Midseason Night Grades

[3irty1]

Could be. I don't remember Capers talking about it, but I don't remember very many of the excuses, I mean explanations Capers gives!

Didn't the Bears kind of go after Shields a bit, and complete a bunch of passes to his guy? I seem to remember McGinn or someone pointing that out.

I think Shields has been OK, but not close to pro bowl level, and certainly not a $10M man. Still his typical frail self physically, which, of course, is not his fault just a reality with him..

I've never been much of a Shields fan. IMO he's really good at just one thing and it just so happens that the one thing he's good at is defending the go or 9 route. Its the route that gets WR's paid so it makes sense that it would get CB's paid as well. It seems like we bought high on Shields as his one skill is currently a premium. Pretty much the same reason I didn't want Byrd. With the tackling issues we've seen from Shields and House, I can't help but wonder if that 10 Mil would have been better spent on Vonte Davis. On 80% of plays, it seems to me like Davis is the better corner.

[Guiness]

I've never been much of a Shields fan. IMO he's really good at just one thing and it just so happens that the one thing he's good at is defending the go or 9 route. Its the route that gets WR's paid so it makes sense that it would get CB's paid as well. It seems like we bought high on Shields as his one skill is currently a premium. Pretty much the same reason I didn't want Byrd. With the tackling issues we've seen from Shields and House, I can't help but wonder if that 10 Mil would have been better spent on Vonte Davis. On 80% of plays, it seems to me like Davis is the better corner.

I agree that Davis is better on 80% of the plays - the thing is, Shields is better on the 20% that seem to matter. Patler brought up in the NO game day thread that most pro games hinge on a couple of pivotol plays that can change the outcome of the game. Well, a successful 9 route (or the drawing of a DPI penalty - same thing) is one of those plays.