Chicago Bears 2026-2027
I think that Jaylon Johnson's best years are long gone and I'm not even sure who's on the opposite side.
Another issue is that the young safeties got picked on. The 3rd and 22 was just a god awful play by Thieneman. If he just turns his head half way around, GB is punting. Instead, it's a 53 yard TD.
The first Watkins TD came with the corner passing him off to the safety and he got confused and all turned around. If that's a clean handoff, the safety would have been there in plenty of time to make a play on it. Instead, it was a simple drop in the bucket.
The final issue is that the Bears got no pass rush outside of the series right before halftime. You can't ask your DBs to cover for 8, 9... seconds. Those are NFL receivers and they will get open.
I don't want to be overly critical or make an emotional comment, but the defensive line sure didn't exhibit a ton of effort. A lot of getting to the QB is "want to" and relentlessness. Not sure that I saw any of that.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Thieneman was nowhere to be found today. But, he’s just getting started in the NFL. Another huge concern is Odunze. If it’s not in his breadbasket, no catch most of the time.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
One reason is that the Packers have better receivers than the Bears. Also they were playing against a confused Bears secondary.
Stevenson, Odeybingo, Gordon...cancerous. JJ not back, yet, if ever. On Poles for me. But season not over. And Vikings will Viking.
Those have to be the least effective PEDs available
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I think Ben is better than this, but I hope we didn't buy Matt Nagy Jr. Remember he had a great first year & won the division in 2018 & then it cratered after the double doink. Ben has had a couple duds this year. Hopefully this past Sunday knocked a little of the "smartest guy in the room" off of him & he buckles down going forward. Team obviously has some weaknesses also but he has had a couple bad coaching efforts IMO this year so far.
.......Or maybe Gervon Dexter to help in the middle. We'll be seeing him this week.
We need to not overreact to one game. He's missing his starting QB and his best RB that would have been suited for where Green Bay currently is at with their DLine (pound it between the tackles). Those are obviously two enormous pieces. If I had pick at him on one thing, it's playing Bagent vs Keenum. If you think the Bears win with Keenum or if they put up 20+ points with him, then outside of picking the backup, the offense is fine.
When Williams comes back, all of that resolves itself, so none of that bothers me.
HOWEVER, what does bother me in the defense.
We knew that the defensive line was going to be a problem going in. There's no pass rush, they're struggling between the tackles, etc.
What's really hurting is Gordon not being there and the shocking regression of Jaylon Johnson. The safety situation is awful. There are two first year guys back there and against a really good QB and really good receivers, they got picked on. That was pretty awful, especially the 3rd and 22.
The corner situation I don't think was on the radar as being a destructive problem. Johnson can't cover a statue and is assigned the opponents best WR and Stevenson on the other side, when healthy, is no better. They have a rookie covering the slot and it's just not good. The defensive line not getting pressure is just highlighting the problems. Watson and love had a field day and it was embarrassing.
The big picture is that they've gone 2-1 without Williams and in one game, vs Philly, they put up 30 points. In the game vs New York, they held the ball for over 40 minutes and ran 89 plays. Those were two outstanding results. That took a ton of pressure off of the defense. They'll be fine. I think they have to make getting Loveland the ball a mandate, but again.... they'll figure that out.
That defense is another story. Those are problems that are unlucky (Bryant), questionable (Gordon) and an issue with Poles(not addressing the D-Line in the off-season. There's only so much Allen can do with this vs great offenses for which they have two coming up.
We would have taken 2-1 without Williams in a heartbeat when the injury happened. The Green Bay game and the way we lost is what's created the questions.
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Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Like I said, I think he is better than the doomsday scenario I described. Just as a Bears fan you are always on the lookout for what evil is lurking around the corner.
He is no doubt a great offensive schemer & the uncompetitive nature of the loss in Green Bay is in large part due to the injuries on offense you described. I do wish offensively he'd be a little less gung ho with the go for it on 4th down all the time mentality. It seems every game we leave some points on the board via a failed 4th down attempt. I was fine with the one against the Jets cause we were like 2 inches from the goal line. I do appreciate you have to be aggressive at times but you also have to be able to play "small ball" at times especially in the high leverage games. Points are like gold as the calendar turns to January. A little less Dan Campbell mindset on those would do him good.
Defense is a far bigger concern in the grand scheme of things. They looked good against the Eagles & Jets but are hamstrung by a virtually non existent pass rush. You ain't beating the Rams, 49ers, Seahawks, etc in a game that really matters if the front 4 can't at least sniff the QB every now & then.
Great post. I love the bolded and 100%. When they get inside the 20 and come away with nothing, it's a killer. It's one of those "no, no, no, no, YES!". Circumstances and distance means something.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
TBH it drives me nuts just in general watching the modern game. I understand the analytics side of things, but the risk has to be worth the reward. Going on 4th & 3 from the 25 on the first drive of the game when even if you get it the drive isn't finished is to me the time to just take the points & put em in the bag.
I've watched lots of football in my life & it seems for every 1 time that risk heavy strategy works, there are 2 times where late in the 4th quarter that coach is standing there down 3 points thinking "dang I wish I took 3 back in the first quarter". Same with the going for 2 all the time mentality. Seems for every 1 time it works there are 2 where it doesn't work.
Without evidence, you are going on feel with that. You remember the bad times because you disagree with the strategy. Analytics is the evidence that says it works. Will it work 100% of the time? No. The numbers say it should be done more than it is being done.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
No question there is some confirmation bias in my comments. I fully get the concepts behind the analytics in all sports. However the thing that I haven't seen analytics measure (especially in a game like football) is the momentum swing from a big 4th down stop. Big plays can inflate one side & deflate the other at the same time. There are certainly examples using both approaches where they worked & where they didn't work.
And I'm not risk averse. So I do like part of that with Ben. He won't lose a big playoff game cause he's scared to be aggressive. That can be just as bad the other way. Us old guys remember Marty Schottenheimer (father of the current Cowboy coach). Great coach but whenever he got in the playoffs his offensive approach was uber conservative. Lost several divisional round games as the 1 seed cause they could not score the ball.
All that said, as a Bears fan, I just wish Ben would be a little more willing to take field goals. Especially early in games. Every point you put on the board is one you don't have to find later on. Of course it's situational (down & distance, position on field, etc) so there isn't always one right answer. Just this year for example, I hated his goal line approach against Philly early in that game. It was 4th & goal from the 3. Just take the points. Same thing happened vs Jets but it was 4th & goal inside the 1. I'm fine with going for it there as you should be able to easily get a half yard.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I think he's a good coach but we are only in year two. I do wish he would stop with some of the dumb fourth down plays. My problem is what did Poles do this offseason to make the team better or add more talent? Very little imo. He did draft the starting safety, and Muhammed is playing a lot. After all we heard about van den Berg in the preseason, I've totally forgotten about him. Does he even play? Rousch and Thomas have been pretty much non factors, Rousch has been visible mainly in his bad plays. Bradbury has been OK at center I guess. Logan Jones was the second round pick and as long as Bradbury is doing OK he won't see the field. I do think Raymond was a good free agent signing, and unfortunately we won't see Bryant until next year. It all seems pretty meh to me.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I'm guessing he will probably be released next offseason, although Poles track record of finding good defensesive lineman is pitiful.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I'm interested to see what Shemar Turner can do now that he's healthy. Another high draft pick for Poles who has been hurt.
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Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Don't forget going for it on fourth down at their own 21 against Carolina that turned into 7 for them like three plays later. Dumb dumb dumb.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Oh I haven't & won't forgot that one. Nearly drove the car off the road on a trip home as I was listening to that one. I like his aggression in terms of playcalling. But I just hope that hyper aggressive 4th down approach doesn't do to us what Dan Campbell did to Detroit in the NFC title game a few years back.