A few gameday observations from the Chicago game

[StickierBuns]

I re-watched the game (love the NFL+ 30 minute replays) and watching in a more rational state, the first 3 quarters for JJ were really not as awful as they seemed watching it live.  As opposed to the 4th quarter when he was getting great protection, he was getting instant pressure on him most plays.  He had two huge drops by Jefferson and Thielen on 3rd down which would have kept drives going and helped him build some momentum.  I didn't think the passes were thrown too hard, they seemed just right and where they needed to be, Jefferson was coming back for the ball just didn't create a basket for the ball and Thielen didn't focus on the catch all the way through.  In addition, he missed out on another potential 3rd down 1st down when Jefferson inexplicably ran the route 1 yard short of the first.  That is 3 drives that he could stayed on the field and built on a big 1st down conversion.  The defense keeping it close was huge and then I think Mason helped picked the offense up, not just in the yardage he was getting, but the powerful way he was running, think it gave the team some swagger back.

Yeah, I think a decent amount of people that took on a real 2nd look realized it wasn't as bad as the emotional part of seeing it live the first half. He was under pressure a bunch early, they were loading his left side to take advantage of the weak link of Skule and try and overwhelm the rookie Jackson. Its going to be a lot better when The Saw gets back, no line weak links. And the stadium was LOUD. Bear fans were stoked with the bright lights of MNF. Seriously, I defy any guy playing his first real game in the NFL to thrive in that environment.

[pattersaur]

Yeah, I think a decent amount of people that took on a real 2nd look realized it wasn't as bad as the emotional part of seeing it live the first half. He was under pressure a bunch early, they were loading his left side to take advantage of the weak link of Skule and try and overwhelm the rookie Jackson. Its going to be a lot better when The Saw gets back, no line weak links. And the stadium was LOUD. Bear fans were stoked with the bright lights of MNF. Seriously, I defy any guy playing his first real game in the NFL to thrive in that environment.

I was never worried about JJM specifically. It would take a LOT to get me off that hype train at this point haha. I'm biased and know that. But I was still surprised so many others were being so critical of his play. It wasn't him-- it was the whole team. This wasn't TJack being first read or run, or Ponder throwing lame ducks and eating 9 sacks... it was an offense badly out of sync and a 22 year old kid with no one around him stepping up. That's what was so frustrating. We all think the Vikings handed McCarthy the keys to the Porsche but the way the team was playing the other night, it was a beat up clunker. Thankfully they all gelled and figured it out. It was impressive to watch them put the pieces together in real time and then execute. Suddenly the play clock wasn't ticking to zero on every play. Suddenly McCarthy's passes weren't getting batted down at the line. Suddenly the defense got a SACK! It was a lot of fun and has me excited for the rest of the season.

[badgervike]

I honestly think a big part of the crappy start was also KOCs strategy to give starters minimal playing time in the preseason. I'm not saying it's wrong to try to protect your starters from injury and give the second and third teams some time to impress...but you have to expect some time to shake off the rust when it comes to real game experience.

[purplefaithful]

I honestly think a big part of the crappy start was also KOCs strategy to give starters minimal playing time in the preseason.  I'm not saying it's wrong to try to protect your starters from injury and give the second and third teams some time to impress...but you have to expect some time to shake off the rust when it comes to real game experience.

Its the way of the NFL now...

Joint practices are a HC's way to measure their starters, pre-season games for depth determination. 

It certainly manifests itself WK1 of the regular seasons play and I suspect it'll bleed into Wk2 as well.

[Zanary]

I honestly think a big part of the crappy start was also KOCs strategy to give starters minimal playing time in the preseason.  I'm not saying it's wrong to try to protect your starters from injury and give the second and third teams some time to impress...but you have to expect some time to shake off the rust when it comes to real game experience.

I thought that at the time, plus some vanilla early play-calling to try and ease the young'un into things...but, the whole team did look out of sync and I was worried that our old prime time curse was returning. Apparently, the kid stepped into his role and the team found its rhythm as a result.

I'd prefer he NOT wait until the 4th quarter to get things figured out, in the future....