qb" is merely that they get FULL advantage of that contract. Otherwise you just get a really good QB and have to figure it out fast.

Totally agree and it has become really clear that it is just incredibly hard to tell in the modern era which QBs are going to really make it in the NFL.  It is just such a massive jump from college to the NFL with the level of defense played and it is such a difficult position to play.. 

[LittleHurtCG]

So did the Bears screw up massivelly by trading away the #1 pick and not drafting CJ Stroud? The dude looks like an absolute beast out there and is only going to get better as he gains more experience and gets better weapons around him. 

Its looking more and more like the Bears had a franchise QB there for the taking. Now they gotta hope Carolina continues to tank and hope that Caleb Williams is an actual guy. 

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

I don't think Cleveland is. Shows how good that defense and team were that they are getting a QB barely better than PJ Walker and winning like this.

Houston, I hope, causes people to rethink a couple of QB-drafting-heuristics that are clearly helpful:

- "X school or X system never produces good QBs". That train of thought led, in my mind, to the biggest NFL draft day blunder with Aaron Rodgers falling as the league grew tired of Tedford-system QBs. Obviously, Stroud went 3 overall, so not as big of an nfl issue here but fans clearly bought into the Ohio State as a sign of nfl failure.

- You'd think Stroud's success starting right away and Jordan Love's struggles and Trey Lance's failure will help wash away the "sitting QBs and putting them in the right situation cures all". 

I think Stroud is probably my favorite example yet of the fact that NFL scouts are pretty good at telling who should be a first round QB, but terrible at ranking them within that round, and have no idea who will actually succeed in that bunch.

Because of that we all create a bunch of rules like "oh if they had a team that developed them" or "if they sat" or "if they played" or "if they were in the right situation" and I think Stroud just kinda washes that away with if you can pair physical traits with the unknown it-factor of "able to diagnose defenses at high speed and make strong decisions" it just makes nothing else really matter.

I also think the elevation of college QBs who can play off-script may be overrated right now. When Stroud needed to, he had the tools to play off script. But maybe elevating Caleb Williams ability to play off script when he could probably easily make a play out of the regular script is just not going to be as helpful.

After all I thought Zach Wilson would be an incredible improvisational QB. But turned out he just can't figure out how quickly he's in trouble in NFL speed, and Stroud can.

You have a big arm, are big strong fast and led an elite college offense or were the entire offense? Ok, first round pick and just know it's a lotto ticket.

The benefit to having a team "ready for a qb" is merely that they get FULL advantage of that contract. Otherwise you just get a really good QB and have to figure it out fast.

Josh Allen coming out of Wyoming of all places...he had so many obvious physical skills that just jumped off the charts when the combine came.  That said, is it possible he already peaked?

With Allen, always a question in the back of your mind about competition level coming out.

Trevor Lawrence, for example, had a lot of those similar physical skills as Allen, and then the proven leadership pedigree and even he is fluctuating sort of up and down with what was expected out of the Jags this year.

Then there's the Jared Goff types who don't take off until paired with the right coaching and system in place that maximizes their talents...instead of forcing players to be something they're not in an inflexible way.

[caulfield12]

3 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

So did the Bears screw up massivelly by trading away the #1 pick and not drafting CJ Stroud? The dude looks like an absolute beast out there and is only going to get better as he gains more experience and gets better weapons around him. 

Its looking more and more like the Bears had a franchise QB there for the taking. Now they gotta hope Carolina continues to tank and hope that Caleb Williams is an actual guy. 

He was basically winning that game with what amounts to his fourth best option starting the year suddenly elevated to WR1.  No way you can argue that weapons around him made him even better with Nico Collins out and so many reserves filling holes on offense.  It was the exact opposite....in fact one key player lifted the entire team to playoff competitiveness.

Granted...that division is far far from the best.

[Quin]

So, isn't the best scenario for the Bears that Fields comes back and balls out like he did against Denver and Washington?

I only ask because it seems like Marvin Harrison Jr. is the guy with the actual generational label in this draft + drafting another offensive lineman feels like it creates a better situation.

[Chisoxfn]

32 minutes ago, Quin said:

So, isn't the best scenario for the Bears that Fields comes back and balls out like he did against Denver and Washington?

I only ask because it seems like Marvin Harrison Jr. is the guy with the actual generational label in this draft + drafting another offensive lineman feels like it creates a better situation.

Yeah nothing better than Fields just balling out the rest of the season. 

[bmags]

37 minutes ago, Quin said:

So, isn't the best scenario for the Bears that Fields comes back and balls out like he did against Denver and Washington?

I only ask because it seems like Marvin Harrison Jr. is the guy with the actual generational label in this draft + drafting another offensive lineman feels like it creates a better situation.

definitely. But hopefully this is influenced by a new coach what to do. I think walking away with a MH3, a joe alt, plus a treasure trove of picks...really should be an opportunity to build a team that if you find the qb it's a dominant 3-4 year run.

[almagest]

The o-line and defense look so much better than when Fields went down. It'll be good to see if plugging Fields back in will really allow him to take off, or if part of the issues on O & D were due to Fields holding the ball too long/setting the defense up with poor field position due to turnovers and losing yards on offense.

[bmags]

22 minutes ago, almagest said:

The o-line and defense look so much better than when Fields went down. It'll be good to see if plugging Fields back in will really allow him to take off, or if part of the issues on O & D were due to Fields holding the ball too long/setting the defense up with poor field position due to turnovers and losing yards on offense.

I'm optimistic but he's facing the hardest part of the schedule. Detroit could still wreck any o-line.

But us being horrified by the Minnesota game doesn't seem as bad as it looks like we faced them just as Brian Flores figured out how to run that defense.

[Flash Tizzle]

4 hours ago, Quin said:

So, isn't the best scenario for the Bears that Fields comes back and balls out like he did against Denver and Washington?

I only ask because it seems like Marvin Harrison Jr. is the guy with the actual generational label in this draft + drafting another offensive lineman feels like it creates a better situation.

Even if we’re envisioning a best case scenario where he returns from missing three games and improves on ALL his decencies, I wouldn’t trust Fields entering 2024. I don’t believe the coaching staff would, either. Hopefully another NFL team would be willing to buy into it. 

There are quite a few good quarterback, options coming out in the next draft. We could easily pick up a generational quarterback outside the top 10, for the reasons bmags mentioned. And if Carolina keeps on sucking they can help us land MHJ. Patriots and the Giants (two serious contenders for the top draft pick) would both need QBs. 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Flash Tizzle