W16@SF: Struggles at the Bay

   Close game win against the 49ers on the road doesn't really tells us much aside that the Bears seem to still struggle against them at their house for some reason.
   The offense played well enough despite making two turnovers, the last one coming at the final minutes of the game giving the 49ers the chance of taking the lead but they didn't get to do much and got shut down by the defense sealing the win for the Bears. So again the Bears defense has played at a high and consistent level, the absence of Eddie Jackson and Aaron Lynch didn't inflict much in the overall performance of the unit but it was against a average team, the good news is there is a big chance they both come back for the playoffs and even better is that Kyle Long already is back on the team and there is even a better chance he gets plunged in at right guard for the for game of the postseason just in time to gear up the running game. I have said like many others that Mitchell Trubisky is the key to the Bears going all the way, but Cody Parkey could have a saying in this, he missed another manageable field goal and the only thing that lowers my concern of his performance is that this season no kicker is a sure thing, still I am very afraid.

   The final game of the season is here as the Bears trave to Minneapolis to face a a Vikings team fighting for their playoff lives, they have their faith in their hands but if they lose then its up to the Eagles to they take advantage and win their game snatching the wild card seed away from the Vikings. the Bears get the slight chance of getting the two seed by beating the Vikings and waiting to see if the Rams fold against their division rival 49ers, its not likely but Matt Nagy already stated that the plan is to go all out this game to get the win, then its wait and see. At first thought this game wasn't worth the effort as they will be showing the Vikings their hand and will be in harms way for potential injuries and I still don't think the 49ers will beat the Rams at the Coliseum. Still I can understand why try and win this game and its that chance of maybe getting a by and eliminating a division rival from the playoffs as a bonus, getting rid of a team that already played you twice this year and then play you again in back to back games can be rather dangerous. Injury is what concerns me, they already lost Trubisky for two games against them, this is one of the key elements the Beas                managed to get in the post season because they took better care of their players health so just hope no one gets seriously hurt.

W15vsGB: Hibernation postponed

   This season is a definite step forward for the Bears organization topping it of with a win against the arch rival Packers with Aaron Rodgers leading it, resulting in a Division Title and a home game in this years post-season, just in time for Christmas. Although there is a slim chance this can get better and of course it can get worse as well, because karma I guess?

   Starting of with the man that can take this team to the promise land depending on his performance, Mitchell Trubisky flipped the script and played a very good game, nothing compared to his previous one, so maybe it was rust? One could only hope so, he did throw a pair of early passes before the receiver started his cut but no overthrown balls, no turnover although he did fumbled once but no harm came of it as the ball was recovered by his O-line which played pretty good as well, picking up a variety of blitzes and helped Trubisky escape the pocket when nothing was open. This type of performances make the Bears a Super Bowl contender but I have seen this hot and cold scenarios in the QB position before with Rex Grossman and Jay Cutler, differences? Grossman didn't have the type of elusiveness, its still to early to tell if Trubisky can make better decisions consistently, Grossman was a freaking roller coaster, Cutler not as much but was inconsistent with or without good receivers, the biggest thing Trubisky has that Cutler never had was the undeniable support of his teammates, accepting him as a leader even when struggling, this area hit Cutler hard on his job as a starting QB. Jordan Howard is getting the ball and doing his part, gushing thru the middle on one play resulting on a long touchdown run. Tarik Cohen was the player to watch on offense in this game, making great plays but then balancing his performance with some big mistakes of his own loosing a ball on the hand off to Howard on a wildcat play and then catching a short pass that could have resulted in his second touchdown but for some reason went out of bounds even before crossing the first down marker making the Bears go for a field goal instead. Still Cohen is a dangerous weapon to have and a key piece to the offense, the good things he did in this game showed that. Adam Shaheen appeared on this game with a pair of catches and watching him with the ball just wants me to watch more of it, he is massive and can push people around in the secondary. 

   Aaron Rodgers was a tad off on his deep throws, but the usual suspects on defense shined once more. I really liked Leonard Floyd's play and effort on this game, he look like he had something to prove playing hard and fast all over the field. It hurts not having Bryce Callahan but Sherrick McManis is a good job of replacing him, he looks to be a step slower than Callahan but has enough to stick to his man and making the tackles. One of the things that makes the Bears defense great is they their health, watching Aaron Lynch as a good rotational OLB and Eddie Jackson as the backfield cover safety hurts, Jackson's absence will hurt Kyle Fullers game more than anyone else in the field, his type of play is better when he can trust his safety to cover the deep routs, really hoping that Jackson can be ready for the playoffs. 

   Five Pro Bowlers later (just four on defense, should have been more), the Bears finish 7-1 at home losing only to the Patriots in a tight game. Getting home field advantage for the whole post season would be huge but the odds are against them, beating a re-surging 49ers team led by rookie QB Nick Mullens and a stingy defense, who play better in Candlestick Park, is the first step. This win is needed if they want to get a 2nd or even a 1st seed, even so a win would assure them the 3rd, a playoff game at Soldier Field, what a year. Playing in wild card week could be better for a Bears team that didn't play well when coming out their bye week this season, but if Jackson isn't healthy enough to play it may not be the best scenario, Deon Bush will be under the microscope in this game.

W14vsLAR: Opportunistic

This looked like the game against the Giants with biggest differences being that Eli Manning did turn the ball over as much as Jared Goff did, the Bears defense took what the Rams gave them and shut them down to only 6 points which is very impressive, what wasn't as the QB play on both teams.
   Mitch Trubisky did his best impression of bad Chase Daniel going for 3 picks on the game, two air balls and one on a bad decision, this could just be a result of him not playing in 2 weeks so he can get a pass this time but its a wait and see thing now. Jordan Howard got more involved this time and paid of getting to 100 rushing yards since forever, this makes me happy. The Rams defense didn't do that much and just received the gifts thrown by Trubisky, the only score by the Bears came on another creative play drawn up by Matt Nagy that look like last second plays you watch in sport movies. The key to the game was Chicago's defense getting into Goff's head and making him take bad decision, he looked uncomfortable all game and the Bears slowed down the little running game the Rams tried Still this game was too close and turnovers gave Bears the win.
   Next is the final home game and it will be against the Packers, winning gets the bears a home game in the postseason which would make the win even sweeter, it will not be easy just because its against Aaron Rogers but again, if they win this game it means even more by beating a team they have struggled to beat for a long time, lets see if the Bears came make this an even rivalry again.

W13@NYG: To be or not to be... a good QB

   So what was it Chase Daniel? Did you Oline under perform that you got pressured too often? Was the game plan to simple for the defense to figure out? Was it that the run game stalled again and to much was put in your shoulders? Was it the rain that made you perform like an inexperienced QB coming out of the bench mid game against one of the best defenses of the year? Or was it that I jumped to early conclusions that you were a more than dependable experienced backup QB when you just had a good game to then show one week later that you cant move in the pocket, you're accuracy is average at best in bad weather and you panic like the average QB when you cant find your first read open and pressure is coming, showing that you cant really put the offense on your back because of your lack of game inexperience. Yeah I may be going to hard on him,when I didn't have anything but good things to say about his performance against the Lions last week, but it was so awful to see him play against the Giants showing a 180º type of performance, only touch he showed was on the pair of throws to Tarik Cohen on the wheel routs. Some say that Matt Nagy didn't continue to run the ball as much on the second half because the Giants were expecting it but the way Daniel was playing, the conditions on the field and the number of blitzes the Giants made could have benefited for a couple of more run plays to be called, I don't see how mixing it up with Howard would have hurt. The defense could have taken the game in their hands but let a trick play go for a score and then couldn't stop them on 4th and goal for another score, even so the game wasn't lost because of them, they did enough for the offense to get them the win but didn't happen. 

   Mitchell Trubisky comes back to host the NFC first place Rams on Sunday night, this is the game that will grade the strenght of this Bears team before they can get to the playoffs, they will have all their starting players and still cant wait for this game to start. This will be Vic Fangio against Shane McVay, one with years of experience and the other, while still very young, has proven to have great creativity and has excellent control of his teams strenghts, Nagy can show he is as creative or more helping his defense win this game, just remember to watch out for Rams #99.

Just saw the end of the Dolphins vs Pats game.... wow. And whats up with the kickers this year right?

W12@DET: Resiliency

   What a great win by the Bears on the road on a really short weeks rest forced to play with the backup QB, it didn't really matter and won as a team against a bad Lions team that wasn't at their best without their lead running back and just one good receiver, even so the game was a close one and the Bears needed to play a solid game to get it done.

   Chase Daniel did what you expect from a backup and more, he started slow but didn't turn the ball over and threw for a pair of TDs, overall he did his part pretty good. Trey Burton on the other hand might just had his worst game of the season, coughing up the ball once and drawing and ending a potential scoring drive with an offensive holding, this might just be a bad day kind of thing. Who had a good day was Eddie Jackson who took one to the house reading Matthew Stafford like an open book and picked him for what would be the game winning touchdown, this got him the defensive player of the week and month of November recognition that could just maybe give him the attention of fans to get him to the Pro Bowl which I do believe he deserves. To win both games against the Lions and one against the Vikings is so great to see even better when with was one after the other, to win against you division opponents its what you expect from your team if they want to win your division, what the Bears demonstrated these three past games is huge progress and that they are a contending team at the least.

   The Bears go to New York to play a dangerous but bad coached Giants team, this team is a sleeping giant (pun intended) and you really don't want to wake him up, they got the weapons necessary to score on you at any moment with the receiving core they have and a rising star at running back. Eli Manning is good enough to hurt you but the Oline is shaky at best and there is were the Bears defense will need to take advantage of by getting into Mannings face and head while containing Saquon Barkley in the process. Daniel will have a second go at starting QB proving he can help the team win but if Akiem Hicks doesn't play and this gets out of hand, Daniel will have to play as good as he did at Detroit, if the Cowboys demonstrated something by beating the Saints Thursday night was that defenses still matter and that you cant get to confident that you are the better team just because, execution of the right game plan is everything, players and coaches need to get it right to get it done, I do believe that the Bears can pull this one off to continue their winning streak all the way to Los Angeles. Cant wait.

W11vsMIN: For real

   The Bears managed to defend their home turf against the former NFC north champs in a well fought game, they got the lead early in the game and shut the Vikings defense for no points in the first half and would need every point because adjustments where made and the score got uncomfortably close at the end but the Bears didn't break and held the lead until the end giving them a healthy lead in the division and maybe some well deserved respect around the league.

   Cody Parkey got his mojo back and nailed all of his 3 field goal tries very nicely, what was weird is that he didn't have any extra point tries due to the Bears going for 2 point conversions on each of their 2 scores, some kind of security blanket for Parkey? Mitchell Trubisky had a rough time against a stout defense throwing for two picks, the first one was an aggressive well thrown ball intro triple coverage but wasn't on time to beat one of the safeties, it was a good try but the second one was a bad one throwing it to no mans land with the game on the line, he cant be giving the other team life with late turnovers, add this one with Tarik Cohen's lost fumble and it almost spelled catastrophe, luckily the Bears have great receivers this year specially the rising youngster Anthony Miller had a good game completing a difficult catch in the end zone for the only touchdown for the offense, great route, great reaction, great hands, awesome score and even better celebration. To watch Jordan Howard still able to punch the hole for more than 3 yards is a breath of fresh air and shows teams that they cant ignore him. Matt Nagy really showed he can game plan in this game, really putting the Vikings defense on their heels at least for two quarters, but still doing enough to finish the game on top.

   What more can you say about the defense but that it has to be taken seriously and that they can still get better with the young talent they got, which only makes them scarier. The fact that this defense  is a turnover machine only helps the offense in a big way, especially Trubisky who gets more playing time which he really needs and it helps that he has the weapons necessary to extend plays and get points on the board. So yeah, although this offense can score, its still fueled by the defense and that is not a bad thing.

   Its a short week for the Bears and hopefully they can treat us with a thanksgiving win at Detroit while also ending that nasty losing streak they have at Ford Field in the process. Again, they cant let Matthew Stafford get comfortable, without Kerryon Johnson they will be more vulnerable on the ground and on screens. With the News that Trubisky hurt his elbow at the end of the Vikings game, one can only hope its nothing serious, no team wants his franchise QB not playing but it hurt more when he is still young, correcting his mechanics and learning the system. Any time he loses by not being on the field seriously hurts the teams future. 

W10vsDET: Doink!

   The Bears manage to get a solid win against their first division foe of the second half of the season, beating the Lions with a well executed game offensively and defensively, cant say the same about the special teams unit although Cody Parkey did manage to do something spectacularly stupid for the ages without hurting the team enough to cost them the game.
   Mitch Trubisky played very good, even on some missed overthrown passes, I liked how he kept the ball to fall inside the field near the sideline giving only his receiver a shot to get it, even if it was to far from his target I prefer to see these misses instead of the ones where the ball falls on the side line or get under thrown for a potential interception, that for me shows improvement and can be fixed with repetition and chemistry with his receivers. He managed to throw some pinpoint passes through tight coverage, his scrambling is getting better and his vision was the best thing, using his eyes to move defenders and create opportunities for himself was awesome to watch. Impressive and at the same time concerning was that the Bears did most of their damage through the air due to the run game not getting enough push, this may be something to watch out for very closely, the Lions may have game planed to stop the run but still this years defense is not known because of their tough run defense. Allen Robinson's return to the field was huge and showed how he is establishing himself as a true WR1 in this team, this only makes the receiving core look even more dangerous with the improving game of Anthony Miller, Taylor Gabriel as a true deep thread and finally having someone who can really stretch the field, the all around thread that is Tarik Cohen, Jordan Howard showing he can catch the ball makes him a complete three down back, Trey Burton as a mismatch TE and when Adam Shaheen comes back to complements Burton as the big bruising TE, this team can only get better as Trubisky keeps progressing. its up to the coaching and the O-line to keep him on his feet and get better.
   The defense is real when Khalil Mack is on the field, he really makes the defense go up a notch from good to solid defense. Bryce Callahan is playing his hart out and letting the Bears know he deserves to get payed next year. This defense shows they are loaded with talent and how good they can be is based on Vic Fangio getting them where they need to be. One thing that just needs to go is the stupid penalties that extend the opponents drives that have been resulting in garbage time touchdowns, they cant let teams creep back on them like that, they may lose a game because of it especially against good teams. This is also a warning to Parkey, I mean congrats or whatever on successfully missing four kicks by hitting the goal post on all of them, but those where 8 points that didn't get to the scoreboard, if those four where all field goals I would be pleading Ryan Pace to redeem himself from his biggest mistake and give the Niners a ransom for Robbie Gould to get him back, nothing againt Pace hes been great but come on!

   Next game they get to host the Vikings on Sunday night, it loos like a mirror match against two big defensive squads with explosive receiving cores, good runners and shaky O-lines. Penalties and turnovers have to be at the minimum to get this one done. The Bear have let slip these kind of big games against Packers and Patriots who are contending playoff teams, they need to win these games now to assure not just their pass to the playoffs but to earn respect from the league that they deserve to get to the post season and even get them thinking that they have a shot of winning in January.