Bears game: Two Takeaways

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.

MaroonBells wrote:
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.

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.

MaroonBells wrote:
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.

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.

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

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).

Myles Price had 117 yards on kick and punt returns. The kickoff returns were solid, averaging 24-25 yards on both (2) of them. But the punt returns...four of them, with an AVERAGE of 17 yard returns? How long has it been since we've had a punt returner like that? Marcus Sherels? He's gonna break one on a punt return. He's a little guy, 5'9". 183 lbs. Sherels, that Rochester John Marshall (MN) product who played for the Gophers, wasn't very big either...5'10", 175 lbs. But he had 4.37 40 speed. Price is more compact, more muscle and still has 4.39 speed.

Solid UDFA pickup by Kwesi

Never know what you are going to get with Ryan Wright, think the only reason he made the team was because he is good at holding for Will.

Thought it was sort of out of the ordinary for a 22 year old kid who had never played a down in the NFL to be voted a captain by his teammates but now it looks like they knew what they were doing by putting that C on his jersey.

Montana Tom wrote:
Myles Price had 117 yards on kick and punt returns.  The kickoff returns were solid, averaging 24-25 yards on both (2) of them.  But the punt returns...four of them, with an AVERAGE of 17 yard returns?  How long has it been since we've had a punt returner like that?  Marcus Sherels?  He's gonna break one on a punt return. He's a little guy, 5'9". 183 lbs.  Sherels, that Rochester John Marshall (MN) product who played for the Gophers, wasn't very big either...5'10", 175 lbs.  But he had 4.37 40 speed.  Price is more compact, more muscle and still has 4.39 speed.

Solid UDFA pickup by Kwesi

Yeah, the last great punt returner we had was my Little Chinchilla (aka Marcus Sherels)...

Price might quickly become my LC2

BOOM

Saving JJM for last...

1. The defense looks better, but still like a work in progress and they showed the real problems of today's speedy QBs.

1.5. Here's hoping that Cashman comes back completely and quickly from his hamstring issue.

2. The secondary...is the concern that it's been speculated to be. I'm sure Flores and the guys will be working on it, but...yep, concerning.

3. I thought we were gonna get one more Van Ginkel pick 6, big hopes for Sunday night.

4. The DT improvement was apparent, and Hargrave is gonna have a lot of new fans!

5. I'm trying to decide if the uncharacteristic drops were first-week rust, or the results of our young QB's fastballs...?

6. JJ has to be licking his chops for week 4, when the WR collective will be complete and he'll draw a bit less coverage. That said...week 1 TD was a great grab.

7. Thielen's return was amazing to see, and the 2 point catch was good for the soul.

8. Holy S**T, our RBs are gonna feast this season. This maybe our most improved area...

9. ...for the moment. JJM is obviously still in his very earliest game days, but with his grit/character both documented and displayed so thoroughly, it's likely he's going to be a step better almost game to game, which should be maddening for our opposing DCs. I LOVED the look on his face before they came down the tunnel, he looked like he was gonna bite somebody. This means a lot to me, as I've seen the trend that any of our QBs that look worried pre-game tend to have rough outings. I've seen this since Wade Wilson...so, seeing McCarthy looking like he was spoiling for a fight was excellent.

That interior of the O line is going to be the best they have had in 20 years. Sad that it took so long to address that area. Dline should as well, hoping for good health there.

StickierBuns wrote:
I think the interior D line is working out ok:

ProFootballTalk
@ProFootballTalk
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@NickOlsonNFL
"Vikings DTs Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen combined for 13 QB pressures against the Bears. Last year, Minnesota's staring defensive tackles combined for 21. All year."

Also: Down by 11 points right after you threw a pic six and this is your attitude? Its crazy good for handling adversity and pressure. He says this to the guy's in the huddle at the worst part of the game: 'Is there anywhere else you'd rather be?' Its nuts. It reset the whole huddle and the rest is history:

“I’ve never actually said that before,” McCarthy said, “but I feel like it was at the perfect time. Guys were kind of, you know, just in their head a little bit, and I feel like if you could, a smile goes a long way. So there was a lot of smiles after I said that, and just a little bit of a perspective shift. Yeah, things weren’t going our way, but we’re here doing this together, and the boys, they responded perfectly.”

From PFT.com:
"Indeed they did. The Vikings scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, turning a 17-6 deficit into a 27-17 lead.

The attitude from McCarthy transcends Xs and Os and analytics. When things aren’t going well, some quarterbacks exhibit a demeanor that tells the world, “It’s just not my night.” McCarthy refused to accept that, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

That’s the most encouraging aspect of the win, the most stunning component of the unlikely turnaround. Moving forward, the Vikings have a quarterback who will never throw in the towel on a game. He’ll keep his head and heart in the fight, and he’ll inspire the other players to do the same thing.

Every NFL team needs a quarterback with that mindset. The Vikings, who have gone nearly five decades with a bunch of talented (at times) placeholders since Fran Tarkenton, might just have their next franchise quarterback.

It’s fitting. Tarkenton started his career with a win over the Bears in the first game in franchise history. McCarthy started his career by finding a way to beat the Bears in what could be the first game on a new history for the Vikings.

One that, when the right supporting cast is assembled around him, maybe gets them back to where Tarkenton took them. And maybe even one step beyond."

The serendipity can't be denied...