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OhioIrish

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Williams really needs to improve his accuracy. Too many throws are off target with him, and it doesn't allow them to sustain drives in the manner needed. He certainly has the clutch part down, but a lot of the come from behind stuff is set up by his inability to consistently throw the ball accurately. And, with the come from behind rate this past season being key to their record/success, improving here is critical, because you can't expect the come from behind wins and the turnover rate to continue given what history tells us.
100%. He is also not great at just executing a pro offense efficiently— a la Stafford, Goff, Mahomes. Not saying he needs to get to that level, but everything just feels so difficult sometimes because his diagnosis and reaction are not great. He relies on his athleticism to create chaos in the secondary too frequently and it leads to low completion rate, bad reads, and disorganization.
 

MKEagle

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CW explicitly mentioned accuracy and footwork as things to work on in the offseason. He knows there's room for improvement and an offseason worth of studying Ben Johnson's scheme should provide a significant step forward in his progression.

That said, the HC and QB are solidified for the future, paired with CW being on a rookie contract for 2 more years, which means they got the window. The salary cap is whatever; that will always be an issue if you're consistently in the playoffs. Do whatever it takes to win now.

I'd have Burden constantly working with CW in the offseason. Have that connection hit the ground running at the start of next season.
 

MacIrish75

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We got 7 months to talk offseason transactions, but this is 100% accurate. That play came right out of a movie. I've never witnessed Soldier field get that quiet with the offense on the field.

Side note I randomly tailgated next to Silvy last night before he had to do his pregame show. Had some interesting conversations about the stadium developments...

Gary Bears, let’s ride!
 

drayer54

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Jiggafini19Deux

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CW explicitly mentioned accuracy and footwork as things to work on in the offseason. He knows there's room for improvement and an offseason worth of studying Ben Johnson's scheme should provide a significant step forward in his progression.

That said, the HC and QB are solidified for the future, paired with CW being on a rookie contract for 2 more years, which means they got the window. The salary cap is whatever; that will always be an issue if you're consistently in the playoffs. Do whatever it takes to win now.

I'd have Burden constantly working with CW in the offseason. Have that connection hit the ground running at the start of next season.
It didn't help that the coaching staff his rookie season were idiots and were subsequently fired. They lost 10 games in a row in 2024.

He completed 58% of his passes in the regular season and threw 7 INT. Two playoff games, he was 52% and 5 INT. The play calling should have shorter routes and quicker throws. Lean on the running game, but if you're throwing for 5-10 yards a pop for high completion throws it will make life easier.
 

MKEagle

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It didn't help that the coaching staff his rookie season were idiots and were subsequently fired. They lost 10 games in a row in 2024.

He completed 58% of his passes in the regular season and threw 7 INT. Two playoff games, he was 52% and 5 INT. The play calling should have shorter routes and quicker throws. Lean on the running game, but if you're throwing for 5-10 yards a pop for high completion throws it will make life easier.
For as much as CW will benefit from advancing within this offense during the offseason. Ben Johnson will equally benefit by understanding what did/didn't work.
 

Crazy Balki

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Williams really needs to improve his accuracy. Too many throws are off target with him, and it doesn't allow them to sustain drives in the manner needed. He certainly has the clutch part down, but a lot of the come from behind stuff is set up by his inability to consistently throw the ball accurately. And, with the come from behind rate this past season being key to their record/success, improving here is critical, because you can't expect the come from behind wins and the turnover rate to continue given what history tells us.
He does, but a vast majority of incompletions last night were just flat out drops. Loveland, for all the good he's done this year, had something like 3-4 drops by himself. And Odunze's hands continue to be a major problem. Even Burden had a drop. It was insane the number of throws that were flat out dropped last night. It's been an issue all year and it was doubly so yesterday.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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He does, but a vast majority of incompletions last night were just flat out drops. Loveland, for all the good he's done this year, had something like 3-4 drops by himself. And Odunze's hands continue to be a major problem. Even Burden had a drop. It was insane the number of throws that were flat out dropped last night. It's been an issue all year and it was doubly so yesterday.
Agreed. I do think a lot of the drops come from when the play breaks down, too. There was one where the ball was slightly behind Loveland but it hit him right in his hands. Bottom line, he was 58% for the regular season which is down at the bottom compared to the rest of the league. He needs to get better. The play calling can assist with that, but it comes down to CW doing mechanical and fundamental individual improvement where he needs to.

There were 3-4 times last night as well where Williams would roll out, by design, and it was directly into pressure/an unblocked D Lineman. Hard to tell if that was due to missed assignments or if the Rams were just on it, but if you're rolling your QB out directly into the face of a large human it isn't good regardless.

They were 12-7 and beat Green Bay 2/3 times. They started the season 0-2. There is so much to like and be happy about. It really was a great season by most standards, but especially what we've been used to for a long time. Too long. Williams appears to be a serious athlete that wants to get better and lead the franchise.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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From my unprofessional opinion, CW's accuracy would go up about 5% at least if he took a little heat off the fast ball.
Thank you for mentioning this. Midway through the second quarter, I said out loud to the room it looked like he was putting something extra on his throws compared to what we've been seeing. Thought maybe it was just me.

Touch is probably another thing he has to work on.
 

MKEagle

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Agreed. I do think a lot of the drops come from when the play breaks down, too. There was one where the ball was slightly behind Loveland but it hit him right in his hands. Bottom line, he was 58% for the regular season which is down at the bottom compared to the rest of the league. He needs to get better. The play calling can assist with that, but it comes down to CW doing mechanical and fundamental individual improvement where he needs to.

There were 3-4 times last night as well where Williams would roll out, by design, and it was directly into pressure/an unblocked D Lineman. Hard to tell if that was due to missed assignments or if the Rams were just on it, but if you're rolling your QB out directly into the face of a large human it isn't good regardless.

They were 12-7 and beat Green Bay 2/3 times. They started the season 0-2. There is so much to like and be happy about. It really was a great season by most standards, but especially what we've been used to for a long time. Too long. Williams appears to be a serious athlete that wants to get better and lead the franchise.
A few things stood out watching it live. The backside ends were clearly coached to stay disciplined for counters and rollouts, and it felt like they never fell for the play action. Also, the speed on that Rams defense is real—it surprised them a few times. Swift's 3rd down run inside the 5 towards the end of the 4th. That should have been a touchdown, but they closed that gap real quick.
 

Crazy Balki

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Agreed. I do think a lot of the drops come from when the play breaks down, too. There was one where the ball was slightly behind Loveland but it hit him right in his hands. Bottom line, he was 58% for the regular season which is down at the bottom compared to the rest of the league. He needs to get better. The play calling can assist with that, but it comes down to CW doing mechanical and fundamental individual improvement where he needs to.

There were 3-4 times last night as well where Williams would roll out, by design, and it was directly into pressure/an unblocked D Lineman. Hard to tell if that was due to missed assignments or if the Rams were just on it, but if you're rolling your QB out directly into the face of a large human it isn't good regardless.

They were 12-7 and beat Green Bay 2/3 times. They started the season 0-2. There is so much to like and be happy about. It really was a great season by most standards, but especially what we've been used to for a long time. Too long. Williams appears to be a serious athlete that wants to get better and lead the franchise.
Didn't help that they lost Ozzy and had to bump Thuney outside to LT, so there was probably a decent amount of miscommunication or missed assignments especially against a really good DL.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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I definitely got a sense of why Rams DC Chris Shula is getting HC interest within the League. I know because he is Don Shula's grandson and played with McVay at Miami OH people think he's some kind of nepo baby, but that defense looked tremendously organized and they were excellent in the second half minus the crazy throw at the end of regulation.

He's been an assistant with the Rams under Wade Phillips, Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris. Not too shabby.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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With Bienemy going back to the Chiefs to be OC, Duce Staley's name is coming up as his replacement as RB Coach.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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The Ravens hiring Bears OC Declan Doyle to be their OC might have something to do with this.

Wonder what the Ravens would be willing to offer.
 

The Backer

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How does the Salary Cap work here again? Is this capology right?
  • current 2026 cap hit is ~$28.5M
  • still has $12M prorated for the remaining 3 years of his contract
  • so they'd save about $16.5M on the 2026 cap if they trade him prior to June 1
  • they'd save $24.5M on the 2026 cap if they trade post June 1, but I believe they carry $8M on 2027's cap.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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Anything that gets him off the books for us is a win IMO
Yeah, assuming whoever takes him doesn't send bad money back in return. If they can just trade him for picks and not have to take on another player from the Ravens or whomever, cool.

Let's hope he gets cleared medically, too.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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Chicago is a wasteland of bad decisions.
Interesting take.

The proposed stadium site in Illinois is in the suburbs, land the Bears ownership purchased before considering infrastructure, taxes, etc. and the franchise is owned by the McCaskey family, not the City of Chicago.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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$2B doesn't seem like a lot for a stadium these days. Curious to see what the bathrooms and escalators look like. The Bears still need to pay for the Soldier Field renovations, too. It also doesn't seem like it will be big enough to host a Super Bowl.

A lot of water carrying and political posturing going on here. The Bears are likely going to be in Arlington Heights, IL. A compromise is going to be met to get that stadium built. The Bears already bought the land.

It's going to play out. The Bears are jerking everybody around and the media is repeating the franchise's talking points.
 
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