W7@TB: Fed up

   Didn't expect a blowout of that proportion but the Bears got their behinds handed to them by the Buccaneers, the loss was expected but the result was, well, really not THAT bad as the score makes it look. Either way, Matt Nagy and the whole offensive regime has to go, like right now wouldn't be THAT bad.

   For starters, the offense ran the ball extremely well with Khalil Herbert getting almos all of the workload breaking the 100 yard barrier on the ground plus change on the air. The problem wasn't even that Fields and the offense couldn't move the ball, its just that they got bit by the turnover bug way to hard that ultimately cost them posible scoring drives. The first recovered fumble by Fields was just bad communication all around from the play they picked to not redirecting assignments, the two lost fumbles where just stupidity at its fines, once more the coaches had the brilliant idea to call obvious pass plays while letting their number five emergency swing tackle who had no practice the whole week cover 2019 sack leader Shaq Barrett and pro bowler Jason Pierre-Paul... WHY?! Why take the chance? why think it will all go well? why put your franchise QB at a potential risk? Are these Nagy's WHYS?! He can take them home along with his offensive personnel and boring scheme that Andy Dalton has played for his whole career behind his ex coach Bill Lazor, no wonder Nagy was so patient getting Fields in when you got everything placed for the average veteran QB, it all makes sense but at the same time it doesn't, Dalton gives the best shot to play a good offense (not necessarily win because of it) on game day because of the coaches and system established on the team, this obviously would give time for Fields to be on the bench and learn BUT what was he going to learn? the boring offense? The "pre snap defense evaluation pick your guy and hope for the best" offense? The "it doesn't matter if our Oline crumbles because we don't max protect send 5 hitches get the ball away in two seconds or you die" offense?  The "if you aren't good enough to read properly and you pick the wrong guy just throw it away, hope a defender slipped or run for your life" offense? The "I know you didn't play this kind of offense at college but your going to learn it here and like it" offense? The "welp our guy got hurt time to see if you learned enough I DONT CARE IM NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING FOR YOU" OFFENSE? I'm obviously no formation expert but its obviously NOT WORKING, ok I'm done. Fields had a bad game and threw 3 picks, one he threw it too high for Mooney but it hit both of his hands so its questionable, the other two were bad placed balls and the deep one to Allen Robinson was gut wrenching, to see a bad deep ball from Fields when that was advertised as his strength just made me feel sick for a second but its still too early to judge him behind a very bad offensive structure.

Upside players: there's not much to go around here besides the obvious, Khalil Herbert slashed through one of, if not, the toughest front sevens in the league behind an imbalances Oline. Honorable mentions to James Daniels and Jason Peters for just being solid players on the field and off the field Peters gives A+ effort by giving Bears fans some news to feel good about this week for a change.

Downside players: Darnell Mooney had a bad game, still young and hopefully will get better because of it. Sam Mustipher and Cody Whitehair are still struggling to anchor the middle, its time for change.  

   The defense had no chance but kudos to them for fighting till the bitter end, they got steamed rolled via the run game making Tom Brady's job easier, the DLine really isn't the same with out Akiem Hicks. The pass rush failed miserably, they rarely even touched Brady enough to make him uncomfortable, the result could have been even worse but Brady left points on the field with some bad red zone throws. Missing Robert Quinn and with Khalil Mack nursing an injury and trying to fight through it doesn't surprise me that the rush failed, Trevis Gipson was the closes to get to Brady but he isn't there yet and should have been the one that helped the others get to the QB but for some reason I'm still missing to see why the interior of the DL is failing to get pressure, maybe they were just to worried about the run and the heavy numbers the Bucs were using at the line of scrimmage, they obviously wanted to run and maybe where hiding the plays too well. 

Upside players: DeAndre Houston-Carson looked pretty good filling in at SS, made some good tackles and played even better covering receivers, might make Sean Desai think twice before plugging Tashaun Gipson back in when he is healthy. 

Downside players: The desperation is spreading and it took a toll on Bilal Nichols when he lost his cool and ended punching a Bucs defender getting himself ejected from the game, I cant blame them for feeling frustrated when they aren't getting no help from their offense but it can not reach this level where they take it out after the whistle has blown, keep it for the next play.

   Next up, the 49ers travel to Chicago in what should be a winnable game for the Bears, although they will still be somewhat limited on defense with Mack potentially not playing and Quinn not yet out of COVID protocol, Hicks is practicing but a groin injury doesn't fade away so easily and it could get worse when you re-injure it like he did at the Packers game. Honestly I wouldn't be opposed to the decision to place Mack on IR and get him rested until after the BYE week, I would even consider placing Hicks as well, the Bears have to start performing at offense if they want to be relevant or just for the sake of getting their young guys better and taking some of the load off the defense. Fields has commented he will be focusing on improving his communication with his receiver which is on point something they are in desperate need. This next game is a very good stepping stone to get things moving in the right direction offensively but again, like a broken record, things need to change more than they have, the Oline needs to be reshuffled to relieve Mustipher from his duties and go to the bench as a backup where he is needed and try Whitehair or Daniels at center with Alex Bars at G although Germain Ifedi or returning T Larry Borom would have to be healthy enough to play RT for this idea to have a chance or just go with Elijah Wilkinson if available or Lachavious Simmons with practice just to get the idea rolling, I prefer to go with this rather to just keep going with the same decaying formula, this season is about knowing how to get better and its not going to get figured out staying the same and making the same mistakes.