CHICAGO -- By now, we're all familiar with the Chicago Bears' epic collapse in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football. I don't think there's any reason to re-hash it. If you missed my in-game Thoughts column from that game, here it is.
Being 0-1 after a game they absolutely should've won totally sucks. But this is a team with a new head coach, multiple other new coaches, and a ton of new players who still haven't yet learned how to win. Perhaps Week 1 was a brutal, but very much needed lesson as the Bears continue their journey in Year 1 under Matt Nagy's stewardship.
No matter what, the Bears had to quickly swallow that tough loss in preparation for their home opener, a Monday Night Football contest against the depleted Seattle Seahawks. All of the advantages were in the Bears' favor for this game, and it was the perfect recipe for Chicago to right the ship. I tweeted this after news broke that Seattle would be without a lot of important players:
This game had a bunch of up and down moments on the offensive side of the ball, and an overall poor (quite poor) game from Mitch Trubisky. And despite this, the Bears maintained a lead all game thanks to a dominant defense against an opponent they absolutely should have dominated. Still, the defense largely carried the offense tonight -- and the offense really needs to figure it out quickly before they head to Arizona. Still, no harm, no foul, as the Bears indeed made just enough plays, even after keeping a depleted team in the game, to eke out a win in prime time in their home opener. The season is still alive, and try to improve next week. I had a bunch of thoughts and observations from this game in real time. They’re below, mostly in the order in which they occurred. Hope you enjoy the raw emotion, mixed with rational, fair analysis, subject to further reviewing of the game tape. Any questions or comments? Follow/Tweet me at @DhruvKoul. Bear Down. 1. Good to see an Aaron Lynch sighting early. After Seattle moved the chains a couple times on their first drive, Lynch got pressure on a third-and-short and tackled Russell Wilson before he could escape a collapsing pocket. On the punt, however, Tarik Cohen needs to stop signaling/executing a fair catch inside the 10-yard line. He fair-caught the punt at the 4-yard line. Why? 2. Uneven first drive for Mitch Trubisky: He missed his first throw high to Jordan Howard in the flat. He threw a bit behind Allen Robinson on a third-down slant, and then threw off his back foot on an audible in the flat to Howard that Mychal Kendricks JUST missed picking off. But great concentration from Howard led to a 17 yard reception on that play. A few plays later, the a beautiful play design led a to shovel-pass touchdown to Trey Burton. Trubisky did a nice job with his audibles, checking to plays that led to positive yardage (not a single negative play on that drive), but he needs to be better with his decisions and throws. A teaching moment with some success, perhaps.
3. Loved the aggressiveness from Nagy, going for it on fourth-and-one on his own side of the field. However, the third-down spot the play beforehand was not a good one. He should have challenged. Perhaps they didn't have a great view on the other side than what the Monday Night Football cameras were showing? Also, I like the call on fourth-down. No bullshit -- give it to your elite runner in Howard and get the first down. 4. Trubisky made an awful read on third-and-three on a read-option, keeping the ball and electing to take it outside of a Trey Burton block. He got stuffed for a loss of yardage when going inside would've resulted in a first down. He needs to improve his in-play evaluations and make them quicker, too. That ruined the Bears' promising second drive. 5. Eddie Goldman is a monster. He is so valuable to this defense and proves it often.
6. Trubisky brutally underthrew a deep ball to Robinson, resulting in an interception. Once again, he didn't drive on his throw, an issue of bad footwork. This continues to rear its ugly head in this game. The Seahawks have done nothing on offense so far, but shoddy offensive play, thanks (?) to Trubisky, has allowed them to hang around in this first half. 7. Trubisky with a brutal INT on the very next possession. It was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but it was clearly a read-option, first-read slant. From the QB view, there were two defenders in the way of his throw. I have no idea why Trubisky threw it -- it was the definition of a pre-determined read.
8. I'm going to put this on some sort of loop:
9. Trubisky is extremely lucky to not have a third interception on his stat sheet in the first half. After Anthony Miller dropped a touchdown in the end zone on second down, Trubisky rolled to his left on an escape and fired towards the left corner of the end zone ... except that there was nobody open. There were two Seahawks' defenders near the goal line who should have picked off that poor decision / throw. Alas, Trubisky and the Bears got lucky, and Chicago took the field goal and a 10-0 lead. They ended the half up 10-3. 10. Midway through the third quarter, and the Seahawks were still in the game. Impressive game for their depleted defense, but this has been more about Trubisky's poor play. He's letting them hang around. Chicago still needs to develop their killer instinct. 11. Aaron Lynch played very well -- great to see some ROI on the Bears' low-risk investment from the off-season.
12. Towards the end of the third quarter, Matt Nagy really calmed things down with his play-calling, utilizing a ball-control offense and keeping things easy for Trubisky, and Mitch executed well. What's more, running plays were actually called on this drive. By the time the third quarter ended, the Bears were in the red zone, threatening to score while still maintaining a 10-3 lead. Why did I like this approach? Because Mitch was struggling all game and struggled on the first two drives of the second half. This was a good way to get him back into a rhythm, keep the offense on schedule, and the defense resting for the fourth quarter. Huge. A couple of plays later, Trubisky executed a nice rollout to his left (!) and fired a strike to Anthony Miller for the touchdown.
13. I'm not sure why Vic Fangio let his foot off the gas pedal the ensuing drive. He dropped more defenders into coverage and let off on the pressure on Wilson, and it looked like one of those second-half Packers' drives from last week. Why not go for the kill? This prevent stuff just doesn't work when there's so much time left against a lead that isn't large enough to support prevent defense. 14. OH WOW! GREAT job by Prince Amukamara to jump a short route on the quick game from Russell Wilson and take it back for a pick-six! The momentum was shifting big time in the Seahawks' favor after their touchdown to Tyler Lockett and quick stop of the Bears on the ensuing drive. Huge play by Amukamara.
15. Ensuing drive, excellent pursuit from Danny Trevathan to strip Russell Wilson of the ball, and great job by Leonard Floyd to recover. Another huge play by the defense. After an uncomfortable start to the fourth quarter, this defense came to try to finish off an inferior opponent. Great effort. 16. Seriously, if Trubisky and the offense can be even AVERAGE throughout an entire game, this Bears' team is GOOD. Not just competitive, but good. But the offense (read: Trubisky) HAS to improve a ton. And this defense needs to stay healthy. But the season is still very much alive for the Bears after two weeks, something they haven't been able to say in a few years.
17. Next week, the Bears head to Arizona to take on the woeful Cardinals, though they have more talent than their anemic offense would suggest. David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald should not be taken lightly, but if the Cardinals are going to trot Sam Bradford out there again at quarterback, I'm a happy camper. If they switch to rookie Josh Rosen, it'll be a more interesting game. I expect the offense to play only OK, again, on the road, but the defense should keep playing its game. Early prediction: Bears 17, Cardinals 9.
