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In Sunday's Bears-Dolphins game, one question in Chicago and in several corners of the NFL was: Are the Bears real?
After the merger of the failures behind their 31-28 loss in overtime against the Dolphins (4-2), the answer was: Yes, the Bears (3-2) are real.
But the true what exactly?
"We win and lose as a team," said quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, "and today we have lost, but the important thing is that we are stuck together." We fought hard, many highs and Down, we fought to overcome adversity – just having 100% confidence in what coach Nagy puts forward.
"We were in a fantastic place, we had our shots."
For real on defense?
The Bears' exalted defense, which had conceded just 16 points per game, allowed 31 points and 541 yards on the offensive in Miami without its starting quarterback (Ryan Tannehill) and with a quarterback (Brock Osweiler) in the training of Friday. which is usually little more than an upgrade.
The NFL's most defensive defense, which also led the league in the rear by forcing the three players out, never sacked Osweiler, who is largely immobile, and limited Miami to a draw in three of the 13 possessions of the Dolphins. Behind an improvised and injured offensive line, the Dolphins rushed for 161 yards.
For real in attack?
Trubisky followed his massive game against Tampa Bay with 22 assists in 30 of 31 passes for 316 yards, three touchdowns and 122.5 passers-by. But a forced fourth quarter in the Miami end zone was intercepted, costing the Bears nearly three points and giving the Dolphins the ball for one of their four consecutive wins in the second half.
The offense returned the ball three times, twice in the red zone and twice in the fourth quarter.
"Everyone makes mistakes," said Trubisky, "myself included."
For real on special teams?
Cody Parkey's 53-yard winning attempt was largely offset by OT. The kick was to be 53 yards, as the Bears were crammed with a third and fourth run by Jordan Howard, and coach Matt Nagy was not in the mood to explain the Call the race against the pass, even if it was just a game. Move the ball into a better position for a kick.
"We could do it all day," Nagy replied with a hint of irritation. "You advance, you launch it and then [the media is] here asking me why you took a bag. So you could spend all day with that kind of thing.
For real as a discipline team?
The attack missed a touchdown pass to Tarik Cohen by a pass interference penalty imposed on Trey Burton. Linebacker Leonard Floyd was sentenced to two 15-yard penalties, one for catching a running back in Miami and throwing him to the ground.
Trubisky was sentenced to a penalty for late play in the first quarter and Howard lost a breakaway in the goal line on a game in which the Bears were reported for illegal training. A second illegal training flag was launched in the fourth quarter.
"We can say a lot," said Floyd. "We have not played for a week." The weather is quite different from that of Chicago. "We could say a lot, but at the end of the day we had to run and we did not do a good job of that."
What lessons this time?
Nagy was visibly irritable with questions after and for no reason whatsoever. He wanted to point out that he was learning a little bit about his football team over the weeks. Sunday against the Dolphins, he learned even more, but not necessarily what he hoped.
His team was able to bounce back after a defeat (Green Bay). He responded well to a win (Seattle) with another victory (Arizona), then a third (Tampa Bay). The "challenge" Sunday was the performance of his team after a full break outside of the week. Nagy gave the players all the rest week after preparing for the game at 48-10 in Tampa Bay.
This time, the Bears, who confessed to having some confidence in the opening game, after calming down with a 17-0 lead at halftime in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers apparently injured, seemed to be satisfied with the announcement of Tannehill's release. Osweiler to leave.
This time, the Bears were sleepwalking in the first half, the scoreless first since last week's 12th season against Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, and only entered the end zone in their first possession of the third quarter.
"We did not do well the first half," Nagy said. "We did not score a lot of points, zero in the first half. But you know what our guys did, it's that they fought. They came out and we scored 21 points in eight minutes. When you do that, something … it's a good thing. They fought and we had the lead throughout the match and deserved to be recognized by Miami for its good games. "
The problem was that, while the offense was about to reach 28 points in the second half, the defense seemed to go up – Kyle Fuller grabbed the second of his two interceptions, leading to a second touchdown Bears in less than four minutes – and then go to his shell Green Bay.
Miami racked up 266 yards on its other four possessions, scoring two goals and two touchdowns with an offense that the Bears had virtually stuck on five of its first six possessions, including two on Fuller interceptions.
This is not an accurate indicator of anything conclusive, but the prospect of Tannehill coming out and Osweiler entering was in the spirit of defense.
"We talked about it [Saturday] and everyone has heard the conversation, "said defensive lineman Akiem Hicks. "But we were not sure and we found out what it was today just before the game.
And now?
If there has been complacency and whether or not it has played a role in the two Bears defeats in 2018, it is unlikely that it will be around Halas Hall or Soldier Field this week with the next New England team for a team still statistically at the top. North NFC.
But the Bears are one of seven teams with three wins in the NFC 16 (plus division leaders with Los Angeles with 6 and New Orleans with 4). The Packers could make eight teams of three wins tomorrow by hosting San Francisco on MNF.
Maybe the problem is at the "top". The teams for which Nagy was on staff (Philadelphia, Kansas City, Bears) are a dismal 1-6 against teams with Miami coach Adam Gase (Denver, Chicago), although both of the assistants, not principal coaches. Before this time.
"As a team, it's frustrating because we're in the third quarter and we see our identity," said running back Tarik Cohen. "And then, drop that and leave with a loss here, it's just …
"We have to do better and get back to the drawing board."
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