Bears Win But Don't Get Too Excited

 

September 20, 2021

Things got a little scary at the end as the Bears held on to edge the Cincinnati Bengals 20-17. The Bears didn’t win this game as much as the Bengals lost it.  However, don’t get too excited. This is one the games the Bears were supposed to win as the Bengals are one of the few teams worse than they are.

The defense was the primary reason for the Bears victory. It seemed they turned back the clock to 2018 forcing four Bengal turnovers. The first was a fumble forced by Eddie Jackson, which Tashaun Gipson recovered. Bengals QB Joe Burrows , had thrown 199 passes without an interception when he was picked off by Bears linebacker Roquan Smith who ran it in for a touchdown. Smith who is one of the best linebackers in the NFL also had one the Bears four sacks. On his next pass Burrows was intercepted by second year cornerback
Jaylon Johnson, one of GM Ryan Pace’s better draft picks. On the next series Alec Ogeltree replacing Eddie Goldman at nose tackle, hit Burrows forcing another interception by backup defensive lineman Angelo Blackson. Khalil Mack also had a strong and got his first sack of the year. Lo and behold, Robert Quinn had a sack.

Bears starting QB Andy Dalton, was on fire to start the game. He completed 6 of 7 passes on a 75 yard touchdown drive, capped by a TD pass to Allen Robinson.  He also had a couple of nice runs. That was about it for offensive guru Matt Nagy’s offense. Dalton looked good on his second drive before injuring himself running out of bounds.

Justin Fields took over and had some rookie struggles that can easily be corrected. He had two false start penalties, recovered his own fumble and threw a costly interception leading to a Cincinnati touchdown.. He showed a strong arm and should have had a touchdown reception that Robinson uncharacteristically dropped in the end zone. The Bear defense was setting up the offense in good position. However, when they got close to the end zone they had to settle for field goals. There are two areas that cause major headaches. Offensive genius Nagy can’t get creative enough to get them into the end zone. He doesn’t even consider a run pass option. Once again the Bears had a third and two and couldn’t get a first down, running he ball twice.

Back to Fields. He did his part to save the day. With a little over two minutes to go the Bears faced a third down and nine. Fields broke two tackles and got a first down.  I don’t know if Fields starts next week but it his time will come sooner rather than later.  With the weak offensive line Nagy will need to call roll-out pass options to avid the rush and keep his quarterbacks healthy.