Any NFL team knows that you take a win anyway you can because none of them is a given and it showed this past week with some big upsets, with that said, the Bears win against the Texans was without a stable passing game for one more game this season, patience is wearing thin for those who have waited many years for a steady NFL caliber offense, the promise of Justin Fields magically turning into Bear fans savior is not manifesting, time is needed to see if there will be growth but the wait, even if reasonable, is getting old and frustrating.
The offense went through Khalil Herbert and the run game, David Montgomery went down ugly in the 1st qtr with a leg injury but luckily the reports seem to indicate that its not serious and can return soon, still Herbert and Trestan Ebner are good enough to carry the load until Montgomery returns. The running game has carried the Bears until now with a strong and improving play from the OL that can only get better once Teven Jenkins gets to play full time at RG and Lucas Patrick kicks in at center, Cole Kmet is getting more used to being a blocker and the receivers are doing their part very well, Khari Blasingame truly takes the run game up a notch with his play at FB. The passing game is a whole other story, Braxton Jones is looking better each game he plays but the same cannot be said of Sam Mustipher and Larry Borom, the later having technique issues in pass pro is bad enough to consider making a chance and let veteran Riley Reiff get a crack at RT, although Jenkins isn't a sure thing at upgrading the pass game and Borom is still young and can improve, if a change makes the line better right now, it should be strongly considered an option for the sake of the improvement and development of Fields who is lacking rhythm, he isn't getting rid of the ball enough to his safety valves and looks like he is overthinking where to go with the throw, he looks to be worried of making the mistake or afraid that he is going to get hit and that will cause him to make a mistake by fumbling the ball or making him make a bad pass, the coaches are definitely not asking Fields too much and are being patient by limiting his snaps maybe aware the situation is not the ideal one and are relying more on what is working which is the run, might not be a winning formula but its all for the sake of better QB play, a more stable play from the OL should help him trust the pocket more and make more confident throws to create rhythm, if the OL improves then Fields needs to show improvement as well.
Upside players: Khalil Herbert got his chance and took it for more than 180 yards on the ground, that is seizing the moment right there. Cody Whitehair has been playing pretty quiet in a good way. Blasingame in his limited role is really helping the offense do some damage.
Downside players: Fields bounced back with some good throws in the 4th qtr but his all around game is still bad. I already given up hope with Mustipher as a starter but Borom is disappointing mainly in pass pro.
The defense with all their struggles and growing pains are still getting the job done mainly in the second half, the Texans could have taken this game but the philosophy of Matt Eberflus is showing on this defense, the players are all in on hustle to create turnovers, this is what put the game away in favor of the Bears. Roquan Smith dominated this game, he took advantage and got to the running backs lanes to limit the Texans run game, be it that the Texans ignored blocking Smith at the second level or that the Bears threw enough bodies at the line to maintain Smith clean to pursue the ball carrier, only they know, what I know is that Smith took advantage and showed his agility and speed to get where he was needed to stop plays near or behind the LOS. Kudos to Jaylon Jones in his debut in place of injured Jaylon Johnson, he wasn't shown much on the screen meaning he did a good job at coverage, maybe because the Texans wanted to continue to bully Kyler Gordon, they got away with some but Gordon keeps displaying better play in coverage at the outside, its a bit frustrating to know there is talent at corner but not a legit NB, time will tell if Gordon can be that player but at least as an outside corner he keeps showing promise. Jaquan Brisker has displayed the same good skills as a cover S, he still needs to get better in his tackling technique against RBs in the second level. It was weird to see Joe Thomas get elevated from the PS and get the nod to start at SAM backer when they already had Jack Sanborn and Sterling Wheaterford on the team but Thomas played fairly well in his limited snaps plugin running lanes as did Nick Morrow. Better QB play could have dealt more damage against the Bears defense mostly because the rush didn't get to the QB in time even against an average OL, but if they keep creating turnovers then they will be giving their team a chance to get back in the game.
Upside players: Smith had a great game and he can thank his teammates for it. Kindle Vildor is taking steps in the right direction and his play in the Eddie Jackson interception was gold. Jackson is also displaying his old self which is great to see.
Downside players: There is no one player that I can think of having a bad game but the pass rush did come up short in this one.
Haven't talked about special teams but I have a problem with it so I'm going to start considering them until its not a problem for me. I don't like the punt cover unit, they aren't getting fast enough in a horde to get to the ball carrier, normally I see one gunner get to the returner almost instantly when the ball is caught, behind him around 4 or 5 guys are 10 yards behind the play, I don't see this in the Bears cover team, the gunner is close enough to the play but rarely if at all has makes the tackle and the next guy up is like 15 to 20 yards behind giving the returner tons of space to make a move, honestly I haven't searched for yards per return by the Bears opponent's but I don't like what I'm seeing from this cover group and for a team that is being coached to hustle, this group disappoints in that regard.
Next up is a trip to the Meadowlands against the Giants who is another team resembling the rebuilding process the Bears are living, the difference? not much, the Giants have a vet QB in Daniel Jones who is looking like Mitch Trubisky when he was with the Bears, strong arm and enough legs to hurt defenses but questionable decision making and accuracy, in reality the Giants offense, like the Bears, goes through the run game mainly with Saquon Barkley that might have a grudge against the Bears for it was against them where he got hurt and regressed in his play, now he looks better than ever and it is one more team the shaky Bears run defense will have to find out how to stop and the Giants might not have another option with a very depleted WR group due to injury, the Giants OL looks better and might be more troublesome but Trevis Gipson might get chances at getting to the QB against struggling rookie Evan Neal, their defense has some nasty players in their DL minus Leonard Williams out with an injury but gets a bit softer in the second level that the Bears might choose to test out although they get back Aaron Robinson. So will the better running team win or will it fall in the hands of the QB and see who can take a step further in their progression., it is definitely another stepping stone the Bears can use to build up their team while getting a very reachable win.
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