Bears 2st qrt 2017 season

   I can argue until the end of time how we got robed two potential wins against the Vikings and Saints, but I won’t. Instead I will watch this team handle all odds and adversity to see how far they can go and grow as a unit, as they have shown that they can. Right now, they don’t resemble a team that is ready to win a playoff game, but they could get there.

   At the half mark of the season the defense is looking very good, playing tough football and are starting to get the much-needed turnovers, but with the offense still trying to click with Mitchell Trubisky managing the game with not much help at receiver and relying on the run game, the defense has been asked to do more and are playing extended time on the field.

   It’s refreshing to see life in the secondary, Adrian Amos and Kyle Fuller are showing that they can play at a high level and Eddie Jackson is right behind them. This can only make the front seven look better with Christian Jones commanding the position left by his injured teammates. There is room to improve the OLB position with more pass rush. What’s left to pressure the QB from the outside is the quickness of Leonard Floyd and power of Pernell McPhee, now with Lamarr Houston gone and Willie Young lost for the season, I may change my mind of wanting to get a safety as priority in next year’s draft if the position keeps improving behind Amos and Jackson, instead opting for a top pass rusher to add depth and eventually replace McPhee.

   Unfortunately, the question mark at the WR position is too big to ignore. The position got thinner losing Zack Miller probably forever as an option going forward, Cameron Meredith’s injury and Kevin White’s growth is a concern. Markus Wheaton brought to stretch the field can’t get on the field due to health issues. Dion Sims, Tre McBride, Kendall Wright have been serviceable, the rest of the core is still too inexperienced. This prevents the running game to show how good it can really be, defenses are not respecting the run enough and are not having second thought on blitzing more often. While Jordan Howard can still break tackles and find holes for big chunks, there are too many times he gets caught behind the line because defenses bring 8 or more guys to get him. This particularly hurts Tarik Cohen, who is shifty but not enough to make so many bodies miss. A presence of a passing game will make Cohen play better and make the run scary good. One can only hope that Dontrelle Inman can be the threat we need to open the field more and stop defenses from crowding the box. The offense is close to being decent in the passing game and that could be enough to make this team win more games. With Kyle Long and Cody Whitehair getting injured last Sunday, the bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. With Charles Leno Jr. signed for the future and Bobby Massie being average at best, a swing tackle could be a priority for next year as well. And can we get Robbie Gould back?

   John Fox is winning some breathing room, but at the end of the day he just resembles the player’s coach that the Bears organization desperately needed to get the players mentally and emotionally back on track, but as a game-planning coach it doesn’t look like he brings much to the table. Only thing that keeps me wanting to stick with him as a coach is the fear of Vic Fangio leaving if Fox is shown the door, like Rod Marinelli did when Lovie Smith got fired. Last season it kind of showed that Fangio and Fox weren’t best of buddies so maybe it wouldn’t be an issue. The other possible situation is if Fangio would prefer to be the HC if the position was open. I wouldn’t mind if he got the job, but I would prefer an offensive minded coach instead to work on improving Trubisky, but at the cost of losing Fangio? It’s a tough decision. In a prefect scenario, I would keep Fangio at DC and get a OC as a new HC and have him bring a new OC to replace Loggains. This is something to watch closely at the end of the season.

   Next four up are the Packers, Lions, Eagles and 49ers. Getting the two wins against the division rivals would put the Bears in the mix for the wild card. There’s a slim to no chance to get a win against a potent Eagles team in Philly. Against the 49ers is a whole different story and should result in a win unless Jimmy Garappolo has something to say about it, but even so I don’t think the 49ers finish beign the better team. Three wins would put the team at the .500 mark at 6-6, reaching the number of wins I pictured the team would get this season, making the future look a bit brighter.

   If this last game should be the final game of Zach Miller’s carrier, it would be a damn shame. But here is hoping he gets healthy soon, he deserves better than this. Not getting his TD catch sucks, I believe he would prefer to be able to use his own feet to walk again, so here’s hoping he doesn’t get negated that as well.