Thoughts and Observations: Chargers

[PickSix]

Nice work once again Windy. Thanks.

 

[Warrior Spirit]

To correct the OP, Alshon had only 1 drop. I know a lot of people have problems with what constitutes as a drop in the NFL, but missed jump balls do not. The other pass for a first down Windy alluded to was a drop but the TD was not. Leno had 1 good game vs the worst team in the NFL at the moment. PFF has him ranked #69, probably not a very good long term solution. Guess I'm alone in expecting more from the run game vs a team that allows an average of 5 yards per carry. Maybe Smith should have gotten more carries. Jenkins was unimpressive and no mention of Willie Young who had a good game.

 

[WindyCity]

Great stuff as always. I was trying to key on Goldman as much as I could, and it always seemed like after the initial contact that was made he had a bigger surge against the center that really pushed the pocket back.

He is gassed late in games.

He needs to be playing in more of a rotation, but injuries have left him playing a lot more reps. Hopefully Gaston can earn some trust and take over some reps.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

He is gassed late in games.

He needs to be playing in more of a rotation, but injuries have left him playing a lot more reps. Hopefully Gaston can earn some trust and take over some reps.

Injuries and the Chargers playing no huddle.

 

[SlickWilly]

On offense

The two most important people on the Bears right now are Gase and Cutler. McCaskey has to figure out a way to keep Gase whether its more money a promise to be the HC down the road buy him a mansion in Lake Forest whatever the **** ever. The beauty about Gase is he combines guts and creativity. Jay is a late maturer but I believe at 32 with Gase calling the shots we have a real winning combo here. The big difference with Jay seems to be his willingness to dance in and around the pocket and wait for opportunities to open instead of jammng the ball into his first or second options.

Now that the Bears are hopefully learning how to close games they need to learn how to start games. Both units seem sluggish in the first quarter and I believe many of their loses can be attributed to overcoming poor first quarter play. Maybe on offense its the conservative game plan that makes them lose focus. For sure Alshon stunk in the first quarter but once Gase and Jay started slinging it, Alshon went into all world mode.

Langford is a steal's steal in the 4th round. To see him in the open field makes me wonder if he is the fastest guy on the team. I just found out in college he played WR and CB. Apparently thats part of why he was not picked higher not enough of a resume at one position in college. However all that being said given that the NFL's next salary cap will be more like the sky cap because it will be so high, I still want Forte back for at least one more year.

I have liked Zach MIller all year and on the off season season plans I have tried to make a point to always include him. Part of it is I am a sucker for comeback stories but this kid seems to have both some physical talent and lots of heart.

In the future I still prefer Leno Jr as either a quality backup or LG. Kyle is miles ahead of him in the talent dept and the difference between Jay with pressure and not is too big to settle for second best solutions. For those that do not believe Kyle can get up to speed in a reasonable time you are wrong.

If Martelius would show some of the maturity and focus that Jay has right now he would deserve big money but for now not so much with his up and down play. He is perfect as a third best option when presumably Kevin White shows he is as good as we expect him to be.

On defense

Since being spoiled by the the 85 era Bears it is annoying as hell to see the Bears play anything that resembles the bend but dont break type of defense. Thats seems to be their MO for now which seems to fit Fox's personality. Fangio must be a magician to keep scores so low with these guys. Raitliff out of the picture and probably Ego as well seems to have shifted the dline from ascending to pretty damn ordinary. The Bears are going to have to throw a lot of FA money especially at some impact players to get this defense to where it needs to be.

Its hard to figure if the chargers not having any experienced WR's or whether it was the bear players that kept them to 19 points.

It was good to see Willie and Houston on the field early in the game that gave me some hope and then Lamar busted out and made those two sacks. Is it possible Shea could be a factor in the pass rush when he gets back? Here's hoping it is so.

For now the Bear defense is a riddle wrapped in a puzzle waiting for a pass rush. Shea Houston Willie and McPhee seem to be our best hope. I wonder who from the secondary could become a pass rush factor probably no one. __

As much as I'd love Gase to stay there is no way in hell this happens. If he's offered a HC gig he is outta here.

 

[Larsonite]

As much as I'd love Gase to stay there is no way in hell this happens. If he's offered a HC gig he is outta here.

Why? He wants a good if not prefect situation. He wants a quality defensive coordinator. He does not want to walk into a situation that might back fire and have to wait many years if not never, to be had coach again.

All this talk of Gase leaving for "any job" is crazy. He turned down the 49ers job because he wanted to keep Fangio. Why would he jump at a job with the Lions, Dolphins, Chargers, Titans or any other bad team?

I see his situation possibly similar to Jason Garrett. He could be the OC for a few more years and transition into our head coach. By then he'd have the team he helped define. That is what i think is in his best interest. Just look at what's happening to Mike McCoy. Do you think if McCoy gets fired he'll have another chance to be a head coach anytime soon let alone ever again.



Sent from a spaghetti monster circling the earth

 

[MEGATRON]

Willie Young looked pretty good from what I saw. It looks as though most of the game he was just asked to set the edge on the right side. In most pass rush situations, he was getting closer as the game wore on. He seemed to be just a step away. He was much quicker off the ball when he was he was in 3 point vs. stand-up.

 

[Bearly]

I'm fine with whatever the staff decides on Long but he, like Leno and some others may actually be better on the left side, especially considering he's left handed. Right now, the best 5 puts leaves Leno on the left so kind of a non issue. Last thing you want to do is force something just because you have a projection. I'm curious what happens to Fabulous next year. I have some hopes for him even though he was a late round pick without any chops. To bad he won't be getting any tutoring for the next 4 weeks.

 

[Bearly]

Why? He wants a good if not prefect situation. He wants a quality defensive coordinator. He does not want to walk into a situation that might back fire and have to wait many years if not never, to be had coach again.

All this talk of Gase leaving for "any job" is crazy. He turned down the 49ers job because he wanted to keep Fangio. Why would he jump at a job with the Lions, Dolphins, Chargers, Titans or any other bad team?

I see his situation possibly similar to Jason Garrett. He could be the OC for a few more years and transition into our head coach. By then he'd have the team he helped define. That is what i think is in his best interest. Just look at what's happening to Mike McCoy. Do you think if McCoy gets fired he'll have another chance to be a head coach anytime soon let alone ever again.



Sent from a spaghetti monster circling the earth

I kind of do. I also don't think he gets canned for the same reasons I think he gets another HC gig. He fielding this year walking wounded team and everyone knows it. That said, I could see Gase willing to stay but you'd hope the team would help him do so with a raise and asst HC title. Honestly, if you like your craft and get paid enough, I could see being a coordinator as a destination but the competitive nature of these guys sort of stops them from settling.

 

[iueyedoc]

Interesting that Anderson was making the defensive calls against SD. It seemed that the defense was talking and getting set very late presnap. Sometimes it was as if he was looking sideways talking to players at the snap. C Jones was doing it right after Sheas injury. Wonder why that changed. As said, it will be good to get SM back.

 

[Aquineas]

He is gassed late in games.

He needs to be playing in more of a rotation, but injuries have left him playing a lot more reps. Hopefully Gaston can earn some trust and take over some reps.

Which is why I still don't understand letting the other true NT on the team go, Terry Williams and not re-signing him. There's definitely got to be more to this story than we're hearing about.

 

[WindyCity]

Interesting that Anderson was making the defensive calls against SD. It seemed that the defense was talking and getting set very late presnap. Sometimes it was as if he was looking sideways talking to players at the snap. C Jones was doing it right after Sheas injury. Wonder why that changed. As said, it will be good to get SM back.

I think they are preparing to bench Jones when McClellin comes back and give Anderson some run.

Anderson struggled with Danny Woodhead, but was much better between the tackles than Jones from what I remember.

 

[meangreek]

He is gassed late in games.

He needs to be playing in more of a rotation, but injuries have left him playing a lot more reps. Hopefully Gaston can earn some trust and take over some reps.

I know, the poor guys need to be in rotation because they all practice so hard, I understand the 40 hr work week cramps thier conditioning. Wtf its the NFL- buch lazy f*cks

 

[FireFox]

I know, the poor guys need to be in rotation because they all practice so hard, I understand the 40 hr work week cramps thier conditioning. Wtf its the NFL- buch lazy f*cks

Wow, we have a winner here...

 

[FireFox]

I know, the poor guys need to be in rotation because they all practice so hard, I understand the 40 hr work week cramps thier conditioning. Wtf its the NFL- buch lazy f*cks

It must be really hard for you to waddle into work and not get tired.

 

[Noonthirtyjoe]

-(Jeremy Langford looked good and I know that it was against a bad defense, but it was the number of good things that he did. His pass blocking was good, which is a challenge for a rookie RB. His pass catching was very good, the wheel route he caught on the sideline was an impressive catch for a WR. He runs hard, has good speed, and he was routinely chipping away with 4-5 yard runs. This was all done with a mediocre OL in front of him. ) Langford was average at best running the ball, while the Oline dominated. I'm not sure how you came away with mediocre. But good post as always

 

[mattb78]

Great work as always Windy but I respectfully disagree on Kyle Long. He is not playing well at RT. LT shouldn't even be a consideration at this point and RT may be asking too much as it is.

He looks like a guard and i think he needs to go back to it. Unless he really figures things out in the 2nd half of the season he needs to be a guard again. What makes me doutbful is that he doesn't seem to have quick enough feet to play at T. He gets beat alot on the outside speed rush, which is surprising considering his athleticism.

He is a pro bowl guard so if the experiment at T fails it is no loss.

 

[WindyCity]

-(Jeremy Langford looked good and I know that it was against a bad defense, but it was the number of good things that he did. His pass blocking was good, which is a challenge for a rookie RB. His pass catching was very good, the wheel route he caught on the sideline was an impressive catch for a WR. He runs hard, has good speed, and he was routinely chipping away with 4-5 yard runs. This was all done with a mediocre OL in front of him. ) Langford was average at best running the ball, while the Oline dominated. I'm not sure how you came away with mediocre. But good post as always

Mediocre talent wise, not in the game.

I thought Langford did a nice job of maximizing what was there. He hit the hole hard a churned his legs to fall forward. A couple of times he had nice blocking and you could see the burst to the edge and up.

My issue with the OL is there are too many plays where there is just nothing, where someone catastrophically messes up. We even so Long do it on a couple of reps and get flagged.

 

[WindyCity]

Great work as always Windy but I respectfully disagree on Kyle Long. He is not playing well at RT. LT shouldn't even be a consideration at this point and RT may be asking too much as it is.

He looks like a guard and i think he needs to go back to it. Unless he really figures things out in the 2nd half of the season he needs to be a guard again. What makes me doutbful is that he doesn't seem to have quick enough feet to play at T. He gets beat alot on the outside speed rush, which is surprising considering his athleticism.

He is a pro bowl guard so if the experiment at T fails it is no loss.

Only his 8th game, but I agree there are pass protection issues.

But I also feel that many hold OTs to an unrealistic level in pass pro, very few guys are going to stone wall and dominate the pass rushers that are playing right now. Allowing the QB to step up has to be counted as a win for the OT.

I would add that the Bears OTs do not often get help. Where you saw a ton of help being given on McPhee from TEs, RBs and OGs.

 

[Nick80]

So does it count as a turning point?