CHICAGO -- Today's game against the New York Jets at Soldier Field was a must-win for the
Chicago Bears. At 3-3 and two should-win games coming up against a depleted Jets team at home and an awful Buffalo team on the road, the Bears needed to find themselves at 5-3 after the first half of the year.
But first thing's first, today's game. I predicted a Bears' win, but a tougher game than it really should be. But then again, a win, especially against a team you should beat, is a win.
The Bears ended up taking care of business, putting the game away in the second half after a shaky first half. Good to see the Bears back in the win column after a couple rough weeks. But it came at a cost -- Kyle Long may be done for a while.
I shared my thoughts and observations in-game below. If you want to continue the conversation, follow and tweet me on Twitter @DhruvKoul.
1. PRE-GAME THOUGHT: WR Allen Robinson and All-World EDGE Khalil Mack were inactive for the game, which were certainly two big losses. I mentioned during the week that the Bears must pressure Sam Darnold and not let him get into a rhythm. Without Mack, Leonard Floyd absolutely must step up. On offense, look for Kevin White to become more involved, and hopefully Mitch Trubisky can connect with Anthony Miller more often, who is a star at getting open.
2. Cody Parkey missed a 40 yard field goal to end a promising, productive first drive from the Bears' offense. The elements are certainly an issue, but Parkey doesn't have a ton of "forgiveness capital" built up with many fans, especially due to his Miami miss. It's tough to leave points on the field on a poor weather day.
3. Good job by the Bears' defense on the Jets' first two drives of winning the first two downs and keeping New York on third-and-longs. The Jets also committed multiple pre-snap penalties which also came to the Bears' aid. Also, Vic Fangio dropped extra defenders in coverage on those two third downs, which clogged passing lanes for Darnold. Good execution.
4. Bears strike first on a beautifully executed screen play to beat the Jets' all-out-blitz to put Chicago up 7-0. Below is a historical parallel!
5. Why is the Bears' third-down-and-long defense so poor? The execution isn't great, but the play calls from Vic Fangio are also extremely baffling. This has been a problem for YEARS. These kinds of things can't happen against a Jets' offense that just isn't good.
6. I'm not entirely sure what Kyle Long did wrong on that third down "unnecessary roughness" penalty that wiped out a crucial third down conversion to Kevin White, but man that was a huge play. That took the Bears out of at least field goal range and forced them to punt. These missed opportunities are adding up.
7. Mitch Trubisky started strong with his accuracy, but has missed more open throws in this game due to 'happy feet' as a result of Jets' pressure. This is a recurring theme for Trubisky and while I do feel he'll eventually get it straightened out, it's aggravating in-game. And because of this, the Bears are letting the Jets, who are an inferior opponent, hang around. Bears lead 7-3 at halftime, but it should be a bigger lead than it is, and it feels like a smaller lead than it is.
8. After trading punts to open the second half, the Bears (barely) took advantage of good field position to punch in a touchdown. Good job by Trubisky to convert a couple of third downs, especially when they were in less-than-advantageous positions to do so. Walking out of that drive with a touchdown and going up two scores was huge for the morale of this game. Also, what a pass and catch on that touchdown play!
9. Trubisky is a terrific athlete and a great, instinctive, and tough runner with the football. I love watching him play. Say what you want about Jay Cutler, but he was the same way, which was very underappreciated during his time in Chicago.
10. Eddie Jackson is a very good safety and a leader on the Bears' defense. He cannot have that penalty that extended the drive on third down which eventually ended in a touchdown. You had them stopped well short -- get off the field! Valuable lessons indeed, but learning them sucks, too.
11. If Trubisky and Anthony Miller get on the same page more consistently, watch out. Miller is a lethal receiver already.
12. Beautiful response by the Bears' offense to get that touchdown right back and put up the Bears 24-10. Great drive orchestrated by Trubisky. Big plays by Anthony Miller and Jordan Howard facilitated it. This is what winning teams do -- they respond to adversity to bring momentum right back on their side.
13. Tarik Cohen. Please be smarter on punt returns. Holy hell.
14. Prayers up for Kyle Long. That injury did not look good. He's worked so hard to come back from various injuries ... that was really tough to see. Let's hope it's not as serious as it looked. A tough way to end an otherwise ugly yet good win.
15. The Bears travel to Buffalo next week as they close out the first 'half' of their season. Much like this week, they cannot lose that game. It'd be simply inexcusable to lose to the Bills, who are a bad team with a bad quarterback. The Bears struggled in the first half, at home, against a weak team. They'll need to be better on the road -- Buffalo is not an easy place to play. We'll see what the plan is with Allen Robinson and Khalil Mack, but with Kyle Long almost certainly out for a while, I feel like this'll be a tougher game than most folks suspect.
Early Prediction: Bears 26, Bills 17.
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