Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here: 2023 Concerns

[BreadNCircuses]

Basically.....I have none. The team has improved. The Vegas over/under is 7.5 wins. If that's all the better they play we're not competitive enough to even win the NFCN yet. So why am I gonna worry about a team that wins 7-8 games in 2023. We're still rebuilding and we're not there yet. If I have to one worry to qualify it's that I hope Fields doesn't suffer a career ending injury.

Don't worry. Be happy. The only way we get the #1 overall pick in 2024 is if it's Carolina's and we own it. That's progress.

While I am still 100% standing by my 10-7 Wild Card prediction what really excites me is 2024.

Imagine having a team on the cusp like that. With a lot of high dollar positions solved with lower dollar contracts. As it stands now the only glaring need is the defensive line where we still need 4 guys until proven otherwise.

2 first round picks. 1 of them could easily be Top 5. Ours will be middle of the road or skewing towards the bottom. We still have our second.

Spotrac has us at almost $101M in cap space.

We'll be able to do anything.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/2024/

I'm still thinking our ceiling is probably closer to 9 wins this year.
But otherwise I agree with this view.
Barring injury, we will feel pretty comfortable about what we know about Justin by the end of the year.
If he's who we hope he is, that means we have a window open in 24-25, while he's still affordable, but also a lot of flexibility and resources to add major talent in the draft and in Free Agency to make that window shot realistic.

[IE]

Basically.....I have none. The team has improved. The Vegas over/under is 7.5 wins. If that's all the better they play we're not competitive enough to even win the NFCN yet. So why am I gonna worry about a team that wins 7-8 games in 2023. We're still rebuilding and we're not there yet. If I have to one worry to qualify it's that I hope Fields doesn't suffer a career ending injury.

Don't worry. Be happy. The only way we get the #1 overall pick in 2024 is if it's Carolina's and we own it. That's progress.

While I am still 100% standing by my 10-7 Wild Card prediction what really excites me is 2024.

Imagine having a team on the cusp like that. With a lot of high dollar positions solved with lower dollar contracts. As it stands now the only glaring need is the defensive line where we still need 4 guys until proven otherwise.

2 first round picks. 1 of them could easily be Top 5. Ours will be middle of the road or skewing towards the bottom. We still have our second.

Spotrac has us at almost $101M in cap space.

We'll be able to do anything.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/2024/

This is my best case scenario too. I've been looking at this season as analogous development-wise to 1984... they make some noise and the playoffs, but are only a little over .500 and still need pieces. Those picks next year TMP are huge. And the cap/budget is huge. The Bears picked up a few key pieces in the '85 draft to help put them over the top (in addition to the team of young players getting better). I think it is a great comparison, and this is where my hope lies.

[Grizzled]

Got to hold off at least a game to fly off the handle and mouth off in ignorance.

[The Grizzly One]

While I am still 100% standing by my 10-7 Wild Card prediction what really excites me is 2024.

Imagine having a team on the cusp like that. With a lot of high dollar positions solved with lower dollar contracts. As it stands now the only glaring need is the defensive line where we still need 4 guys until proven otherwise.

2 first round picks. 1 of them could easily be Top 5. Ours will be middle of the road or skewing towards the bottom. We still have our second.

Spotrac has us at almost $101M in cap space.

We'll be able to do anything.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/2024/

This is my best case scenario too. I've been looking at this season as analogous development-wise to 1984... they make some noise and the playoffs, but are only a little over .500 and still need pieces. Those picks next year TMP are huge. And the cap/budget is huge. The Bears picked up a few key pieces in the '85 draft to help put them over the top (in addition to the team of young players getting better). I think it is a great comparison, and this is where my hope lies.

I too think/hope this team is 1984.

But by your description you are describing 1983. The only piece missing in 1984 was our starting QB.

1984 I remember well. The team was great, the Defense was fully charged, with Todd "ring your bellelllellellell ring your" Bell in place of Duerson, and they freaking scared the league. Right before the dreaded game against San Fran and interviewer asked Joe Montana if he was ready for the Bears defense. He honestly looked a little sheepishly when he replied "we'll see?" That was PRIME Joe Montana.

After the game with all of the Bear nation embarrassed and crushed, Bear players were mocked by 49ers players while walking off with them saying "Next time bring an offense." They were shut out. Steve Fuller started that game and SF ate him alive and the offense could do nothing. He was a decent back up to that point, but wasn't then or again.

1983 was the year things started to come together. The team looked strong down the stretch making Bear Nation quiver with excitement.

To be honest, yours a very solid view for this team and would be great and exciting.

I however skip 1983 and jump to 1984 with my prediction. Not with the great Defense, but a very good team. With inexperience, not an injured QB, costing us against Philly.

Note: No way I predict we will be come equals to the greatest team of all time. But we can become the 2nd greatest Bear team in the Super Bowl era.

[The Marshall Plan]

While I am still 100% standing by my 10-7 Wild Card prediction what really excites me is 2024.

Imagine having a team on the cusp like that. With a lot of high dollar positions solved with lower dollar contracts. As it stands now the only glaring need is the defensive line where we still need 4 guys until proven otherwise.

2 first round picks. 1 of them could easily be Top 5. Ours will be middle of the road or skewing towards the bottom. We still have our second.

Spotrac has us at almost $101M in cap space.

We'll be able to do anything.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/2024/

This is my best case scenario too. I've been looking at this season as analogous development-wise to 1984... they make some noise and the playoffs, but are only a little over .500 and still need pieces. Those picks next year TMP are huge. And the cap/budget is huge. The Bears picked up a few key pieces in the '85 draft to help put them over the top (in addition to the team of young players getting better). I think it is a great comparison, and this is where my hope lies.

Pretend for a minute the Carolina pick is Top 5, but NOT #1. Then say ours is in the middle. Between 16 and 20 somewhere. Call it 18.

At some point we have to start getting star players instead of quantity.

My bias is to trade the Carolina pick and maybe that deal is out there.

However, what if there's a Khalil Mack or Aaron Donald level DL prospect to take with that Top 5?

Then with ours at 18, which we should keep anyway, there has to be Day 1 DL starter there too.

All of this hinges upon JF1 not collapsing this year. Barring that collapse, which I don't think will happen anyway, we're free to do anything.

But my thoughts go back and forth between the trade down with that Carolina pick and holding it. Given how weak our DL is, until proven otherwise, an elite prospect and then a high grade prospect would fix that. Say we draft bookend DEs if Dexter, Pickens and Co. prove themselves this year on the interior.

I like the idea of bookend DEs a lot, but the trade down is so appealing.

But hey! At least it's fun to be a Bears fan again! LOL.

I'm thinking Poles uses that cap space to pay our own. I wonder how he feels about BIG FA contracts. He did pay Edmunds. I'm not saying he's cheap. I'm just saying that I wonder that if given the opportunity if Poles would pay an elite FA big money.

[Moriarty]

This is my best case scenario too. I've been looking at this season as analogous development-wise to 1984... they make some noise and the playoffs, but are only a little over .500 and still need pieces. Those picks next year TMP are huge. And the cap/budget is huge. The Bears picked up a few key pieces in the '85 draft to help put them over the top (in addition to the team of young players getting better). I think it is a great comparison, and this is where my hope lies.

I too think/hope this team is 1984.

But by your description you are describing 1983. The only piece missing in 1984 was our starting QB.

Agreed.

Bears sucked in 1982/2022
1983 was a respectable .500 team
1984 was obviously building into a monster after they won their division, won in the playoffs (back when half the league didn't get in), getting into the NFC Championship game (top 4). Bears went into the 1985 season top 5 in Super Bowl Champ odds, based on how well 1984 went. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... n_odds.htm


2023 Bears should be happy if they can parallel the 83 Bears

[IE]

This is my best case scenario too. I've been looking at this season as analogous development-wise to 1984... they make some noise and the playoffs, but are only a little over .500 and still need pieces. Those picks next year TMP are huge. And the cap/budget is huge. The Bears picked up a few key pieces in the '85 draft to help put them over the top (in addition to the team of young players getting better). I think it is a great comparison, and this is where my hope lies.

I too think/hope this team is 1984.

But by your description you are describing 1983. The only piece missing in 1984 was our starting QB.

1984 I remember well. The team was great, the Defense was fully charged, with Todd "ring your bellelllellellell ring your" Bell in place of Duerson, and they freaking scared the league. Right before the dreaded game against San Fran and interviewer asked Joe Montana if he was ready for the Bears defense. He honestly looked a little sheepishly when he replied "we'll see?" That was PRIME Joe Montana.

After the game with all of the Bear nation embarrassed and crushed, Bear players were mocked by 49ers players while walking off with them saying "Next time bring an offense." They were shut out. Steve Fuller started that game and SF ate him alive and the offense could do nothing. He was a decent back up to that point, but wasn't then or again.

1983 was the year things started to come together. The team looked strong down the stretch making Bear Nation quiver with excitement.

To be honest, yours a very solid view for this team and would be great and exciting.

I however skip 1983 and jump to 1984 with my prediction. Not with the great Defense, but a very good team. With inexperience, not an injured QB, costing us against Philly.

Note: No way I predict we will be come equals to the greatest team of all time. But we can become the 2nd greatest Bear team in the Super Bowl era.

Definitely want to see what this season has to show us. IF this '23 defensive team can get 21 INTs and 50+ sacks well that would be just like '83 and a ton of progress. I'd definitely take it. But I don't want to take 2 more years to compete for the Superbowl. I think things move faster in today's NFL because of FA. So now the Bears could go out and get the linebackers like they did in '84 and the OL like they did in '83 and the DBs like they did in both years, and also bring in some young studs at DT... all in one year.

So I want to accelerate their performance, with that advantage.

[BreadNCircuses]

Got to hold off at least a game to fly off the handle and mouth off in ignorance.

Is that a new rule? I must have missed that memo

[The Marshall Plan]

I too think/hope this team is 1984.

But by your description you are describing 1983. The only piece missing in 1984 was our starting QB.

1984 I remember well. The team was great, the Defense was fully charged, with Todd "ring your bellelllellellell ring your" Bell in place of Duerson, and they freaking scared the league. Right before the dreaded game against San Fran and interviewer asked Joe Montana if he was ready for the Bears defense. He honestly looked a little sheepishly when he replied "we'll see?" That was PRIME Joe Montana.

After the game with all of the Bear nation embarrassed and crushed, Bear players were mocked by 49ers players while walking off with them saying "Next time bring an offense." They were shut out. Steve Fuller started that game and SF ate him alive and the offense could do nothing. He was a decent back up to that point, but wasn't then or again.

1983 was the year things started to come together. The team looked strong down the stretch making Bear Nation quiver with excitement.

To be honest, yours a very solid view for this team and would be great and exciting.

I however skip 1983 and jump to 1984 with my prediction. Not with the great Defense, but a very good team. With inexperience, not an injured QB, costing us against Philly.

Note: No way I predict we will be come equals to the greatest team of all time. But we can become the 2nd greatest Bear team in the Super Bowl era.

Definitely want to see what this season has to show us. IF this '23 defensive team can get 21 INTs and 50+ sacks well that would be just like '83 and a ton of progress. I'd definitely take it. But I don't want to take 2 more years to compete for the Superbowl. I think things move faster in today's NFL because of FA. So now the Bears could go out and get the linebackers like they did in '84 and the OL like they did in '83 and the DBs like they did in both years, and also bring in some young studs at DT... all in one year.

So I want to accelerate their performance, with that advantage.

This season comes down to the pass rush.

That happens and the defense becomes Top 15 or better. Immediately the offense gets better and then everything clicks.

[Moriarty]

Definitely want to see what this season has to show us. IF this '23 defensive team can get 21 INTs and 50+ sacks well that would be just like '83 and a ton of progress. I'd definitely take it. But I don't want to take 2 more years to compete for the Superbowl. I think things move faster in today's NFL because of FA. So now the Bears could go out and get the linebackers like they did in '84 and the OL like they did in '83 and the DBs like they did in both years, and also bring in some young studs at DT... all in one year.

So I want to accelerate their performance, with that advantage.

This season comes down to the pass rush.

If that's true, then you should probably just stay here in the Abandon All Hope thread for the next 4 months.

[The Grizzly One]

This season comes down to the pass rush.

If that's true, then you should probably just stay here in the Abandon All Hope thread for the next 4 months.

Now that's the kind of talk I was expecting in this thread.

Glad it at least took a while.

[The Marshall Plan]

This season comes down to the pass rush.

If that's true, then you should probably just stay here in the Abandon All Hope thread for the next 4 months.

I have a feeling this thread will go down in history as the greatest one this board ever had.

[Yogi da Bear]

This season comes down to the pass rush.

If that's true, then you should probably just stay here in the Abandon All Hope thread for the next 4 months.

[Bearfacts]

Basically.....I have none. The team has improved. The Vegas over/under is 7.5 wins. If that's all the better they play we're not competitive enough to even win the NFCN yet. So why am I gonna worry about a team that wins 7-8 games in 2023. We're still rebuilding and we're not there yet. If I have to one worry to qualify it's that I hope Fields doesn't suffer a career ending injury.

Don't worry. Be happy. The only way we get the #1 overall pick in 2024 is if it's Carolina's and we own it. That's progress.

While I am still 100% standing by my 10-7 Wild Card prediction what really excites me is 2024.

Imagine having a team on the cusp like that. With a lot of high dollar positions solved with lower dollar contracts. As it stands now the only glaring need is the defensive line where we still need 4 guys until proven otherwise.

2 first round picks. 1 of them could easily be Top 5. Ours will be middle of the road or skewing towards the bottom. We still have our second.

Spotrac has us at almost $101M in cap space.

We'll be able to do anything.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/2024/

I don't deny we could do that well provided we stay relatively healthy and Fields progresses as I expect he will.

FWIW the suggestion I gave to my buddy who does bet football was to bet the over. I believe they can win 8-9 games.

[The Marshall Plan]

While I am still 100% standing by my 10-7 Wild Card prediction what really excites me is 2024.

Imagine having a team on the cusp like that. With a lot of high dollar positions solved with lower dollar contracts. As it stands now the only glaring need is the defensive line where we still need 4 guys until proven otherwise.

2 first round picks. 1 of them could easily be Top 5. Ours will be middle of the road or skewing towards the bottom. We still have our second.

Spotrac has us at almost $101M in cap space.

We'll be able to do anything.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/2024/

I don't deny we could do that well provided we stay relatively healthy and Fields progresses as I expect he will.

FWIW the suggestion I gave to my buddy who does bet football was to bet the over. I believe they can win 8-9 games.

It would be hard to be upset if it was 8-9. That puts us somewhere between 14-20 I think with our first rounder when I look at the 2023 draft. That's substantial progress over last year. The bigger picture is that when we achieve that 8 to 10 wins it should be safe to say that JF1 is the QB which makes everything clearer. Assuming the defense is in the middle of the league that means JF1 handled things.

[Grizzled]

This season comes down to the pass rush.

If that's true, then you should probably just stay here in the Abandon All Hope thread for the next 4 months.

I'll give it at least a little time before:

[HisRoyalSweetness]

I thought it would be fun to track concerns we have heading into the regular season and discuss them each week. Kind of a repository of seeing how players are doing, are they improving from what we are concerned about, are they getting worse, etc.

Well it all centres around Justin Fields doesn't it?

Anything short of a top season and doubts will remain.

If he is flat out disappointing then, unless Bagent proves to be the miraculous second coming of another QB with the initials TB, Poles will have to use a chunk of his high draft capital on a replacement with all the hope and risk that comes with that. It's unlikely he's going to be so well positioned to take a QB a third time.

If he's only OK or reasonably good or misses substantial playing time then Poles is left in a quandary. Does he spend that draft capital on a replacement or on further boosting the team around Fields in the increasingly vain hope the light will eventually come on? The wrong decision will condemn the franchise to more years of mediocrity.

If he's everything we hope he can be and marries his incredible athletic ability with a new-found accuracy and mastery of the offense then it changes the whole dynamic not just for this year but for the long term with Poles able to continue to load up with talent.

So much hinges on Fields this year and his preseason performance was disappointing. All the things we were hoping to see from him were absent. The pendulum swung back from "optimistic" to "a little worried". If he struggles to get things going through the first few games then it will swing rapidly to 'genuinely concerned'. 17 games is not such a long season when so much rides on one young man's performance.

[Rusty Trombagent]

If he's only OK or reasonably good or misses substantial playing time then Poles is left in a quandary. Does he spend that draft capital on a replacement or on further boosting the team around Fields in the increasingly vain hope the light will eventually come on? The wrong decision will condemn the franchise to more years of mediocrity.

Decades of bears fandom have me laser focused on this outcome. For so many of us, the majority of our fandom has been spent going into a season hoping that this is the season Grossman/Cutler/Mitch PUT IT ALL TOGETHER and it's a bummer that some trolls here are so diligent in attacking those of us who cant blindly walk off that cliff anymore. I love Justin and he seems like an awesome dude, but this wont be the first time that an awesome dude just didnt translate to the NFL game.

Coupled with what I think Moriarty said a few days ago, so many nebulous injuries that we really have no real info on... This feels like the numbest I've been going into a season in I dont know how long.

[The Marshall Plan]

If he's only OK or reasonably good or misses substantial playing time then Poles is left in a quandary. Does he spend that draft capital on a replacement or on further boosting the team around Fields in the increasingly vain hope the light will eventually come on? The wrong decision will condemn the franchise to more years of mediocrity.

Decades of bears fandom have me laser focused on this outcome. For so many of us, the majority of our fandom has been spent going into a season hoping that this is the season Grossman/Cutler/Mitch PUT IT ALL TOGETHER and it's a bummer that some trolls here are so diligent in attacking those of us who cant blindly walk off that cliff anymore. I love Justin and he seems like an awesome dude, but this wont be the first time that an awesome dude just didnt translate to the NFL game.

Coupled with what I think Moriarty said a few days ago, so many nebulous injuries that we really have no real info on... This feels like the numbest I've been going into a season in I dont know how long.

What does Rex Grossman have to do with JF1?

Same question about Mitch.

If after what Poles did in the draft and FA to a lesser extent then coupled with the performance of the offense (putting up 30 fairly regularly and 20 consistently) despite having no weapons besides JF1 and maybe Kmet, if you’re numb about this season the problem isn’t the Bears it’s you.

I’m excited as hell about this season and even more so for 2024.

[The Grizzly One]

If he's only OK or reasonably good or misses substantial playing time then Poles is left in a quandary. Does he spend that draft capital on a replacement or on further boosting the team around Fields in the increasingly vain hope the light will eventually come on? The wrong decision will condemn the franchise to more years of mediocrity.

Decades of bears fandom have me laser focused on this outcome. For so many of us, the majority of our fandom has been spent going into a season hoping that this is the season Grossman/Cutler/Mitch PUT IT ALL TOGETHER and it's a bummer that some trolls here are so diligent in attacking those of us who cant blindly walk off that cliff anymore. I love Justin and he seems like an awesome dude, but this wont be the first time that an awesome dude just didnt translate to the NFL game.

Coupled with what I think Moriarty said a few days ago, so many nebulous injuries that we really have no real info on... This feels like the numbest I've been going into a season in I dont know how long.

As my body and mind continue to deteriorate, I don't remember who says what in detail. I know you are very sarcastic/banter driven, and I am very OK with that. That's why RichH and are cool.

So I don't know if you are referring to me in this, but...

Optimism is not trolling. Peeing in an optimists cereal is. I come back strong when I keep hearing NOT that Justin has much to prove but WHEN Folks start trolling how bad he is and WILL suck just like all the others.

Again, you have doubts, a bad feeling, questions about what you've seen. OK, cool.

But when you troll me like a Packer fan saying that Fields stinks and never will be good in a Bears fan forum. Yea, I fire back.

[o-pus #40 in B major]

I don't quite understand why Bear fans get so riled up at each other because they disagree about their favorite team's players' chances for success, but it seems to be something of a constant.

On the other hand, the people here at BFO normally support their opinions with verifiable information and the subsequent discussion always reveals factors that I hadn't heard before - this is what makes BFO my go-to source of news on my favorite team. People here are generally civil and the discourse is mostly on a friendly level. That's a rarity in today's sports messaging and I'm thankful to UOK and the mods for making this forum a standout.

I've learned to expect that some folks will get a bit too rowdy with each other from time to time, but that's part of the package and I doubt it can be completely eliminated nor do I expect an effort to do so. There are real characters here on BFO and they do make it enjoyable.

If we get too rough with one another, then sometimes a cooling off period seems like a reasonable solution. That's a small price to keep this place informative, entertaining and fun.

[Rusty Trombagent]

What does Rex Grossman have to do with JF1?

Same question about Mitch.

I think you're being purposefully obtuse with those questions, but i'll expound:

Right now, Justin Fields being a good QB is still a hypothetical. Throwing for 150yds per game is not going to win the superbowl. And relying on his legs to win 20 games a year is only gonna send him to IR.

So, not interested in re-litigating this, because we've got multiple threads devoted to how much we want to see him improve this year! But right now we're all wishing and hoping that he does take that next step, just like we did with rexy and mitch every single season they were here. We always had an excuse: Rex's injuries, the complexity of Nagy's offense, etc. Just like we have now for Justin being a poor passer: Bad OL play, Matt Nagy being a butthead, etc. Being a bears fan right now feels like a snake eating it's tail. I dont think I'm the only one who feels this way either.

[Dardango]

Concerns on offense:

* Justin Fields' development, or lack thereof, as a front line NFL passer. The issues that have plagued him - slow processing, limited vision, odd issues with "gimme" throws - I'm not sure he can overcome these. We'll find out this season.

* Interior oline - can't stay healthy, questions abound at the center position

* The young OT's - can Jones handle the bullrush and, as a rookie olineman, Darnell Wright figures to have a lot of ups and downs

* Chase Claypool - which version will show up? Can he stay healthy?

* Darnell Mooney - can he (still) run?

* Luke Getsy - is he any good?

Concerns on defense:

* I'm not worried about Eberflus - he was a highly regarded and pretty successful DC with the Colts. I do worry about Alan Williams - is he Bob Babich revisited?

* I'm actually the opposite of some here. While I don't see a lot of pass rush at this point, Dexter and Pickens appeared to be more stout (to me anyway) inside than Jones and Billings - albeit in the preseason. The kids, especially Dexter, don't know what they're doing yet, but they seem stronger at the point of attack than the Bears' starters, who have to rank in the lower half of the league. The DE's are 'ok' at best. This isn't going to be a highly disruptive group.

* I think Stevenson will eventually be a very good player - just not this season (particularly early). He's going to be a penalty machine and I fear that double moves will eat him alive.

* The health of Jackson and Brisker is a huge concern.


This team is one year removed from a 3-14 teardown. Expectations should, imo, be a bit tempered.

ALL of THIS.

[spudbear]

I thought it would be fun to track concerns we have heading into the regular season and discuss them each week. Kind of a repository of seeing how players are doing, are they improving from what we are concerned about, are they getting worse, etc.

Well it all centres around Justin Fields doesn't it?

Anything short of a top season and doubts will remain.

If he is flat out disappointing then, unless Bagent proves to be the miraculous second coming of another QB with the initials TB, Poles will have to use a chunk of his high draft capital on a replacement with all the hope and risk that comes with that. It's unlikely he's going to be so well positioned to take a QB a third time.

If he's only OK or reasonably good or misses substantial playing time then Poles is left in a quandary. Does he spend that draft capital on a replacement or on further boosting the team around Fields in the increasingly vain hope the light will eventually come on? The wrong decision will condemn the franchise to more years of mediocrity.

If he's everything we hope he can be and marries his incredible athletic ability with a new-found accuracy and mastery of the offense then it changes the whole dynamic not just for this year but for the long term with Poles able to continue to load up with talent.

So much hinges on Fields this year and his preseason performance was disappointing. All the things we were hoping to see from him were absent. The pendulum swung back from "optimistic" to "a little worried". If he struggles to get things going through the first few games then it will swing rapidly to 'genuinely concerned'. 17 games is not such a long season when so much rides on one young man's performance.

The part I put in bold is what concerns me most about Fields. In particular his struggles with the short swing passes has me wondering about his touch. We didn't see much in preseason to help with that concern either. And mastery of he offense ... I don't know. His first season was a sh!t-show with Nagus trying to cover his a$$ and get enough W's to save his job. His second season was a rebuild year where a new GM tanked the year in order to rebuild. Now we have 2023.
And Bagent. Bagent, in what little we have seen, seems to have a mastery of the offense and the ability to deliver the pass at its intended spot. Bears fans have not seen that seen that since Cutler. Poles has beefed up the playmakers for Fields, but will Fields be able to deliver? That is the question that will be answered this season. If Fields is unable to deliver, then will Bagent have the opportunity to show that he can be the one?

[o-pus #40 in B major]

From what you guys are saying, 2023 will be a year of questions and answers for the Bears at the quarterback position.

It's a long season and Bear fans have more than one potential future feature QB on the roster.

So, with that in mind, I will hereby revise my earlier prediction up from 6 wins to 7.

[Moriarty]

If that's true, then you should probably just stay here in the Abandon All Hope thread for the next 4 months.

Now that's the kind of talk I was expecting in this thread.

Glad it at least took a while.

The pass rush is the surest weak point of this team.

Not only has everyone identified it that way - coaches are deliberately not prioritizing it and making it worse than it could be.

They just cut the 3rd and 4th best (arguably even 2nd and 3rd, since Walker gets a lot of his pressures inside) edge rushers from the team, in favor of 3 other guys who they feel give them better run defense.

If they're not even trying that hard to generate pass rush...good luck with that.

If the pass rush is the only part of the team that sucks, they'll win a fair amount and not have that much to fix next year.

If 1 or more areas turn out worse than the pass rush...look out below.

[The Marshall Plan]

Now that's the kind of talk I was expecting in this thread.

Glad it at least took a while.

The pass rush is the surest weak point of this team.

Not only has everyone identified it that way - coaches are deliberately not prioritizing it and making it worse than it could be.

They just cut the 3rd and 4th best (arguably even 2nd and 3rd, since Walker gets a lot of his pressures inside) edge rushers from the team, in favor of 3 other guys who they feel give them better run defense.

If they're not even trying that hard to generate pass rush...good luck with that.

If the pass rush is the only part of the team that sucks, they'll win a fair amount and not have that much to fix next year.

If 1 or more areas turn out worse than the pass rush...look out below.

They're trying to force a square peg into a round hole. This is akin to what Nagy did on offense.

Flus and Williams want the Cover-2. Poles hasn't staffed the defense to successfully implement that. Cover-2 begins with pressure up front. Otherwise you've got 7 guys sitting back there every play hoping they stop every pass because at the same time you aren't blitzing nor is the front four getting to the QB.

Williams' record as a DC is abysmal. He had a bottom of the league defense at Minnesota and then last year the result was the same. There is something wrong with how he calls out the scheme.

Poles does have a semi-viable excuse for not staffing the DL adequately:

1) He inherited a disaster and had to materially address every aspect of the offense and defense except for QB.
2) Offsetting that reason however is that he had ample resources to overhaul the defensive line both in terms of draft picks and cap space.
2a) Now he did draft Dexter and Pickens. If those two produce as they were drafted to do, then things look better.

Where Flus and Williams are failing is that I don't perceive that they are adapting to the personnel they do have. Everybody knows the weakness if the pass rush, so why hasn't the coaching staff changed the defensive scheme to help with this?

The encouraging part of this is that next year between 2 firsts, 1 second and a ton of cap space Poles will have no excuses at all. But then if Williams consistently produces inferior defenses, then is he really the right guy to have at DC?

Flus needs to fully pivot to a HC role and just hire the best person to run the defense regardless of the scheme they run.

[Yogi da Bear]

Right now, Justin Fields being a good QB is still a hypothetical. Throwing for 150yds per game is not going to win the superbowl. And relying on his legs to win 20 games a year is only gonna send him to IR.

Not sure I can agree with that premise. Last year, Jalen Hurts threw for 154 and 121 yards in their two playoff games. The Eagles won both those games going away: 38-7 and 31-7 respectively. Then he threw for over 300 yards in the Super Bowl, and they lost. In the last two years, he's led the Eagles to a 24-8 record while running for over 1500 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns. Clearly they relied on his legs to a great amount, yet he only missed four games in two years and was never on IR.

[Moriarty]

Right now, Justin Fields being a good QB is still a hypothetical. Throwing for 150yds per game is not going to win the superbowl. And relying on his legs to win 20 games a year is only gonna send him to IR.

Not sure I can agree with that premise. Last year, Jalen Hurts threw for 154 and 121 yards in their two playoff games. The Eagles won both those games going away: 38-7 and 31-7 respectively. Then he threw for over 300 yards in the Super Bowl, and they lost. In the last two years, he's led the Eagles to a 24-8 record while running for over 1500 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns. Clearly they relied on his legs to a great amount, yet he only missed four games in two years and was never on IR.

Yes, but those 2 games were also aberrations. Hurts threw for 250/game during the season.
And they went 14-1 with him throwing 250 and only 8-7 with him throwing 210 the year before.

Technically, you can go to the Super Bowl with a QB as shitty as Rex. But you're talking about a bad blueprint and really long odds.

[The Marshall Plan]

Not sure I can agree with that premise. Last year, Jalen Hurts threw for 154 and 121 yards in their two playoff games. The Eagles won both those games going away: 38-7 and 31-7 respectively. Then he threw for over 300 yards in the Super Bowl, and they lost. In the last two years, he's led the Eagles to a 24-8 record while running for over 1500 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns. Clearly they relied on his legs to a great amount, yet he only missed four games in two years and was never on IR.

Yes, but those 2 games were also aberrations. Hurts threw for 250/game during the season.
And they went 14-1 with him throwing 250 and only 8-7 with him throwing 210 the year before.

Technically, you can go to the Super Bowl with a QB as shitty as Rex. But you're talking about a bad blueprint and really long odds.

Philadelphia's defense was also near the top of the league in many categories.

7th in points
2nd in yards
1st in sacks by a long mile

Give Jalen Hurts our defense and then let's see what his record is.

https://www.covers.com/sport/football/n ... /2022-2023