OT Bears 2019/20 season

[Payt10]

I don't think Mitch looked all that bad through 2.5 games. PFF grades agreed, and they are usually love to crap all over Mitch. He didn't look good though. I thought benching him was ballsy. But it turned out to be the right call!

He's definitely decent enough to stick around as a backup, and I'm happy that we'll have him as a backup the rest of the season. He won't be out of the league after this season either. He's probably a 30-40 range QB in the league.

I don't think Mitch played well, and I also thought it was ballsy to bench him.

It worked, but I don't think Foles actually played all that well either. He ultimately did enough to win, but man did Atlanta's defense just totally implode when he was in the game. Dropped interceptions, missed tackles leading to Robinon's 30 yards after the catch for a score, etc...

Not to say Mitch would have done the same thing if he was in there and got us to the win, but neither QB was particularly inspiring. On the other hand, neither was that bad either.

He nearly had 5 touchdowns in 1.5 quarters of football. Some of those throws were dimes, too. It's not like the Falcons were blowing coverage all game long. He put the ball on the money for the majority of that game, and quite honestly, his receivers did little to nothing to help him out on some of those throws. Mooney dropped a big play downfield that was on target, Miller dropped a touchdown, Jimmy Graham bobbled a few that could have been caught..

I'd say he played pretty darn well for coming off the bench without having any practice with the 1st team all week. Yes, Atlanta is a horrid defense, but Mitch played against that same horrid defense in the 1st half and couldn't put the ball in the endzone. Nick Foles can challenge a defense downfield, which is something Mitch is incapable of. He made several throws in that game today that Mitch just isn't capable of making, in my opinion. That last touchdown to Anthony Miller was something I don't think Mitch would have been able to do against all that pressure in his face.

Save for that Allen Robinson touchdown, I thought Atlanta's offense deserved more of the blame for that loss than their defense. I think they had 3 straight 3 and outs before that game ending interception and took almost no time off the clock. I give some credit to the Bears D, but they looked pretty terrible for the majority of that game.

[Bullflip]

I just hope that Trubisky has a thick skin. He’s going to be a punching bag going forward because he will be labeled as a bust. Probably one of those trivia things that people will joke about for years to come. It sucks because I think he’s a nice guy personally.

[dougthonus]

He nearly had 5 touchdowns in 1.5 quarters of football. Some of those throws were dimes, too. It's not like the Falcons were blowing coverage all game long. He put the ball on the money for the majority of that game, and quite honestly, his receivers did little to nothing to help him out on some of those throws. Mooney dropped a big play downfield that was on target, Miller dropped a touchdown, Jimmy Graham bobbled a few that could have been caught..

I'd say he played pretty darn well for coming off the bench without having any practice with the 1st team all week. Yes, Atlanta is a horrid defense, but Mitch played against that same horrid defense in the 1st half and couldn't put the ball in the endzone. Nick Foles can challenge a defense downfield, which is something Mitch is incapable of. He made several throws in that game today that Mitch just isn't capable of making, in my opinion. That last touchdown to Anthony Miller was something I don't think Mitch would have been able to do against all that pressure in his face.

I'm not arguing whether he is better than Mitch. I agree he's better than Mitch.

If you're confident in Foles, then you're a step or two ahead of me. He had a ton of really bad throws and plays. A lot of luck went both for and against him (drop by Miller, Mooney play was great defense not a drop, though still a beautiful throw, also had the Falcons drop an int, and play keystone cops trying to tackle Robinson).

[nomorezorro]

my thought after foles's performance was definitely not "nick foles is good" but instead "this offense looks noticeably better with someone performing like, the baseline level of nfl qb competency"

i dunno if foles can be "basic competent nfl starting qb" every week but he does feel like a safer bet than mitch to get there

[Payt10]

He nearly had 5 touchdowns in 1.5 quarters of football. Some of those throws were dimes, too. It's not like the Falcons were blowing coverage all game long. He put the ball on the money for the majority of that game, and quite honestly, his receivers did little to nothing to help him out on some of those throws. Mooney dropped a big play downfield that was on target, Miller dropped a touchdown, Jimmy Graham bobbled a few that could have been caught..

I'd say he played pretty darn well for coming off the bench without having any practice with the 1st team all week. Yes, Atlanta is a horrid defense, but Mitch played against that same horrid defense in the 1st half and couldn't put the ball in the endzone. Nick Foles can challenge a defense downfield, which is something Mitch is incapable of. He made several throws in that game today that Mitch just isn't capable of making, in my opinion. That last touchdown to Anthony Miller was something I don't think Mitch would have been able to do against all that pressure in his face.

I'm not arguing whether he is better than Mitch. I agree he's better than Mitch.

If you're confident in Foles, then you're a step or two ahead of me. He had a ton of really bad throws and plays. A lot of luck went both for and against him (drop by Miller, Mooney play was great defense not a drop, though still a beautiful throw, also had the Falcons drop an int, and play keystone cops trying to tackle Robinson).

I would disagree with you that he had "a ton" of really bad throws and plays. It's fine if you're not comfortable with him being a huge difference maker, but outside of the Graham throw and the fortunate Robinson play at the end (which still would have been a big completion either way) I didn't see anything that stood out to me as egregious for Nick Foles. Maybe I was just caught up in all the hysteria that was going on in real-time, but I thought he played remarkably well, given the circumstances, and I'm excited to see what he'll do next week.

[dice]

I just hope that Trubisky has a thick skin. He’s going to be a punching bag going forward because he will be labeled as a bust. Probably one of those trivia things that people will joke about for years to come. It sucks because I think he’s a nice guy personally.

he may be the perfect gentleman, but i can't bring myself to care about the hurt feelings of a guy who was drafted way ahead of where he was broadly projected as a talent and was thus gifted over $10 million extra dollars by ryan pace. he can cry himself to sleep on a pile of money beside his hot girlfriend

[Payt10]

my thought after foles's performance was definitely not "nick foles is good" but instead "this offense looks noticeably better with someone performing like, the baseline level of nfl qb competency"

i dunno if foles can be "basic competent nfl starting qb" every week but he does feel like a safer bet than mitch to get there

Foles has definitely been competent as long as he's playing in this Andy Reid/Doug Pederson/Matt Nagy offensive scheme. Unfortunately, they might need more than a competent quarterback to carry what looks to be a declining defense.

[fleet]

Putting up 20 points in the fourth quarter for a comeback win was plenty inspiring....

Were you inspired by Trubisky against the Lions?

I'm glad we got the win, and am more confident in Foles than Trubisky, but are you telling me after watching Nick Foles there that you thought he was a great QB?

I was a little inspired at first. He made some clutch throws. But going back to what he has surrounded those clutch throws with before and since, there’s no inspiration going on for me anyway. No confidence hes gonna keep making miracle throws to make up for his poor throws. And another thing, even against the Lions, (and Giants) bottom line is how many points you score in 4 quarters.

[HearshotKDS]

Foles struggled in the first 2-3 possessions but then got in rhythm and torched what is probably the worst secondary in the league. Mitch had been steadily getting worse over this 3 game stretch - there are a bunch of stats you can use to see this but perhaps the simplest and most pertinent is passer rating: 104, 78, 72. He seemed a bit better than last year, but I think a lot of fans have forgotten that the bar is not set at "better than last year".

He is still making the same mistakes that put his job in question: inconsistent throwing mechanics leading to inconsistent accuracy and throw placement, panic in the pocket and guessing which way to evade pressure instead of feeling it and avoiding it, he has done a lot better job at pre-snap reads, but he still locks in on either the first option or Robinson when the D shifts/disguises coverage/doesn't act how he expects IE his post snap reads are either too slow or not there at all. If you watch all 22 tape, you're going to see a bunch of wide open receivers that he missed, big ones that come to mind are Cohen wide open on crossing route on the first sack of the game, and (EDIT: Robinson, not Wims) wide open 10 yards downfield of Graham on the interception.

I don't think you can make any conclusions off of 1 game, let alone less than half of one. I don't know if Foles is good enough or able to actually lead this team to the playoffs. But I do know that we have been seeing the same ol' Mitch in 2020 that we saw in 2019, he was just blessed to start the season with powder puffs and injury depleted teams.

[fleet]

He nearly had 5 touchdowns in 1.5 quarters of football. Some of those throws were dimes, too. It's not like the Falcons were blowing coverage all game long. He put the ball on the money for the majority of that game, and quite honestly, his receivers did little to nothing to help him out on some of those throws. Mooney dropped a big play downfield that was on target, Miller dropped a touchdown, Jimmy Graham bobbled a few that could have been caught..

I'd say he played pretty darn well for coming off the bench without having any practice with the 1st team all week. Yes, Atlanta is a horrid defense, but Mitch played against that same horrid defense in the 1st half and couldn't put the ball in the endzone. Nick Foles can challenge a defense downfield, which is something Mitch is incapable of. He made several throws in that game today that Mitch just isn't capable of making, in my opinion. That last touchdown to Anthony Miller was something I don't think Mitch would have been able to do against all that pressure in his face.

I'm not arguing whether he is better than Mitch. I agree he's better than Mitch.

If you're confident in Foles, then you're a step or two ahead of me. He had a ton of really bad throws and plays. A lot of luck went both for and against him (drop by Miller, Mooney play was great defense not a drop, though still a beautiful throw, also had the Falcons drop an int, and play keystone cops trying to tackle Robinson).

The context and circumstances of Foles’ shift is illustrative on certain things. Coming from far behind late in the game, you force a lot of things. The best thing about what he offers is a more vertical passing ability, and a larger playbook for Nagy to gameplan with. And, leadership. He was a total general on the sideline and in the huddle.

[dice]

every bears opponent thus far has played like the employee hoping for a promotion who goes golfing with his duffer boss

"thought i had ya that time, boss!"

[dice]

He nearly had 5 touchdowns in 1.5 quarters of football. Some of those throws were dimes, too. It's not like the Falcons were blowing coverage all game long. He put the ball on the money for the majority of that game, and quite honestly, his receivers did little to nothing to help him out on some of those throws. Mooney dropped a big play downfield that was on target, Miller dropped a touchdown, Jimmy Graham bobbled a few that could have been caught..

I'd say he played pretty darn well for coming off the bench without having any practice with the 1st team all week. Yes, Atlanta is a horrid defense, but Mitch played against that same horrid defense in the 1st half and couldn't put the ball in the endzone. Nick Foles can challenge a defense downfield, which is something Mitch is incapable of. He made several throws in that game today that Mitch just isn't capable of making, in my opinion. That last touchdown to Anthony Miller was something I don't think Mitch would have been able to do against all that pressure in his face.

I'm not arguing whether he is better than Mitch. I agree he's better than Mitch.

If you're confident in Foles, then you're a step or two ahead of me. He had a ton of really bad throws and plays. A lot of luck went both for and against him (drop by Miller, Mooney play was great defense not a drop, though still a beautiful throw, also had the Falcons drop an int, and play keystone cops trying to tackle Robinson).

The context and circumstances of Foles’ shift is illustrative on certain things. Coming from far behind late in the game, you force a lot of things.

the defense also tends to loosen up

The best thing about what he offers is a more vertical passing ability, and a larger playbook for Nagy to gameplan with. And, leadership. He was a total general on the sideline and in the huddle.

i tend to agree

[2018C3]

I was surprised when Mitch got pulled, when it happened I thought it was the wrong move to make at that time. Although he did not play great, in the past I have seen much worse performances from him and overall he seemed to be playing pretty decent so far this year.

I believe much of the sloppy play were seeing on both sides of the ball is do to not having any preseason. Things should start to appear more crisp for all the teams in the next coming weeks.

With all that being said, that comeback was magical. Foles had one heck of a game. In the last few minutes, I felt much more confident with him in the game.

I hope Mitch keeps it together, we may need him again, (He looked pretty emotional on the sideline). Mitch should look at Foles as a example, just keep on working and once you get another chance be ready.

There are only a few people in the entire world who can do this job and Mitch is one of the few lucky ones who has the opportunity to be a quarterback in the NFL, whether that's starting, or as a backup.

He needs to keep his head up, continue working, and stay ready.

[TheGOATRises007]

I honestly don't think this franchise will recover in not picking Mahomes or even Watson for a long time.

Further compounded by the fact that we TRADED UP to get Trubisky. Just a killer blow.

We would have won the SB already IMO with Mahomes or Watson.

[wickywack]

I hope Mitch keeps it together, we may need him again, (He looked pretty emotional on the sideline). Mitch should look at Foles as a example, just keep on working and once you get another chance be ready.

One positive to how this played out: Trubisky got to see how well Nick Foles handled being benched to start the season. Trubisky will get another shot - probably this season given Foles' history. Hopefully, he'll learn from Foles.

[dice]

I honestly don't think this franchise will recover in not picking Mahomes or even Watson for a long time.

Further compounded by the fact that we TRADED UP to get Trubisky. Just a killer blow.

We would have won the SB already IMO with Mahomes or Watson.

and kamara (taken with one of the picks we traded up to get trubisky)?

fortunately, a safety other than eddie jackson was taken with the 4th rounder the bears traded to get trubisky. the bears nabbed jackson w/ the very next selection

[TheGOATRises007]

I honestly don't think this franchise will recover in not picking Mahomes or even Watson for a long time.

Further compounded by the fact that we TRADED UP to get Trubisky. Just a killer blow.

We would have won the SB already IMO with Mahomes or Watson.

and kamara (taken with the pick we traded up to get trubisky)?

I think you're correct.

Just brutal. Pace blew it.

[nitetrain8603]

Still felt like mitch triBENCHsky was struggling to read the zone. It should be Foles job from here on out. Pace is going to have to come to grips with tribs likely never becoming what he expected when he drafted him. Although tribenchsky was 2-0 the writings were on the wall that tougher competition was going to expose him.

Very clever.

Here's the thing. If the Bears make the playoffs this season, Pace and Nagy will be praised, and deservedly so. If they end up 8-8 agàin, not so muçh. Pretty simple.

Everything is seen through the lens of Patrick Mahomes and Watson. Praise for making the playoffs is faint. Victory laps for this situation is a little much

If I were a Bears fan (I'm not), I would look at it more thru the lens of the draft picks that were given up. There were other teams that passed up on Mahomes and Watson. None of them gave up the draft capital that Pace did.

[2018C3]

It looks like Mitch is handling this the right way exhibiting some class.

Watch on YouTube

He is obviously very disappointed, but this is the right way to handle these type of things. I like the way he responded to these difficult questions and took responsibility under what is a stressful moment for him.

[dice]

Very clever.

Here's the thing. If the Bears make the playoffs this season, Pace and Nagy will be praised, and deservedly so. If they end up 8-8 agàin, not so muçh. Pretty simple.

Everything is seen through the lens of Patrick Mahomes and Watson. Praise for making the playoffs is faint. Victory laps for this situation is a little much

If I were a Bears fan (I'm not), I would look at it more thru the lens of the draft picks that were given up. There were other teams that passed up on Mahomes and Watson. None of them gave up the draft capital that Pace did.

and the kicker is that they probably didn't even have to give up that much to move up to #2 to trade with a team that wasn't particularly interested in trubisky

"you always feel like there's competition. so when you have conviction on something - you never know half the time. it's like in free agency, when the agent tells you he's got three other teams he's working with. you never really know. you've just got to trust your conviction on it, and if you want a player you aggressively go get him" - ryan pace