Montgomery vs. Howard, Trubisky Throwback, Winter is Coming to GB, and Other Bears Bullets

The Winter Meetings provided a unique experience for me to reach out and connect with folks, get my mouth around some Southern California tacos, and taste an impressive craft beer scene. But now, I must hop on some planes and head home. First stop: A lengthy layover in Las Vegas (Michael: Oh, I’m sure you’re all broken up about that).

  • Looking at the temperatures that will greet me in Chicago have filled me with regret. But I suppose things could be worse for a warm-weather lover such as myself. Sunday’s forecast in Green Bay calls for mostly sunny skies (that’s good), but a high of 17 degrees (that’s bad). And while I have longed to do a wild winter afternoon game in the land of cheese, I’m OK in passing on it for now.
  • Being too reliant on the passing game against Green Bay isn’t ideal. So with that in mind, I am curious as to how the Bears deploy rookie running back David Montgomery. The Iowa State product seems to have found his footing here lately. Indeed, over his last seven games, Montgomery has 121 carries, 449 yards, and three rushing scores. Extrapolate those numbers over a 16-game season, and we would be looking at a 277-carry, 1,026-yard, 7-touchdown season. Not only are those respectable numbers, they compare favorably when judging against what Jordan Howard’s per-16-game rate projection is through this point of the season.
  • Howard has 594 scrimmage yards in nine games this year. On a 16-game basis, those numbers project to 1,056 total yards. Not bad. And then there is Montgomery, who has 853 scrimmage yards through 13 games. On a per-16-game slate, that’s 1,050 scrimmage yards. On the surface, Howard and Montgomery are neck-and-neck. But the Bears will have Montgomery for the next three years on a rookie-scale deal, while Howard will become a free agent this offseason.
  • To be clear, I didn’t love trading Howard. Despite his limitations, Howard was still productive on the field, and was someone whose hard-nosed work ethic was respected among fans. But installing a young player with upside in the place of an older player with significant tread on the tires isn’t out of line with progressive thinking other teams use when evaluating the position.
  • It’s nice that quarterback Mitch Trubisky found his legs again. It should make the running game better in the long run:
  • Once the running game gets going, then the Bears offense can really take advantage of the play action game. Getting linebackers to bite on play fakes will open up passing lanes over the middle. And despite Trubisky’s many struggles that we know of, his accuracy on intermediate passes – you know, the easy ones that get the ball in the hands of playmakers in open space – has been good (more often than not).
  • Shout out to Twitter user Julio for re-surfacing a link that reminded me how highly Trubisky was ranked as a prospect, and how good he was throwing over the middle:
  • Trubisky not reaching his potential has been maddening, but it’s what makes these next three games that much more intriguing. Doing what he did against the Cowboys should have served as an appetizer. But why not more?
  • You didn’t need Matt Nagy to tell you this one is a big game, but here it is anyway:
  • This wasn’t something I expected to stumble upon:
  • Ooh, that’s neat:
  • https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1204898656760913920

  • Snow in an animated graphic >>>> actual snow
  • https://www.instagram.com/p/B58VJYcjKni/

  • Good luck!
  • https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1205125225400143872

  • It can all change in a moment:
  • My thoughts exactly, Lance:
  • https://twitter.com/LanceBriggs/status/1204975348045287426

    written by

    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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