Chisoxfn

Agree completely.

I actually thought Caleb has made some real steps - not where he needs to be but this loss was not on Caleb. Unless he was the reason for all the issues up front and the penalties. He still made his share of mistakes but not many QBs could overcome the amount of shooting of the feet that happened. Still he has a lot more growth that needs to happen. I don’t have faith in Poles but I still think BJ will figure it out and I am confident he will figure it out with Caleb.

Not sure why either - I haven’t been a big Poles fan for a while. But I do get with the new coach why they did it. I also expect they will be 1-3 or even 0-4 leading into bye. They better start to turn things around after that. Lions are just too good and Bears made way too many mistakes. Between penalties, inability to execute on 4th and short, the turnovers, they just aren’t there to be able to win a barn burner.

I expected them to get whooped and they did. Poles is the one who will end up on hot seat if the talent looks sub par.

This is insane.

He also threw some real good balls - including a couple tight windows ones where they couldn’t pull it down. Had some ugly ones too…some might have been not having the right timing or aligned with say Kmet on where to settle - but also just some places where he should have used an 8-iron but instead went with the driver.

The key is - how does he build from this. And if he doesn’t - then they will be looking for a new qb. I expect BJ will use the film study to teach and Caleb better be putting in the work.

All that said - there were plenty of good moments and lots of teaching moments. Had they won I think everyone would be singing a slightly different tune and the reality is somewhere in the middle. The oline looks like a unit with a lot of new players and offense made mistakes reflecting of a unit learning a new system. Defensively they wore down given the lack of depth - especially in secondary due to injuries and also I think just wearing down due to being first full game. Biggest thing is I think you could see the quiet and stoic pissed off look in Johnson’s eyes and I trust he will use this and be the type of coach who can build guys up and this team will grow from here, but as Kyle said - we expected a rough start while they adjust and that is what it looks like is happening - the real test is post bye week do we see a team that is starting to ascend - I sure as heck hope we do. It may be too little too late but if they come out of bye and start playing consistently good football that to me is kind of the baseline expectation.

I thought Caleb played a solid to good first half and then had a lousy second half.

That was what I assumed but I read somewhere where a former ref said that wasn’t actually the rule. I’m curious cause my initial thought was what a horrible challenge…now I’m curious is this one of those obscure things that never happens and there was a confusion?

So did they rule the first contact was to the jersey vs the ball?

They drafted a right tackle two years after passing on Jalen Carter for Wright. Poles is still the problem until we see some more consistent scouting hits. Turner was out with an injury I believe.

I will say as ticked as I am, this season was always tough and about building momentum - so now have to see how they respond. Not winning this is tough though cause they open up with a pretty brutal schedule if I remember.

Absolutely.

Other than the big trade with Panthers and getting Johnson as HC, a lot of Poles moves are still up for debate. I will say at least they invested a bit more in oline but it still looks like he could have a lot of scouting misses.

It will be interesting to see how team responds to this. Let this be a catapult to better times. I think it will be a rough week at Halas Hall and it is going to only get tougher with Lions looking to get their first win.

Would have been real nice to have that time out. No idea what they were thinking. Little things - failed 4th down in red zone, lots of penalties while driving, missed field goal, lousy special teams…it all adds up…

This was a huge story of the game. Special teams too and than Caleb still has a lot to clean up…but man the penalties were so costly.

This is well said. Regarding Caleb - I said it a couple months back - there are plenty of red flags on him just as there were on the coaching staff. He has to learn from what he did wrong and I legitimately think he bought into his hype too much and did not take it as serious as he should of and also had a bit of an entitled attitude and perspective and that played out and there were enough rumblings of that. He got his kicked last year - in many ways. Now I hated that he spent any time wasting it on the quotes that drove the Flus hit piece earlier in the offseason cause it still shows a total lack of maturity. With that said - I think the whole culture has changed and hopefully he had the rude awakening needed and is now all systems go with a staff that is going to really push and some added vet presence in the qb room to help. We won’t know in first 4 weeks - but as season goes on, the expectation has to be we are seeing some above average and at times high end play from that position.

Tucker, Diaz, and a starting pitcher and this team looks a lot better.

If I win the powerball I’ll raise a group to take over the Sox.

If he can get the contact rate up and stay healthy, at that point, he legit looks like a bonafide MVP type candidate. That said - until I see a more sustained contact rate I’ll continue to want to see this play out over a more extended sample size.

It seems pretty tough to me - partly because of the division we play but also due to some of the other divisions we are playing too.

3 rookies with 3 hits each - very nice!

Colson is north of 2 on baseball reference.