Sunday morning, I woke up at 7am, unable to sleep any further because I was pumped for another Bears game day. While last week the Bears ultimately fell to the Falcons, the game was exciting. The Bears were in it to the very end and had a chance to steal one away from last years NFC representative in the Super Bowl.
Tarik Cohen flashed the quickness and elusiveness he has come to be known for. The defense looked stout, and Akiem Hicks looked to be worth every cent of that large extension he had just been given. While the Bears didn’t do much through the air offensively for the first three quarters, it was fun. After a long offseason, we were back to watching the Monsters of the Midway in action.
However, halfway through the first quarter … my enthusiasm started to fade. Cohen had a costly mistake that resulted in the Bucs going up 10-0 and it was downhill from there. Three turnovers later and the game was completely out of reach. I found myself, sitting in a Buffalo Wild Wings seat, with a feeling that has become all too familiar.
The thing that struck me was that, with the Bears down 29-0, I wasn’t mortified. I wasn’t disgusted, I wasn’t overly disappointed, rather, I was accustomed to this type of game. You see, over the past four or so seasons, we have all seen a bunch of these games. These games have become so frequent that this won’t be a painful memory etched into the portion of my brain that recollects sporting events. Rather, it will become an unspectacular regularity that I have become numb to.
Where do we go from here?
When I looked at the schedule earlier in the year, it was apparent that the Bears had some difficult opponents right out of the gate. Going winless through two games shouldn’t have been a shock to anyone. I am sure people will counter that by saying it’s not the record, it’s the way they looked. It is hard to argue that, but the NFL is a league of overreactions. The Patriots got beaten badly Week 1 and looked great against the Saints a week later. Things can change a lot in a very short time.
And yes, before you @ me on Twitter, I understand the Bears are not the Patriots. Mike Glennon is under center, not Tom Brady.
That being said, the NFL season is a long one and a ton can change in as little as a few weeks. Over the next few weeks, the Bears will hopefully get Markus Wheaton and Kyle Long into the lineup. And despite how the box score looked today, I still believe the Bears have a very good defense. Frankly, there aren’t a lot of defenses who could spend as much time on the field in the Tampa heat as the Bears’ defense did today and still look good.
And then there is the most important piece of all. More than once the camera panned to number 10, arms crossed, wearing a baseball cap and waiting for his turn. I personally want to see Mitch Trubisky. I have seen enough of Mike Glennon to feel comfortable saying “Thanks, but no thanks.” After watching him in the preseason and in the two games this season I have come away completely unimpressed.
At the same time, given the state of the Bears offensive line and receiver core, is now the best time for Trubisky to start? The answer is probably not.
However, if you wait around for the perfect time to do something, you will spend a lot of time waiting.
No matter when Trubisky starts, there are going to be setbacks and mistakes. The Bears might even end up losing a few games because of mistakes Trubisky makes. Guess what? I am ok with that.
At this point, we have seen what Glennon is. It’s time to move towards the future. If we lose, perhaps it should be because we are getting some of the growing pains out of the way and we are betting on the future. I know it comes with risk. When you invest the second overall pick in the future of your franchise you want to be careful. But like Cleveland and Houston, I think it’s time the Bears see what they have on their hands, sooner rather than later.
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