Just when you were hoping the “Bears swapped out Matt and Ryan to replace Matt and Ryan” jokes were done, Chicago’s football team threw out that first-half performance.
The 49ers lead the Bears 7-0, but I feel as if so much of this is a product of what the Bears are (or aren’t) doing. For instance:
The Bears have run 30 offensive plays to gain a total of 68 yards. Quick math puts the Bears at 2.3 yards per play. Awful. Justin Fields was sacked twice and hit three more times. The offensive line has gotten minimum push. So much so that we’ve already seen Teven Jenkins (who was starting at right guard) and Lucas Patrick swapping in and out. Also, Fields also threw an interception on what was a terrible read. Nothing like forcing the ball into traffic to get your blood boiling on a Sunday afternoon. So, yeah, it’s not all on the offensive line. But … yeah, the line is as much of a problem now as we thought it was in the offseason. And the offseason before that. And the one before that…And then the Bears, when they finally cooked up what looked to be a scoring drive, this happened:
At least the defense showed up:
But this offense ain’t it. Three three-and-outs. Five designed 2nd-and-long runs in the first half felt like a sign of how much new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was trusting in his offense over the first two quarters. That feels far too conservative for my liking. And considering Getsy’s history with Green Bay, seeing this many 2nd-and-long runs feels like it runs counter to what his mentors would do. We’ll see if this continues.