The Chicago Bears have needed a closeout moment from their offense in 2018. They finally got that with their win against the New York Jets
One thing that became clear against the Miami Dolphins was that the Chicago Bears were a team inexperienced and unable to close teams out late into games. They were uncomfortable with the game situations of handling a lead.
It showed in Week One when the team slowly watched a halftime lead wither away. While you can argue that they exercised some demons against Seattle, they needed a Prince Amukamara interception to end the “here we go again” feeling.
Week three and Week four saw a comeback win and a win in a game that was over at halftime. From there we saw blown lead number two and a comeback attempt one completion short. Heck, you could say they blew their 17-7 lead.
More from Bear Goggles On
- Franchise tag and transition tag windows open for Chicago Bears and NFL
- How the Chicago Bears can control the running back market in 2023
- The Chicago Bears can own the city of Chicago moving forward
- Chicago Bears NFL Combine Preview: Quarterback
- 7 best free agent tackle options for Chicago Bears
When the New York Jets scored to make the game 17-10, all eyes were on how the Chicago Bears were going to close this game out. Matt Nagy has struggled to put anyone away in this situation. He has handled the clock poorly, made questionable play calls, and the defense has cracked on the back end.
The Bears responded with arguably their best drive of the game. They ate up four minutes of game clock, they ran the ball down the Jets throats, and they put seven points on the board, sealing the 24-10 lead.
From there, the defense was not playing tight with a one-score lead. They were playing in attack mode to turn the rookie quarterback over. The offense was able to get the football back and ice away some more clock. Cementing the fact that they closed this game out properly.
I get it; it is the New York Jets. They were out virtually everyone on their offense. They have a rookie quarterback. This was not Aaron Rodgers. Still, it is about the feeling and the understanding of being in the situation.
Matt Nagy put a team away at home. Mitch Trubisky helped ice the game with the lead. These two have not done that together. It instills confidence of the moment and should reflect on the duo moving forward. Some may not see closing out the New York Jets as a shining achievement. However, they needed to make the moment happen, and just getting there, whoever the opponent is a step forward.