Jordan Howard with three touchdowns against Green Bay

[dabears70]

I feel good for howard. Hope he does well the rest of his career. Loved him as a bear.

I just hope he does good enough this year so we get a 5th round pick instead of a 6th round pick and after last night that might happen.

 

[modo]

It wasn't Howards ability to run......Green Bay was getting destryed by the Eagles Oline....there were a lot of wham blocks that were opening up gaping holes....

Nagy fucked up by not committing to the running game against GB....

GB is allowing 5.8 yards a carry after the Bears game

 

[Aquineas]

I didn't see the game (working last night late into the night), but after hearing about Howard's touchdowns, you gotta be thinking Nagy watched that game and thought, "Fuck, why didn't I call more of those plays instead of trying to get into an air-war?" Sometimes I think passing-oriented coaches like showing off their "unstoppable air attack" offenses, especially on national TV. I would go so far as to say that even some QBs, in their zeal to light-it-up on national tv against an opposing QB, tend to want to zing it (Jay Cutler vs Green Bay comes to mind. It seemed like he always stunk-it-up on national TV against Green Bay).

 

[ZOMBIE@CTESPN]

Naggy wants to run an offense with 75% gimmick plays. Howard doesn’t fit that garbage

 

[remydat]

Difference is Monty gets those yards. Howard doesn't.

His YPA was 3 and 3.44 first two games. Overall 4.0 due to horrible Skins D and the 5.2 last game. Monty is good but some of us were saying how shit the OL was last year.

Would much rather have Howard than Davis.

 

[Aquineas]

His YPA was 3 and 3.44 first two games. Overall 4.0 due to horrible Skins D and the 5.2 last game. Monty is good but some of us were saying how shit the OL was last year.

Would much rather have Howard than Davis.

I'm not sure that the O-line hasn't regressed since last year, actually.

 

[Pegger]

Imagine if we had a halfway passable line that could allow Montgomery to not meet 3 defenders 2 yards behind the line.

I agree that the Eagles OL is better, but it's also a lot more expensive. This year the Eagles OL will cost ~$38M in cap space. That's including all of Howie Roseman's cap wizardry. By contrast the Bears have a cap number over $19M for their OL (2nd lowest in the NFL). Sure there are some rookie contracts in there, but there also comes a time where you get what you pay for.

Eagles defense is really bad!!

If you count the injuries yesterday they are down 5 corners:

1 - Jalen Mills - Probably their best corner and hasn't played this season. Can get beat deep, but extremely competitive. Specializes in short yardage.
2 - Ronald Darby - This is their $10M guy who came back on a 'prove it' deal. He's coming back from an ACL last year and is now missing more time.
3 - Cre'von LeBlanc - No one knows him, but last year he stepped in and was their best nickle corner by a mile. Very underrated and he's missed this season so far.
4 - Sidney Jones - He left in the 1st quarter of yesterday's game. Some might remember him as Mayock's #1 rated corner in the 2017 draft before he ruptured his Achilles while training for the combine (it was on video). Talented guy who had a great camp so far.
5 - Avonte Maddox -This was the scary injury in the 4th quarter yesterday where they were worried about his neck/back. Extremely versatile guy who can play all corner spots and safety. A report came out today that he can feel and move his extremities, which is good. Anyway, not expecting him back.

Add in that Jim Schwartz puts a premium on stopping the run and sort of let's his CBs play on an island and there will be some long plays against them.

 

[Pegger]

Howard still sucks.

You are wrong.

He sucks in certain areas, but is also extremely good in certain areas. His 2nd TD where the Packers LB, Martinez(?) met him with a big hit at the 2 yard line. Howard took the hit, re-balanced then pushed into the endzone. In that situation there's only a small group of RBs in the NFL that can do that.

He's a specialized player. He excels in yards after contact, one cut running, pass protection and not fumbling. He sucks at running routes, making difficult catches and long speed. If he's used right he can be very effective.

 

[remydat]

I'm not sure that the O-line hasn't regressed since last year, actually.

Perhaps but they never got a lot of push especially on short yardage last year either. Ranked 28 by football outsiders last year and 19th this year.

 

[Pegger]

Good to see him do well. O line is so undervalued by Pace.

I also think he just wasn't a fit. It's easy for a fan to say Nagy should do whatever the Eagles are doing, but overall Nagy's offense has a variety of concepts that play off each other. Howard just didn't fit a lot of those concepts, where he's got a defined role with the Eagles.

For Nagy to feature a new concept it has to make sense in the larger structure, so often it's best to get players that fit.

If Howard was still on the Bears it's not like he would have had a 3 TD game against the Pack in week one. Totally different situations and schemes. I'm not saying one is better or worse, but rather they don't easily compare.

 

[Pegger]

Perhaps but they never got a lot of push especially on short yardage last year either. Ranked 28 by football outsiders last year and 19th this year.

Last year much of the OL's success was based on their scheme, not individual player talent.

I'll re-link it, but the Bears have spent the 2nd least amount of cap space on the OL. It's coincidental that their football outsiders ranking is right around what their positional spending is, but in a talent focused league eventually get what you pay for.

 

[bamainatlanta]

His YPA was 3 and 3.44 first two games. Overall 4.0 due to horrible Skins D and the 5.2 last game. Monty is good but some of us were saying how shit the OL was last year.

Would much rather have Howard than Davis.

I'd rather have the 5th rd pick over Howard. And Davis can get cut so Pace gets the comp pick back.

 

[jive]

Davis is a poor man's Glennon.
Another example of Pace paying more for a guy with less talent.

 

[playthrough2001]

I always felt like it was almost automatic when you had Howard near the goal line. I’m happy for him because he was one of the bright spots during the Fox era. I hope he has the flu when we play Philadelphia.

 

[Magenta Aye-Aye]

Good for Howard. Dude continues to produce despite not looking flashy.

Howard has looked good in 1 game so far this season. On pace to have 4 good games all year...That's production alright!

 

[WestCoastBearsFan]

You are wrong.

He sucks in certain areas, but is also extremely good in certain areas. His 2nd TD where the Packers LB, Martinez(?) met him with a big hit at the 2 yard line. Howard took the hit, re-balanced then pushed into the endzone. In that situation there's only a small group of RBs in the NFL that can do that.

He's a specialized player. He excels in yards after contact, one cut running, pass protection and not fumbling. He sucks at running routes, making difficult catches and long speed. If he's used right he can be very effective.

So basically he sucks at things that a modern offense requires from its running backs. Good to know. I guess congratulations to Howard for being able to not fumble and being a decent blocker?

 

[HeHateMe]

So basically he sucks at things that a modern offense requires from its running backs. Good to know. I guess congratulations to Howard for being able to not fumble and being a decent blocker?

Not to completely REKT your *** about this but "modern offense" is not a static thing. There is constant evolution and cyclical developments in most everything in this world and the NFL is no outlier.

If you follow closely enough I think you might see that there is a trending toward power O going on in some of the NFL's most successful teams, and guys like Jordan Howard can literally style all over your "modern offense" when the right mix of player personnel is committed to his style of play.

Thanks.

 

[Raskolnikov]

yeah...in hindsight, if you could get personalities and contracts in check...

Howard and Montgomery would have looked great as a 1-2 punch. Montgomery on third downs, but stay fat and hard running. Brutal combination,

I think the bigger problem was the way Howard viewed his value if he stayed a Bear. Would we be interested in retaining him at even 8 million with Montgomery behind him? Unlikely. So the issue is he wasn't happy here and we don't showcase his best foot forward.

I hope he gets his 25-35 million contract somewhere, but we got lucky to find a hard runner who excels at catching. There is a big difference between a guy who put in work to learn to catch, and a natural catcher.

 

[94c4lt1]

You are wrong.

He sucks in certain areas, but is also extremely good in certain areas. His 2nd TD where the Packers LB, Martinez(?) met him with a big hit at the 2 yard line. Howard took the hit, re-balanced then pushed into the endzone. In that situation there's only a small group of RBs in the NFL that can do that.

He's a specialized player. He excels in yards after contact, one cut running, pass protection and not fumbling. He sucks at running routes, making difficult catches and long speed. If he's used right he can be very effective.

His YAC went down considerably over the last three years with the Bears, going from 2.2 ('16)-> 1.5 -> 1.0 ('18). He's terrible at breaking tackles (42nd ranked RB in broken tackles in 2018), but can "fall forward" when in a grasp (to the tune of an extra yard, per '18). I wouldn't necessarily call that "excelling," but he's serviceable. Not a back you'd want to pay big $ for, however.

I wish JHow luck, seeing as he was a Bear I rooted for, but I don't regret that we moved on from him one bit.

 

[remydat]

I also think he just wasn't a fit. It's easy for a fan to say Nagy should do whatever the Eagles are doing, but overall Nagy's offense has a variety of concepts that play off each other. Howard just didn't fit a lot of those concepts, where he's got a defined role with the Eagles.

For Nagy to feature a new concept it has to make sense in the larger structure, so often it's best to get players that fit.

If Howard was still on the Bears it's not like he would have had a 3 TD game against the Pack in week one. Totally different situations and schemes. I'm not saying one is better or worse, but rather they don't easily compare.

The simple fact is Nagy doesn't appear to know what the fuck he is doing with RBs. Dress it up however you want but there is nothing thus far that suggests he has a grasp on how to properly use them. He misused Howard last year and thus far he has pretty much misused Cohen, Davis and Monty to varying degrees.