OT Bears 2019/20 season

[Michael Jackson]

Given that they lost the turnover battle 2-0, I'm amazed they didn't lose by 20. Given their makeshift offensive line, the defense had to create turnovers and ideally score some points. The D did great against Henry (3.2 yds/carry), but it's not enough when you KNOW the offense is absolutely crippled in the offensive line.

I give the Bears credit. They hung in there all the way. That's a credit to the players and the coaching staff. Overall, they exceeded my expectations today.

What's crazy is that as bad as the offense was, they were still out-gaining Tenn even before the garbage time drive. Really, if we only had a good offensive line, we would be a very good football team. Foles (and even Mitch) would look a lot better with a decent line in front of them. I think Montgomery would be a solid back with some blocking too. It's remarkable that as bad and slow as he looks, he is still averaging around 4 YPC. It's just that our QB never has any time and the running back is always met in the backfield. Very little daylight.

We know it’s the line. Foles is nothing great but we have proof he can be mediocre enough to win. Good offensive lines can make any running back look good, look how Denver in the Elias years could plug any back in or look at Emmit Smiths career.

[Dresden]

Hilarious the Bears thought they could get by with this OLine bringing in guys like Ifedi. Thinking Coward and whoever else scrubs is adequate backup. Then you've got a slow running back that you traded up for who cannot bounce outside. Nice plan.

Yeah, spending that high of a pick on a very average (probably below average) back was a big mistake.

They need to start drafting O lineman like they're made out of platinum. I wouldn't mind spending 3 of the top 5 picks on O line. Until that gets fixed, we're going nowhere.

I'm watching NO play, and of course they have a hall of fame QB. But he's got all kinds of time to throw, and they seem to have massive speed and quickness at all the skill positions.

[dice]

Hilarious the Bears thought they could get by with this OLine bringing in guys like Ifedi. Thinking Coward and whoever else scrubs is adequate backup. Then you've got a slow running back that you traded up for who cannot bounce outside. Nice plan.

2019 RB draftee combine times (10/20/40 splits):

x/x/4.36***** kerrith whyte (bears 7th rounder, waived)
x/x/sub-4.40*** ty johnson
x/x/4.40** bryce love
1.56/2.60/4.40 justice hill
1.57/2.61/4.45 ryquell armstead
1.54/2.61/4.47 mike weber
1.58/2.61/4.47 jordan scarlett
1.57/2.61/4.48 travis homer
1.42/2.48/4.49 darrell henderson
1.57/2.61/4.49 miles sanders
1.58/2.63/4.51 trayveon williams
1.58/2.63/4.52 tony pollard
x/x/4.53**** darwin thompson
1.61/2.67/4.57 dexter williams
1.61/2.71/4.57 damien harris
1.58/2.68/4.58 myles gaskin
1.63/2.68/4.58 qadree ollison
x/x/4.59* jacobs
1.61/2.70/4.63 montgomery
1.64/2.73/4.66 devin singletary
1.65/2.73/4.66 benny snell
1.61/2.71/4.67 alex mattison

*composite of 2 alabama pro days
**all-american bowl combine prior to college
***maryland pro day
****utah state pro day
*****FAU pro day

so yeah, relatively slow

[patryk7754]

Think it’s time to fire Nagy. Might be the only thing that can save the season. Clearly there’s a lot that’s wrong with this offense but he habitually gets in the teams way

[molepharmer]

A completely undisciplined team and that falls on the coach; penalties, not taking care of the ball, clock mismanagement, dropped passes, Ginn's punt return effort, Wims stupid outburst, etc. An embarrassment. Almost wish they'd cancel Monday's national broadcast.

[Almost Retired]

I watched the Notre Dame v Clemson game. Thoroughly enjoyable. And Clemson's true freshman QB with all of 2 starts under his helmet is already better than any QB the Bears have had on their roster since Jim McMahon. And too bad Book won't be there when the Bears draft next time. He'd also be better than any QB since McMahon. Pace doesn't do a bad job drafting the middle rounds. But I would fire him because the two biggest calls he's made as GM...drafting Trubisky and hiring Nagy were epic fails. Absolutely epic. The Trubisky decision alone should cost him his job. To give away assets to move up to Draft this stiff while Mahomes and Watson could have been drafted even after trading down...unforgivable. By the time the next GM fixes the coaching mistake and drafts an actual offensive line and a few playmakers the Defense will be old, injured and slow. We haven't gotten the mix right since Jim Finks.

[Dresden]

I watched the Notre Dame v Clemson game. Thoroughly enjoyable. And Clemson's true freshman QB with all of 2 starts under his helmet is already better than any QB the Bears have had on their roster since Jim McMahon. And too bad Book won't be there when the Bears draft next time. He'd also be better than any QB since McMahon. Pace doesn't do a bad job drafting the middle rounds. But I would fire him because the two biggest calls he's made as GM...drafting Trubisky and hiring Nagy were epic fails. Absolutely epic. The Trubisky decision alone should cost him his job. To give away assets to move up to Draft this stiff while Mahomes and Watson could have been drafted even after trading down...unforgivable. By the time the next GM fixes the coaching mistake and drafts an actual offensive line and a few playmakers the Defense will be old, injured and slow. We haven't gotten the mix right since Jim Finks.

Not to mention he also whiffed on Leonard Floyd and Kevin White. I don't know that you want him making another high pick. If I were the Bears, I'd use a whole bunch of picks on O lineman this year- hopefully get 2 starters minimum, and maybe 1-2 other that are capable of playing part time. Expect to have a lousy record next year, and then get your QB the following year.

That Trubisky pick set us back 4 years, at least.

[thedarkstark]

I've been saying for 3 years that Matt Nagy is a joke, nobody listened, everyone wanted to blame 10. Drafting Mitch was obviously a mistake given how good Mahomes and Watson have been (I wanted Watson at the time of the draft), but I do think Mitch will have a Ryan Tannehill like resurgence for some other team once he has a real coach, still think he'll be a solid starter somewhere.

Nagy has been trying to plug a square peg into a round hole for 3 seasons, get this guy tf out of here. Pace needs to go too, he's missed on 3 #1 picks and traded away 2 more in 6 seasons, and he's never addressed the OL in any capacity besides drafting Daniels and Whitehair.

Finish the season 5-11, clean house, draft BPA or take QB or an LT if you think they have start potential. Hopefully don't suck for another 10 years.

[nitetrain8603]

I've been saying for 3 years that Matt Nagy is a joke, nobody listened, everyone wanted to blame 10. Drafting Mitch was obviously a mistake given how good Mahomes and Watson have been (I wanted Watson at the time of the draft), but I do think Mitch will have a Ryan Tannehill like resurgence for some other team once he has a real coach, still think he'll be a solid starter somewhere.

Nagy has been trying to plug a square peg into a round hole for 3 seasons, get this guy tf out of here. Pace needs to go too, he's missed on 3 #1 picks and traded away 2 more in 6 seasons, and he's never addressed the OL in any capacity besides drafting Daniels and Whitehair.

Finish the season 5-11, clean house, draft BPA or take QB or an LT if you think they have start potential. Hopefully don't suck for another 10 years.

I don't think so. Mitch has horrible accuracy on the deepball, can't read defenses, has a bad feel for the pocket. Bear fans have to realize, there are several problems that are huge.

1. I don't care what coach you bring in, what offense you bring in. This team does not have an offensive line, period. The entire line, literally, all of it, needs to be scrapped and re-done. Whether they want to run I-Form, Singleback Sets or Shotguns all game long, they do not have a line that will help them.

2. QB has been a weakness. Ironically enough, if they even had a Cutler type player, they would be better off. There is no QB on this roster worth keeping.

3. Assets/Value - Giving up a 4th for Foles, or money to Jimmy Graham - that's horrible management.

4. They cannot run the ball. I think this has a lot more to do with OLine than anything else, but David M doesn't look all that great whenever I watch him.

5. Nagy - he has to adjust his playcalling. It just has to happen.

[TheStig]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

[fleet]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

A lot of truth to that. But don't think Nagy does not have a wish list of players for Pace every season that doesn't get addressed more or less. Nagy deserves blame for personnel/picks as well, he has input. Great offensive coordinators and coaches build offenses in every aspect, they know how to do it almost like checking off a to do list and they know what a good player looks like. Granted, Pace blew a giant hole in the offense at QB which is hard to work around. The great coaches don't **** around with bums very long though. There is no excuse to be this bad after all this time. Nagy shares in it.

[thedarkstark]

I've been saying for 3 years that Matt Nagy is a joke, nobody listened, everyone wanted to blame 10. Drafting Mitch was obviously a mistake given how good Mahomes and Watson have been (I wanted Watson at the time of the draft), but I do think Mitch will have a Ryan Tannehill like resurgence for some other team once he has a real coach, still think he'll be a solid starter somewhere.

Nagy has been trying to plug a square peg into a round hole for 3 seasons, get this guy tf out of here. Pace needs to go too, he's missed on 3 #1 picks and traded away 2 more in 6 seasons, and he's never addressed the OL in any capacity besides drafting Daniels and Whitehair.

Finish the season 5-11, clean house, draft BPA or take QB or an LT if you think they have start potential. Hopefully don't suck for another 10 years.

I don't think so. Mitch has horrible accuracy on the deepball, can't read defenses, has a bad feel for the pocket. Bear fans have to realize, there are several problems that are huge.

Nick Foles is supposed to be a guy who can go through his reads and deliver the ball accurately, and yet he can't do that behind this inept offense either. Foles is literally making the exact same throws as Trubiskky, falling off his back foot because he has pressure in his face leading to inaccurate downfield throws. It's a combo of bad playcalling and bad line play. If it weren't for Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney making some incredible contested 50-50 catches his numbers would like even more putrid than they do.

Trubisky has already had success in the league when used to his strengths, put him in the I formation run a lot of bootlegs he's already shown the ability to be an at least average QB under those conditions with Fox and 1st year Nagy.

Not every successful QB needs to be Tom Brady/Peyton manning, guys like Josh Allen and Cam Newton can have success in the right system with the right personnel around them. He's not going to be dropping 50 yard dimes on receivers outside the numbers but again he doesn't have to because he's a threat with his legs which opens the middle of the field.

Again I'm not defending the pick, it was a mistake I'm just going to laugh at all the clowns who couldn't wait to get rid of him see him having a semi-successful post-bears career and wondering "why didn't he play like that for us!!!" It'd be the most typical Bears result possible.

[thedarkstark]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

He had one and he benched him.

Pace absolutely deserves equal blame, after all he hired Nagy which is just as bad a decision as his failure to address the O-line. Either Nagy lied in his interview and told Pace he could run a system that took advantage of Trubisky's skillset, or they both naively believed that he was going to be a prototypical pocket passer. Pace is either a moron or he got duped, and Nagy is either a moron or a liar. They're a perfect match for one another, hopefully they'll share a one-way flight out of town very very soon.

[patryk7754]

Nagy has done a poor job. The credit for his record belongs to Fangino, the defense, Pagano and Pace in that order. Even in the year the team went to the playoffs Nagy did some questionable things but it was ignored because we were winning. And ive started to think the TE woes have been more nagy's fault than anything. He literally doesn't play Kmet, doesn't know when or how to use Graham and Shaheen has been given a contract extension in Miami. Its time for him to go.

I can understand Pace being fired as well but I think he's done more good than bad. He's built a superbowl defense, hired good to great coaches outside of HC, and has found gems in the middle and late rounds of the draft. Outside of the tackles, he's found good Linemen. But his misses have been significant;QB, 1 round picks, and HC. I'd argue you keep him because he's an above average GM and there's already few of those as it is. But like i said, his misses are big and I wouldn't argue against him being to fired too hard.

[patryk7754]

I was watching the Rich Eisen show and the off-handedly mentioned Jim Harbaugh is a rumored option for HC. Eric Bieniemy might be the guy. I've hesitated to mention him because of weird it sounds to fire one Cheifs OC for another but he's just too damn good. His play calling and design is everything Nagy's was supposed to be times 10 and talking heads always talk about how much the players respect him and you never heard that about Nagy.

LT wise, the Titans backup might be a good option. He's played well and Lewan coming back next season he might be tradeable.

[TheStig]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

A lot of truth to that. But don't think Nagy does not have a wish list of players for Pace every season that doesn't get addressed more or less. Nagy deserves blame for personnel/picks as well, he has input. Great offensive coordinators and coaches build offenses in every aspect, they know how to do it almost like checking off a to do list and they know what a good player looks like. Granted, Pace blew a giant hole in the offense at QB which is hard to work around. The great coaches don't **** around with bums very long though. There is no excuse to be this bad after all this time. Nagy shares in it.

I think he pushed for Foles and that was his big mistake. I also think he's pushing him too much now. But he hasn't been bad. He's never been below .500. A bad coach has multiple losing seasons. That's not Nagy. Not saying he's perfect but I think he'd be much better with tools. I really think he needs a capable GM and if he gets let go, will go on to many playoff seasons somewhere else. I think he's a good coach.

[TheStig]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

He had one and he benched him.

Pace absolutely deserves equal blame, after all he hired Nagy which is just as bad a decision as his failure to address the O-line. Either Nagy lied in his interview and told Pace he could run a system that took advantage of Trubisky's skillset, or they both naively believed that he was going to be a prototypical pocket passer. Pace is either a moron or he got duped, and Nagy is either a moron or a liar. They're a perfect match for one another, hopefully they'll share a one-way flight out of town very very soon.

Mitch is not an average QB. He's like a Tebow now. Perhaps he's an early tannerhill. But he can't throw, can't read and is prone to mistakes. He's a borderline starter/back up at this point. He's had years. I just don't think he'll ever be anything other than a border line starter. Maybe his ceiling could be an average QB. I'd prefer to move on. And I think that's why they didn't pick up his option.

[dougthonus]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

I agree with you. I'm neutral on Nagy, but I look at the talent on this team and Nagy's record with the team and nothing sticks out to me to say "we should be better than that", in fact instead I think "it's a miracle our record is this good".

"His play calling sucks" is the NBA equivalent of "his rotations are bad". It's born out of the theory that whatever was tried didn't work, so something else would have worked, and obviously a good coach would have called that other thing. It ignores all the times those things do work and ignores the fact that there is just crap to work with.

Before this season started, I said the Bears have the worst offensive skill players in the NFL and said I don't know how good or bad the line is, well I don't know if we have the worst line in the NFL, but its certainly below average. So if you have the worst skill players and a below average line then what the hell do you think you are going to call that works? Dial up a play for your awful talent htat also gets no protection to do something? Its just unlikely. You're stuck just trying to throw out tons of gimmicks to fool the defense which isn't a long term strategy or they wouldn't be gimmicks. No one in the NFL could run an average offense with the talent on that side of the field.

Maybe Nagy is also bad, but when I see a team that's record vastly exceed its talent, that isn't the conclusion I'm drawn to.

[fleet]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

A lot of truth to that. But don't think Nagy does not have a wish list of players for Pace every season that doesn't get addressed more or less. Nagy deserves blame for personnel/picks as well, he has input. Great offensive coordinators and coaches build offenses in every aspect, they know how to do it almost like checking off a to do list and they know what a good player looks like. Granted, Pace blew a giant hole in the offense at QB which is hard to work around. The great coaches don't **** around with bums very long though. There is no excuse to be this bad after all this time. Nagy shares in it.

I think he pushed for Foles and that was his big mistake. I also think he's pushing him too much now. But he hasn't been bad. He's never been below .500. A bad coach has multiple losing seasons. That's not Nagy. Not saying he's perfect but I think he'd be much better with tools. I really think he needs a capable GM and if he gets let go, will go on to many playoff seasons somewhere else. I think he's a good coach.

Its not impossible. He’s def good at pulling a team together. As far as technical aspects of coaching the details of which I’m pretty ignorant of, please remember Nagy never had his own success on offense. He was a guy that functioned well with Andy Reid. As many have done. But Andy Reid is the common thread.

[dice]

I like Nagy. He's coached this team to a 25-16 record with no o line and QB in his 3 years with minimal offensive weapons. This is more on Pace. They'd be so much better with a normal o line. And they'd be a contender with an average starting qb. Can't blame Nagy for failing when he doesn't have much to work with on offense.

you're assuming that nagy deserves significant credit for the defense's performance, which strikes me as far-fetched. he didn't have much to do with trubisky's one good year either given that a lot of that was timely scrambling