Bears game: Two Takeaways

[MaroonBells]

My head’s still spinning. And not from the 5 Modelos I stress-slammed last night. Such a wild, weird and confusing game with so many good and bad performances. But my two biggest takeaways are this.

1. Early on Caleb Williams was running around like a greased chicken, breaking ankles and killing our defense every time he had the ball. But then the Vikings made some kind of adjustment on defense that forced Caleb Williams to play more from the pocket, which he’s clearly not very good at. That was huge. 


2. After the pick 6 I told my son it’s snowballing and it would take a special performance from a QB with a lot of mental toughness and a little amnesia to come back from this, and I’m just not sure we can expect that from a kid who’s 4 years older than YOU and playing in his first NFL game. And then it happened. The focus was unreal. He never showed comeback savvy at Michigan only because he never had to, not because he didn’t have it. He's going to make mistakes. He'll throw more picks, even another pick 6 or two, but I think we got our guy and that feels really good.

[purplefaithful]

I had convinced myself that as a fan, I will have to be patient this year....

That was b4 he went off for 3 scores.

Now it still holds true, I will have to be patient and he is green as grass when it comes to NFL play.

BUT dayum - the kids got resilience and can play QB pretty good too. Those were great throws to JJ and Jones and a good play on the option too.

[StickierBuns]

I have always said he's going to be a playmaker first, then a NFL passer. He's going to eat all day long in the middle of the field where he can use that howitzer on his right shoulder, he's comfortable throwing into small windows. Gunslinger DNA. But ups and downs will continue as he gains reps.

Reps, reps and more reps and come December if Minnesota can hang in there and stay in the playoff race, watch the F out. He'll be a different QB in 2 and a half months, but in a big way, not incrementally. He owns the line of scrimmage and he's got this team in his hands, nothing more they respect that seeing a dude with dawg in him to dig himself and his team out of the hole for a W. Its damn hard work to win a game on the road your first game in the NFL. That demeanor makes him special.

[MAD GAINZ]

My head’s still spinning. And not from the 5 Modelos I stress-slammed last night. Such a wild, weird and confusing game with so many good and bad performances. But my two biggest takeaways are this.

1. Early on Caleb Williams was running around like a greased chicken, breaking ankles and killing our defense every time he had the ball. But then the Vikings made some kind of adjustment on defense that forced Caleb Williams to play more from the pocket, which he’s clearly not very good at. That was huge. 


2. After the pick 6 I told my son it’s snowballing and it would take a special performance from a QB with a lot of mental toughness and a little amnesia to come back from this, and I’m just not sure we can expect that from a kid who’s 4 years older than YOU and playing in his first NFL game. And then it happened. The focus was unreal. He never showed comeback savvy at Michigan only because he never had to, not because he didn’t have it. He's going to make mistakes. He'll throw more picks, even another pick 6 or two, but I think we got our guy and that feels really good.

We only rushed 4 most of the first half and then when Flores started bringing extra guys, Caleb couldn't escape and his accuracy went downhill.  Kinda wish we would have pressured him early and then backed off when we had him frazzled. Worked out in the end.

Also, I'll try not to lay it on too thick with JJ McCarthy but he's going to be good.  It won't always be clean and perfect, but if you can win like that in your first start...  that's a kid who showed some clutch factor to go with the big arm and athleticism you want in today's NFL QB.

[greediron]

I like the play design on the TD to Jets. Announcers mentioned having two WRs in the area being confusing, but seeing a breakdown, Nailor ran a crosser to clear the DB and Jets followed him into that opening.

As to the D, Van Ginkel mentioned Caleb as being one of the elites with his ability to run. I mentioned it elsewhere, but I think he did fine on the scripted plays. Once he had to make the reads or the pressure was on, his accuracy was gone. He made poor decisions.

Also, would have loved to see Gink get another pick 6. He is such a smart player.

[comet52]

He never showed comeback savvy at Michigan only because he never had to, not because he didn’t have it. He's going to make mistakes. He'll throw more picks, even another pick 6 or two, but I think we got our guy and that feels really good.

The only full games of JJM that I ever saw before last night were the national semi and final two years ago.

In the semi at the Rose Bowl he absolutely led a comeback against Nick Saban's Alabama squad.  I was impressed, and his brief post game interview on the field struck me as different than the usual platitudes as well.  He had a lot of poise for a 20 year old.

[greediron]

Also, Wilson filled in nicely at LB and made some great plays on special teams. The blocked punt didn't end up huge, but gave us decent field position and kept the momentum flowing.

[pattersaur]

Not to be a 1970s baseball scout here but the difference in McCarthy standing up, clapping, looking intense and fired up on the sidelines-- even when things were going terribly lol-- versus Caleb Williams who seems to have this carefree vibe and was sitting down a lot, was stark.

I wanted Maye or McCarthy predraft and was so fired up when we drafted him and very bummed when he got hurt. Last night's game was a long time coming and it was a special one to watch. Who knows what the future holds for the kid but it's been since Keenum or Favre since we had a QB with the kind of moxie JJ has. Frankly, it's a breath of fresh air for this franchise and if he plays well, maybe the league. It was funny hearing Buck and Aikman try to cram in all their JJ McCarthy notes and factoids into the last 5 minutes of the game since prior to that, the story had been mostly all Chicago.

Misc takes-

Alright who can tell me about Myles Price? I heard them say he's a rookie on the broadcast last night. Dude was monster for us on his returns. Hanging onto the ball after he got absolutely blasted on a KR was key too. What a debut!

Hockenson- Had to help block all night, was barely targeted, and on that one 2 yard catch he for some reason tried to get up and fumble the ball. Solid player but the book is about shut on him ever becoming elite.

Eric Wilson- Game ball #2? Holy cow, great to see you again old friend! All over the field.

Hargrave & Greenard- studs

[PurplePorsche]

A number of observations on my end:

1. Two play calls I loved: after gaining 9 yards on first down, we actually went play action and took a shot (or at least a medium shot). JJ's pass was a little off and Jettas didn't pull in the ball he'd normally snag, but I was just glad to see the call. How many times have we run on 2nd and 1 or 2nd and 2 only to face 3rd and 1? Play 2: the read option for the TD. I was critical of KOC when he had a bye week to prepare the Passtranaut and the game plan looked like the Kirk Cousins game plan. We have to do some things to capitalize on JJ's athleticism, and it paid off in a big way on that play -- and kudos to Hockenson for a great sticky block that got JJ into the end zone.

2. The defense was too amped up early on the rush. You need to contain guys like Caleb Williams (and Kyler Murray, and Jayden Daniels, and Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson and...). When you come in too hot, they make you look silly. We could have had at least 6 sacks last night, but we were over-eager. We also lost contain several times and Williams made us pay.

3. Looks like we found a nice punt returner in Price -- what a pleasant surprise.

4. Hard to tell for sure from the broadcast footage, but the secondary looked shaky. Did not give up a huge play (though the shot they gave up down the middle to Kmet on the Bears 4Q TD drive was very big), but it looked like a better passer could have carved them up.

5. Bad games -- Byron Murphy Jr. (every time he showed up on screen it was bad): Ivan Pace (whiffed on what should have been an easy sack, stupid personal foul penalty); Justin Skule.

6. Standouts -- Will the Thrill; Price; Hargrave; McCarthy. Honorable mentions: Hockenson (for the TD block), Van Gink; Donovan Jackson (looked solid for his first NFL game).