NEWSLETTER
If the offense was a dark cloud following the Bears, dropping buckets of rain at every turn, then Allen Robinson II was the silver lining providing a reminder that the sun is behind those gloomy skies.
Metaphors aside, Robinson remains great. And on Sunday, he did something no Bears receiver had done since 2014:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6G35yflk1f/
After hauling in seven catches for 125 yards against the Packers on Sunday, Robinson became the first Bears pass-catcher to surpass the 1,000-yard barrier in receiving yards since Alshon Jeffery did it in 2014. It is the second 1,000-yard season for Robinson, who hadn’t reached that milestone since his breakout 2015 season in which he caught 80 passes for 1,400 yards for the Jaguars. I’ll jump into the big-picture Bears stuff as it relates to Robinson in short order, but I must first tip my cap to a player who is officially all the way back from an awful knee injury that caused him to miss all but a handful of snaps back in 2017. Coming back from surgeries and playing good ball isn’t easy, but Robinson looks as good now as he did before the surgery. Modern medicine plus an athlete with a strong work ethic is hard to beat.
OK, now for the good stuff …
Robinson’s re-emergence is the best thing to happen to the Bears offense this season. The obvious reasons are obvious. His route-running ability made him dangerous against all kinds of defensive schemes and coverage, while his reliable hands made Mitch Trubisky look good. But what might be the most important thing here is that Robinson – in his age 26 season! – is still in the heart of the prime of his career. Should the Bears be able to come to an agreement for an extension (which Robinson seems open to), then Chicago will have a top tier selling point for a possible quarterback who could be brought in to challenge (or even replace) Trubisky. So, at minimum, the Bears are in a better place now when it comes to recruiting free agents than they were when Robinson signed his deal back in 2018.
And to think, more could still be coming for the Bears’ top receiver. Robinson still has two more games to add to his total, and he’ll get to do so starting this coming Sunday against a Chiefs secondary that has allowed a ton of catches and yards to opposing pass-catchers throughout the entirety of the year. So while a prime-time showdown against the Chiefs might fill you with some type of angst, at least Robinson provides someone to watch whose presence allows you to dream on a better future.
