Chisoxfn

With all that being said - I do not think Poles (nor anyone else in the building), expected Fields to be this downright bad. I think they all expected improvement and the only question was whether they would see enough improvement to make him your franchise QB or not. I think in zero scenario did any of them seeing Fields being as bad of a passer this year (if not worse) than he was last year. The reality is, through 3 games - he has been as bad, if not worse, and that is despite having better wideouts than last year and being in the 2nd year of the system.

I really think if you read between the lines, he was always a bit more cautious. With that said - you can't go out there and state we are going to stink, etc, but he also had talked multiple times where they knew how many holes they had and that the reality was there was no way they could really fix it in one offseason and the reality is - this was really the first off-season where they had resources. His first actual year on the job - the cap situation was a disaster and they had zero draft capital due to the Fields session, so year one was almost like year 0 given how bad it is, so this is actually year 1. I truly believe the offensive side of the roster is materially upgraded, however, the QB is so bad you can't see it. This is why I legitimately wonder what they do because with a QB this bad (and with no real hope) - continuing to put him out there puts a serious limitation on your ability to evaluate others, whether coaches and/or skill position players (kind of key given that Mooney / Claypool are due for extension(s)). I'm guessing at this point - neither of them may get extensions, which than means, do you trade them and if you do, is there any value for them? The Bears also don't have any legitimate option to turn to at QB (other than throwing a DII player to the wolves and hoping he shocks us).

If we get to the halfway point of the season and the defense is still bottom 3rd - than yeah. I would be shocked the defense would be in the top 3rd, but they should be in the middle 3rd. If they don't get there, terrible indictment. But his defenses were good / very good in Indy and he was working for an offensive HC, so he was in charge of them and they developed a lot of players under his watch. Now as a HC - he clearly isn't good. Effort doesn't work. They are awful and he doesn't bring any unique skill to the table. It isn't like he's a brilliant offensive mind or a brilliant defensive tactician.

I'm going off his time with the Colts - they had good defenses and developed players there. That in no means is stating anything he has done with the Bears - but I also think last year he had absolute trash to work with and this year, the trash is a bit better, but not a lot. Now the hope is - the young players and LB's gel and improve, but when you have a Dline this bad - your D is going to struggle to get off the field.

I agree with you and I also don't believe Poles was ever all in on Fields. I just don't think he was all in on Bryce Love and he wasn't ready to rip the bandaid now and bring in another QB, I think he recognized the type of individual Fields was and that it was worth investing in him for one more year and building assets for the following year (and ideally positioning the roster so that it was in a healthier spot for the next QB - if Fields wasn't the guy (and he clearly isn't). Now I would state that if all of his draft picks look like garbage, than I think McCaskey and Warren would have a hard choice to make. But barring that (and god I hope that won't be the case) - than I am pretty committed to giving Poles the opportunity to go forward. I really don't see how you could do something different - unless they are planning to go give a blank check to Harbaugh.

The question is - did Poles actually believe that behind closed doors, or did he know his limitations. I recognize I got hyped up in the off-season, but once I saw the preseason lineups, I literally looked and took a step back and was telling all my friends - this is not going to be good. The dline is awful (signing Ngakakoue was not going to change anything - although it was the right move to make cause they need any help they could get...and if they are lucky, they can maybe trade him at the deadline if he actually is producing for like a 6th rounder). The secondary is young and your LB corps, while they made investments, is going to have a hard time making plays when your dline is this bad. Offensively - I think Poles said it but didn't say it with Fields. I don't think he had the ability to make any choice other than giving Fields one more year (given the draft capital that previous regimes invested and the flash plays that he showed - to see if a 2nd year in the system could bring out the best in him...but we all said - for Fields to be good, he had to take pretty significant steps forward as a passer - it is now clear that the sample size says he is the same guy he was as a rookie, maybe worse and by the way - it is the same thing that he put on college tape - where he never got better in this area). But I think Poles reacted in the off-season as someone who was measured and wasn't ALL in on Fields. Now he didn't throw Fields under the bus either - but that was absolutely the right thing to do. Now if by the end of the year - none of Poles draft picks look like they are worth a darn, than I suppose Warren and McCaskey need to ask themselves the question of whether Poles is gone too - but I'm hoping we will see enough flashes from young DB's and the oline looks solid enough that we aren't talking about that...cause that would really be a bad thing (albeit at least you'd have a pretty attractive gig if you wanted to hire someone - given you'd be talking about multiple high draft picks and tons of cap space).

I don't think Flus is a terrible manager as the head coach and I do think he is a good defensive coordinator. That clearly hasn't shown up here and a huge part of that is the Dline stinks. On the offensive side - I don't know if Getsy is good or bad....he clearly didn't design and entirely build a unique offense around Fields - instead took an offense he liked and tried to blend the edges around Fields. The problem is - Fields might be fine on those edge concepts, but there are only so many that you can run and that limits what you can do and Fields in anything more traditional is legitemently the worse QB in the NFL (yes - I think playing within standard plays - even Zach Wilson might be better - but not by a lot). And so I stand by my premise - if the Bears think you need to at least run a modern NFL offense to win in the long run - than YOU WILL NEVER go anywhere with Fields. In fact, you will be an adjunct disaster putting Fields in that system - which is exactly what we have witnessed going on the past 3 years (with literally ZERO improvement in this department). People should go see some of what Lombardi is saying - really coming to defense of Getsy and others and basically stating - if you were an OC, what could you call for Fields and stating that he literally can't make even the most basic of plays. The only highlights you will have is him doing something ridiculous running the football and/or the ocassional dime while everythign hits the fan. That is great - but if you can't do anything worth a damn the other 90% of the time - than you suck. Getting 200% on 10% of the plays while you get a 50% on the other 90% is an F. That is what Justin Fields is as a QB and the entire team is being made worse by having him on the field. Most notably the oline and skill position players.

Fields looks like one of the worse pocket passers to ever play. And he is really that. He is clearly a huge part of the problem. The oline and skill position players are good enough. Fields clearly can’t execute and NFL offense. His only chance would be to be in some unique once every ten year offense. I would rather have Lance - cause he is just likely to suck. Fields has 3 years of game film not being able to anticipate throws.

Qb is horrible. That is for sure.

This is trestman level bad.

Very good point.

I'll just says this - Poles gets a point for today getting out there, which is not historically what Bears GM's have done. Clearly there are reason(s) they can't say much on Williams - that is becoming evident. But I can't argue with how he handled any of the other messaging. Proof is ultimately in the pudding - but I thought he said all the right things. Note: Rick Hahn usually said the right things too - but than after years of building your own thing - words only matter so much.

This is what I was going to say - it could be someone other than him, but an immediate family member or child.

I liked what he said and I really don't think he was trying to throw coaches under the bus. In my mind - he is so worried about doing what he was coached to do - that he is thinking so much about how they want him to do it, vs. just going out and making plays. That isn't necessarily bad coaching - its more, I got to be better and him realizing he's got to go play and make sure he's playing his part in giving the right feedback in the offensive design, etc. I also really wonder how much are they pressuring him to see what he can do in certain situations to challenge his growth too. They clearly went too far cause they took away all of his strength(s) and tried to make him a pure pocket passer, which isn't smart. But Flus was quoted I believe stating that to win in this league, you have to be able to pass from the pocket - which is true. So is there an element of - look, we know this is your weakness, but we want to spend some time with you taking your lumps doing this - because IT WILL make you better in the long run. And than - when we get there, we put the wrinkles back in and you are set. Note: The above makes sense, especially if you were someone like Poles, cause you are taking the long right now and have solid job security. If you are Flus though, that approach is playing a dangerous game and obviously you have to balance how your QB will deal with those failures and expectations.

I wonder if this is gambling related. Either way I would think if this actually happened - major media would be reporting soon. It does seem like Williams is gone - they are just trying to figure out some form of contractual / legal way for how to handle.

Geeze. I know Braxton has had his penalty issues, but still a big loss - did not realize he was getting put on IR. Didn't even know he got hurt last week.

This was the only glass half full take I could make of the first two weeks - they were literally asking him to be everything he isn't, which is just non sense and Fields quotes seem to be - enough is enough, this is what the coaches said and want to do - I'm done, I'm going out my way. And he may not make it - but I fully support Justin. Dude's work ethic is off the charts good. I am now somewhat excited to watch the Chiefs game.

What did Kmet do in game 2, other than that one drop on the sideline. I don't even know if I would call it a drop - it was a nice hit by Winfield or whomever the safety was. I keep reading it so maybe I stepped away for whatever Kmet did that was so bad?

He has no future as a QB if the Bears are trying to force him as a legit pocket passer. It won't work. I think Tony's link about how with Cam you got to let him be. Heck, look at Big Ben, I can't stand the guy, but if you wanted to put him like full west cost offense, it just wouldn't work. Big Ben had an offense completely catered around him too. Lamar Jackson same way. All of them are unique talents but you can't just put them in a traditional drop back offense and let them work. Even Josh Allen - that offense was designed to maximize his strength(s). Right now - it does not appear to me that the Bears are doing that with Fields, unless sitting him back for the first couple weeks is part of a longer term growth plan (and I don't believe it is). Unleash Fields and run an offense that exploits his strenghts (cause he absolutely has him) and minimizes his weaknesses. We literally have seen 2 straight weeks of the opposite. It kind of reminds me of the first few weeks of Field(s) season last year, where Getsy tried to force Fields into his thing and than as the season progressed they adjusted. Why they started off back to square 1 from last year is beyond me - maybe they read too many press clippings or something, I don't know.

Very well said. And I am with you - I don’t get why when you have a qb with his skill set you aren’t calling 5-10 designed runs per game, another 5-10 bootlegs, and another 5-10 play actions.

For me Poles future comes down to how his draft picks perform this year. It’s early - let’s see what happens. I also want to see at least some of his free agent moves pay off, especially the bigger money ones. And I will state if I were Poles - zero chance I would have traded Fields. I was lukewarm on Fields but you knew he didn’t have enough around him last year to make a decision and everyone could see the god given physical abilities he has and he clearly puts in work effort etc - so you had to see what could happen. With that in mind - there are 15 more games, hopefully Fields shows us in a more free flowing system he can be a true playmaker / difference maker. I am not expecting it and I now have my expectations perfectly aligned but s%*# - it could happen and I will root for him. Coaching staff has to start supporting him though and putting this around him cause they aren’t keeping their jobs with Fields not at least being decent (cause 3 wins gets flus fired for sure).

100 percent. I’ll just Poles on how draft picks more than anything. His free agent choices matter too…at least ones where they are multiple years and/or using material cap space.

If I were Fields, I would go to coaching staff tomorrow and say design 10 run plays a game for me. He will probably get hurt - but Fields only chance at being special is to be put in a system that leverages every ounce of athleticism he has to force teams to guard him and create space for big plays. Fields has nothing to lose at this point. And I am for sure the fan who now expects Bagent to start half the season. s%*# - why can’t he be the next Purdy haha. He won’t be - he doesn’t have the arm, but s%*#…if two quarters through the season offense is meh - time to see what they look like with someone who appears to be able to get ball out on time. I just don’t think he has the arm talent to play in NFL.

I am 99 percent sure he is not the guy.

The downfall is - he has no one to sell high on rate now. The cupboard is real bare.