W14vsHOU: Keeping it simple

    Bears take advantage of a very bad and beaten Houston Texans team obliterating them by 29 points and allowing only seven, this keeps the chance of getting a playoff spot alive with three more games to go, although they dominated this last game there is little to show off from this victory.

   Mitchell Trubisky played a good game by keeping it safe, he is playing more his type of game by rolling out and using his legs, his focus was mostly completing short and fast passes and protecting the football, he had some opportunities to go long but with easier open targets available and a big lead already early in the game, it wasn't really necessary. Trubisky might have to try those throws if his team falls behind but for now moving the chains and getting the ball to his playmakers while not giving it away was and will be the only thing he need to do. David Montgomery and the Oline are slowly but surely meshing together, they still have to polish some things but overall the Oline looks like a functional NFL caliber one and that's enough for Montgomery to work with and make defenses pay, still this wasn't a top ten defense and Bill Lazor is still giving away snaps to Cordarrelle Patterson as a runner, that has got to change fast. One more game where Cole Kmet shows he can play the TE position, more please. A negative for his offense is that once they got just passed the 50 yard line in the 3rd quarter at 1st and 25 because of two penalties against them, they started to struggle again and finished scoring only 2 FG in the second half, this is more of the same struggles they have had all season giving the other team a chance to bounce back and asking the defense to bail them out like every other game they have one this season.

   The defense had a field day with 7 sacks and one for a safety, Mario Edwards Jr. is looking to be a keeper for next season as a really good consistent pass rusher, unfortunately with the news of his encounter with legal issues guess it will be a wait and see scenario. It's no question that the defense dominated but the Texans were a very poor equipped team in this game missing all of their top WRs and still the Bears struggled at times in zone coverage but are looking good against the run again. With the news that Robert Quinn is playing injured, maybe it's best that Trevis Gipson gets more snaps, he showed some good things in this game getting behind the Oline often.

   Next is a tough game against the divisional rival Vikings at Minnesota, struggling team with a defense that is missing some rush but makes due with preparation, still they will be missing LB Eric Kendricks wich will be huge, unfortunately the Bears will be down Buster Skrine and Jaylon Johnson so this might end up being a shoot out which will make it very interesting to see if Trubisky can light up the scoreboard which could be needed for the Bears to win this one and keep the dream a reality one more week.

W13vsDET: Just enough to lose

   It was maddening to see how the Bears let this game go, a total second half team collapse gave the Lions the win dropping the Bears to a 6 game losing streak at 5-7 which puts them out of postseason possibilities if it weren't that the Arizona Cardinals are struggling themselves.

   Mitchell Trubisky played OK, his stats were god against a beat up Lions defense with no starting CBs, he still showed lack of field vision but did throw a couple of nice mid range passes with accuracy and timing, a great second half ending drive to score a TD, he had 2 deep ball shots that weren't even close and had the "game sealing" fumble that gave the Lions great field position to score the last points of the game. Needles to say it was a mixed bag against a lower tier defense. David Montgomery and the Oline had a good game even if the Oline still struggles in the run game still needing to communicate assignments better, they did play better in pass protection but Charles Leno Jr. and Germain Ifedi ultimately had some bad plays and gave a sack each that really cost the offense the chance to seal the game. One thing that needs to be explained or just not do it again is to give even run snaps to Cordarrelle Patterson and Montgomery, the later is the lead back, the other is the gadget chance of passe RB, dont change what is obvious. TE Cole Kmet is showing he can play and needs the ball more, Jimmy Graham has to lose snaps to get him more involved ASAP,  he can be a mismatch and the team needs to see if he can dominate the middle of the field to call the attention of safeties. Bill Lazor needs to eliminate the bubble screens to WRs, its not working and never will if Anthony Miller and Allen Robinson refuse to block.

   Chuck Paganos preventive defense is showing to be too soft, the pressure from the front four was close to nothing, in various occasions the defenders clustered to much on stunts and just didn't create holes to attack the QB, they looked hopeless and somewhat tired, they just couldn't find a way to get through. The secondary played terrified of the deep ball and with reason, when they didnt go 2 or 3 deep they would get torched by Matthew Stafford on 2 long TD passes (the first being a OPI on Kyle Fuller). If they did play cover 2 zone, there was enough time for Stafford to find the hole and attack it. Robert Quinns bull rushing, at least in this game, had zero impact while Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks couldn't take advantage on one on ones. There was just no answer on how to pressure the QB unless they blitzed and that didn't happen enough. 

   This game was a no brainer and still the Bears managed to lose it, there is little left to get out of this season and even if there is still a chance to get to the playoff I really don't see it happening, even when the rest of the schedule is against a shot in the leg Texans team, an inconsistent Vikings team, a Mike Glennon led Jaguars team (we all know how that one goes) and a Packers team that will most likely sit Rodgers for the playoffs. So yeah there's a chance the Oline gels more, Montgomery runs more, Pagano blitzes more and Trubisky does just enough. But with what has happened recently, it looks like a long shot by now, lose against the Texans and rest our minds to think on next season or keep wining and give us some false hope, I'm all for it I guess, go Bears.

W12@GB: Hard lessons

    So what looked inevitable happened but worse, the Bears got demolished by the Packers, they had no answer on offense or defense and possibly are just one loss away to get eliminated from any postseason possibilities.

   Mitch Trubisky was all over the place, he played desperate. His two interceptions were deep balls to double and triple coverage, the first one killed a promising drive in Packer territory and the second killed the possibility of coming back from an already big deficit. All in all he just didn't play good enough,  The Oline on the other hand played better with a new starting lineup, Alex Bars and Sam Mustipher didn't play perfect but they were decent and it's way better than what was shown on previous games, Germain Ifedi at RT looked better, Cody Whitehair at LG played as well as his other teammates with the exception of Charles Leno Jr. who is still playing poorly and was the weakest link of the starting five. David Montgomery was the benefactor of the better play of the Oline, he put solid numbers running the ball but he did miss some holes, it will all depend if this new Oline group can mesh and improve so Montgomery can get familiarized with them.

   Some say the defense just gave up, watching the all 22 I didn't see that, they just got outmatched and outcoached. They needed Akiem Hicks and/or Eddie Goldman to play, the Packers ran through them often by being patient, the Packers RBs did a good job of waiting for holes to open up and attack them, Aaron Rodgers did just enough to pick them apart with short passes by exploiting the holes on the defensive scheme. Rushing three was never going to work and it just let Rodgers get confortable looking for one of his receivers to get open. Chuck Pagano and the defense can bounce back from this if they focus on the things that went wrong on this game, it can be a real learning experience.

   The one that needs to learn but really needs to focus on basics is Trubisky, his mechanics when throwing are not there, its really infuriating and amazing at the same time watching Rodgers just sling passes really not giving a damn how his feet are planted or not, but Trubisky doesn't have this trait as so many other in the league, he needs to focus on the basics and go with the open guy, get in rhythm and if the run game works then the deep wideouts will get one on ones and now take the shot, if he gets his basics right it doesn't matter how many interceptions he throws now, he will get better later, how much? that's another topic, when? hes to far behind to focus on this. He might fail in Chicago like others have failed and others on their teams, but there is a chance he gets it. Right now he is a Bear and he is the starting QB and he is a good kid, I'm wishing he gets better because this team can win if he does. Next against the Lions at home should be a game they can win, how they win it is more important but even more importantly is what happens if they win it convincingly, but I'll wait first for the result, I'm already getting ahead of myself to much.