Game Thread: Bears (0-0) at Los Angeles Rams (0-0)

[beardown07]

I know recency bias is a thing...but Montgomery is for sure better than Howard. He's kind of an enigma...Not really sure I'd say he's a top ten back but he's a good back and I'm happy to see him out there toting the rock for us.

5th in total yds last yr.

 

[BsGenius]

Fuck off.

You been arguing he's average since day one.

And you've been arguing Jordan Howard was elite since day 1.

I've always said Monty was good, not great.

 

[Jiddy]

5th in total yds last yr.

I mean...That's a fair point really dissecting it. There's only 5 backs that I would sit back and say are definitively better than Montgomery:

Henry
Cook
Barkley
Kamara
Elliott

After that the notch lowers into a group...Montgomery is in there and is producing at a good level so I guess it's feasible to say he's top ten. But he's not at that higher level where he changes a franchise's course. He's just good. No complaints.

We need great to some degree at one or more of the offensive skill positions to make the step (and a new coach it seems like as each day passes). Hopefully that's where Fields comes in (and Nagy goes out).

 

[Skerpokes]

WTF was that?

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Even better than Jordan Howard? No wayyyyyy

I know recency bias is a thing...but Montgomery is for sure better than Howard. He's kind of an enigma...Not really sure I'd say he's a top ten back but he's a good back and I'm happy to see him out there toting the rock for us.

I might have agreed with BS's assessment as recently as midseason last year. Since his rookie year up to that point Monty really struggled. But after he returned from that one game injury in week 10, the kid got locked in and started piling on the yardage and moving the chains. Four of his final six games he rushed for no fewer than 95 yards. In three of those four he topped 100 yards.

At least for this opening game, his mojo has carried over. He looks faster or probably better stated is he hits the hole quicker than he did earlier in his brief career. Plus he's showing more of that tackle-breaking talent which is what he was known for in his days with Iowa St. It may still remain to be seen as to stating he's a definitive top 10 back. He might need to have a bunch more games similar to last night to place him in such elite status. But there's zero doubt he's a superior RB to Jordan Howard. He's faster, stronger, more elusive, a far superior blocker and better receiver.

 

[richig07]

That went somewhat similarly to how I thought it would, unfortunately.

I'm waiting for this upcoming Sunday to really form an opinion on what exactly will happen with this 2021 team. No doubt, that was not fun, though.

Nice to see Fields score, I suppose.

 

[Jiddy]

That went somewhat similarly to how I thought it would, unfortunately.

I'm waiting for this upcoming Sunday to really form an opinion on what exactly will happen with this 2021 team. No doubt, that was not fun, though.

Nice to see Fields score, I suppose.

There were reasons for optimism on offense IF the defense gets its head out of it's ass...but it's obvious we're nowhere near the upper echelon of teams. We'll need a couple good drafting/signing offseasons to make a step...and of course Fields to be good. Sad thing about that is Montgomery is giving us some good play right now most likely for naught.

 

[richig07]

There were reasons for optimism on offense IF the defense gets its head out of it's ass...but it's obvious we're nowhere near the upper echelon of teams. We'll need a couple good drafting/signing offseasons to make a step...and of course Fields to be good. Sad thing about that is Montgomery is giving us some good play right now most likely for naught.

Like I said, one game vs a loaded SB contending team on the road (without Goldman) just isn't enough for me to form total opinions on a team for a full season. Week 1's are always weird and often poor indicators for a year to come. The first month can be misleading, to be honest. However, with the way we've looked the last two years... Yeah, looking like we did again at home vs CIN will be enough for me to genuinely feel like this team won't improve as the year goes on.

They absolutely have to pull a decent performance out of their asses Sunday, or the pressure/heat on Nagy will become punishing.

 

[BearsWillWin]

Even if they win Sunday.....Nagy is shit.

His scheme is shit. His play calls are shit. You can't play short of the sticks all game and expect to score points and win. You just can't. But Nagy has been doing this for 4 seasons. Consistently short of the sticks. More passes behind the LOS then 15 yards down field. Consistently. The excuses are pathetic. Wrong QB. Oline can't block. On and on. Yet everywhere else you look around the league teams are pushing the ball vertical. Nagy coaches scared. And he plays right into the hands of the opposing defense every time he does.

Even when he went for it on 4th and 15....aggressive call, right? The pass was short of the sticks and the route would have never allowed for YAC. It's laughable.

The Bears have major problems top to bottom.

Bad owners that truly don't care because if they did care we wouldn't be in this situation. The power structure makes no sense from a football standpoint.

Pace made a ton of mistakes building the roster and had to do things to try to fix it that made even more problems for him. He doesn't value draft picks enough and therefore is always short of them.

Nagy isn't a good HC and he's a terrible OC. He talks about accountability but then players screw up and he calls them learning moments. He talks in stupid circles and as much as he likes to talk about "the whys" and "self scouting" we have never seen him address his own mistakes or try to correct them in the playcalling. He's still trying to execute the same exact offense he was trying to execute in 2018. Same results every week. He thinks 170LB receivers can block 210LB defenders in bubble screens. He thinks shovel passes in back of a LT playing his first snap after the last two LTs got injured are good calls. He sees his #1 RB having a hot game and pulls him in favor of the #2 guy because that's how they practiced it. Zero in game adjustments...zero week to week adjustments.

The roster isn't talented enough. And the talent they do have isn't coached up to their full potential. Eddie Jackson is lazy. And no one is addressing it. Khalil Mack is great but he doesn't show up in the boxscore enough. No one is addressing it. Robert Quinn can't get a sack even when the QB runs right at him. Not being addressed. This defense gets penalties for taunting when they are losing by 20. Cody Whitehair got shoved back 10 yards by a CB Sunday night. Andy Dalton threw a redzone pick that would have been picked even if it wasn't tipped because I still have no idea who he thought he was throwing to. But Nagy says the offense is right where he needs and wants it to be. Some fans are happy the Bears got some first downs and see it as improvement.

Top to bottom there is a ton wrong with this team. It won't be fixed by tanking. It won't be fixed just by Justin Fields. It won't be fixed simply by a new head coach. It can be masked by some of those things. But not fixed because the problems we see aren't recent problems. They have been ongoing with different QBs, head coaches, and GMs. It's systematic at this point and it starts with ownership and ends with the players on the field. With roster and cap problems looming over the next few seasons....don't expect a quick fix. Because it's not coming.

 

[Retroram52]

You folks have a damn good QB for right now as well as the future in Justin Fields. Back-ups are not too shabby either. You have one tough pounder in David Montgomery and a very good running game that handled the Rams D quite well. You have a few ex-Rams: Olgletree, Quinn, and Webster. Webster is dogshit. The other two are at the end of their careers but they still do contribute to a decent D.

You have some excellent talent on both sides of the ball. Guys like Fields, Montgomery, the O-line is not bad, Kahlil Mack, Cole Kmet, Akiem Hicks and others that are a good foundation to build with to be on top of the heap again.

The problem appears to be in the coaching staff starting with Nagy. Nagy just doesn't see the big picture and he is often indecisive about alot of little shit that the players are not buying into any more. When you have a stud QB and you sit him in favor of Andy Dalton or when you don't go for a makeable FG when the opportunity presents itself to just keep pushing for points basically surrendering the game early, you have a major problem in the HC's approach to his players and the game. When the DC hasn't recognized a few things that allows Rams WRs to get wide open in the manner that they did, there are some serious douchebags in the coaching ranks that need to be removed.

There are also other problems in the FO with the stadium mess going on with that clueless mayor that are filtering into the general psyche of the Bears, that is affecting alot of the play on the field.

They really need to clean-up crap outside the players that are affecting how everyone plays. Talent is not one of them! I wish you guys the best because the Bears are not too far away.

 

[BearsWillWin]

You folks have a damn good QB for right now as well as the future in Justin Fields. Back-ups are not too shabby either. You have one tough pounder in David Montgomery and a very good running game that handled the Rams D quite well. You have a few ex-Rams: Olgletree, Quinn, and Webster. Webster is dogshit. The other two are at the end of their careers but they still do contribute to a decent D.

You have some excellent talent on both sides of the ball. Guys like Fields, Montgomery, the O-line is not bad, Kahlil Mack, Cole Kmet, Akiem Hicks and others that are a good foundation to build with to be on top of the heap again.

The problem appears to be in the coaching staff starting with Nagy. Nagy just doesn't see the big picture and he is often indecisive about alot of little shit that the players are not buying into any more. When you have a stud QB and you sit him in favor of Andy Dalton or when you don't go for a makeable FG when the opportunity presents itself to just keep pushing for points basically surrendering the game early, you have a major problem in the HC's approach to his players and the game. When the DC hasn't recognized a few things that allows Rams WRs to get wide open in the manner that they did, there are some serious douchebags in the coaching ranks that need to be removed.

There are also other problems in the FO with the stadium mess going on with that clueless mayor that are filtering into the general psyche of the Bears, that is affecting alot of the play on the field.

They really need to clean-up crap outside the players that are affecting how everyone plays. Talent is not one of them! I wish you guys the best because the Bears are not too far away.

Good post. Quinn, however, is a disaster in a Bears uniform. He has a play with Stafford basically ran right towards him Sunday night and he still couldn't get a sack.

Also I don't think the stadium stuff is an issue for the players. The Bears lease at Soldier Field runs until 2033. They can buyout as early as 2026. Most the players on the roster now won't be there in 2026 and 98% of them will be retired in 2033.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea BearsWIllWin. I sort of lost following ex-Rams when they leave the Rams, at a level I did when they played for the Rams. I'd see Quinn's name once and in awhile in the sacks category. Same goes for Ogletree in the tackles, INTs category. Quinn's career is almost done and Ogletree is right behind him.

So yea, your assessment is closer to reality than mine. When you have players literally giving-up on plays early, there is something drastically wrong in the individual and team thinking. I saw so many Bears players just go through the motions Sunday night. Sometimes it was blatant.

So yea, there are internal problems going on and it starts with that douchebag Nagy. The man is as two-faced as they come and I think the players no longer trust his bullshit. I hope they move him out so he doesn't destroy a talented future QB like Fields.

At any rate, keep the faith because your Avi Nickname says it all! Best of luck, man!

 

[Jiddy]

Like I said, one game vs a loaded SB contending team on the road (without Goldman) just isn't enough for me to form total opinions on a team for a full season. Week 1's are always weird and often poor indicators for a year to come. The first month can be misleading, to be honest. However, with the way we've looked the last two years... Yeah, looking like we did again at home vs CIN will be enough for me to genuinely feel like this team won't improve as the year goes on.

They absolutely have to pull a decent performance out of their asses Sunday, or the pressure/heat on Nagy will become punishing.

In 2019, we fought on the first game point. Not this year...2021 Bears story is still to be written as far as I'm concerned. Rams are just a better team than us. It is what it is. I mean, there is a ceiling to what these Bears can accomplish...but we could be playing some interesting/meaningful football come December if some things get corrected.

 

[Jiddy]

Even if they win Sunday.....Nagy is shit.

His scheme is shit. His play calls are shit. You can't play short of the sticks all game and expect to score points and win. You just can't. But Nagy has been doing this for 4 seasons. Consistently short of the sticks. More passes behind the LOS then 15 yards down field. Consistently. The excuses are pathetic. Wrong QB. Oline can't block. On and on. Yet everywhere else you look around the league teams are pushing the ball vertical. Nagy coaches scared. And he plays right into the hands of the opposing defense every time he does.

Even when he went for it on 4th and 15....aggressive call, right? The pass was short of the sticks and the route would have never allowed for YAC. It's laughable.

The Bears have major problems top to bottom.

Bad owners that truly don't care because if they did care we wouldn't be in this situation. The power structure makes no sense from a football standpoint.

Pace made a ton of mistakes building the roster and had to do things to try to fix it that made even more problems for him. He doesn't value draft picks enough and therefore is always short of them.

Nagy isn't a good HC and he's a terrible OC. He talks about accountability but then players screw up and he calls them learning moments. He talks in stupid circles and as much as he likes to talk about "the whys" and "self scouting" we have never seen him address his own mistakes or try to correct them in the playcalling. He's still trying to execute the same exact offense he was trying to execute in 2018. Same results every week. He thinks 170LB receivers can block 210LB defenders in bubble screens. He thinks shovel passes in back of a LT playing his first snap after the last two LTs got injured are good calls. He sees his #1 RB having a hot game and pulls him in favor of the #2 guy because that's how they practiced it. Zero in game adjustments...zero week to week adjustments.

The roster isn't talented enough. And the talent they do have isn't coached up to their full potential. Eddie Jackson is lazy. And no one is addressing it. Khalil Mack is great but he doesn't show up in the boxscore enough. No one is addressing it. Robert Quinn can't get a sack even when the QB runs right at him. Not being addressed. This defense gets penalties for taunting when they are losing by 20. Cody Whitehair got shoved back 10 yards by a CB Sunday night. Andy Dalton threw a redzone pick that would have been picked even if it wasn't tipped because I still have no idea who he thought he was throwing to. But Nagy says the offense is right where he needs and wants it to be. Some fans are happy the Bears got some first downs and see it as improvement.

Top to bottom there is a ton wrong with this team. It won't be fixed by tanking. It won't be fixed just by Justin Fields. It won't be fixed simply by a new head coach. It can be masked by some of those things. But not fixed because the problems we see aren't recent problems. They have been ongoing with different QBs, head coaches, and GMs. It's systematic at this point and it starts with ownership and ends with the players on the field. With roster and cap problems looming over the next few seasons....don't expect a quick fix. Because it's not coming.

Fair viewpoint.

I've harped on this before. Nagy plays to his opponents' weaknesses...not his team's strengths. And that is a major failing. It is why he was glorified as an offensive guru in KC. They had some pretty good talent to hide his weaknesses. But you can't win games consistently playing on the weaknesses of defenses...You have to coordinate to your own strengths first.

Nagy probably kills it in film and prep and finds all kinds of holes in the opponent...but the problem with this is that they're the holes that the opponent is willing to give. So that's why we never really make splash plays/they're so rare. He literally takes the cherry on top of the sundae and tries to make it the sundae. He really should be an assistant that provides the weaknesses/holes in opponent defenses to a better playcaller and let them use those scouting finds in certain situations. I have no doubt at this point he actually handcuffed his team in KC and it just didn't look that way because talent hid it.

 

[richig07]

In 2019, we fought on the first game point. Not this year...2021 Bears story is still to be written as far as I'm concerned. Rams are just a better team than us. It is what it is. I mean, there is a ceiling to what these Bears can accomplish...but we could be playing some interesting/meaningful football come December if some things get corrected.

The wild card to our ceiling is Fields. Derived from both when he comes in and starts. Along with just how good is he going to be.

If the defense gets it together, the line improves a bit as the season goes on, and Fields plays at a rookie of the year level? I could see us becoming a tough team to beat. However, that does require multiple things coming together JUST right.

 

[BsGenius]

The wild card to our ceiling is Fields. Derived from both when he comes in and starts. Along with just how good is he going to be.

If the defense gets it together, the line improves a bit as the season goes on, and Fields plays at a rookie of the year level? I could see us becoming a tough team to beat. However, that does require multiple things coming together JUST right.

Big "if" for the defense. Our secondary looks like trash right now with no Fuller. Our new defensive coordinator Sean Desai is looking completely incapable. Our only hope is the defense.