Chisoxfn

I'm not making a comparison, but look at Tom Brady's career progression (ignore the W/L record and the fact that he won the superbowl because of an elite defense). Just look at his statistics. He threw for 2800 yards in 15 games (14 starts) in his 2nd season (where he came in and took over for Bledsoe). Please know that I'm not saying Mitch will be Brady, I'm just saying, look at how pedestrian and vanilla he looked early in his career.

Fantastic post. I'll also say, I think the Packers have a good defensive line, especially against the run, and Howard made things look pretty easy. If the oline stays healthy as does Howard, we should be able to run the ball. Howard's hands also looked good. Hopefully he keeps that up.

He was solid in the second to last drive. That was a big drive and he made some good throws and was very much a key cog to moving those chains. They were just a play short. He and the bears will get better...I guarantee it....you will like the way the bears look!!!

You make a great point. While I thought Mitch looked poor that last drive, he made some nice plays on what could have been the game sealing drive. We are all saying different things about Mitch had they converted that 3rd and 1.

I’ll also remind people how after like four weeks Marc Trestman was the greatest coach in franchise history (vs. the worst).

Mitch wasn’t even bad. Mahomes looked great and let’s remember who spent a bunch of time last season coaching him.... Watson was lousy today against a mediocre patriots defense. Lots of qbs were mediocre and inconsistent to start their careers. It tends to be more the norm. Plus, I’m not even really judging that first year with whatever the heck offense they were running.

He d finitely wilted under pressure, but this was his first game in a new offense. I’m not surprised. I noticed quite a few plays where it looked like he missed a guy down the field. Mitch and the offense were playing not to lose the game vs playing to win the game and it got them. He looked like a guy afraid to make a turnover. That said, credit to packers secondary that did its thing. If Mack was in shape, I think we win that game. If Fuller makes the catch, we win. If Mitch hit like Robinson early in game in red zone, we win. 7 point dogs on road and should have won. Shitty was to loose but I’m more optimistic vs less as I expected them to get smoked. They will come out strong and win next week.

It wasn’t like he was terrible, but he had some open guys and nerves got to him. He’s not experienced and still developing. Does he suck, maybe he will, but this game isn’t proof of his long term success or suckiness. Lets cool the hot takes and see see how the season plays out. I still think by end of year we will all feel very good about franchises future.

He tried to be aggressive there. I’d have handed it twice but it’s one week and they better be ready next week.

Fully expected this. Mitch played scared in second half but d was tired and part of that I think has to do with fact Mack was tired and they hadn’t played a lot. Wideouts were gassed late too. Rodgers owns them. I always assume we will lose when we play him.

And Iowa’s defense is awesome and offense is meh. That said this looks like one of those Ferentz teams that ends up doing pretty good.

Julio put up big numbers, so lets not imply that Ryan didn't go to him. In the red zone they literally can't make things work.

Very reasonable deal though...pretty in-line with what I think everyone expected. Hopefully he stays healthy and takes another step forward.

By the way....I agree with all the thoughts regarding the issues...I just thought it was staggering how poor the percentages were even when Ryan does go to Jones. To me that shows a far bigger issue. How the heck is such an explosive receiver that bad in the red zone when they do throw to him. They must be telegraphing everything. I can't imagine the rope on Sark will be very long this year. I'm presuming Falcons HC was betting a 2nd year in the system (and even for Sark a 2nd year in the NFL) would see major red zone improvements. If they cleaned that up, their offense would have been pretty darn prolific a year ago...certainly doesn't look good after one game, albeit the Eagles were really creating havoc on Ryan (he didn't have a clean pocket too often, especially in the red zone).

For as great as Mack is, his Raiders defenses have largely been doodo as well. Hard to imagine with such an elite player on the unit.

Has he forgotten about him or can he just not figure out how to get him open? I think I heard a stat that over last season plus week 1, Ryan is 1-21 with 2 interceptions when throwing to Julio Jones in the red zone.

While it is very TNF, there is no reason it should be. Not like they played this past Sunday.

Doesn't Carfax have like a guarantee? In this case, shouldn't carfax be somehow on the hook for the "lost" value due to their report being delayed? Or are they saying that is already disclosed that such delays exist and thus don't take blame?

I think it is actually a little more akin to last season's rumors about the Sox acquiring Machado a year early (and giving up assets to do so) with the intent to him agreeing to a long-term extension. None fit exactly but getting Mack took more than just using up cap-space.

This is the main reason why I can get behind the deal. The theory now is the time and you are making that "huge" investment at the 2nd most important position in football.

A counter-point on the Jags was 2 years before this past season (so now 3 years ago), they were the darlings in the NFL after making major splashes in FA to surround with Bortles and everyone expected them to take 2 steps forward. Instead they took a step or two back as part of their growing pains and than finally launched forward. I guess my point is, if we follow their pathway, than we just gave up 2 massively high draft picks for a team not ready to contend. That was why in an isolated vacuum, I said this deal was done a year too soon...in an ideal world, Trubisky elevates his game this year and gives us the right signs that he is the franchise QB (plays well to the tune of an 7 or 8 win seasons but with major arrow pointing up)...and than we go out and get a Mack. Doing it a year early to me doesn't change the upside (upside is the same as I believe the window really starts more a year or two years from now (and I believe that with or without Mack) and thus making the move now is more risky because the certainty I have in that window is much smaller (as in...will that window work or am I hitting "reset" on the franchise QB). If I'm Pace, it doesn't matter as that "window" is fixed and tied to my contract so for him I don't necessarily see any additional "downside" risk. He will not lose his job over the Mack trade, it will be whether Trubisky pans out or not as Trubisky will be the key to them truly ascending up. That is where a strong president could potentially help. Plus the NFL doesn't work in a vaccuum and a player of Mack's caliber doesn't come available every year, so you can't just build your team in a vaccuum so I certainly understand the decision to bet now and not wait (cause you never know whether you'll ever be able to add that "dynamic" pass rusher later).

I also think that "coaching" style kept them in a lot of games as well. By and large Fox played to try and keep the game close. With that we probably hung around some games we shouldn't have and ended up winning, but also lost some very winnable games. We also really had minimal offensive weapons so I don't think it was "purely" a system thing and I think part of the reason we ran the system we had was a lack of belief in the weapons and experience necessary to "open things up". I think Nagy has the ability to take this franchise to levels it hasn't seen/explored in a long time, but I still think that vision takes time, but optimistically hope we see flashes of that emerge this year and than some and maybe we do squeak into the playoffs, etc.

Technically, when they got Cutler he was an ascending young QB with all of the talent in the world. It was the right move and they should have done it every time. I actually think that move was significantly better than the Mack move. The Mack move might ultimately have the better result (even significantly better) but from a pure "decision making" perspective, on paper the Cutler trade was a brilliant and necessary move. Unfortunately it didn't work out and that is part on Jay and part on the front office(s) who handled Jay with such ineptness. Either way, moot point. Pace seems to not be making those "same" mistakes as we've made all the "right" on paper moves to support Trubisky. Again, results might not pan out, but the right moves have been made on the offensive side of the football at the very least. While I can see the vision for the Mack move, I don't see it as a slam dunk no-brainer in the sense that real downside risks exist and the true ability to unlock a consistent contender will be on the offense improving. The defense to me is what it will take to be an elite team....good offense + elite defense and we are talking potential superbowl team in the future.

I agree with you. Packers with Rodgers will always be a tough beat (best QB in the league means you compete and can contend as long as he stays upright). Vikings are legit good (elite defense combined with good weapons at wideout and a more than serviceable QB). Lions have a solid to good QB and decent players. Probably most suspect team as I think their ability to be anything but solid is dependent on major improvements in their offensive weapons and/or defense and I don't know how possible that is. The NFL always has a bit of crapshoot but the NFC North is one of the strongest divisions in the league with three quality veteran QB's (one of which is the arguably the best QB in the league) and you have one elite defense in the league and maybe a 2nd one (albeit, I think the Bears are probably a year away from that albeit, I can certainly see scenarios where they take major steps forward...I can also see scenarios where our secondary falls apart and becomes a sieve). Fuller becomes a contract year wonder and Eddie Jackson get hurt, etc.

It actually didn't change my near-term view much. Yes, defense gets better...but I still think there is risk of Mack having a bit of an adjustment period (whether be injury or just getting up to speed with the guys) and I also presume Roquan will take a bit of time to get ready. But the main reason is, I think the offense is going to have growing pains. Mitch is young and its a new system and Robinson is coming back from missing a whole year and Miller is still a rookie, etc. I like our talent though and LT think things go well. I don't see us as a playoff team (if I were to bet), however, if we make the playoffs I think we go deep because it means Mitch and the O played well and I believe in our D being the type that plays well in the post-season (and our ability to run the ball is a plus). Very excited to watch this years season and excited about where the franchise is headed