W6@CAR: What is blocking?

    For most analysts and experts the is no answer of why the Bears are 5-1, there is no trust on this team that they can win on a weekly basis but somehow they have, honestly I can't believe it myself watching this Oline try to block and it looks to be infectious, that not even funny.

   Nick Foles is working with little time in the pocket to get it out to his receivers most of the time, this also means that he is getting knocked down more that one would like, he's not known to be durable. If Matt Nagy doesn't want to work with Mitch Trubisky again, he better be talking with Juan Castillo to fix this mess of a Oline. The running game is nowhere to be found, David Montgomery looks lost trying to find gaps that are not there and often tries to make something out of nothing missing open hole at times maybe because he is losing confidence that it will stay open, I wouldn't blame him finding myself frequently screaming at the screen for Montgomery to bounce it outside and make a broken play happen. It's time to get Darnell Mooney more involved as the #2 wideout, he is fighting for the ball and showing up when he doesn't have it as a blocker for his teammates, it's more than what Anthony Miller has shown recently, he is looking like a frustrated kid every time he doesnt get the ball and the times he got it on a screen and then on a reverse he displayed poor vision not using his blockers correctly which by the way were not many guys willing to do so on this last game. Allen Robinson and Jimmy Graham looked like they were "trying" to block at best, them along with Miller and the whole Oline looked unwilling to give a second effort and continue to push defenders to extend plays and that will not make them better or get them closer to finish off games. Rashaad Coward needs to get benched for Alex Bars and I wouldn't mind watching Jason Spriggs start at LT for Charles Leno Jr., this line needs some type of message sent that states their poor performance is not acceptable, something needs to click to get it together and scheme does not look to be the problem.

   The defense gets a little better with the improved play of Mario Edwards Jr., he is getting pressure from the inside and is helping his teammates get an extra second or two to get to the QB, his run defence looks to be getting better as well, helping Bilal Nichols and Akiem Hicks blow up the line more consistently but it still depends on the play of Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, the later showed an excellent play to stop a screenplay on its tracks by shedding and shielding the running lane with the blocker, its Smiths Achilles heel and it was wonderful to watch him do what he did, this will only help the defense be a solid unit all around. Saw some news that the Bear could be singing SP specialist Dwayne Harris for punt return duties, that is a need and he would really help, Ted Ginn Jr. is not qualified anymore, he really looks sluggish out there.

   Next game against a hot and cold Rams team will be a winnable game but anything can happen if the Bears Oline struggles against Aaron Donald, James Daniels and Cody Whitehair did a good job against him the last time they met but Daniels wont be around for this one and Whitehair has gotten pushed around to often on one on ones. If the Oline keeps underperforming, the defense will need to put constant pressure on Jared Goff to have a shot.

W4&5vsCOLTS&BUCS: O-line woes

    I read on twitter the other day that the league was planning to call personal fouls on games due to personnel on the sidelines not wearing masks properly, I immediately thought that it was stupid, not because it's not necessary to do something about it but the way they what to attack the issue before any other option possible is irrational to me. Don't taint the game because of life issues, if someone is breaking protocol off the field of play by all means get him out of the stadium, suspend the person and don't fine him, fine the team he represents so they can take necessary actions and if they don't then take it on the team. And don't make the referees do this, they already have too much on their hands by trying to do their present job right to now place their attention elsewhere besides the game they have trouble calling correctly. I understand the importance of the topic they want to address but the game cannot be played with propositions like this and if the people involved can't get it together then don't play it at all.

   The Bears got beat by a Colts team that I underestimated, especially their defense which dominated most of the game, still they did get help from the Bears Oline especially from Charles Leno Jr. who is playing worse every game and could get Nick Foles injured, Bobby Massie is trying to play worse than Leno but sometimes gets lucky or its just that not every team has two good edge rushers, not elite just good. If it wasn't for the interior three I don't believe the Bears could win a game and it showed in some snaps where Cody Whitehair got blasted off the line, this will be a game he will not want to remember. David Montgomery couldn't get started, getting stuffed on almost every play, Matt Nagy for some reason believes that Cordarrelle Patterson can run inside, he cant, he doesn't show the vision necessary to find the creases made by his Oline, he is better off going outside or on screens where he can use his big frame to push back DBs. Anthony Miller had some drops and couldn't make the big catch in the 4th quarter to give his team a chance, giving way to Darnell Mooney to have more snaps which he deserves. Mooney gives the Bears a better chance to stretch the field while Miller should be brought in for three wideout sets.

   The defense had its share of problems especially with the continuous struggles of Danny Trevathan but now he got help from Tashaun Gipson, both of them were guilty of not filling their assigned gaps and let Jonathan Taylor run all over them. Still the defense gave their offense a shot all day to even the score and almost did it by themselves, if not for a dropped interception by Khalil Mack in Colts red zone territory, that would have made a huge difference, but the offense cannot be waiting for this to happen all the time, they need to pull themselves out the hole they are in and get the ball moving.

   Against Tampa Bay they somewhat did but not because the Oline played better, they almost looked worse than before but it may be because the Bucs front four is nastier with Vita Vae and Ndamukong Suh in the middle and Shaq Barrett at one edge. The run was none existent again and fell in the hands of Nick Foles and the receivers to get it done, everyone contributed in some way but Jimmy Graham is paying dividends with his red zone play.

   The defense does what is expected, they come and play every game with the same intensity and unfortunately with the same issues, Trevathan played better this game, better is not good, he managed to fill his gaps in time against the run and stayed close to Rob Gronkowski on every play, Gronk isn't the monster he once was, Trevathan can't keep up with speed anymore. The Bucs run game was present but this time it was because Roquan Smith missed key tackles and Eddie Jackson missed on one play in which he was late to come down to the line and got juked by the runner. Luckly these mistakes were not enough to lose control of the game. A massive hit by Kyle Fuller resulted in a recovered fumble by the Bears which gave Chicago life and the lead with an ensuing TD drive. After that it was a field goal battle and the Bears had the last kick, defense made Tom Brady look old and stopped him in his tracks with a 4th down incompletion. The Bears had luck in their side on this game and needed every bit of it to pull the win. The bad news is that James Daniels was lost for the season with a pec injury, now there is no turning back and finally Alex Bars will show what he is made of, he struggled allowing a sack on his first snap but got better as the game went on, I'm excited to see how he performs now as the starter.

   The first quarter of the season was a good one for a really struggling Bears team, trailing by one behind the Packers gives them a chance to get better as a team. With a shaky Oline it would be better now more than ever to use more two and three TE sets, Cole Kmet is doing his part as a blocker and should get more shots as a receiver in time, getting him more on the field by giving him J.P. Holtz snaps should be a must. They need to somehow get Montgomery going or the long ball will not be an option, Foles is not getting enough time to throw and hasnt showed good accuracy, he needs more chances to throw deep without someone hanging in his face. Next against the Panthers will be a though one, Carolina has a good all around team and will not be easy to beat, they can exploit Fuller and Jaylon Johnson with their speedy receiving group, Teddy Bridgewater dismantled the Bears last time when he was in New Orleans with tempo and accurate passes, the Bears can learn more about themselves against this team.

W3@ATL: Bittersweet

   Things aren't looking promising any more with two postponed games due to COVID issues, the scenario in Tennessee is not good and if it's not under control fast, then its as I feared and the season should be ended and done this year, is it possible? I have no idea but it's just not worth the risk for all the people on the field and in the stadium.

   The Bears won another miraculous come from behind win but also lost in the form of Matt Nagys patience with Mitchell Trubisky as the Bears QB, pulling him out of the game on the second drive of the 3rd quarter, the defense did not permit another score and Nick Foles helped the offense score TDs in three consecutive drives in the 4th quarter sealing the victory and very possibly Trubisky´s chances to relinquish his starting gig as the Bears QB as well.

   The offense started their first drive strong until they reached the red zone and stalled for a Cairo Santos missed FG, in Nagys eyes this was strike one against Trubisky, the inability to punch the ball in the endzone for TDs. The offense struggled from there going in to the half with 10 points scored against a very depleted Falcons secondary, Trubisky struggled with the long ball, wasn't fast enough with his reads and didn't get the ball out in time to avoid sacks, overall Trubisky making the same mistakes was strike two against him. First drive of the 3rd quarter, Trubisky makes another bad decision and gets picked, turnover on a bad read was strike three and got out. I get why the decision was made and it killed me when Nagy pulled him out of the game, I was rooting for the guy to be the QB for this team, Nagy tried to coach him to be a pocket QB and just couldn't get him to be that consistently, I wish he would just let him bootleg the life out of him, even his inefficiency to play the read option consistently hurted him, Nagy failed and pulled the trigger not caring that he just made his boss Ryan Pace look bad, ending with another 1st round bust bring it to 3 out of 4 tries. Trubisky´s only chance is one I don't believe he is waiting to happen and that is for Foles to go down with an injury, although the move to bring Tyler Bray to the roster is an interesting one, is Nagy so done with Trubisky that he is willing to put Bray in the field before Trubisky? Charles Leno Jr. is not helping, he is getting beat by edge rushers to often and his run blocking is average at best, he needs to get better or we will be needing two tackles next year. Losing Cohen for the year hurts in explosiveness and moral, there is no other back like Cohen that can do what he is capable of doing, the running game will shift a bit in style with him not there but fortunately there is still good talent in the RB department, Montgomery is a monster and Patterson can be counted to make some noise in trick plays and screens. The WR group is getting more dangerous with Darnell Mooney in it and Jimmy Graham is giving the Bears what they expected of him as a red zone threat.

   The defense continues to struggle stopping the run, Danny Trevathan is to blame for both TD runs by Atlanta by missing  his gap assignment  and as good as Roquan Smith is to cover side to side, he can't shed a blocker for his life, safeties are being counted for to fill these holes, Tashaun Gipson has to be more aggressive and decisive to attack the lane and Eddie Jackson can't live near the line when he is a menase roaming the back field. Akiem Hicks is to much to handle and the duo of Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn is showing some improvement, QB pressure is showing more often and sacks are being made, there is still room for improvement but another DLineman is needed to step up his game. Kyle Fuller and Jaylon Johnson were in trouble in this one, if Matt Ryan had more time or looked more for Calvin Ridley he would have done more damage, he was burning the Bears DBs often.

   So Foles will start against the Colts this week and now some people are watching the Bears a bit differently, like if now they are contenders and even if I wished this was true I can't, not yet, because I've already witness something similar the last 2 years when Chase Daniels was the backup QB, he would come in for an injured Trubisky early in the game and dissect the defenses, then he would come and start the next game and play like trash. I'm hoping this will not be the case, that I will get Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles and give the Bears some wins, this next game is a good chance for him to show he is the real deal and not just another journey man.