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.