I had leftover biscuits from breakfast and ground beef thawing in the freezer, so I thought I’d try and get creative with dinner last night and put burgers on biscuits. The burger meat was fine and the biscuits were still good, but that combination simply didn’t go together. Oh well, every experiment can’t be a successful one.
Unless the Bears rip off a long winning streak and/or make the postseason, losing to the Dolphins is going to stick in everybody’s craw for a while. It’s not just that Miami has lost back-to-back games since beating Chicago in overtime in Week 6, it’s that they’ve looked awful in doing so. This is like watching some fringe Triple-A pitcher shutout the Cubs for seven innings, then get lit up by the Cardinals and Brewers in his next two starts. I’ve seen how that movie ends and it’s no fun.
Deshaun Watson became the latest quarterback to put together a memorable outing against the Dolphins. And the best throw and catch didn’t even count:
Watson completed 16 of 20 passes for 239 yards, 5 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 156.0 passer rating – which is a single-game franchise record. On top of that, Watson’s five-touchdown performance made him the first signal caller in franchise history to have multiple games with at least five passing touchdowns. When you’re hot, you’re hot.
How much did Watson’s huge game move the needle? His season passer rating went from 89.9 to 98.4 and TD% jumped from 4.1 to 5.7. See, this is why I don’t like playing the game where you take out a player’s best or worst games in order to prove a narrative point. It’s almost as if – OK, hear me out – we should let players play games and evaluate from there rather than make every pass attempt a referendum on a quarterback’s present course and future. I know, wild, right?
This is good company:
Chucking TD passes is a young man's game. #Falcons QB Matt Ryan is the only NFL quarterback over the age of 30 to throw at least five touchdowns in a single game this season. The other four are all under the age of 25, per @CBSSportspic.twitter.com/858ovkCwRP
The NFL Draft class of 2017’s first-round quarterbacks all have passer ratings of 95 or better at this moment in the 2018 season. Watching Watson, Mitch Trubisky, and Patrick Mahomes throw, I’m reminded of how I felt watching Jared Goff and Carson Wentz sling the pigskin in their second full seasons in the league. There has been quality play from all three first-round quarterbacks in 2017, all of whom are looking like they were worthy of being first-round selections. Here’s hoping they all can keep up their good work. Not just for our sake, but for the good of the sport. Football is better when quarterbacks look like they know what they’re doing.
When was the last time a Bears quarterback was fantasy relevant? Yeah, it’s been a while:
Or maybe the Bears defense gets back to work and straightens out the things that are going wrong, because that unit has proven to be quite good at times this year:
I suppose there is a long-term benefit to giving Mack a week off to allow for his ankle to have a better recovery process. It’s just that I can’t imagine a player with that motor and that much pride sitting out because of an injury that he was still able to play through the last two weeks. And while it might be foolish to think it, there is a non-zero percent chance that there were teammates who were inspired when they saw Mack giving it his all while at less than 100 percent. Seeing someone at less than their best give their best effort would make anyone take a good look at themselves in the mirror.
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
To be clear, the Bears’ defense doesn’t hinge on just Mack. Others around him need to make plays. As Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio mentioned on Thursday, one player’s performance should have no impact on another player doing their individual job.
Perhaps a Roquan Smith breakout game could be on the horizon. He has certainly caught the eye of Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer:
Smith didn’t play as much as we would have liked against the Patriots, but he has looked good in spurts during his rookie season. There is still plenty of learning to do for the Georgia product, but the upside is there. That Smith is playing well enough to where his holdout isn’t even brought up in casual conversation means he is doing something right.
Jackie Robinson scoring touchdowns against the Bears isn’t video I ever expected to see. Then again, after a five-year hiatus, I never thought I’d see tweets from Sports By Brooks again (you’ll want to read this and catch up, in case you missed the memo). This is one heck of a find:
Video: Baseball legend Jackie Robinson was also a football superstar. Last TD is Jackie torching Chicago Bears at a sold out Soldier Field! pic.twitter.com/uhjANWuvyt
Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.
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NEWSLETTER
