+ Packers won !
- will have to wait for NFL Replay to see it 
- MM not running out the clock in the end of the first half. Trying to convert on a 3rd and 19 right after Kizer giving away a sure three points was infuriating
- Kizer, at this point he doesn’t seem any better and maybe worse than Hundley. At some point they need to bite the bullet and have a servicable backup QB. This game was the prime example. Basic competency should have made the game 10-3 at half
Not a big +/- guy, but HaHa Dix needs to get a new job besides show up 2 steps late and help players up off the ground. He made one play tonight and missed or was late on 10 others. He was a big part of Chicago keeping that last drive alive. He could have stopped Trubiscut short of a 1st down with a solid hit with 7:36 left but just glanced off of him. And the hole and he left and tackle he missed on Howard with 2:50 left on 2nd and 13.....laughable.
+ Another legendary AR12 memory
+Gad to see Geronimo as deep threat and Adams and Cobb doing their thing.
- Agree with others on Offense, play calling or execution, whatever it is, QB, Coach...doesn't matter. We need the quick chain moving game to set up the bomb
- It always takes a while to get to sleep after a game like that and a lack of sleep going in to a Monday at the office is not ideal.
+. Mike ignoring AR when he wanted to go for it on 4th and 9.....those 3 pts were the difference.
- Other than the knee injury none. Things need addressing for sure. The D did not break, the Oline was good enough and should improve.
+. K Fuller, he was invaluable
And the backup QB position needs fixing.
+ we win
+ our guy is not injured for the season
+ wr's
+opie
+ not playing 'prevent' on the last series - wow what a concept!
- if our guy is injured, we are done. (period) - that's not exciting...
- 52 was garbage, he should not have been playing, not even scrub worthy. he should be paying us.
To keep sending four the last series the Bears had the ball was certainly a new concept, but so was seeing the coverage down the field. Guys weren't running free and waving hello to the QB. Without that fourth-down coverage, Perry doesn't strip-tackle T-biscuit and this game might have ended differently.
Clay's horse-poop fourth-down penalty -- and it was a good call -- took away the glory from Alexander's great play to knock away the ball.
AR staying in the pocket picking apart the D was refreshing -- and it worked.
I saw Cobb! GMo was a go!
Bulaga held up; I won't say he played really great, but Mack is an awfully good player and Bulaga hung in there with a rebuilt knee and no preseason. He needed some help, and we'll see what happens the next time they play.
Kizer = fell on his kiester.
MM taking too long to adjust. MM going for 3 instead of letting AR go for it on fourth = three points = win. MM challenge.
Opie did okay, but they came close to blocking one or two. Crosby = $$.
Any time you can tear the heart right out of an opponent is a great win!
Negatives: The first half and the team seemed to be sleep walking. The other negative is I think the Bears may not be far off from being pretty darn good.
Positives: They beat the Bears and it is always sweet to beat them. But to crush the FIBs hopes just makes it that much sweeter.
michiganjoe posted:+
Reggie Gilbert's (tight) coverage on Cohen that took him out of the play and likely saved a TD and the game.
Easily one of the biggest plays of the night. I didn't think Gilbert would offer too much this season but that is just smart play. He's got all the goods, let's hope he keeps getting better on the rush end of things and they've got a baller.
Again, without a doubt the biggest defensive play in the second half.
MASSIVE NEGATIVE: McCray and Buluga, particularly McCray, caused Rodgers injury. Not even a question. So you've got a scrub and a guy most people didn't even think would be starting the season due to injury. The Bears already have Floyd and Hicks and now they add Mack. I know, let's not prop up that right side at all. Even after it was abundantly clear the ride side was on rollerskates let's not bring in Marcedes Lewis or offer more chip blocking.
It's this kind of crap from McVince that drives me nuts. Don't give me the "Rodgers was holding the ball too long" crap because it was abundantly clear the right side of the line was getting utterly destroyed whether he held it for a nanosecond or an endless epoch.
McCray and Buluga can stabilize and yes, they'll need some help from Rodgers to stop overly long developing plays but that was a frickin' joke.
Positive: Defense allowed 16 points, offense scored 24, those are numbers that I will take every week. Both units came up big in clutch situations, which is a change.
Offense was stagnant at first, Rodgers didn't seem to want to take the underneath stuff (which those options were there!), but he's Aaron Rodgers so it's hard to questions his methods. I was glad to see the offense play like it's capable though, they could beat any team if they play like they did in the second half. They were a positive despite the slow start.
Young guys played well...Alexander, Jackson, King, Brice, Gilbert, etc. all made some key plays. I think the man coverage by the young CBs contributed heavily to Trubisky struggling to make decisions, even when they had passes completed they were contested. High priced WR Robinson was SHUT DOWN after the 1st. Gilbert looked good on that coverage of Cohen and Brice was playing like the SS we needed.
Negative: Mental errors by vets like CM3, Dix, and Wilkerson. Dix just took bad angles, the other 2 need to realize the refs are going to call every time they touch the QB. CM lost edge containment several times also, offenses count on him barreling down the line and overrunning the play it seems...it's a trap.
Martinez was MIA, Brice cleaned up a lot of his misreads. Can't have that from our key ILB.
What can you say about the interior OL other than they almost lost the game for us. Bulaga didn't do too bad against Mack honestly (I doubt he gets charged with that strip sack), but the interior OL looked lost and overmatched. If I'm Gute I'm begging Jahri Evans to come back or looking for a prime trade opportunity. Linsley was good when he was flanked by 2 pro bowl Guards, he's struggled since they both left.
Return game was useless. I'm not sure why Davis was inactive and St Brown wasn't, I don't think I saw ESB on the field once. Cobb was fine on PR, but I'd rather have Davis at KR.
In the middle: Other than his 2 crushing mistakes I don't think Kizer was THAT bad. Without the INT his rating was 95 and he hit some good passes. The OL did him no favors at all, especially on the INT. The strip sack he needed to release the ball and not hold it, supposedly GMo was wide open, and the INT he needed to eat the ball or throw it into the ground. Those are mistakes of a young QB though, I'm actually more encouraged by him than I was based on the preseason.
EDIT: Thanks Boss, I missed that injury. Also this stat boggled my mind:
146 of the Bears' 294 total yards came on the first two possessions. Chicago had only 148 the next eight series #Packers
— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) September 10, 2018
18. 5 yards per possession. If there were a lot of turnovers that they had short fields for that stat wouldn't be so jarring, but they there wasn't any exceptional field position. That is how you adjust.
+ Vic Fangio getting beat....AGAIN
+ Challenge by MM - that was helpful
- I'm not 100% certain Rodgers will play next week.
- This team minus Rodgers is like a 3-win team. That shouldn't be the case. With Rodgers they're a Super Bowl contender. It makes no sense. DO YOUR JOB!!
"AR staying in the pocket picking apart the D was refreshing -- and it worked.." I wonder if knowing this now, he'll be able to do both.....you know running around AND staying in the pocket. He was just on fire last night....... pin point accuracy was just amazing. Guess that's why he's my #1 boyfriend. 
Re: return game. You may have missed this. Davis with a hammy
The Packers have added Trevor Davis to their injury report with a hamstring issue. He's now listed as doubtful. Inactives come out in about 30 minutes.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) September 9, 2018
Grave Digger posted:Positive: Defense allowed 16 points, offense scored 24, those are numbers that I will take every week. Both units came up big in clutch situations, which is a change.
Offense was stagnant at first, Rodgers didn't seem to want to take the underneath stuff (which those options were there!), but he's Aaron Rodgers so it's hard to questions his methods. I was glad to see the offense play like it's capable though, they could beat any team if they play like they did in the second half. They were a positive despite the slow start.
Young guys played well...Alexander, Jackson, King, Brice, Gilbert, etc. all made some key plays. I think the man coverage by the young CBs contributed heavily to Trubisky struggling to make decisions, even when they had passes completed they were contested. High priced WR Robinson was SHUT DOWN after the 1st. Gilbert looked good on that coverage of Cohen and Brice was playing like the SS we needed.
Negative: Mental errors by vets like CM3, Dix, and Wilkerson. Dix just took bad angles, the other 2 need to realize the refs are going to call every time they touch the QB. CM lost edge containment several times also, offenses count on him barreling down the line and overrunning the play it seems...it's a trap.
Martinez was MIA, Brice cleaned up a lot of his misreads. Can't have that from our key ILB.
What can you say about the interior OL other than they almost lost the game for us. Bulaga didn't do too bad against Mack honestly (I doubt he gets charged with that strip sack), but the interior OL looked lost and overmatched. If I'm Gute I'm begging Jahri Evans to come back or looking for a prime trade opportunity. Linsley was good when he was flanked by 2 pro bowl Guards, he's struggled since they both left.
Return game was useless. I'm not sure why Davis was inactive and St Brown wasn't, I don't think I saw ESB on the field once. Cobb was fine on PR, but I'd rather have Davis at KR.
In the middle: Other than his 2 crushing mistakes I don't think Kizer was THAT bad. Without the INT his rating was 95 and he hit some good passes. The OL did him no favors at all, especially on the INT. The strip sack he needed to release the ball and not hold it, supposedly GMo was wide open, and the INT he needed to eat the ball or throw it into the ground. Those are mistakes of a young QB though, I'm actually more encouraged by him than I was based on the preseason.
I'm just going to say this for the record. Yes, Rodgers needs to be aware of how long he's got the ball because he has to prop up scrub guards and Linsley who isn't looking that good (JC Tretter). I don't think he has much choice since he's got a bum leg and my guess is that'll stay with him all season. I'd also like to point out if a guy like VS with true speed can add something to the offense, well, Rodgers won't be holding onto the ball that long with a burner like that. If you've got that one fast as hell guy who is a legitimate threat, everything underneath gets a lot easier. Part of this needs to be getting Graham in the game. That wasn't a great showing last night. Just more of that "we do what we do" horse**** instead of actually having guys ready for the team they're facing. The "scrubbed playbook" shouldn't come with a set of stencils from the old playbook. Yes, Graham has skin in the game too but that whole offense looked like a ****ing copy and paste from last year. That's the **** that just drives me nuts. New playbook my ass.
On Kizer, I would've agreed with you right up until the game yesterday. Simple fact, the "potential" game needs to go away. You can reserve potential for 3rd string guys but "potential" in backups has been killing this team. This was the biggest breakdown in TT's game that I've seen. Early on, the guy just straight up drafted ballers. Guys, regardless of team, who just played solid, consistent ball. Then it started to drift more and more into the hybrid "potential" bull**** like Datone Jones and Spriggs. You can chicken and egg it all day long but TT and The Wizard reciprocally failing to create a workable scheme with players who could execute it (SuperMissileFaceXploder scheme) was like a dog chasing its tail. Those two are gone. Cut and Paste McVince remains.
I agree on the first part, the second part not so much. Personally, I don't think the offense was every intended to function like AR has run it the last few years, I think it's supposed to be like it was last night in the 2nd half. I think Rodgers gets the freedom to hold the ball and read the D as he see fits, but he has lots of easy underneath options. I'm not blaming him, but I don't think the scheme is the culprit of some of the slow starts. What IS MM's fault is the lack of creativity with the called runs, they didn't press the edges hardly at all and seemed to run right at their biggest weakness.
- Texting during the 1st half with one of our Sr DBAs who is a Bears fan.
+ Texting during the 2nd half with one of our Sr DBAs who is a Bears fan.
+ Aaron Rodgers' guts after that knee injury. Randall Cobb! What a live wire he is! Tell me why we need to cut him, again? GMO! Davante! Most of our DBs! Reggie Gilbert had a good coverage play on Cohen that prevented a TD. Kenny Clark. Our Defense in the second half.
- This team without Aaron Rodgers is in a world of hurt. CM3 overran plays and then nearly cost us the game with the late hit on Trubiscuit. MM calling run plays into the heart of the Bears D Line, over and over again. How about something off tackle? Jimmy Graham. I felt the way Graham was going to be used when we acquired him was mainly in the Red Zone. Where was Marcedes Lewis? Lewis is the better blocker between him and Graham. That first half was some of the worst football I'd ever seen, as far as the Packers go. Besides the play where he covered Cohen, I did not hear Gilbert's name called very much last night.
Missed the 3rd quarter but based on what I did see:
CHI looks like they have a LOT of tools on offense to work with and a very good front 7 on D. Once the O gets familiar with each other they can do some damage. GB D saw a ton of unscouted looks in the first half so I would cut them some slack. Especially considering how well they adjusted in the second half once they got past the bear's scheme stuff. Not to mention all the rookies on the field at once.
On the other hand, there were some serious holes in the run D, particularly on the edge. If Burks isn't cremated this week he should help that problem a lot. Jordan and Cohen are as good as any combo in the league but it didn't look like anyone could set the edge last night. I hope Clay is still knocking rust off because he looked very pedestrian.
On offense, I was expecting more from Graham too but it's early. What was more puzzling was the absence of M Lewis. I will assume they have a whole chapter of the new playbook they haven't gotten too yet but that dude really needs to be on the field for so many reasons.
And I'll add, regarding "this team is horse**** without AR"; most teams will look that way without their starter QB. They looked pretty damn good on that first drive with Kizer before he went...Kizer on them. Most teams success depends on the play of their QB. That's the league. It's been that way for quite a while now. It's not the rest of team's lack of talent that caused Kizer passing a secret football note to Mack on the first sack and then throwing him a 10ft chest pass on another. All QB. Maybe he doesn't make those mistakes if the right side of our OL wasn't pulled pork but damn. No college QB should make those mistakes. And that does not mean the rest of the team is crap.
+ blitz pickups by Williams including on one of the TDs
Grave Digger posted:I agree on the first part, the second part not so much. Personally, I don't think the offense was every intended to function like AR has run it the last few years, I think it's supposed to be like it was last night in the 2nd half. I think Rodgers gets the freedom to hold the ball and read the D as he see fits, but he has lots of easy underneath options. I'm not blaming him, but I don't think the scheme is the culprit of some of the slow starts. What IS MM's fault is the lack of creativity with the called runs, they didn't press the edges hardly at all and seemed to run right at their biggest weakness.
Simply this, it's pretty hard to believe that Rodgers is entirely hijacking this offense. He's not calling the personnel on the field. Kizer comes in, gets a couple of nice quick out passes and then the whole thing ****s the bed. He's running McVince's playbook right? Of course, Kizer isn't Rodgers (hence we both agree they need a vet) but it also wasn't dink and dunk that won the game. It loosened things up but again it was Rodgers with some crazy throws and Cobb with some hops. I think the Allison TD and the Cobb TD are a good argument for the dichotomy of the offense. So am I going to rip McVince on the playbook? Not entirely, but I absolutely will rip him on constant horse**** preparation, which shows that **** management of his.
DH13 posted:And I'll add, regarding "this team is horse**** without AR"; most teams will look that way without their starter QB. They looked pretty damn good on that first drive with Kizer before he went...Kizer on them. Most teams success depends on the play of their QB. That's the league. It's been that way for quite a while now. It's not the rest of team's lack of talent that caused Kizer passing a secret football note to Mack on the first sack and then throwing him a 10ft chest pass on another. All QB. Maybe he doesn't make those mistakes if the right side of our OL wasn't pulled pork but damn. No college QB should make those mistakes. And that does not mean the rest of the team is crap.
This is the issue with coaching. They definitely aren't crap but using The Wizard example, they can't assemble what talent they have/had into anything effective either. It actually minimizes talent. Last year wasn't all on Hundley because everything looked like unorganized garbage. This year, Kizer is just a Hundley repeat. Get a vet. It doesn't have to be perfect, just not full Cronenburg.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Pettine can build on with his KILL philosophy but I don't think there's anything fresh comin' out of McVince's kitchen.
They did some nice things with 88 even though the one big play was called back. I don't know if that was "new" or just something they haven't been able to run in years past because he's usually hurt.
- 1st half AR - He looked flat for a quarter and a half and then got hurt....again. I know that injuries are an unfortunate part of the game and I know his OL sucks, but QBs get hit all of the time...that’s also part of the game. Some guys are injury prone for whatever reason. He’s not far from becoming that guy.
+ 2nd half AR - Best in the game, possibly the the best ever. The Legend continues to grow.
+ Super excited about how the D adjusted and held up. Pettine has a little bit of advantage, too, having unscouted looks. Nagy had this to say:
“We expected a lot of man on third-and-short and they came out and played a bunch of zone,” Nagy said. “Credit to them for mixing it up. A lot of our calls were built for man. We had some risky calls that we just went with and we blew them and they just made plays that we didn’t. Just have to go back to the film, continue to learn and, like I said, it’s tough when we don’t have on-scout looks.
“We don’t know what they’re going to bring and you’ve just got to trust the play and hopefully our execution beats theirs. But, credit to them for coming up with those stops and we’ve just got to do better because those are big plays.”
- The backside contain was awful and CM3 and HHCD had some terrible angles.
+ Alexander's enthusiasm is very noticeable. Like the young CBs.
- Need more speed at RB. Williams is great for blitz pickup, but he doesn't create on his own. Jones will be a nice change up when he's back.
A vet QB wouldn’t help either. The only guy that can lead this offense is Rodgers. Period. End of discussion.
The thinking that a leg injury changed Rodgers approach to taking what the defense gave is not entirely accurate.
The TD to Adams was Rodgers holding the ball, moving up in the pocket and seeing Adams at the last second. And Adams was basically running a 5 yard stick route to help clear room for Graham.
The TD to Cobb was the same. Rodgers holding the ball. Sliding left. And finding Cobb who killed a crossing pattern on his own and reversed direction to create a throwing window.
The TD to Allison was just otherworldly. Don’t even know how to explain a 45 yard tracer to that window in the corner of the end zone.
Rodgers sliding in the pocket is A LOT different than him going playground and fleeing the pocket.
A good backup vet wouldn't have handed the ball to Mack in a tickle fight sack. Nor throw a 5yd pop pass to him on the next series. A vet would definitely help. Would he be as successful as AR in this offense? That question doesn't even need to be asked but the whole point of a backup in today's game is to get you through the absence of your starter until he returns. To at least break even at the table. Kizer was throwing money away.
I'm not going to blow you.
50k Club posted:+ Super excited about how the D adjusted and held up. Pettine has a little bit of advantage, too, having unscouted looks. Nagy had this to say:
“We expected a lot of man on third-and-short and they came out and played a bunch of zone,” Nagy said. “Credit to them for mixing it up. A lot of our calls were built for man. We had some risky calls that we just went with and we blew them and they just made plays that we didn’t. Just have to go back to the film, continue to learn and, like I said, it’s tough when we don’t have on-scout looks.
“We don’t know what they’re going to bring and you’ve just got to trust the play and hopefully our execution beats theirs. But, credit to them for coming up with those stops and we’ve just got to do better because those are big plays.”
I am shocked by this revelation. I miss the days of formal RSVPs to opposing offenses.
Not so much +/-‘s but observations...
1.) Some people a questioning the Bear’s throwing on third and 1 on their field goal drive...obviously the thought Dom was still the Pack’s DC. Covering the wheel route, what a novel idea.
B.) Obviously Fuller’s drop of the possible interception was part of the deal that the Packers made to have the Bears match and make him a bunch of money.
III.) How refreshing to see the defense not give up a game late after Rodgers and company pull off a miracle.
I was responding to Henry.
Boyle has better pocket presence. He has better arm strength. He has better deep accuracy. Kizer started for the Browns.
justanotherpackerfan posted:III.) How refreshing to see the defense not give up a game late after Rodgers and company pull off a miracle.
That was pleasant. Strange and unfamiliar but pleasant.
I thought it was funny either way. BTW, hit Pecan Lodge last week while in DAL. May be the best brisket I've ever had, better than Franklin's.
This is why I hate stats.
ESPN's QBR is a proprietary stat that rates quarterbacks on a scale of 0-100, where 50 is average.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) September 10, 2018
Last night Aaron Rodgers had a QBR of 43.7.
Did anyone watching last night's game think Rodgers was below average? pic.twitter.com/YPlCMiJk1m
“We went out for the second half,” Cobb said, “and Aaron’s walking out too. He’s in uniform. Looks ready to go. I asked him if he was okay. He said, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ So he got to the sidelines and starting talking ball, like normal. And I’m like, Well, I guess he’s playing.”
At one point early in the half, Rodgers said in the huddle: “Do your jobs, and I’ll handle the rest.”
Wishful thinking. When it was over, someone asked Rodgers what he was thinking when he looked up and saw the score in the third quarter: 20-0.
“Seven times three,” Rodgers said.
michiganjoe posted:+
Reggie Gilbert's (tight) coverage on Cohen that took him out of the play and likely saved a TD and the game.
I loved this. Impressive Gilbert was able to track Cohen down the field like that. One of those plays that doesn't often get the recognition but it's plays like this that get you the win. Kinda cool Collinsworth saw this and did some analysis for the viewers. I never would have noticed if not for him.