A Statement From DaBearsBlog
I always like the Chicago Bears.
Even when they are laden with Covid.
But let’s not bury the lede. It’s Arlington Hambright Week!
The Titans are a pretty easy team to understand.
First, they are not good defensively. They give up nearly 400 yards and 26.3 points per game. They might have the least impressive pass rush in the sport. They do manage to take the ball away and their +8 turnover margin is a big reason they’re 5-2 and tied atop the AFC South.
But with the Bears starting this collection of misfit toys on the offensive line, will they even be able to exploit obvious deficiencies?
Second, and not surprisingly, their offense is all about Derrick Henry. In the era of running back committees, Henry is averaging 23 carries a game and he’s the most productive back around. If Henry is running well, that opens the play action game for Ryan Tannehill. (Hell, even if he’s not running well, he’s always one carry away from an 70-yard touchdowns.) Two things the Bears should be concerned about:
(5) Islands in the Stream
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(4) I Will Always Love You
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(3) Hard Candy Christmas
The debate was inevitable. As Nick Foles struggled against the New Orleans Saints, everybody started clamoring for Mitch Trubisky to be back on the field. Not because Trubisky is an upgrade. He’s not. But strictly because, hey, why not? (Our own Data provided the only true rationale for making the move. If the Bears are going to be down to their 10th offensive lineman Sunday, they’d be better off playing the quarterback that can avoid the rush.)
Foles has not been good. But it’s the way he’s not been good that is so disconcerting.
There were several reasons I believed the Bears should have announced Foles as the starter the day they acquired him.
The truth? He’s done none of those things. The steady, veteran presence Foles was meant to provide has never materialized. Yes, he made a great read in the Bucs game and yes, he gave a great post-game presser. But the offense is constantly struggling with the play clock. Foles throws 2-3 passes a game that should be intercepted. And lately he’s been “seeing ghosts”, abandoning his fundamentals because of phantom pass rush and missing wide open receivers.
Foles is never going to be an electric player. That’s not who he is. But if the Bears want to be playing football in January, he has to be better than this.
People died so we could have this right. If you haven’t already voted, vote. No excuses. Vote.
A few weeks ago, Nick Foles suggested the Bears win “ugly”. Let me clear something up for him.
Ugly isn’t throwing off your back foot while under no pressure and forcing passes to the wrong receivers. The last quarterback did that. And he doesn’t play anymore because of it.
Ugly isn’t failing to build a significant package of plays for your second-round tight end. Every single week.
Ugly isn’t designing a run-heavy game plan against one of the league’s best run defenses, and stubbornly refusing to deviate from that plan. (The two runs after the interference call in the end zone should have forced Ryan Pace to personally take the play sheet away from Matt Nagy.)
Ugly isn’t inexcusably being called for a delay of game weekly, often coming out of timeouts.
Ugly isn’t failing to get a first down or two and at least forcing the opponent to start their possessions in their own territory.
Ugly isn’t sucker punching a defensive back, costing your team a vital possession, and celebrating the punch like you achieved something.
Ugly isn’t dropping two passes, in overtime, on the potentially game-winning drive. If Anthony Miller and Jimmy Graham catch those balls, do the Bears win? Who knows? But it would have made it far more difficult for them to lose. And that’s the difference between being in first place and being outside the playoff picture.
No, what the Bears do on offense isn’t ugly. Ugly is too cute a word for it. What the Bears do on offense is embarrassing. And with the season now at the halfway point, it’s time to acknowledge this is unlikely to change during the 2020 campaign.
This is who the Bears are on offense. A sloppy, undisciplined, poorly-coached unit. David Montgomery runs hard. Allen Robinson leaves it on the field. Darnell Mooney gives hope for the future. The rest? Thoroughly uninspiring. Nagy changed his coaching staff. Nagy changed his quarterback. Nagy changed his tight end room. And somehow, they’re worse.
They’re 5-3. Hope is not lost for playing in January because there isn’t a game left on their schedule the defense won’t keep them in. But unless that group returns to 2018 form and starts scoring, the battle will be consistently uphill.
For those of you who don’t follow DBB on Twitter, I spent most of Wednesday thinking it was Thursday. As a result, the Game Preview was readied a day early, leaving a hole in the content calendar. So I asked Twitter to come through with some predictions. Here are the best ones.
First, the bold…
Nagy responds immediately to criticism, as does Foles. Bears offense explodes.
Bears 34 – Saints 24
Foles: 320 yds, 3 TDs
Trubisky: 1 Rushing TD
Mooney: >100 yds receiving, 60+ yd. TD
Santos: 2/3 on FGs
Drew Brees sacked 3x, intercepted twice.
Kamara scores 3 TDs— Furious George (@KEGeorge94) October 29, 2020
This ain’t good…
Gonna go with my brain and not my heart on this prediction…
*Deep sigh*
Saints 27-10
Saints team rushing yards: 194— Trey Lance To the Bears PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE (@Muzzkill7) October 29, 2020
I always like the Chicago Bears…
…defense.
A friend of mine works for the New Orleans Saints in their scouting department. When discussing this week’s game, and the prospect of Matt Nagy relinquishing the role of play caller, he noted, “If they can’t move the ball vs our secondary next week…then it’s really time.”
Last week, Mike Davis had 7 carries for 12 yards against the Saints front. Let me just repeat that. Mike Davis, the starting running back for the Carolina Panthers, had 7 carries. For 12 yards. (New Orleans is the fourth-ranked rush defense in the league.) One would think that such a porous running game would have made it impossible for Teddy Bridgewater to execute the passing attack. But the opposite was true. Bridgewater – who pitched to a quarterback rating of about 50 against the Bears – was nearly perfect against the Saints. 23-28. 254 yards. 2 touchdowns. QB rating of 128.3.
You don’t need a running game to move the ball and score points on these Saints. And that’s good. Because the Bears don’t have one. If Nagy can’t draw up production from the passing game this week, it would be very difficult to see him calling the plays against the Tennessee Titans next week.
(9) Monty Python’s Life of Brian
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(8) The Jerk
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(7) …And Justice For All
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