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What's everyone think 4 games in for differences, similarities, etc.

I see things I think are different but it's just an opinion not based on any stats, just meatballing it here.

Kwit's success vs his past performance when starting. I think Pagano had him do very little coverage on purpose, rotating other players in more suited to coverage.

I also see a lot less Mack dropping into coverage, which never made one lick of sense to me ever.

I like the blitz packages that Pagano has been dialing up. He's really using Travethan well in those situations. Not only is Danny fast, but he's really clever. I also like the communication that the defense seems to be displaying. Maybe it was the same with Fangio, but I see a lot of players checking with each other, calling out what they see, and communicating adjustments in coverage. The defensive line, and it's depth, may be the best that the NFL has seen in a generation. It's clear by the look on Keenum and Cousin's faces, there is NOWHERE for them to go with the ball, and after two seconds, sheer panic sets in. I think by week eight, Ha-Ha and Eddie will have an almost telepathic communication ability, which will just make things worse.

"What makes the 2019 Bears’ defense so impressive is that despite having three fewer turnovers and facing more offensive snaps, the unit has given up fewer total yards, fewer yards per play and more importantly fewer points than last year’s team."

That's just crazy.

I will say this... I have enjoyed watching Pagano's aggressive nature take over this defense. I felt so bad for the Broncos when Fangio just played safe at the end of the Jacksonville game and it wound up costing them the win. I remember those feels.

We are still scheming into prevent too early in close scoring games rather than stepping on the throat id say. As thats a carry over from last year and that probably indicates its a Nagy thing than vic or chuck. Need to stop doing that, but it might be a conditioning thing.

southdakbearfan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2019 7:02 pm What's everyone think 4 games in for differences, similarities, etc.

I see things I think are different but it's just an opinion not based on any stats, just meatballing it here.

Kwit's success vs his past performance when starting. I think Pagano had him do very little coverage on purpose, rotating other players in more suited to coverage.

I also see a lot less Mack dropping into coverage, which never made one lick of sense to me ever.

The best thing is that this was a real concern in the offseason and so far to me we've upgraded.

I think Pagano's experience as a head coach and DC makes him a better DC now than Fangio was. Pagano knows the complete picture. The defense has also been together longer.

Both Pagano and Fangio do the Bend But Don't Break crap. Although Pagano seems to do it less. I adore the jailbreak blitzes that Pagano dials up. Its such a meatball thing on my part but I love it.

Leonard Floyd disappears equally as good in both defenses.
The defensive performance against the Vikings was one for the ages. There were a few of those under Fangio too. It'll be interesting to see how our defense does against the Rams this year and compare that to the absolute schooling they got under Fangio last year.

Another thing too is watching Pagano's press conferences. He's the kind of guy you'd march to the gates of hell for. Loves his players, loyal, smart, just knows his shit. It's that head coaching experience again that makes Pagano a more complete DC than Fangio.

Losing Fangio hasn't mattered. Losing Callahan and Amos hasn't mattered. You could easily make the argument that Dix is better than Amos. I have no idea if Skrine is better than Callahan. Does it matter if the QB is constantly running for his life or if the running back can't go more than two feet without getting annihilated by somebody?

Apparently we broke the Vikings. It would be nice to read one of these about breaking the Packers.

http://sportsmockery.com/2019/10/signs- ... e-vikings/

I will say based on early returns, that I like Pagano's version better. There are pros and cons...

Pros:
More aggressive in nature
More calculated blitz packages
Less dropping Mack/Floyd into coverage
More pressure from the DL
More players rotating to keep everyone fresh

Cons:
Too much off coverage - I get that the design is to keep everything in front of them, but it was maddening to watch Joe Flacco dink and dunk his way up and down the field.
Seemingly less discipline - I don't know if this is just a function of refs being hyper-sensitive, but they seem to be more penalized.

Agree on on the dink and dunk - it's maddening to see a team march on this D like that. I'm guessing it is conservatism centered on the limitations of the Bear offense. And then also Pagano assuming (like Fangio was,and Lovie before him) that the opposing O will make a mistake and the more short plays the more a TO will happen. But damn. Where are the TOs? I *get* the Rodgers thing. And Flacco doesn't have an INT rep. Cousins? I guess he did what should be expected. Bears were up so quick against the Skins that I guess protecting the lead was more important. OK.. I'm talking myself into believing we'll see less successful dink/dunk runs and more TOs. LOL

It feels so far like there is a lot more aggression overall. Which is what I've basically always asked for since Buddy left. So it seems like goodness so far - and friggin fun to watch, folks! I'll predict we'll see even more of that against some QBs (Goff, Rivers). But we may see a soft D against Bridgewater who is winning as a dinkmaster. With Rodgers and Mahomes you have to choose your poison. Of course the choice has to be to not let them make long plays. Thanks, Lions, for providing some blueprint.

wab wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2019 9:18 am ...

Cons:
Too much off coverage - I get that the design is to keep everything in front of them, but it was maddening to watch Joe Flacco dink and dunk his way up and down the field.

This is the only thing for me. I don't mind the prevent per se, and I don't mind our starting out trying to keep everything up for us but if the opposition shifts to short, quick plays, we should at least try to adjust. Just a little bumping at the line to throw them off when they settle into a quicker, perhaps no huddle offence.

I wonder whether Jackson not being the best tackler and having some issues with pursuit angles comes into it? On the other hand we've got two sideline to sideline middle linebackers which is a bit of a safety blanket. I'm obviously not saying Jackson is terrible either!

I think Pagano was overruled by Nagy in that game against the Broncos. Pagano dialed up a CB blitz for the third straight time and Nagy called a time out right before the snap. Then all of a sudden we went into prevent defense. Were Flacco dink and dunked us almost to death. Kinda what happened to us whenever we had the lead in the 4th quarter under Fangio.

The last game was nice cuz we never dailed it down and kept coming all the way to the end. Though we did have a lot of back=ups in for the majority of there scoring drive.

I belkieve the Broncos game showed Nagy to believe in his D-coordinator though I never read anything about why that time out was called against the Broncos. Thus making all this speculation. But all 6 of us Bears fans who come over ever game day to my believes the same thing.

GSH wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:00 pm We are still scheming into prevent too early in close scoring games rather than stepping on the throat id say. As thats a carry over from last year and that probably indicates its a Nagy thing than vic or chuck. Need to stop doing that, but it might be a conditioning thing.

Probably my one complaint. Even the Vikings game I thought it was one possession early. If they hit that 2 point conversion the whole complexion of the game changes.

I hate Pagano going to prevent to early when clearly our defense has been dominant all game long.
However I don't miss Fangio. His bend don't break doesn't work against the better QBs in the league.
This defense will be best we've seen in some time by end of year.