W14vsDAL: Better late than never

   Somehow the Bears are keeping this season alive by beating teams that they were capable of beating on paper, but I didn't expect them to put 30 points against the Cowboys while really not changing much of the offensive scheme they have already used all season, so what gives? 

   Mitchell Trubisky is fighting for his job playing with more confidence and getting the ball off his hand quicker and his accuracy and anticipation has shown improvement in some throws, so basically something clicked in Trubisky's head? His decision to start scrambling and running again is definitely helping the offense by getting positive yards and giving the defense something to worry about, last year his legs were a weapon that for some reason this season disappeared until this last game. Was it Matt Nagy putting a ball and chain on Trubisky to improve him as a pocket passer? Is Trubisky free from it? Even if injury is a factor for him not running as much, I hope he keeps it up while being smart with it and slide like he did when there is nothing there. This is great for David Montgomery who continues to show to be the player Ryan Pace drafted, just give him a crease to work with and he will win yards. The Oline is not improving much, Charles Leno is looking very pedestrian in this offense, the fact that Cornelius Lucas III is doing his job tells me a bit about how average is Bobby Massie, Rashaad Coward is still to raw. All of this added up is what I hope is affecting Cody Whitehair and James Daniels play better, there is no consistency in this unit, if this continues they will be placed under the microscope on the offseason along with OL coach Harry Hiestand. The emergence of J.P. Holtz as a weapon at the TE/FB position is was I envisioned for Ryan Nall who has used as Holtz backup, can this be what Nagy's offense needed to complete his scheme? this along with Jesper Horsted being the next man up at TE made Dallas respect the position, adding all this up, all these little things, Trubisky's confidence and running skills along with good TE play is what might be making Nagy's plan work finally and getting Montgomery more room to work with only missing is for the Oline to make the push. This doesn't make me think that Nagy is making this work, rather it seems that its all in Trubisky's  arm to move this offense forward, he has three more games to keep it up, if he does then he gets to go next year no questions asked.

   Chuck Pagano inherited a solid unit and has kept is solid to this day even when losing key contributors and leaders, he has done a great job and its up to the players to get the only thing missing from last year and that is the turnovers, Kyle Fuller is a good player but he has gotten chances to increase his interception count but has drop many of those opportunities. The sacks are not coming in bunches or from just Khalil Mack, but the pressure is there just a half second late to get to the QB. This defense bends but doesn't break and is consistent enough to give the offense a chance to win them games. With Prince Amukamara healthy and Akiem Hicks back from injury, the unit can only get better.

   This game against the Packers is as important as any of the final three games left this season, they are statement games that will tell us what I already knew, how good can this team be? the answer is very good, they just need to get it together and show it on this final stretch, even if the postseason slips from them, they need the boost for next year and realize again that they are a contender.