Bears Lead-Up - Watson OUT; Doubs Questionable

[MickeyDavis]

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[skones]

The Bears were favored in this game before Watson & Doubs were possibly going to miss it. Now I'm not saying the game is unwinnable but I certainly wouldn't put us as favorites in that scenario. A 1st time starting QB basically throwing to an entire pass catching unit of rookies is a tough situation to be in.

As RonSwanson said, oddsmakers have been drunk. Yes he's a first time starting QB, but he's not a rookie and that's a very important distinction between the two. He's not being thrown into the fire, he's had a LONG time to prepare, and learn, and read defenses. I'd, without a doubt say that Love had better chemistry with Love and Watson than Rodgers did last season. Hell, wouldn't surprise me if Toure was a surprising safety blanket this week. I think Love has also put in the time with these guys, and they've developed a lot more chemistry than would be typical given the perception of them.

Love, through his first seasons on the bench, up until now, hasn't been afforded the bias that say Rodgers had been. These have been reps, through and through, with all of them. That's not, "these are my guys and these are the ones who will ACTUALLY be catching the ball." The mental edge, coupled with the catch em by surprise, plays to our advantage in a major way.

I DO think the Packers have cracked the code to a degree, by letting Rodgers learn and Love after him. Am I saying that Love will be a HOFer, absolutely not. Do I think we get that middling, maybe top 10-15 from him? Yes. The rest is gravy. I'd expect top 15 this year. And before you ask who, Stafford, Purdy, G. Smith (flash in the pan), Dobbs, Young, Ridder, Mayfield, Fields, Goff, Jones, Wilson, Garoppalo, Richardson, Stroud, Tannehill, Jones, are all guys I feel comfortable saying he'll be better than this year. I DO think Pickett, Carr, Watson, and Howell, are your, "Oh, he can do that?" guys along with Love. Something weird with Cousins going on, idk what to make of it. Same goes for Dak.

PS. What does a young, fast, dumb defense do? Kills the guy with the ball. We're not playing against a vet QB. Unless you think Fields is going to be calling audibles and reading our defense all day, and I don't. We can play straight up until he proves otherwise. And if he lights up through the air throwing to Claypool while Moore is blanketed by Jaire? Kudos. Tip to the cap. Eberflus aint the guy to bust that open IMO.

[MVP2110]

The Bears were favored in this game before Watson & Doubs were possibly going to miss it. Now I'm not saying the game is unwinnable but I certainly wouldn't put us as favorites in that scenario. A 1st time starting QB basically throwing to an entire pass catching unit of rookies is a tough situation to be in.

As RonSwanson said, oddsmakers have been drunk. Yes he's a first time starting QB, but he's not a rookie and that's a very important distinction between the two. He's not being thrown into the fire, he's had a LONG time to prepare, and learn, and read defenses. I'd, without a doubt say that Love had better chemistry with Love and Watson than Rodgers did last season. Hell, wouldn't surprise me if Toure was a surprising safety blanket this week. I think Love has also put in the time with these guys, and they've developed a lot more chemistry than would be typical given the perception of them.

Love, through his first seasons on the bench, up until now, hasn't been afforded the bias that say Rodgers had been. These have been reps, through and through, with all of them. That's not, "these are my guys and these are the ones who will ACTUALLY be catching the ball." The mental edge, coupled with the catch em by surprise, plays to our advantage in a major way.

I DO think the Packers have cracked the code to a degree, by letting Rodgers learn and Love after him. Am I saying that Love will be a HOFer, absolutely not. Do I think we get that middling, maybe top 10-15 from him? Yes. The rest is gravy. I'd expect top 15 this year. And before you ask who, Stafford, Purdy, G. Smith (flash in the pan), Dobbs, Young, Ridder, Mayfield, Fields, Goff, Jones, Wilson, Garoppalo, Richardson, Stroud, Tannehill, Jones, are all guys I feel comfortable saying he'll be better than this year. I DO think Pickett, Carr, Watson, and Howell, are your, "Oh, he can do that?" guys along with Love. Something weird with Cousins going on, idk what to make of it. Same goes for Dak.

PS. What does a young, fast, dumb defense do? Kills the guy with the ball. We're not playing against a vet QB. Unless you think Fields is going to be calling audibles and reading our defense all day, and I don't. We can play straight up until he proves otherwise. And if he lights up through the air throwing to Claypool while Moore is blanketed by Jaire? Kudos. Tip to the cap. Eberflus aint the guy to bust that open IMO.

On one hand I do agree that Vegas seems to be low on the Packers this year imo, but with that said when basically every sports book & national analyst is low on the Packers maybe it's not them being too low, maybe it's us being too high. I think if things break right for the Packers then we could win 10 or 11 games, but as we see right out of the gate, if we sustain any sort of injuries we don't have much depth. A WR group of Reed, Toure, Heath, & Wicks is not a winning WR room. If Love has to miss any time I have zero confidence in Clifford winning a game(only 8 of 32 QBs last year started all 17 games so chances are Love will miss atleast one game). There are reasons to be optimistic and reasons to be pessimistic this year basically and acting like we know which side is right and which is wrong is foolish to me

[Turk Nowitzki]

I just want to see Love operate the offense without any caveats and see if he sinks or swims on his own game. Potentially no Watson/Doubs is a huge caveat.

[skones]

On one hand I do agree that Vegas seems to be low on the Packers this year imo, but with that said when basically every sports book & national analyst is low on the Packers maybe it's not them being too low, maybe it's us being too high. I think if things break right for the Packers then we could win 10 or 11 games, but as we see right out of the gate, if we sustain any sort of injuries we don't have much depth. A WR group of Reed, Toure, Heath, & Wicks is not a winning WR room. If Love has to miss any time I have zero confidence in Clifford winning a game(only 8 of 32 QBs last year started all 17 games so chances are Love will miss atleast one game). There are reasons to be optimistic and reasons to be pessimistic this year basically and acting like we know which side is right and which is wrong is foolish to me

Sportsbooks yes, but analysts no? I guess when I watch NFC North Previews and you've got national "pundits" like Nick Wright, Chris Simms, Chris Broussard, etc. having us better than people think, winning the division, or playoff bound while the Bears are dead last, this game taking "one of the best coaching jobs ever" to win the game just seemed like a wild take. It seems you've backtracked on that, so I'll just leave it at that.

I've got us at 9-8. I don't think that's me having us too high at all. It's more that I look across the aisle and see a team that won 3 games last year with a QB who can't throw the football.

[WeekapaugGroove]

The Bears were favored in this game before Watson & Doubs were possibly going to miss it. Now I'm not saying the game is unwinnable but I certainly wouldn't put us as favorites in that scenario. A 1st time starting QB basically throwing to an entire pass catching unit of rookies is a tough situation to be in.

As RonSwanson said, oddsmakers have been drunk. Yes he's a first time starting QB, but he's not a rookie and that's a very important distinction between the two. He's not being thrown into the fire, he's had a LONG time to prepare, and learn, and read defenses. I'd, without a doubt say that Love had better chemistry with Love and Watson than Rodgers did last season. Hell, wouldn't surprise me if Toure was a surprising safety blanket this week. I think Love has also put in the time with these guys, and they've developed a lot more chemistry than would be typical given the perception of them.

Love, through his first seasons on the bench, up until now, hasn't been afforded the bias that say Rodgers had been. These have been reps, through and through, with all of them. That's not, "these are my guys and these are the ones who will ACTUALLY be catching the ball." The mental edge, coupled with the catch em by surprise, plays to our advantage in a major way.

I DO think the Packers have cracked the code to a degree, by letting Rodgers learn and Love after him. Am I saying that Love will be a HOFer, absolutely not. Do I think we get that middling, maybe top 10-15 from him? Yes. The rest is gravy. I'd expect top 15 this year. And before you ask who, Stafford, Purdy, G. Smith (flash in the pan), Dobbs, Young, Ridder, Mayfield, Fields, Goff, Jones, Wilson, Garoppalo, Richardson, Stroud, Tannehill, Jones, are all guys I feel comfortable saying he'll be better than this year. I DO think Pickett, Carr, Watson, and Howell, are your, "Oh, he can do that?" guys along with Love. Something weird with Cousins going on, idk what to make of it. Same goes for Dak.

PS. What does a young, fast, dumb defense do? Kills the guy with the ball. We're not playing against a vet QB. Unless you think Fields is going to be calling audibles and reading our defense all day, and I don't. We can play straight up until he proves otherwise. And if he lights up through the air throwing to Claypool while Moore is blanketed by Jaire? Kudos. Tip to the cap. Eberflus aint the guy to bust that open IMO.

But Love just might not be good regardless of the preparation the past few years. That happens with like half of the QBs drafted in round 1. For whatever reason they just aren't good enough once you play them in real games. There's no fail safe formula or teams would stop drafting busts.

I'm optimistic and there are some good signs with Jordan but at this point even the Packers coaching staff doesn't really know how this is going to turn out.

That unknown has me more excited to watch this season than I have been for a while.

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[MVP2110]

On one hand I do agree that Vegas seems to be low on the Packers this year imo, but with that said when basically every sports book & national analyst is low on the Packers maybe it's not them being too low, maybe it's us being too high. I think if things break right for the Packers then we could win 10 or 11 games, but as we see right out of the gate, if we sustain any sort of injuries we don't have much depth. A WR group of Reed, Toure, Heath, & Wicks is not a winning WR room. If Love has to miss any time I have zero confidence in Clifford winning a game(only 8 of 32 QBs last year started all 17 games so chances are Love will miss atleast one game). There are reasons to be optimistic and reasons to be pessimistic this year basically and acting like we know which side is right and which is wrong is foolish to me

Sportsbooks yes, but analysts no? I guess when I watch NFC North Previews and you've got national "pundits" like Nick Wright, Chris Simms, Chris Broussard, etc. having us better than people think, winning the division, or playoff bound while the Bears are dead last, this game taking "one of the best coaching jobs ever" to win the game just seemed like a wild take. It seems you've backtracked on that, so I'll just leave it at that.

I've got us at 9-8. I don't think that's me having us too high at all. It's more that I look across the aisle and see a team that won 3 games last year with a QB who can't throw the football.

I said it would take one of MLF's best coaching performances to win if both Watson or Doubs are out. If one or both of them plays that changes things drastically, but if Love goes into his 2nd career start with all rookies and Toure/Deguara to throw to, well I see that as a really tough situation for him. Prime Rodgers wasn't even that good when faced with similar circumstances, think of the Arizona game a few years back when we started Cobb, EQ, & Amari Rodgers, we won the game but Rodgers certainly had one of his worst performances that year that game. Now I don't think the Bears are some juggernaut or anything but I also think they are better than last year, I think they are probably around 7 or 8 wins, I think the DJ Moore acquisition was huge for them. I'm picking the Packers to win because I assume atleast one of Doubs or Watson plays, but if they are both out I'm expecting very little from our offense that day

[skones]

But Love just might not be good regardless of the preparation the past few years. That happens with like half of the QBs drafted in round 1. For whatever reason they just aren't good enough once you play them in real games. There's no fail safe formula or teams would stop drafting busts.

I'm optimistic and there are some good signs with Jordan but at this point even the Packers coaching staff doesn't really know how this is going to turn out.

That unknown has me more excited to watch this season than I have been for a while.

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But again, he's not just a QB drafted in Round 1. He's a QB who's a 3 year pro. Again, it's an enormous differentiator. It's not the same as a guy thrown into the fire year one and flopping (understandably so, but NFL teams just like to ignore that in a weird way). If we're being honest, what have we seen from Love between last year against Philly and this preseason? It's been a whole lot of good. Some inconsistency, some warts, sure, but A LOT there. That TD throw to Reed was ELITE stuff. That shouldn't be ignored. Lean in baby.

[Ron Swanson]

I mean, I predicted the team to go 10-7 so it's not like I couldn't see an outcome where Love sucks and we go 5-12 or something. I take more issue with how dumb every tidbit of outside "analysis" about this Packers roster has been the last 6-months. Anyone who's watched a grain of film can see the difference between Love and Fields as quarterbacks is just night and day. Top-5 O-line, Top-5 running attack, Top-5 secondary. I'll be stunned if we're straight up terrible this year, which is what you'd basically have to believe in order to put us dead last in the division. I mean, just look at that Bears roster top-to-bottom. Absolute booty cheeks.

[MVP2110]

I mean, I predicted the team to go 10-7 so it's not like I couldn't see an outcome where Love sucks and we go 5-12 or something. I take more issue with how dumb every tidbit of outside "analysis" about this Packers roster has been the last 6-months. Anyone who's watched a grain of film can see the difference between Love and Fields as quarterbacks is just night and day. Top-5 O-line, Top-5 running attack, Top-5 secondary. I'll be stunned if we're straight up terrible this year, which is what you'd basically have to believe in order to put us dead last in the division. I mean, just look at that Bears roster top-to-bottom. Absolute booty cheeks.

I used to be a massive defender of Love through his first two years when everybody was calling the pick super dumb or saying he was a bust, now I feel like the pessimist because I'm not ready to say he's good either. We frankly don't know, he's played 7 quarters of meaningful NFL action, 6 of which were bad. Sure he looked good in the preseason but that was mainly going against backups and generic schemes so I don't really take anything of preseason action. I'm excited to find out what we have in Love but he could be awesome terrible or anywhere in between

[ReasonablySober]

I think I predicted 13-4. That said



I know the talent is there but if MLF just coaches them to a winning record it will be pretty incredible.

[Treebeard]

A wild card for the game: with Watson and Doubs out, and a revamped WR group, Malik Heath steps into the Lazard "Goon" role with Jones and Dillon getting heavier receiving work than originally planned.

[ReasonablySober]

Doubs is back, Watson isn't.

[MickeyDavis]

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[WeekapaugGroove]

Well that's very encouraging for Doubs. It's hard to really gauge severity of injuries this time of the year because teams are rightfully cautious with guys.

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[Reddeye]

Practice was no pads. Curious what the injury report says.

[WeekapaugGroove]

But Love just might not be good regardless of the preparation the past few years. That happens with like half of the QBs drafted in round 1. For whatever reason they just aren't good enough once you play them in real games. There's no fail safe formula or teams would stop drafting busts.

I'm optimistic and there are some good signs with Jordan but at this point even the Packers coaching staff doesn't really know how this is going to turn out.

That unknown has me more excited to watch this season than I have been for a while.

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But again, he's not just a QB drafted in Round 1. He's a QB who's a 3 year pro. Again, it's an enormous differentiator. It's not the same as a guy thrown into the fire year one and flopping (understandably so, but NFL teams just like to ignore that in a weird way). If we're being honest, what have we seen from Love between last year against Philly and this preseason? It's been a whole lot of good. Some inconsistency, some warts, sure, but A LOT there. That TD throw to Reed was ELITE stuff. That shouldn't be ignored. Lean in baby.

I get what you're saying but if simply sitting and learning was the sure fire path then teams should have been falling over themselves to get Trey Lance.

Like I don't think guys like Burrow, Herbert, Allen would be better QBs right now if they spent more time on the bench.

I don't think there's any real formula for this with the exception of if your Oline sucks it can be very very detrimental to a young QB.

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[MickeyDavis]

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Bahk

“The guys I’ve heard of, the Cliffys (Chad Clifton), the Charles Woodsons of the world, the guys who never showed up to practice, and they hit a point where they knew how to get ready, and I think to myself that I can just show up on game day and do what I need to do.”

Pro Football Focus ranked Bakhtiari as the NFL’s fifth-best pass-blocking tackle last season. He didn’t allow a sack or quarterback hit in 339 pass-blocking snaps over 11 games.

[Frank Nova]

Doubs is back, Watson isn't.

What a bummer for Cwat. Glad Doubs is trending up tho. We definitely need atleast 1 of them active for Sunday, they’re the veteran WRs on the roster now lol.

[MickeyDavis]

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