Foles Gets His Chance and Leads Bears to a Thrilling Victory

 

September 28, 2020

I was shocked as I watched the Bears overcome a 16 point deficit in the fourth quarter. The upset victory over the Atlanta Falcons wasn’t as shocking as the Bear offense tallying 30 points. I had to keep reading the final score to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The offense was going nowhere and the Bears’ penchant for settling for field goals and not scoring touchdowns continued.

 With their first possession the Bears drove down the field. When the drive bogged down, kicker Cairo Santos missed the field goal. My first thought was wondering if Eddie Pineiro would be back next week. It only took the Falcons three plays to score a touchdown. The extra point missed and Atlanta led 6-0. The Bears next drive ended deep enough in Falcons territory setting up a makeable 35 yard field goal.

Following the field goal, the Bears defense surrendered another field goal and a touchdown and the Falcons were leading 16-3. QB Mitch Trubisky did lead the Bears to a touchdown before the half. It was with his legs, not his passing. He ran 45 yards to set up the touchdown. The Falcons led 16-10 at halftime.

Atlanta is a good offensive team and scored 10 unanswered points. Trubisky made another horrific pass that was intercepted. This led to an Atlanta field goal field and a 26-10 Atlanta lead. In what perhaps what the most shocking moment, Bear coach Matt Nagy replaced Trubsiky with Nick Foles.

Nick Foles went 16-29 for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns. It was nice to see a passing game that averaged 11 yards per reception. Foles could have had 2 more touchdown passes. A reversal of a touchdown on a play in the end zone was ruled an interception. Anthony Miller dropped a pass in the end zone. But unlike Trubisky, Foles was reading the defenses and calling the right plays, not just what was sent in by Nagy. His first touchdown drive ended with a three yard pass to tight end Jimmy Graham for his second touchdown. The next touchdown was a 37 yard pass to Allen Robinson, who shook off two Atlanta defenders like a speck of dust on his uniform, making  the score 26-23 Falcons.

The defense was stepping up the pressure and coverage on Atlanta QB Matt Ryan. Atlanta was inexplicitly passing instead of taking time off the clock with running plays. On the Bears final possession, Foles pulled off some magic that has earmarked his career. On the winning touchdown pass he told receiver Anthony Miller to run to a specific spot in the end zone. Under pressure from a blitzing linebacker, Foles completed a 28 yard pass to the spot he told Miller to be in.

The Bears are 3-0 or better than I expected. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but their opponents have combined for only 1 win in three weeks. However, the move to Foles should provide a boost. The offense masked what was a poor defense for three quarters. I can’t believe that Nagy said he hasn’t made a decision on next week’s starting QB. I doubt even he’s dumb enough to start Trubisky. The litmus test starts next Sunday against a good Indianapolis Colts team.  

Winning Ugly

 

September 20, 2020

The Bears have looked extremely bad, but not enough to lose to the Detroit Lions and N.Y. Giants. These are two of the worst teams in the NFC. The Bears have one more game against the Lions and I do not see another win on their schedule. This was so disgusting I’ll make this short.

 Matt Nagy’s offense scored less than 20 points. So much for the balanced attack as the Bears passed on 40 of 64 plays. Aside from only getting a field goal after a turnover, the first half offense was not so bad. It looked very promising as Mitch Trubisky threw for two touchdowns propelling the Bears to a 17-0 lead. Then they reverted to their bumbling selves in the second half. Mitch Trubisky and the play calling were brutal.  David Montgomery had some nice runs but shouldn’t lead the team in receiving. Nagy continues to have little faith in the running game. Rather than taking time off the clock, he called pass plays on third and fourth down needing one yard. This is vintage Nagy. If not for a deflection that luckily fell into guard Robert Massie’s hands, they would have turned the ball over on downs, ceding field position. Nagy should know by now his kickers have been dismal, especially when field goals are forty or more yards away. With 2 minutes left, rather than pin the Giants deep in their own territory with a punt, he goes for a field goal from 50 yards out. The miss gives the Giants the ball at their 40 yard line. They reached the 10 yard and, like the Lions missed, on their final pass attempt. The Bears came away with a nauseating 17-13 victory.

The Giants were without star running back Saquon Barkley which made their offense one dimensional. It was amazing that the Bears defense knew what was coming and still couldn’t prevent a 95-yard scoring drive. They also looked gassed at the end as the offense couldn’t keep them off the field. Nevertheless, giving up only 13 points is pretty good.

As long as Nagy is coach, it won’t matter if Trubisky or Nick Foles is the QB. The trend of scoring less than 20 points will continue. How can he complain about the lack of production by the tight ends when you don’t target them? The defense will have to get much better to have any chance of winning more than four games. Next up is the Atlanta Falcons. Although they are a middle of the road team, they should have no trouble with the woeful Bears.   

With the Season Coming to a Close Both White Sox and Cubs are in First Place

 

September 18, 2020

In spite of this being a short season, it has been a very good year for Chicago baseball. For only the second time since the 1906 cross-town series, both teams will be in the playoffs. It’s a shame that the fans can’t attend to support and bask in the success of these teams. 

The White Sox started out with a 10-11 record. Then they went on a tear, going 22-6,surging into first place in the Central Division with the American League's best record.. This team’s calling card is their offense. MVP candidate Tim Anderson is vying for his second consecutive batting crown. He currently is second to D.J. LeMahieu. Despite missing 13 games, he leads the league in runs scored.  He is second in hits, trailing only MVP candidate Jose Abreu. Abreu is having a monster year. He is third in batting average (.332) and second in homers (17). He is trying to repeat leading the league in RBI and is in first place with 51 in 50 games. Eloy Jimenez is hitting .301 with 13 homers and 38 RBI. Rookie second baseman Nick Madrigal is hitting .324.

If not for the Cleveland Indians Shane Bieber, Dallas Keuchel would be getting consideration for the Cy Young Award. The rest of the staff, though not exceptional, has been pretty good. Coming back from Tommy John surgery, Dane Dunning has been a pleasant surprise. He held the Minnesota Twins great line-up to two runs in 7 innings. Alex Colome is second in the league with 12 saves in 13 opportunities with an ERA under 1.00. Evan Marshall and two guys I never heard of, Matt Foster and Codi Heuer, have been excellent set up men.

Defining Moment: September 17 vs Twins. Jarrod Dyson leads off the bottom of the seventh with a single and steals second. After a Madrigal fly out, Anderson advances Dyson to third, grounding into the second out. Grandal walks. Abreu hits a slow grounder and beats the throw for a rare infield hit, tying the game. Jimenez doubles in the winning run and the Sox clinch a berth in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

The Cubs will go wire to wire and win their division with ease. The main competition, the St. Louis Cardinals, had a COVID breakout which made it easier on the Cubs. In contrast to the Sox, the Cubs are winning because of pitching. As I’ve said before, there are no better top two starters than Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish. This bodes well, especially because the first round of the playoffs is a best of three. Jon Lester, who looked washed up three weeks ago, has been excellent the last few times out. Alec Mills, owner of a no-hitter, has been better than expected. The bullpen has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. Jeremy Jeffress saved the Cubs by taking over the closer role with 7 saves and a 1.77 ERA. The middle relief has improved. Even much maligned Craig Kimbrel has been lights out in his past few appearances.

The problem of the Cubs this season is the inexplicable reason they are not hitting. Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber are all hitting .220 or less. It looks as if Baez may be coming around. He needs to cut down his strikeouts. If there’s a bright spot in the line-up, it has to be Ian Happ. He leads the team with 12 homers and 28 RBI. Jason Heyward leads the team with a .287 average.

Defining Moment: September 12 vs. Brewers. With the Cubs offense in an anemic yearlong slump, things didn’t look good for the team. After being shut-out for 8 innings, the Brewers brought in Josh Hader, one of the best relievers in baseball. Javier Baez and pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo had one out singles. Jason Heyward followed with 3-run homer. Ildemaro Vargas followed with another homer and the Cubs won 4-2.

Bears Win a Thriller

September  13, 2020

I can’t remember the Bears ever overcoming a 17 point deficit entering the fourth quarter. It’s not often the Bear offense scores 27 points. It still took a sure touchdown drop by Detroit Lions receiver D’Andre Swift for the Bears to pull out a 27-23 victory.

Things were looking awfully similar to the 2019 team in the first half. The Bears had the ball in the red zone twice and came away with six points. Eschewing a field goal, Coach Matt Nagy went for a first down on fourth down and seven that failed. In the closing minutes of the half he called a timeout that backfired. The Bears went three and out. This gave the Lions time to score a touchdown before the half was over. Mitch Trubisky completed only 5 of 11 passes. The defense wasn’t much better, being picked apart by Lions QB Matt Stafford. On one possession, the Lions converted a third down and seventeen. The next series a third and 10. Running back, future Hall-of-Famer Adrian Petersen led all rushers with 93 yards.

After a long third quarter drive, the Lions converted a field goal for a 23-6 lead. I thought this game was over as the Bears rarely score 20 points per game. Then came the fourth quarter where Trubisky saved his job by throwing three touchdown passes. The third to wide receiver Anthony Miller was perfectly thrown. The defense also came up with a few good plays pitching a shut-out in the fourth quarter. An Akiem Hicks sack stymied a Lions drive. The key play was safety Eddie Jackson breaking up a pass that was intercepted by cornerback Kyle Fuller setting up the decisive touchdown.

There were some other positives. Nagy incorporated the run. For a change, this was a balanced offense until Trubisky had to pass for the Bears to come back. Nagy called 28 runs that gained 157 yards. Led by David Montgomery’s 64 yards, the Bears averaged over 5 yards per carry. Trubisky recovered from a poor first half, completing 15 of 25 passes in the second half.

The Lions are not a very good team and a loss could have set the tone for a bad season. Next up are two more winnable games, the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons. Let’s hope that they can play a complete game and start the season 3-0.13, 2020

 

Da Bears

 

September 7, 2020

The Bears begin play this Sunday with Matt Nagy in his third season.  Nagy was supposed to be an offensive guru that would revive a dormant offense. In 2018, a stellar defense wasm responsible for most victories, covering up the offensive deficiencies. That year they scored less than 20 points four times, including an ugly playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The defense wasn’t as prolific in 2019. Nagy’s offense scored 20 or less points in 10 of 16 games. Rather than take responsibility, Nagy placed the blame on his coaches. The Bears now have a new offensive line coach with an assistant, a new tight ends coach. John DeFilippo is the new quarterbacks coach and holdover Dave Ragone is now passing game coordinator. The Bears also added a new offensive coordinator. With Nagy in sole charge of the offense I can’t fathom what he does. At least with the pandemic forcing cancellations, Nagy won’t be questioned as to why the regulars had no playing time during exhibition games.

The biggest question in pre-season is who is going to be the Bears QB. The candidates are Nick Foles, who has had a modicum of success, and overall second pick, draft bust Mitch Trubisky. In essence, it was a battle between two second stringers. I’ve always thought this was Trubisky’s job to lose. It was difficult to determine who was better qualified with only practices to go by. Foles would have had to do something extraordinary to win the job. Although he probably wouldn’t start for any other NFL team, Trubisky is the Bears starter. Foles better be prepared when Trubisky fizzles out.  

The Bears completely revamped the tight end position. They signed former pro-bowler Jimmy Graham. His career has been trending downward for the past couple of years. First pick Cole Kmet should see plenty of action as he is the tight end of the future. They’ll have to do the job as there is little depth at this position.

If there is an upside to the offense, it is the wide receivers. Allen Robinson is arguably one of the best receivers in the NFL. I don’t understand why they haven’t negotiated a contract extension. Anthony Miller, when healthy, has shown flashes of being an excellent downfield receiver. The Bears signed veteran speedster Ted Ginn Jr. Although he never has had many receptions, he has been very good running after the catch. Nagy regularly uses a one-back formation so he can put four receivers on the field. The most promising is fifth round draft pick Darnell Mooney, another speedy receiver. Riley Ridley and Javon Wims will also get some opportunities as well.

Even if David Montgomery wasn’t injured, the Bears tandem in the backfield could be one of the worst in the league. Tarik Cohen stood out in 2018 as a rookie who was exciting to watch. Last season he was not an unknown commodity and opposing defenses were able to curtail his production. Montgomery was not good as a single back or in shotgun formation. The only success he had was lining up as the second back in the I-formation. However, Nagy didn’t employ the formation often because he couldn’t run a pass play from it. Neither can power up the middle near the end zone or on short third downs. Rather than target an aging tight end, the Bears should have sought a player who can gain three yards per carry. They had one in 2018.  However, Jordan Howard was the scapegoat for a bad running game and was traded. Nagy said he will employ the run, although I think he will continue to run his pass happy offense and ignore the rushing game. He could have Walter Payton in his backfield and still focus on the passing game.

There are question marks on the defense. They should still be good enough to keep the Bears competitive. The key is to stay healthy and not get exhausted with a bad offense keeping them on the field for three quarters. Akiem Hicks returns and will bolster the pass rush. Eddie Goldman has opted out and will be hard to replace. Bilal Nichols will return on one end of the defensive line. Unless the Bears sign another lineman, Roy Robertson –Harris could replace Goldman.

The strength of the defense are the linebackers. Inside linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith are both pro bowl caliber. Khalil Mack should have a better year with Hicks back.  Newly acquired pass rusher Robert Quinn is the other outside linebacker. This may not allow opponents to double or triple team Mack.

The Bears will need a strong pass rush to help out the secondary. Kyle Fuller returns as one corner. Former nickel back Buster Skrine will be the other. This could change depending on the development of second pick Jaylon Johnson. Eddie Jackson returns   with an inexperienced Deon Bush as the safeties.

Cordarrelle Patterson will return kickoffs and Cohen punts. Injured kicker Eddie Pineiro will start off on the practice and be replaced by Cairo Santos who was with the Kansas City Chiefs with Nagy. Pat O’Donnell returns as the punter.

I hope the Bears catch lightening in a bottle but that would require a major uptick in the offense. With the Vegas over/under at 7 ½, I’ll be optimistic and predict 8-8. Missing the playoffs, should result in drafting the best quarterback available.

On a personal note today would be my beloved sister Sheila’s 65^th birthday. She has been my muse for all my posts, which I’m sure she would have enjoyed.