A Few Jahns Takeaways
AJ After Dark knocked out his 14 Takeaways Monday afternoon and the final three stood out to me:
12. I also only counted two play-action plays — one being Trubisky’s overturned touchdown run and the other resulting in a sack in the third quarter.
Bears have to throw on early downs. It doesn’t matter how they do it but they can’t keep running into run looks and expecting better results.
13. Running back Tarik Cohen was on the field for only seven offensive snaps. He dropped two passes to go with his 70-yard reception and a 10-yard catch that was negated by a penalty.
If Bears are not going to play Kendall Wright, Cohen has to become the centerpiece of the outside passing game. Treat him like a wide receiver if you must. But keep him on the field.
14. Despite the offensive struggles, there is a positive vibe around the Bears. Players know Trubisky will get better; defense can be special.
I do worry how much Mitch Trubisky will develop and improve if he’s not given a chance to take part the game outside of special occasions.
Gameday Tweet That Cracked Me Up
Well, at least I get to tell my great-grandkids that I once lost a bet against an NFL team that had 4 completions.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 22, 2017
Trubisky “Embarrassed”?
Adam Hoge of WGN writes about Trubisky’s response to only throwing seven passes, even while the team registered a second straight win:
Eventually they will have to. Eventually the Bears won’t have a lead because of defensive touchdowns. Eventually Trubisky is going to be behind and have to throw the football.
“Obviously he wants to play elite,” Miller said about his rookie quarterback. “I don’t think he ever wants to throw the ball seven times in one game.”
Trubisky almost seemed embarrassed that his defense had to carry so much of the load.
“We didn’t score as an offense and the defense carried us so we kind of felt salty that we couldn’t help out more than we did,” he said.
Asked if he had ever won a game with just four completions, Trubisky said: “First time. So it feels good.”
The answer was as convincing as a John Fox injury report. Clearly Trubisky wasn’t satisfied with the win.
“We just have to get better in the pass game, and that falls on me,” he said. “I’ll be on the receivers and tight ends this week to continue to perfect our timing and routes. However, it mostly falls on me, so I just have to get better.”
Teammates will love this kid’s accountability. But what I especially don’t like about Trubisky throwing 7 passes is the scrutiny each of those throws receives. Every QB is gonna throw a handful of bad passes a game. When you only throw it 7 times, you can’t.
Coat Drive!
Image from Jeff Dickerson’s Twitter feed. All the pertinent info is in the image. Donate!
Links!
- Rich Campbell did a nice job in the Tribune breaking down how the Bears rebuilt the defense in three years. Amazing how many fans have forgotten how bad the unit was just three seasons ago.
- Good tidbit from Moon Mullin’s game story: “…No Bears opponent has been below .500 at the time they faced the Bears (Atlanta and Tampa Bay hadn’t played before they faced the Bears). This was not only the Bears’ third win; it was their third win over a team with a winning record (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Carolina) at the time the Bears faced them.”
- How did Panthers media respond to Sunday’s game? Not well. Here is our friend Scott Fowler’s reaction in the Charlotte Observer.
- Headline says it all for this Andy Benoit piece for SI: “The Bears Are Everything a Modern NFL Team Isn’t Supposed to Be . . . and They’re on a Winning Streak”.
- GM Ryan Pace was on WBBM radio prior to the Panthers game. Sounds an awful lot like someone who is on board with the current offensive approach.
