The Chicago Bears started the game on Sunday fabulously. Andy Dalton looked like he was on his revenge tour once again. Playing his old team, the Cincinnati Bengals, last season with the Cowboys, Dalton had one of his better games that year. He finished with only 185 yards but threw two touchdowns, no interceptions and the Cowboys won 30-7.
In the initial drive versus the Bengals yesterday, the Chicago Bears drove the ball downfield and Dalton hit a strike to Allen Robinson for an 11-yard touchdown. Dalton looked like a different quarterback out there this week than he did versus the Rams. That was partly due to Matt Nagy opening up the offense the way it should have always been.
Matt Nagy did exactly what we were begging for last week. He moved the pocket with bootlegs and used play-action passes to help open up the receivers’ routes. It was working and working well. David Montgomery looked great once again too, which helped with the play-action gameplan. After his second scramble of over 10 yards, Dalton came up limping as what looked like a knee injury. After time in the medical tent, it was indeed a knee injury, but Dalton seemed okay.
In fact, Dalton came back on the field to finish the next series, but could not finish the second quarter nor the game.
Initial thoughts from the Chicago Bears is that Andy Dalton has a bone bruise
Right now, the team is waiting on more testing, but the initial diagnosis is that Andy Dalton suffered a bone bruise. The severity of this bone bruise can be different for each person. The pain should likely subside within a few days to a few weeks. The recovery time can range from a few weeks to a few months.
From @GMFB: A closer look at the #Bears QB situation now that Andy Dalton has injured his knee. pic.twitter.com/InmvzH7UIj
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 20, 2021
I think right now, we should consider Andy Dalton either day-to-day or week-to-week depending on the severity of the injury. Of course, we need to wait for confirmation after his medical tests to confirm the initial thoughts on his injury.
The likelihood of Dalton being able to suit up and start for the Chicago Bears versus the Cleveland Browns in Week 3 is highly unlikely. This means we should get our first look at Justin Fields starting in the NFL. We saw how Matt Nagy changed up the game plan once Justin Fields came into the game, despite the initial gameplan working for Andy Dalton. RPO was the main focus with Fields in the game instead of play-action and rollouts like we saw with Dalton.
Matt Nagy has to continue to use both of those types of plays with Justin Fields too. I understand the use of the RPO, but Nagy needs to use all three. The Chicago Bears have a dual-threat quarterback who can benefit from all of these play designs. Justin Fields can throw on the run and off-balance like the best of them too. Give him the tools to succeed, Nagy — we are begging you.
We should know more about the situation later today — no later than tomorrow.