Oct 6, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (17) makes a catch against New Orleans Saints strong safety Kenny Vaccaro (32) during the second half at Soldier Field. The Saints beat the Bears 26-18. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Bears season is already more than one-third complete and of course there are things that we are concerned about going forward, but at this point of the season with a record of 4-2 let’s look at 5 reasons to be excited about the Bears start to the 2013 season.
5. The Emergence Of Alshon Jeffery
Alshon had a decent rookie season catching 24 balls for 367 yards and 3 touchdown, but it was hindered in the middle with a nagging injury. He did have trouble getting separation at times last season, and when he did it seemed like there would be a yellow flag on the ground for offensive interference.
This season through 6 games Jeffery has already surpassed last years totals with 29 catches for 456 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jeffery also broke the Bears single game record in the loss to the Detroit Lions with 10 catches for 218 yards and 1 touchdown. The emergence of Jeffery will make it harder for teams to double team Brandon Marshall every game which was evident in the Thursday Night win against the New York Giants when Marshall was able to score 2 touchdowns with coverage not totally dedicated to him.
4. Never Say Die Attitude
The Bears could have packed it in against the Detroit Lions down 40-16 in the 4th quarter. The Bears scored two touchdowns and converted on both 2 point conversions to get the score to 40-32 with Robbie Gould out to try an onside kick. The fact of the matter is the Bears could have packed it in and let the clock run out and put their heads down while running to the locker room. They didn’t do that they played to the final whistle and even though they came out with a loss they never quit. The following week was almost the same script against the New Orleans Saints. The Bears were outplayed for most of the afternoon by Drew Brees and company, but in the final minutes the Bears put up points and were needing just a little better execution from Robbie Gould to extend the game.
The fact that this team will play the entire 60 minutes no matter if they are up 10 or down 16 should be a pretty exciting fact heading into the rest of the season.