Are You Ready For Some Football?!
After an exciting game against San Diego, the Bears now push their record to 3-5, and 28-36 on Monday Night Football.
The game started off pretty rocky with a rare miss by Robbie Gould, a fumble by Jay Cutler, a punt, and then a pick-six on the first four possessions.
Yikes!
Not the start that any Bears fan would have like to of seen on Monday Night.
However, the offense got their act together after that. Following the interception, Cutler went right back to the air and hit Alshon Jeffery for a 47 yard pass.
It’s the small things about football that make me grin, like after throwing an interception and seeing the quarterback go right and attack the defense. I love to see that from a quarterback. Show the defense that you aren’t scared or intimidated of them.
To cap that drive off, Cutler hit Martellus Bennett in the end zone for a touchdown on a bootleg right and finally passed Sid Luckman for the Chicago Bears all time touchdown passing record with 138 touchdown passes.
Congrats Jay!!
Let’s not forget about the last touchdown pass that Jay threw!
He stepped up in the pocket and fired a laser down field and Zach Miller hauled the pass in one-handed for a beautiful 25 yard touchdown reception. Huge shout out to Zach Miller for staying focused and making an athletic play on the ball to get the touchdown!
For those of you that don’t know, here’s a little background information on Zach Miller.
He’s from a small town in Nebraska, and he played his first three years in the league at Jacksonville. Miller made an impression on me last year in the preseason. Unfortunately for Miller, a hard working, nose to the grind stone type of player, he has had his fair share of injuries and that is why he has not made a name for himself…until last night.
It’s great to see his hard work and dedication finally pay off. Did you see the smile on his face after he caught that pass? Priceless!
Red Zone Offense
I know I’ve harped on this topic before, but I just wanted to throw some stats your way.
The red zone is a place you almost don’t want to see the Bears offense this year. We’ve seen them struggle in the red zone this year dating all the way back to the preseason. According to the Football Outsiders the Bears rank 23rd in the league for points in the red zone and 26th for touchdowns.
Against San Diego the Bears went 2-4 in the red zone. The two missed opportunities were the Jay Cutler fumble and Robbie’s missed field goal. Those two plays are at the least a six point swing. I don’t expect Robbie to nail every field goal he takes because he is human and we saw that on Monday, but when the Bears really could have used that three point boost he fell…left.
Jeremy Langford
In the Bears final drive against Minnesota, Jeremy Langford dropped a first down catch that was going to keep the Bears offense going. With the injury to Matt Forte, Jeremy Langford got the nod to take over against the Chargers.
He had 72 rushing yards and 70 receiving yards. Needless to say, the Bears offense did not skip a beat without Forte in the lineup. Langford did a good job of chip blocking and picking up the blitz when it the Chargers sent the cavalry.
I believe Jeremy Langford is solidifying the thought that he is the future in Chicago.
Don’t Rule the Bears Out Yet
Who said that this year is a rebuilding year anyway? Yeah, the Chicago Bears are under .500, but it very well could be the other way. The Bears have been in close enough games this year that in reality, minus a couple plays, the Bears could realistically be 5-3.
The Bears are not playing like a sub .500 team. They leave everything they have on the field and have just fallen short on execution in the final minutes of some of these games. As long as the Chicago Bears continue to grind and leave everything they have on the field then good things will come.
What I absolutely…do not want to see…is this Bears team just give up. That is not an attractive future for prospective free agents, or anyone in the NFL draft.
The roster has plenty of young guys to continue building on. I think that a vast majority of the guys have bought into what John Fox wants and it is showing. I don’t think that the Bears need to rebuild at all, or that the Bears need to retool either. They just need to keep growing as a unit. That will help them as the season continues and for next season as well.
Looking ahead at the schedule, I can count at least five games that will be close and if the Bears continue to learn and grow from their experiences, my final season prediction is not out of the question.
I’m still holding true to my 8-8 final record for the Bears this year.
Week 10: St. Louis Rams
The Bears historically are not good playing indoors for some reason. They are only 47-65 in team history.
Will their fortune start to turn around next week in St. Louis?
Against Minnesota, St. Louis had 320 total yards, no turnovers, and almost split the time of possession in a 21-18 loss. Nick Foles on average this year throws around 184-185 yards per game, and their rookie running back Todd Gurley is rushing for an average of 83 yards per game this season. Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt are the go-to receivers for Foles this year.
Tavon Austin is known for being incredibly quick. I see this being a match-up problem if the Rams decide to go deep because we’ve seen Antrel Rolle give up those long passes when it really counts. I’m interested in who the Bears decide to line up against Austin next Sunday.
Chris Long (the brother of Chicago Bears Kyle Long) did not play against Minnesota due to a knee injury.
I’m looking forward to see if Chris plays on Sunday and lines up opposite of Kyle on the defensive line.
Wouldn’t that be a fun battle to watch? đ
Final Score?
The Bears continue playing tough, and I hope to see the offense keep rolling like they did in the second half of the San Diego game.
Maybe Shea McClellin returns at middle linebacker for the Bears next week? I really think that the defense is starting to shape up. I’m really impressed with the young guys and see a lot of potential.
They better not let me down after the praise I just gave them! đ
Robbie Gould returns to form in this game, in a low scoring affair the Bears pull out another close win 23-20.
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