Week 8 is in the books and the Chicago Bears are now 3-5. Last week, the Bears showed us what the offense could look like going forward, and things progressed more again this week. The win over the Patriots was nice, but this team has a long way to go. The team lost Lucas Patrick again and now Larry Borm missed this game due to a concussion. The good news is that Riley Reiff is a serviceable backup. The bad news is, it didn’t matter as the defense decided to take the week off.
The Cowboys’ punter did not see the field until the second half. It felt as though Dallas couldn’t do anything wrong on offense, and the Chicago Bears made it too easy early. Before the half ended though, Eddie Jackson picked off Dak Prescott and put the Bears back in the red zone. Unfortunately, the Bears only walked away with three points.
In the second half, Chicago pulled the game within five points. However, the Cowboys answered and then two mental errors — a fumble by David Montgomery and Justin Fields not touching down Micah Parsons — led to yet another touchdown.
With Dallas scoring 42 points in less than four quarters, you’d think that the game was completely out of hand. However, shortly after the fourth quarter started, even the Bears had 29 (easily would have been 31 had they not gone for two twice) points of offense. This is where the Chicago Bears found a way to win, despite losing to the Cowboys in Week 8.
The Chicago Bears get a “moral” victory in Week 8 vs the Cowboys
Look, I know everyone was excited about this team after a decisive win over the Patriots on Monday night. Even I thought the team would cover the large spread. I put money on it. However, when you look at Dallas’ talent level, it vastly exceeds the Bears. The offensive line needs to be upgraded. The wide receivers need to be upgraded. The defensive front needs to be upgraded. The linebacker group needs to be upgraded — maybe with or without Roquan Smith.
Here is the thing though, if you want to look at how this game was played, there is a moral victory to be had. In most years, I’d argue that moral victories shouldn’t exist. However, in a rebuilding year, when we knew this team didn’t have a shot at the Super Bowl, games like these are what I expected. Justin Fields is continuing to show how the team made the right decision to trade up for him in 2021. He had yet another good game, even if not in the way many want to see from an NFL quarterback today.
The one position a team needs to find in today’s NFL is the quarterback position. The Bears have not had luck in this area. It’s too soon to say that Fields is the future and the answer, but this game, coupled with the last few showed plenty of positive development. Once Fields has a better offensive line and weapons around him, he should see his hard work pay off even more.
How many draft picks do Chicago Bears have after Robert Quinn trade?
The Chicago Bears made a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles that sent Robert Quinn to Philly for a 2023 fourth-round pick. How many picks do they now have?
No one should have expected a win vs Dallas. However, we can look at this team and start to feel good about things. The offense is starting to look not only competent but with a few key additions, possibly explosive. The Bears put up a loss in the record column, but this should be viewed as a win for this team — at least in the big picture.