The New York Jets traveled to Chicago to take on the Bears in a must-win game for both teams. The Jets were 3-4 heading into Soldier Field and any hope of a surprise postseason run would be diminished with a defeat in the Windy City and the Bears needed a win to prove the first four weeks weren’t a fluke.
Despite a slow half, the Bears missing Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson and an overall underwhelming performance by the offense, the Bears were able to walk away with a 24-10 victory over the Jets on Sunday.
While Mitch Trubisky didn’t have his best game, the second-year quarterback had another fine outing as he finished 16 of 29 for 220 yards, two touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 91.7. He also continued to show his athletic abilities by running the ball for 51 yards on six carries.
If this is what a “fine” game is for Trubisky, this team is going to be in great shape for the foreseeable future.
Outside of Trubisky, Cohen had a relatively quiet game aside from his explosion of a 70-yard touchdown in the first quarter as he only gained 40 yards outside of that play.
Jordan Howard saw some solid production as he stepped back into his 2016-2017 role as he carried the ball 22 times for 81 yards and a touchdown.
The best word to describe how the offense looked would be “efficient” as they were able to collect 22 first downs, gain a total of 395 yards and finish the game with zero turnovers. You’ll take that just about any week.
On the defensive side of the ball, the storyline is even better.
Despite missing Mack, the defense dominated control of the game as the biggest mistake of the game was an unnecessary roughness penalty against Eddie Jackson. The defense shut down rookie quarterback Sam Darnold and company – just like they should.
The pressure from the front seven wasn’t great as the only sack came on a Bryce Callahan blitz – Callahan was absolutely outstanding, by the way – but the defense as a unit looked as strong as we’ve seen all year.
They didn’t need any other sacks or turnovers to control the game as they held the Jets to 207 yards and just one red zone trip which would’ve been wiped out if it wasn’t for Jackson’s penalty.
The Jets aren’t an elite team and this is the outcome that should’ve happened, and that’s why this is such a big win.
A loss to them would’ve been deflating for this once promising team, but a Bears victory along with losses by every other team in the NFC North means that the Bears are back atop first place over Minnesota.
We’ll take it. ?
- These are the games that good teams win and that’s exactly what we saw on Sunday.
- These are the games that we’re used to seeing the Bears give away late.
- These Bears aren’t those Bears.
Once Khalil Mack gets healthy and this offense clicks for an entire four quarters, this team will be a wrecking machine that should be able to challenge any team in the NFL. Fans just need to stay patient and enjoy any kind of victories that occur, even the underwhelming ones.
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