Thread: Official Bears vs. Vikings postgame discussion

Originally Posted by Dibbzz

As bad as the passing game is it's still nice to eke out a win. I just think Ponder needs to be more confident in himself as he seemed to be in the first part of the season. I'm not sure if his play this season has been due to lack of talent or just is given a conservative playbook by the coaching staff. Either way there is no way we can simply rely on Peterson to have 200+ yards and two scores and make the playoffs. Am I the only one worried/concerned by Peterson having TOO MANY carries in that perhaps we could be overworking him and shortening his career? I love AP and all but I want him to be healthy and productive for a few more years.

Great game by Harrison Smith. Hope Jefferson is okay with that shot he took. Nice job the the defensive line putting pressure on Cutler.

Overall not a pretty win but one that many analysts didn't think we could win. Ponder definitely needs to put on his big boy pants next week and get some confidence and make some better reads/throws.

Great post my friend.

AD is gonna be AD. I don't think you can wear him out with reps. If he needs a rest Toby can come in and get a nice run or two like he did today.

Besides, next year, after Musgrove is shit canned, and we add some WR's that know how to run routes, the passing game will take a few reps away from AD.

Originally Posted by snowinapril

How much input did Frasier have in the draft?

I hope that he contributed. I am just saying that there has been a lot of smack talk about Frasier and Speilman for where we were at last year and where we are this season. I am saying that the team has gotten better through the efforts of both Coach and Speilman.

The real decision is what is done about Ponder for next season. It isn't a problem, it is more of a decision to be made.

Another great post from a old PPO stalwart.....

I'm onboard with keeping Leslie and the defensive coaching staff but I think that a change has to happen with the OL coach, WR coach and QB coach. Musgrove, well, I wouldn't be to upset if he was sent packing as well, however, I'm not so sure that he isn't being handicapped a bit by the WR's he has to work with.

Give him one more year, if they add WR's and the passing game doesn't improve then his butt should go as well.

On a side note, how the draft input works is.....

End of the year - Coaches team assessment by position to FO pukes

FO pukes then compile data they have on the rooks the scouts have been looking at as well as Vets that are going to be FA's or might be available via trade.

If the check book allows, a Vet is added, if the check book doesn't allow, the coaches evaluate the rooks, and Ricky stacks his draft board accordingly and drafts how they fall.

Originally Posted by NodakPaul

Yup, we had the 3rd overall pick. And do you know what we did with that pick? We traded DOWN to acquire additional picks and STILL got the guy we wanted. Do you know who we got with the extra picks we got for that #3? Jarius Wright. And oh yeah, that extra 4th rounder also allowed us to trade back up into the first round to get Smith.

There was a LOT of strategy and moving going on in this draft, and overall it was very good - not just in round 1, but in the whole draft. Take a look at everything that happened in this draft. Give Spielman some credit here, he didn't just wait for players to fall into his lap like you are suggesting. He worked this draft and did a damn good job.

1. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Cleveland in exchange of draft picks.
1. ..... (B) MATT KALIL (4), T, USC. Choice from Cleveland for 1A.
1. ..... (C) HARRISON SMITH (29), S, Notre Dame. Choice from Baltimore for 2 and 4A.
2. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Baltimore for 1C
3. ..... JOSH ROBINSON (66), CB, Central Florida
4. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Baltimore for 1C
4. ..... (B) JARIUS WRIGHT (118), WR, Arkansas. Choice from Cleveland for 1A.
4. ..... (C) RHETT ELLISON (128), TE, USC. Compensatory Selection.
4. ..... (D) GREG CHILDS, (134), WR, Arkansas. Compensatory Selection.
5. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Detroit for 7C and 4th in ‘13
5...... (B) ROBERT BLANTON (139), DB, Notre Dame. Choice from Cleveland for 1A.
6. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Washington for D. McNabb
6. ..... (B) BLAIR WALSH (175), K, Georgia. Choice from Cleveland in the Jayme Mitchell trade.
7. ..... (A) AUDIE COLE (210), LB, NC State
7. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Tennessee for 6th in ‘13. Choice from Cleveland for 1A.
7. ..... (C) TREVOR GUYTON (219), DL, California. Choice from Detroit for 5A.
7. ..... NO CHOICE. Traded to Detroit for 5A and 4th in ‘13. Choice from New England in the Randy Moss trade.

BTW, only Guyton and Childs are not on the active roster right now. 5 of those drafted are starting right now. Recognize success and give some credit where credit is due.

Just when I begin to think that I am a Viking fan, you post something as brilliant as this. Well done, sir. Bravo!

Originally Posted by NodakPaul

AP is a beast. The defense came to play. Ponder was underwhelming.

Discuss.

I didn't like the way the DL allowed Cutler so much time, but the defense did do its job for the most part, especially on the back end........Ponder did what was asked of him. Nothing more, nothing less. Remember, this team is built to support AD, and not to be a 300 yards a game team. Atleast right now it isn't.

That gets me to what I've been thinking of late......I'm 100% convinced that the staff ranked their priority of effort with respect to building like this:

a. Secondary
b. OL
c. WR/TE

with the thought in mind to fix the back end of the defense this year. Improve the OL this year (they still have pass blocking issues) in the running game and work the passing game a bit.

Check in the block for back end, check in the box for run blocking....Passing is another story. I still wonder what the loss of Childs had to do with the development of our passing game.

Look, I'm not saying that he would have been an instant Randy Moss type of guy, but I think his loss left a big hole in our WR corps that the staff now has to address again either in the draft or via FA. My guess, they will do both. Add a vet like Bowe and bring in a big possession WR like we are starting to see populate other teams roster via the draft (possibly their first pick).

Originally Posted by RK.

Looks like we drop another spot in next years draft.

Is that a bad thing? I don't think so, puts us right in the area were the big possession WR's should be taken.

DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com
Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com
Terrance Williams, WR, Baylor, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com

Again back to my comment on Childs......I sure would have liked to see that kid grow over the next two or three years. Exactly what Ponder needs. Someone that is a security blanket in much the same mold as Marshall is for Cutler.

Anyone reading what the coach is spreading....

"We won the way we're designed to win," coach Leslie Frazier said. "We talk all the time to our team about what Viking ball is, and today was a perfect example of it.

"Run the football effectively, play great defense against the run, come up with turnovers and play outstanding special teams."

"We're probably not going to win a lot of games when we throw the football 40 times," Frazier said. "That's not who we are. That's not the way we're built right now."

Game plan's success renders Ponder moot | StarTribune.com

2 things stood out to me about this game from the first 5 min until the last 1:32.

1. the bears were not as hungry for this game as the Vikings were. not sure if it was the first qtr and how it was set, or if it was just the way they finally seemed to take the game in their hands and win the #$%!#$% thing.

2. there are many stars in the NFL, many incredible athletes, players who demand extra attention and play with elite skills. then there's AP.. 9 men are SOLEY LOOKING TO STOP him every snap he's on the field. the other 2 guys are shadowing AP. ad watching the rest of the team. yet he still.. burns, cuts, outruns, runs over, stiff arms his way to the end zone. i know he's got some great blocking @ times, and D misques.. but his level of consitancy is unbreakable, he WILL do what he can to get every yard.


other then that.. D stepped up! SPT stepped up! Ponder.. didn't loose the game for us.

was good seeing the bears faces as smith ran it back.. shoulda been 2 defencive TD's but they got the job done! garbage time TD just made it look closer then it was. i can't understand how campbell stepped in there and had success.. but in that soft prevent, i guess even ponders made passes.

great game! tuff win!

DiGiTaL

W!

Originally Posted by Marrdro

People who struggled....Ponder - One bad throw and I still like that they took the deep shot. Opened things up underneath a bit which helped when it came to a point when we needed to convert 3rd downs via the passing game (7 of them by the way).

If you only saw Ponder make one bad throw in that game, then you musy have spent a lot of time in the kitchen making sammiches.

He did have 7 passing 1st downs in 11 drives, Cutler had 16 in comparison & AD had 8, but only 1 of those 7 were on a scoring drive. In fact, on all our scoring drives in totality Ponder threw a total of 1 pass. We ended up punting on 7 of those & Ponder threw a pick on another one of those drives.

BTW, did you see how many receivers were open this week or are you still adamant he has no one to throw to?

Originally Posted by Chazz

I am still amazed at that. Its unheard of to have that kind of success in a draft. In his first year in charge Spielman has more than earned his keep.

Lets not forget Spielman has had his hand in the draft since 2007. He had a decent draft this past year, but that is only part of the job. His FA signings for a good share have been horseshit. With one of our biggest needs being WR, Spielman was busy throwing 25 million at a bust TE, while the Bears GM was busy making a trade for one of the best WR's this season & the Buc's inked Vincent Jackson (the same day Carlson was signed). He then signs a WR who is suspended for the first part of the season, has a lot of trouble catching balls, but can do an impressive somersault.

Still in need of a WR after Harvin goes down, he signs a RB instead. While he should be busy trying to rework Harvin's contract & signing him long term, instead he's busy working on re-signing Loadholt, who is still drawing several false start penalties. despite 4 years experience.

What he does with Ponder, how he handles Harvin's contract, our WR needs & next years draft & FA remains to be seen. Let's also see how good he is at retaining the good players we have.

We need a GM who can do more than just have 1 good draft when he has the number 3 pick. There's more to the job than just the draft. I think some people lose sight of that.