Bears thread 13

[Stratmaster]

People, we lost a tough game. Can we just get over it ans stop acting like every loss means we need a new coach or QB?? I think it's important to understand that a validated lack of patience doesn't mean that it's not required. Lets just give this thing some time, please!

If you're seeing something different please fill me in. What has Caleb looked good at? I would love some hope right now.

He's got a rocket arm, and can make a 20 yard sideline throw look easy. When he's on, he's zipping the ball on a rope and putting it right where it needs to be. The problem is consistency.

Bobby Douglas had a rocket arm.

Caleb hit a couple sideline passes and now it's a thing of lore. Did you see him trying to make them the last 2 games? He rarely puts the ball right where it is supposed to be. I'm sorry but even in his good games he rarely hits a receiver in stride.

It isn't consistency. It's accuracy.

[Stratmaster]

People, we lost a tough game. Can we just get over it ans stop acting like every loss means we need a new coach or QB?? I think it's important to understand that a validated lack of patience doesn't mean that it's not required. Lets just give this thing some time, please!

If you're seeing something different please fill me in. What has Caleb looked good at? I would love some hope right now.

Poise, elusivness, ball placement and clutch ability are all things that we've seen at times. It's the consistency of these things that we're missing. And I get how infuriating that can be. But I believe that a significant part of that is just his development curve.

If it's one thing that we're seeing pretty frequently (especially over the last decade or so) is players being evaluated based on tags they were given as prospects rather than just letting these guys bake. I believe either Drew Brees or Matt Ryan recently eluded to this. Guys that are dubbed as 'generational' are expected to be top 5 QBs within 2 years and if they aren't, they are either divas, headcases or have poor work ethics even though none of those things my apply. They could just be a coming into th league being a few years away from being polished products.

I will give you elusive. And I do not believe Caleb is a diva, a headcase or has poor work ethics. So you found 2 things for me.

Poise and ball placement? We aren't seeing the same things there.

[fleet]

If you're seeing something different please fill me in. What has Caleb looked good at? I would love some hope right now.

He's got a rocket arm, and can make a 20 yard sideline throw look easy. When he's on, he's zipping the ball on a rope and putting it right where it needs to be. The problem is consistency.

Bobby Douglas had a rocket arm.

Caleb hit a couple sideline passes and now it's a thing of lore. Did you see him trying to make them the last 2 games? He rarely puts the ball right where it is supposed to be. I'm sorry but even in his good games he rarely hits a receiver in stride.

It isn't consistency. It's accuracy.

Teams are also adjusting to the extended scramble drills to the sideline throws. Those receivers are mostly covered, and it’s not working as often for Caleb

[dice]

The penalties are just killer

We didn't deserve to win today, but that missed call on Hopkins is a disgrace. The refs would have called offensive PI on us for that same play with how the season has gone.

that was not an egregious non-call given the hand fighting prior. couldn't even see it really on one of the camera angles. but it was a significant miss

[fleet]

If you're seeing something different please fill me in. What has Caleb looked good at? I would love some hope right now.

Poise, elusivness, ball placement and clutch ability are all things that we've seen at times. It's the consistency of these things that we're missing. And I get how infuriating that can be. But I believe that a significant part of that is just his development curve.

If it's one thing that we're seeing pretty frequently (especially over the last decade or so) is players being evaluated based on tags they were given as prospects rather than just letting these guys bake. I believe either Drew Brees or Matt Ryan recently eluded to this. Guys that are dubbed as 'generational' are expected to be top 5 QBs within 2 years and if they aren't, they are either divas, headcases or have poor work ethics even though none of those things my apply. They could just be a coming into th league being a few years away from being polished products.

I will give you elusive. And I do not believe Caleb is a diva, a headcase or has poor work ethics. So you found 2 things for me.

Poise and ball placement? We aren't seeing the same things there.

Poor Troy Aikman was excoriated for talking about Caleb’s ball placement, or lack thereof. I can tell you that the screen pass late in the game to the running back who went off to the races with blockers and impeccable timing was like a breath of fresh air. If your eyebrows didn’t raise up then, you’re infested with botox.

[Betta Bulleavit]

If you're seeing something different please fill me in. What has Caleb looked good at? I would love some hope right now.

Poise, elusivness, ball placement and clutch ability are all things that we've seen at times. It's the consistency of these things that we're missing. And I get how infuriating that can be. But I believe that a significant part of that is just his development curve.

If it's one thing that we're seeing pretty frequently (especially over the last decade or so) is players being evaluated based on tags they were given as prospects rather than just letting these guys bake. I believe either Drew Brees or Matt Ryan recently eluded to this. Guys that are dubbed as 'generational' are expected to be top 5 QBs within 2 years and if they aren't, they are either divas, headcases or have poor work ethics even though none of those things my apply. They could just be a coming into th league being a few years away from being polished products.

I will give you elusive. And I do not believe Caleb is a diva, a headcase or has poor work ethics. So you found 2 things for me.

Poise and ball placement? We aren't seeing the same things there.

It's like i said, these are things that I've seen albeit not consistently. Take ball placement for example. There have been times where he's been on the money and other times where it hasn't been there. Poise? Well, i think we saw that on his connection with DJ at the end of the.game. No, the throw wasn't on the money. But he did hang in the pocket, took the hit and threw a ball that DJ could catch. But again, we aren't seeing that consistently. So for me, my questions.around Caleb aren't around what he can't do as much as, can he get to a place of consistency.

[fleet]

The penalties are just killer

We didn't deserve to win today, but that missed call on Hopkins is a disgrace. The refs would have called offensive PI on us for that same play with how the season has gone.

that was not an egregious non-call given the hand fighting prior. couldn't even see it really on one of the camera angles. but it was a significant miss

I’m wondering if there’s an effect on referees when they do games with highly penalized teams. They kind of are looking for stuff brought up in pregame meetings that the Bears tend to do wrong, and they actually don’t see the other team as often. And they may actually manifest outcomes. Did Thuney move at all on the false start? Refs took their cues from the Ravens on that play it looked like.

[fleet]

Poise, elusivness, ball placement and clutch ability are all things that we've seen at times. It's the consistency of these things that we're missing. And I get how infuriating that can be. But I believe that a significant part of that is just his development curve.

If it's one thing that we're seeing pretty frequently (especially over the last decade or so) is players being evaluated based on tags they were given as prospects rather than just letting these guys bake. I believe either Drew Brees or Matt Ryan recently eluded to this. Guys that are dubbed as 'generational' are expected to be top 5 QBs within 2 years and if they aren't, they are either divas, headcases or have poor work ethics even though none of those things my apply. They could just be a coming into th league being a few years away from being polished products.

I will give you elusive. And I do not believe Caleb is a diva, a headcase or has poor work ethics. So you found 2 things for me.

Poise and ball placement? We aren't seeing the same things there.

It's like i said, these are things that I've seen albeit not consistently. Take ball placement for example. There have been times where he's been on the money and other times where it hasn't been there. Poise? Well, i think we saw that on his connection with DJ at the end of the.game. No, the throw wasn't on the money. But he did hang in the pocket, took the hit and threw a ball that DJ could catch. But again, we aren't seeing that consistently. So for me, my questions.around Caleb aren't around what he can't do as much as, can he get to a place of consistency.

Speaking of that throw to DJ, a defender raised up over Caleb, and landed his full body weight onto Caleb, who came up limping. I thought it was a possible roughing call.

[TheGOATRises007]

I think the biggest issue with Caleb for me is the lack of a feathery touch for some of his throws. He's throwing bullets out there too often.

Also, whenever he does scramble, it usually is a disaster afterwards. I'd love to see an overhead view of that play developing. Does he miss someone open for a second before he scrambles? Does he miss someone open during the scramble? Do our receivers not get open while he's scrambling? So often, it doesn't lead to a big play for us compared to Mahomes scrambling out.

[Betta Bulleavit]

I will give you elusive. And I do not believe Caleb is a diva, a headcase or has poor work ethics. So you found 2 things for me.

Poise and ball placement? We aren't seeing the same things there.

It's like i said, these are things that I've seen albeit not consistently. Take ball placement for example. There have been times where he's been on the money and other times where it hasn't been there. Poise? Well, i think we saw that on his connection with DJ at the end of the.game. No, the throw wasn't on the money. But he did hang in the pocket, took the hit and threw a ball that DJ could catch. But again, we aren't seeing that consistently. So for me, my questions.around Caleb aren't around what he can't do as much as, can he get to a place of consistency.

Speaking of that throw to DJ, a defender raised up over Caleb, and landed his full body weight onto Caleb, who came up limping. I thought it was a possible roughing call.

I'm not going to even bother with my feelings about calls that we've gotten vs those that we haven't because I could really get going. But I agree. I thought that could have easily been roughing. But we'd have just declined it anyway.

[Dresden]

I don’t know about that. Caleb’s handicaps are supposed to be considered as normal development speedbumps? He is worst in the NFL at some things. I don’t know if all of what ails Caleb are just reg growth patterns. Are we moving the goalposts? We are often counseled that Caleb is gonna be “fine”. Or “good”. Well, that wasn’t all of what was on the menu. Beating Tom Brady’s numbers was on the menu. Being another Mahomes was on the menu. When we are asked for patience, is the full menu still being printed?

If you’re wanting to be more positive about it, thats great. But nobody knows one way or another. Just stop acting like people are being unreasonable to have doubts or questions. That’s not a fair ask.

Don't blame Caleb because he's not living up to your expectations. Caleb never said he was going to beat Tom Brady's records, or be another Mahomes. Most commentators still believe the sky is still the limit for him, but it's obviously going to take more time than fans want it to.

[Dresden]

If you're seeing something different please fill me in. What has Caleb looked good at? I would love some hope right now.

He's got a rocket arm, and can make a 20 yard sideline throw look easy. When he's on, he's zipping the ball on a rope and putting it right where it needs to be. The problem is consistency.

Bobby Douglas had a rocket arm.

Caleb hit a couple sideline passes and now it's a thing of lore. Did you see him trying to make them the last 2 games? He rarely puts the ball right where it is supposed to be. I'm sorry but even in his good games he rarely hits a receiver in stride.

It isn't consistency. It's accuracy.

You're being very cynical. You asked what he does well. I replied- he has a strong arm, and at times, he makes really nice throws. If you want to quibble with that, fine, but those are things he can do well.

[Dresden]

I think the biggest issue with Caleb for me is the lack of a feathery touch for some of his throws. He's throwing bullets out there too often.

Also, whenever he does scramble, it usually is a disaster afterwards. I'd love to see an overhead view of that play developing. Does he miss someone open for a second before he scrambles? Does he miss someone open during the scramble? Do our receivers not get open while he's scrambling? So often, it doesn't lead to a big play for us compared to Mahomes scrambling out.

That's one of my biggest gripes with Caleb as well. Almost every time he scrambles, it doesn't end up being a good play, unless he runs with it. He hasn't shown the same ability to hit guys, esp. for big plays, while scrambling as he did at USC. I don't know why that is.

He did actually throw a very catchable ball to Rome today on a scramble that would have been a huge play, and may have lead to a TD instead of a FG. But Rome couldn't hang on.

[IliketheBullsNBearstoo]

This national TE stuff is crap. All these national whatever days are dumb, sorry if I hurt your feelings.

[NZB2323]

This national TE stuff is crap. All these national whatever days are dumb, sorry if I hurt your feelings.

You should really save these complaints for April 15th, which is National Griper’s Day.

[Chi town]

When we didn’t punch it in one the first drive…

Not a good vibe. Felt like we couldn’t finish.

Our D sucks without our DB’s and no pressure on the QB. Can’t let 3rd stringers play D with a QB that has all the time in the world.

[Chi town]

Read on Twitter

[Dresden]

I know Ben wants to have a balanced offense, but when you're only getting a few yards when you run it on first down, and sometimes getting stuffed for no gain, it really puts a lot of pressure on Caleb and the passing game, because then you're in second and long and they know you're going to pass.

I'd like to see them pass more on first down. When I see Caleb with a clean pocket, I feel like something good is likely to happen. They are good at getting chunks of yards on those plays, and I feel like it could only get better with more reps. The strength of this team is our receiving corp, we should be leaning on that. Esp. with Swift hobbled with an injury.

I don't think you want to be a team that throws it 40 times a game long term, but right now it might be what they need to do. OTH, the offense was 10th in the league in scoring coming into the game, so I can see the reasons for not changing things. But I do feel like they could have a more explosive offense if they passed it more often. We've only scored 30 points one time this season, and with all these receivers, I feel like we should be a team that can occasionally put up 35-40.

[Dresden]

Read on Twitter

The Bears really need to work on their goal line passing plays. Most teams seem to be able to convert those with ease, but every time we try to pass it inside the 10, it looks ugly. We were supposed to have these guys like Kmet, Loveland and Rome that would be good targets in the red zone, but for some reason, we can't seem to make those plays work.

[Dresden]

Looking at the rest of our schedule, I think the next 4 games are all winnable- CIN, NYG, MIN, and PIT. We could be 8-3 before we play PHI and GB. After that, the only winnable games look like CLE and SF. So absolute best case would be 10 wins and a possible playoff spot.

On the low side, I'd say 2-3 wins more would be the minimum we should win, which would leave us with 6-7 wins.