September 30, 2019
If you are a Chicago Bears fan you had to love the past
weekend in football. It all started Thursday night, when the Green Bay Packers
played the Philadelphia Eagles. With their revamped and vastly improved
defense, the Packers gave up 34 points in a seven point loss. The Packers could
have tied or won this game with better decisions. With first down and goal from
the Eagles 1 yard line, they eschewed the run and threw four incomplete passes.
How could they have so little faith in the running game and not to try it in
four down territory? The Packers still had a chance to tie the game. With time
expiring, quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a rare interception at the Eagles
goal line to seal their fate.
On Sunday, The Kansas City Chiefs played the previously
undefeated Detroit Lions. The Chiefs Achilles heel is their defense. The Lions
put up 30 points. However, the Chiefs offense, probably the best in the NFL, scored
34. The Lions are now 2-1-1.
In a crucial game in the NFC Central Division, the Chicago
Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings 16-6. This game was not as close as the score
may indicate. The Bears dominated this game. The Bear defense is the best in
football. The Vikings have boasted the best running game this year. In three
games, Dalvin Cook has over 370 yards with a 6.6 average yard per carry. The
Bears stopped him for little or no gain on multiple occasions. Cook ended up
with only 35 yards on 14 carries. If the Vikings have to rely on quarterback Kirk
Cousins, they are in big trouble. The Bears defense is so good, they did this
with two starters out. Stalwart linebacker Roquan Smith was replaced by Nick Kwiatkoski
who had eight tackles and a strip sack. Akiem Hicks’ replacement, Nick Williams,
had two of the Bears six sacks and recovered a fumble. As usual, Khalil Mack
was wreaking havoc in the Vikings backfield.
For improving the Bears depth with draft picks and shrewd talent
evaluation, General Manager Ryan Pace and his staff deserve kudos.
The Bears started the game without lineman Kyle Long and
receiver Taylor Gabriel. On the sixth play of the game, they lost quarterback
Mitch Trubisky to injury. The Bears inserted back-up quarterback Chase Daniel. Unlike Trubisky, Daniel (22 out of 30, 195
yards, one touchdown and no turnovers) was completing passes thrown more than 4
yards. His first drive was capped with a ten yard touchdown pass to Tarik
Cohen. The Bears had a 7-0 lead. A second mini-drive led to an Eddy Pineiro
field goal. At halftime, the Bears led 10-0.
The Vikings started the second half with the ball, desperately
needing to score. The Bear defense created a turnover on their first play. A
touchdown would have probably put the game out of reach. However, the Bears had
to settle for a field goal and a 13-0 lead. The Vikings would need only 2
touchdowns to take the lead. With about five minutes left in the third quarter,
the Bears converted a fourth and three to move Pineiro closer for his third
field goal. The Bears led 16-0. This meant the Vikings would need 2 touchdowns
with two point conversions to tie the game. For most of the fourth quarter the
Bears turned back the Vikings offense. With 2:58 left, the Vikings finally
scored. They botched the conversion and for all intents and purposes the game
was over.
The only problem I had was the Bears trying to run out the
clock. Sending running back David Montgomery up the middle was not working. Running in space is his forte. One would think
by now the Bears would try something different. Because of this, Minnesota got
the ball back a couple of times. It didn’t matter because penalties and the
Bear defense put them in fourth down and 23 yards plus fourth down and 15 yards
for first downs.
Next up is the Oakland Raiders in London. Trubisky is out (which
may be a good thing). No word on the
other players not in the last game. This is a game they should win. After that
the Bears will have two weeks to get healthy for a Sunday game against New
Orleans. Hopefully, quarterback Drew Brees won’t be able to play.
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