I’ve been putting off grocery shopping knowing that I’m skipping town in a few days, but not having breakfast food or juice is making me regret this decision. Who needs juice, coffee, or breakfast after last night’s Bears win, anyway?
Club Dub was going UP on a Thursday:
A meaningful, signature win in front of a national audience against a division leader? Pinch me!
OK, I realize the Cowboys aren’t all that hot. But that roster – from top to bottom – is one of the 5-10 best in the league. Their skill position players on the offensive side of the ball are legit. The defensive playmakers are skilled, too. The coaching and decision-making leaves a lot to be desired, but credit the Bears for putting that work on a Cowboys team that was favored to win by Vegas and via the predictive metrics. The Bears ain’t dead yet, folks.
The Bears are starting to walk the walk:
Bears LT Charles Leno–
“This is our team. This is what we really look like. This is what we were trying to get done earlier in the year. But I don’t care that it’s happening [this late] because why not get hot right now? Why not get on this streak right now? The time is now.”
Last night’s win was the best of the year (so far), but did we witness Matt Nagy’s best win as Bears head coach? I suppose if you take into consideration the injuries sustained on both sides of the ball (Long, Massie, Hicks, Trevathan, Amukamara, Smith), a first-place opponent, the desperation of the moment, and the ever-looming cloud above the quarterback position, then the answer is yes. I would probably still lean toward the Rams win last year at Soldier Field, but the Thursday win against the Cowboys was as good as it gets.
You weren’t the only one flipping out over last night’s win:
Flipping the narrative wasn’t going to be easy, but wins like the one last night go a long way toward helping the cause.
Mitch Trubisky was a star last night. Heck, I would venture to say he has been pretty OK the last month or so. Am I sold on him as the long-term answer and unquestioned future quarterback for this franchise? No. But it would be intellectually dishonest not to acknowledge his performance against a team whose defense ranked eighth in scoring, total yards, and passing defense. It really isn’t that difficult to compartmentalize the things in front of us.
These two things can be true and are not mutually exclusive: (1) Trubisky playing like he did last night (and for the last three games) is good enough for the Bears to be a winning team and (2) putting all of the eggs into this basket based on a small sample could be damaging.
So while I refuse to draw strong conclusions based off last night’s performance, I’m willing to allow Trubisky to prove what he can do against good teams in a position to make the playoffs down the stretch. It started last night and will continue through Week 17 at Minnesota.
But seriously, where can I sign up for this guy to be the Bears’ quarterback on a full-time basis:
Mitch Trubisky's last 4 games spread over a 16-game season:
One constant when it comes to Trubisky is that his teammates haven’t wavered in their confidence in him. Even when things were on the slide and frustration started to mount, guys continued to ride with him. Frankly, I think it say a lot when you see the Bears offense score touchdowns and safety Eddy Jackson is among the first people on the field to congratulate Trubisky. Jackson has been a vocal supporter of Trubisky, and you can tell the 2017 draft classmates have nothing but love for each other. But that is what good teammates do, they have each other’s backs. So if you’re curious as to why the Bears didn’t totally fold after their clunker against the Rams on Sunday Night Football, the cohesiveness of this team should be high on the list of reasons.
Words like this from Anthony Miller shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone:
Next up for Trubisky and the Bears: A Packers defense that Football Outsiders’ DVOA ranks as 22nd. Coming into last night’s game, the Cowboys checked in as the 20th best defense via DVOA. So there are points to be had if the Bears are willing to go out and take them when opportunities present themselves.
Every surprise win features an unforeseen breakout performer. Last night, it was Kevin Pierre-Louis:
Kevin Pierre-Louis balled out tonight. His contributions as a pass rusher were huge — created pressure on inside blitzes as well as winning on the edge from a two-point stance. Tip of the cap to the personnel department for the depth they created at ILB.
Let’s not allow ourselves to overlook the special teams unit. Pat O’Donnell did it #ForTheBrand last night with four punts that averaged 40.5 yards, each of which landed inside the 20. One aspect in which the Bears won on Thursday is in the field position game, and O’Donnell was at the front lines of those efforts.
See what happens when Cordarrelle Patterson gets the ball ins pace within the confines of your offense:
Don’t look now, but the offensive line is starting to come together:
The move back to guard has been really good for Daniels, Leno is starting to look like the guy he did for most of last season, and I’m so impressed with how Lucas has been able to come in at RT and keep things rolling.
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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