It wasn’t pretty, but the Bears got their first win of the season. It is never easy to win in the altitude of Denver and the Bears deserve a lot of credit for not giving up and figuring out how to come away with a victory.
Just like last week the bad and ugly probably outweighs the good. Although getting the win makes it a much easier pill to swallow.
The Good
Eddy Pineiro
The Bears have their kicker. Unless you live under a rock or are a non-Bears fan reading this article for some reason you’ve seen Eddy Pineiro’s game-winning 53-yard field goal.
Most likely, if you’re like me, you’ve watched it more times than you care to admit.
Pineiro was cool and calm in the biggest moment of his life, with the specter of Cody Parkey in the back of his and every Bears fans mind. And he nailed it.
The Bears received a lot of flack for the way they handled their kicking situation this offseason, but if you ask me, making a spectacle of the situation and putting added pressures on the participants was setting them up for this exact situation. If you can’t handle pressure in camp, you can’t handle it during the season.
Maybe Pineiro makes that kick regardless.
Or maybe he doesn’t.
We’ll never know but I, for one, am glad the Bears found a guy with ice in his veins.
Pass Blocking
The Bears offensive line bounced back in a big way after a dreadful performance in Week 1. Their pass blocking was fantastic as it limited Von Miller to zero QB hits, pressures and sacks. Mitch Trubisky had plenty of time to throw and on the last play of the game is where they stepped up the most. With the game on the line and the defensive line’s ears pinned back, the protection stood strong and opened a perfect pocket for Trubisky to step into and make the winning play.
The Defense
What else can I say about the defense that hasn’t already been said?
They are a fantastic unit and the regression from losing Vic Fangio was way overblown. They have stars at every level of the defense and should be a fixture in the “good” column for the next 14 games.
The Bad
Run Blocking
The Bears found some success on the ground but for the most part, the offensive line struggled to open up holes in the running game.
James Daniels, who is making the switch from guard to center in his second season, really struggled in particular. He didn’t get a strong push often and wasn’t able to get to the second level consistently to block the linebackers.
Here are two examples where he tries to block the inside linebacker who sidesteps him, closing the hole and forcing the runner to the outside.
Daniels is a young player. I, and presumably the Bears, have high hopes for him. It wasn’t all bad Sunday as he showed some flashes of potential. He had a great rookie season, so I am going to chalk this up to learning a new position. I have all the faith in the world that he’ll bounce back.
The Ugly
Mitch Trubisky
Yes, I know Trubisky made the throw to get them into the game-winning field goal range. I wanted to get that out of the way.
However, you cannot simply overlook the rest of the game.
Trubisky showed some flashes in his second year. He was middle of the pack amongst quarterbacks in most metrics but the reason everyone was excited was the idea that he would build off of that performance. He has not done that so far this season and this game is just another example of that.
Through two games he ranks 27th in completion percentage, 32nd in yards per attempt, 32nd in passer rating and has not thrown a touchdown pass.
I’ve been told to be patient with Trubisky but isn’t Year 3 patient enough?
I am not expecting him to be a top-5 quarterback in Year 3 but it’s time to start seeing and expecting more from him.
Expect a comprehensive breakdown of Trubisky later this week.
It’s all too fitting that in the Bears 100th season the defense is miles ahead of their offense. A win is a win no matter how ugly it is and the Bears improved to 1-1.
It’s never easy to win in Denver early in the year, so overall the Bears should be excited about this win.
The Bears travel to Washington next Monday night and should be able to build off the momentum from this exciting finish to improve to 2-1. If the offense simply gets back to the level they showed last season, the Bears should make the playoffs.
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