[ad_1]
As I went back on the Bears vs. Lions game for my third and fourth looks, I knew I was seeing something different, but I could not quite put my finger on it.
Bears are starting to look special.
Rather than the general team unit-by-unit.
The Bears' passing game, run defense and pass pressure all earned "A" grades – the first three I've given this year.
Mitch Trubisky and Co. came out of the ball on five of the first seven plays and 13 of the first 20.
After those first 20 calls, it was 19-0 with 11:30 left in the first half and Trubisky had thrown for 211 yards.
The O-line's pass protection was excellent.
Trubisky and his receivers were Trubisky and his receivers were, and Trubisky made four or more of the best throws of his career.
He is not special yet, but Trubisky took a big step forward.
The Bears' run "Now in second place in the league, and first in average gain, because of Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Roy Robertson-Harris, and Bilal Nichols. were a couple of Jonathan Bullard sightings, too.
Add to that Danny Trevathan is having his best year as a pro and Roquan Smith now has his run-and-hit game down.
It took Khalil Mack about 30 minutes to get back in his groove, but that along with Mack, Leonard Floyd and Aaron Lynch brought pressure from the jump. Roquan Smith and Bryce Callahan have had a rare but perfectly executed goal, and the second half has been taken over.
You already know the run is getting a "D-" and Special Teams an "F."
The one thing you can not miss on the tape is when the Bears tried to run north and south, the offensive line could not move anywhere. No one.
Right now, though, I'd prefer to talk special.
One thing that was lost as everyone wrung their hands over the Bears missed Allen Robinson.
He is the best player on the Bears' offense, and if we get the Bears got the 2015 All Pro, 1,400-yard, 14-TD Robinson season, gold 2016's "nice" wideout, he is playing like an All Pro.
Robinson did not beat Lions defensive backs Sunday, he destroyed them right off the line.
Eddie Goldman is dominating and destroying offensive linemen. We've gotten so used to see Hicks toss around 300-pounders like Nerf balls, that we're talking about Goldman doing the exact same thing.
He mauled Frank Ragnow and Graham Glasgow all day long.
Aaron Lynch is the biggest surprise on the roster. I did not understand how he made the team after a practice in Bourbonnais, but Matt Nagy said, "trust us," and man was he right.
The Lions game was not so good, but it was as disruptive against the run as anyone on the field.
Lastly, if both Kyle Fuller and Bruce Callahan are not Pro Bowlers this year, stop picking the teams.
The confidence, physicality and aggression Fuller is playing with is remarkable. His 14 combined pass breakups (10 assists defensed and 4 interceptions) is second in the league only to the Jets' Morris Claiborne (13 and 2), and Fuller spent Sunday daring Matt Stafford to try him, and he beat him every time he did .
The one illegal contact call on Fuller was as ticky tack as they get.
Callahan is the smallest of the Bears' five starting DBs, and yet he's the best run defender, adding five solo stops and his second sack Sunday, leaving him fourth on the team with 37 stops for the year.
When was the last time you watched a Bears game and came away saying there is no special talent in navy and orange, but a lot of it?
• Hub Arkush, the Pro Football Weekly Executive Editor, can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.
[ad_2]
Source link
