Bears Playoff Aspirations Take a Big Hit

October 16, 2018

Just when I thought the Chicago Bears were going to be really good and have a magical season, they lay an egg and lose to the Miami Dolphins 31-28 in overtime.  To be a playoff contender you have to beat mediocre teams starting their back-up quarterback.

If you had told me before the game that the Bears would score 28 points, I'd say they would have an easy victory. It didn’t start off too well. For the first time all year the Bears did not score in the first quarter, or for that matter the first half.  Mitch Trubisky was off target on his throws and the offense just couldn’t get in sync. They still should have come up with seven points if Jordan Howard doesn’t fumble at the one yard line.

In the second half Trubisky regained the form he had the previous week. He made some beautiful long throws and the receivers made some nice catches. He led the Bears onto three scoring drives. With the Bears ahead 21-13, he completed a six yard touchdown pass to Tarik Cohen which was nullified by a pick penalty on Trey Burton. By NFL rules it was the right call but sometimes gets overlooked. On the ensuing play, Trubisky threw into coverage and got intercepted. Granted it was a lousy pass, however the high risk play should never have been called. You were in a good spot on the field for an easy field goal. The lead could have been eleven but remained eight, or one score. Trubisky later did connect with Anthony Miller for a fourth Bears touchdown.

What happened to the one of the league’s elite defenses leading in sacking the quarterback? The Bears had no sacks and very little pressure on Miami quarterback, Brock Osweiler. Miami Coach Adam Gase must have also watched film to see that you can move the ball against the Bears with quick passes to avoid pressure. After turning his ankle, even Khalil Mack couldn’t get to the quarterback. They couldn’t produce any three and outs. With 100 year old Frank Gore getting six yards per carry, first downs were easy to come by. Probably the biggest problem for the defense was poor tackling. The Dolphins completed short passes that turned into 45 and 75 yard touchdowns. Everybody was at fault. My favorite comment though was Adrian Amos who said, "I make that tackle 100% of the time." Maybe after two missed tackles he should lower that number. The defense did come up with a fumble at their own one yard line in overtime, giving the Bears a chance to win.

Starting from their own 20 yard line, behind the running of Jordan Howard the Bears got inside Miami’s 40 yard line. This is where the great offensive coach Matt Nagy proved he still doesn’t know what he’s doing. Calling three straight ahead runs for little gain to set up a 53 yard field goal attempt, for a kicker that nudged the goal post on an extra point. I wonder how many people, like me, knew he was going to miss? I know that your kicker makes those field goals however, your chances get exponentially better closer in. Nagy said if he called a pass that resulted in a sack he would have been questioned about that call. Nagy, with a great offensive mind, couldn’t find a play for a short third down. Maybe a run option play. Also, with only two minutes left a first down gives the Bears a chance to run out the clock before attempting a game winning field goal. So, the kick is missed. Miami gets the ball at their 43 yard line. They easily get in field goal range and kick the winning field goal as time expires.

The Bears' playoff hopes have pretty much vanished. By beating Miami, they only needed to go six and five to reach ten wins and a playoff spot.  Seven and four is a stretch. With the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams on the schedule, that’s two losses. The Bears would have to go seven and two to hit ten victories. They have to play the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings twice and one more against Green Bay. It looks as if the Bears will join the Cubs as major disappointments this season.