Moving forward from Chicago Bears first two games
By Jim Lynch
I would be lying if I said I expected this kind of start from the Chicago Bears this year.
The narrative all off-season spoke of a team that is ready to win, and a quarterback that was capable of carrying their team to a super bowl. That was not what we say in the first two games for the Bears, but the path to a super bowl is still visible.
Chicago lost to the Packers in game one of the season by a score of 10 to 3, then they followed things up in week 2 by winning against the Broncos 16 to 14, what a football score right there. Obviously something needs to change, but the glass half full outlook would point out that these games were close. Chicago had a chance to beat the Packers and capitalize on their chance to beat the Broncos with one second on the clock.
Although the Bears won this Sunday there was a lot of negative outlooks after the game. Mitch Trubisky has yet to pass for a touchdown this season and has been outperformed by the opponent in both games so far this year. Despite a good pass to set up the Bears for a field goal on Sunday, Trubisky also had a few bad passes that put the Bears in that position, like a misthrow to Allen Robinson a few plays before.
We could talk all day about how Trubisky is underperforming, and how the team might be panicking a little going into week 3 to have a statement-level game. Instead, let’s focus on how the Bears can succeed.
Run the ball. Chicago has 199 rushing yards within their first two games, and that number needs to continue to grow, a lot. David Montgomery has 80 rushing yards, Cohen 18 yards, and Patterson 48 yards. Chicago has some talent and depth at running back, continue to run the ball and let your running back wear down opponents.
Running the ball will in turn only improve your passing game. Opponents will get used to the running game, and then you are just one play-action pass from catching your opponent off guard. Running the ball will help keep opponents guessing and can help get wide receivers like Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel more open downfield.
Last year the Bears defense carried them game in and game out, now we are seeing what happens when the Bears defense can’t get pick 6’s every game like they did last year and single-handedly win the game. Now obviously the Packers in game one were a really gifted team on defense, and the Broncos have the former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio as their head coach, so he knows a thing or two on how the Bears play. So don’t disregard the Bears opponents as weak, they were tough teams and the Bears held their own against them.
Moving forward Mitch Trubisky needs to be smarter, faster, sharper, and so much more. We have seen flashes of how good Trubisky could be, but at some point, that hope will fade. Trubisky has been overthinking things in his first 2 games, let’s hope he can get it in check in week 3.