January 11, 2021
The Bears started out the season 5-1. The hope was they could
play five hundred the rest of the way, finish at 10-6 and get ready
to make run in the post season. Instead they went 3-7 including a loss to the
lowly Detroit Lions and wound up 8-8. The Arizona Cardinals lost their last two
games allowing the Bears to back into the playoffs and get a lower draft pick.
The Bears lost 21-9 to the much better New Orleans Saints team. Coach Matt Nagy’s
fingerprints are all over this game. I have criticized Nagy all year when his
offense couldn’t produce 20 points. Against the Saints the offense didn’t even
score ten. For most observers it has become crystal clear Nagy should not
return next year. We’ll see if Bear management agrees.
The game started with the Bears electing to kick-off. The strategy is you score late in the first half and get the ball to start the second. This seemed to be prudent as the Bears defense, playing at a high level forced the Saints to turn the ball over on downs. With the score 7-3 the Bears had 1:47 and three time outs to come up with a score. I couldn’t believe my eyes when they ran David Montgomery three times, not even getting enough yardage for a chance to run a fourth down play.
The most exciting play of
the first half resulted in an incomplete pass. The Bears ran a gadget play. A
direct snap to Montgomery who handed off to Cordarrelle Patterson on an end
around and he pitched it back to Trubisky. He threw a perfect pass to Javon
Wims who was wide open in the end zone, but he dropped it. Instead of
being tied 7-7, the Bears remained scoreless. The Bears then forced
a fumble deep in New Orleans territory. They had a first down on the 14 yard
line. In the next series, Cole Kmet was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct
and the Bears had to retreat, settling for a field goal. Not to be outdone, and
with Bears already missing Darnell Mooney, Anthony Miller got kicked out of the
game for the same infraction.
The offense looks really good when the Bears play the worst
defenses in the NFL. Against all other teams they are woefully inefficient.
Trubisky went 19-29 for 199 yards. Most of his completions and 99 yards were on
the Bears final series when the game had already been decided. The Bears only
had 11 first downs and at one point were 1-9 on third down conversions. One
problem is Trubisky throws too many passes that are short of the yardage needed
for first downs. On third down and seven they throw a 5 yard pass. I can’t
believe these are the calls and that Trubisky still can’t read defenses. You
have to take some shots downfield to move the ball. When Trubinsky comes to the
sidelines it’s up to Nagy to tell him what to do. Mitch has probably
played his last game as a Bear. On your way out leave the door open for GM Ryan
Pace, who made the colossal mistake drafting him number two overall.
If you thought things couldn’t get worse than Montgomery’s 3.1
yards per carry against the Packers, you’d be wrong. Against the Saints he had
12 carries for 31 yards, about 2.5 yards per carry. I’ve always said he is an
excellent out of the backfield as a receiver. However, he was only targeted
once. It’s on Nagy to call more plays for him.
The defense, minus their best player Roquan Smith as well as
cornerback Jaylon Johnson and nickel-back Buster Skrine, did a fine job holding
the Saints to 21 points What makes this more impressive, thanks in part to a brutal
offense, they were on the field for over 38 minutes.
Next up for the Bears is to draft the best QB left when
their pick comes up in the 2021 draft to build around.
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