December 6, 2019
The Dallas Cowboys received the opening kick-off and
promptly went 75 yards for a touchdown. On the Bears first possession, quarterback
Mitch Trubisky threw an errant pass that was intercepted by the Cowboys at their one-yard
line. My first feeling was this would be another embarrassing Bears performance
before a national television audience. However, in what perhaps was their best
game of the season, the Bears pulled off a stunning 31-24 upset. This game was
not as close as the final score indicates. The Bears totally dominated this
game.
I have to give credit where credit is due. Bears coach Matt
Nagy installed a perfect game plan as the Bears racked up the second most
points in a game this year. Trubisky had an even better game than last week
when he threw for over 300 yards. With Nagy getting him out of the pocket, he
completed 23 of 31 passes for 244 yards with 3 touchdowns. What is more remarkable
is the Bear tight ends combined for 7 catches. Receivers were gaining multiple yards after
the catch. This was partially due to the Cowboys bad tackling.
The first touchdown drive ended in a 5 yard touchdown pass
to Allen Robinson, who had another excellent game. The drive was highlighted by
the best call play I’ve seen this year. A screen pass to tight end J.P. Holtz
for 30 yards. The second touchdown was an 8 yard pass to Robinson, making
another great catch in the end zone. This drive was highlighted by a 21
completion to Anthony Miller. Miller would later score a touchdown on a 14 yard
completion with 10 yards coming after the catch. Sandwiched between these
scores was an Eddy Pineiro field goal. The Bears scored 24 straight points
after falling behind 7-0.
Despite his fumble, David
Montgomery had his best game. He rushed 20 times for 86 yards, more than the entire
Dallas team. The Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott gained only 81 yards.
Trubisky ran for 63 yards including a nifty 23 yard touchdown. Kudos to the offensive
line for their run blocking and pass protection.
After allowing an
opening touchdown, the Bear defense kept Dallas off the scoreboard until a
third quarter fumble gave them good field position. There were about 5-6
minutes left in the third quarter. Dallas used up a lot of time and didn’t
score until the beginning of the fourth quarter. This cut the Bears lead to ten
before Trubisky’s touchdown restored the Bears 17 point lead. Elliott had
gained 56 yards on the first drive and the Bears shut him down the rest of the
game. Dallas had to discard their running game making life difficult for Dallas
QB Dak Prescott. The Cowboys struggled, using up time before scoring with a
little over 4 minutes left. Then the Cowboys used two timeouts as the Bears
were trying to run out the clock. After gaining only 3 yards on two runs, Nagy
called for a roll-out for Trubisky. He completed a pass to tight end Jesper
Horsted for a first down. This pretty much sealed the Cowboys’ fate.I thought the Cowboys were good but I guess I was wrong.
They were supposed to have a really good defense and one the best offenses. Is
it possible that the Bears are that much better?
Nothing is impossible,
although it’s highly unlikely the Bears will make the playoffs. What will be
interesting to see the rest of this season, is if Trubisky continues to grow.
Akiem Hicks returns to bolster the defense, which will be needed against the
Packers, Chiefs and Vikings. However, the defense lost their best tackler,
Roquan Smith, for the remainder of the season.
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