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The Chicago Bears are not what we thought we were. We thought they were up, but they still felt through a rebuilding process. We thought they would be competitive, but not yet ready to compete with the Packers and Vikings in the NFC North. We thought that after leading their defense in two of their first three games, Mitchell Trubisky would prevent the Bears from reaching such a height that he would stop the Bears from breaking their drought.
We may have been wrong. The bears may have already completed the rebuilding process. The Bears could be ready to win NFC North now. Trubisky could be good enough to help the bears reach the promised land. Such heights may be achievable.
After their absolute Buccaneers demolition Sunday (the final score was 48-10), the Bears are 3-1. They have won three consecutive games. They exceeded their competition by 46 points. They are still in first place in the north of the NFC.
We already knew that the Bears' defense, which entered the week ranked first in DVOA, was worthy of the playoffs. Questions, however, persisted on the other side of the ball after Trubisky made his way through the first three weeks. Against a very bad defense of the Buccaneers, Trubisky finally broke.
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Trubisky started the game with nine touchdowns in 15 career games. In the first half only, as the Bears built a 38-3 lead, he rolled for 289 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and a perfect score of 158.3. By then, he had more hits than the incomplete ones.
Trubisky became the first quarterback since Aaron Rodgers in 2014 (against the Bears in a game that Chicago has probably drained from his memory) to throw five touchdowns in the first half. He would throw one more in the second period to bring his total to six. For context, consider that a quarterback Bears has not thrown five touchdowns during an entire match since the playing years. Sid Luckman.
Trubisky's final statline looked like this: 19 out of 26 for 354 yards (13.6 YPA), six touchdowns, no interceptions and a score of 154.7. It's going to work.
So go this way:
We are going to start from the beginning because the Bears have now scored touchdowns on three of their four orders in the opening game. On Sunday, Matt Nagy's first script proved impossible to stop.
They started with a quick screen to Tarik Cohen on the outside. Jordan Howard had four yards per second. Trubisky becomes third with a stealth. From there, the Bears used a zone play with Trubisky to gain another 23 yards. Later, Trubisky spotted Trey Burton, who also had a big block to launch Trampisky.
The Bears were leading 7-0 with this 39-yard offense.
The dash of the Bears opening game now looks like this:
- 10 games, 86 yards, TD
- 10 pieces, 96 yards, TD
- 12 games, 47 yards, missed FG
- 6 games, 75 yards, TD
Before Sunday, Trubisky had rarely met with success after the first series. It seemed like it would be the case again when he missed an easy run in the second set of Bears before taking a bag. But on the third Bears course, Trubisky had the best pitch of his second season to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Waiting patiently for the roads to develop, Trubisky weighed a pass to Allen Robinson in the corner of the end zone. It is not Nagy who organizes an easy touchdown. This is a quarter who opens his covered catcher by placing the ball where the fugitive defender did not have access.
The Bears went to see Taylor Gabriel and Tarik Cohen for their third round of scoring. After the Buccaneers responded with a shot on goal, the Bears headed down the field. Similar to the way Sean McVay hinted that Todd Gurley was open in the red zone on Thursday night, Nagy isolated Cohen from the blanket in the red zone. Trubisky scored a hat-trick at the start of the second quarter.
That's all the diagram:
After making Cohen a focal point, Nagy turned him into a lure. Trubisky's fourth hit was to distract Cohen from the defenders of the Buccaneers. The Bears gave the impression that Trubisky was going to hit Cohen quickly for a screen, but instead went up to Josh Bellamy instead. Two defenders of the Buccaneers tracked Cohen to the line of scrimmage while Bellamy went unnoticed.
Like warriors prematurely celebrating a Steph Curry pointer, Cohen knew that it was a touchdown even before Trubisky dropped the ball:
How's it going for the schema? On Trubisky's fifth touchdown, Nagy put Chase Daniel back in the backfield alongside Trubisky. The ball went to Trubisky, but the ball left his hands a fraction of a second later, as Gabriel met the formation and recovered the "pass" of Trubisky's hot potato.
At half-time, the Bears were leading 38-3. They could have been sitting in Trubisky if they wanted to and let him watch the rest of the game from the bench, but they let him accumulate the stats instead. With reason
Upon entering the game, he was a young quarterback in crisis. The openings had been there for the first three weeks, but he did not see or hit them. The Nagy diet was not a problem. It had been on Trubisky for failing to execute. Trubisky having finally seen and knocked the openings, the Bears let it go during the second half.
He started his sixth touchdown early in the third quarter.
He really did not have a chance to catch up with the NFL record with his seventh touchdown. Trubisky finished with time lost with the Bears in time-loss mode. only six touchdowns.
This Bears offensive has always had the staff and the caller needed to explode. But it's impossible to explode when a quarter does not see what he should see. Trubisky's eyes finally went where they needed them. And the bear offensive took flight. Robinson is involved in this touchdown. Cohen exploded for 174 yards in 20 hits. The Trubisky-Gabriel connection was unstoppable.
Yes, all this has happened against a bad defense of the Buccaneers, but it is always a sign of important progress. The Bears could not do anything offensive against a bad defense of the Cardinals a week ago. Beat the bad defenses is what good offenses are supposed to do. Hitting open receivers is what a good quarter is supposed to do. The Bears seemed to be a good offense before Sunday. They finally presented their first full performance Sunday.
It's time to take the Bears seriously as a qualified team for the playoffs. Vikings and Packers are both vulnerable. There is an opening in the north of the NFC. The Bears might take it.
Khalil Mack strengthens his MVP record
Mack should not simply be the favorite of the defensive player of the year. He should also be in the MVP conversation. Each week is another reminder that the Raiders have managed to give a smuggling talent that is worth every dollar spent by the Bears.
For the fourth consecutive game, Mack forced a fumble and overturned a quarter. Mack now has five sacks this season.
He was also directly responsible for the interception of Jameis Winston by Danny Trevathan in the second half, hitting Winston's arm as he released the ball, leading to a float.
Trubisky was the story of the game for six obvious reasons. But do not forget how much this Bears defense played again for a fourth consecutive game. They entered the fourth week as the best defense of football by the DVOA. They then proceeded to an attack from the Buccaneers who averaged 34 points per game to 10 points. They entered the match with 14 NFL bags, even though they were bombarding at the lowest rate in the league. They proceeded to knock out the quarterbacks of the Buccaneers four times.
Mack simply improves the defense of all Bears. Akiem Hicks is no longer the main concern of the opposite offenses. He arrived at Fitzpatrick once in the first half. Leonard Floyd is a secondary hedge option instead of a central point. He did not have a bag, but he deflected a pass and recorded a quarterback. Bilal Nichols and Roy Robertson-Harris each received half a bag. Aaron Lynch (a bag) was fantastic in a relief pitcher role. The Bears can attack in so many different areas, but that's because teams have to commit so many resources in one area: wherever Mack is hiding.
They did not need to do it on Sunday, but the Bears' defense is good enough to win games on their own.
FitzMagic is dry
On this note, here is where we praise the FitzMagic era in Tampa Bay. Ryan Fitzpatrick played bravely in Jameis Winston's place, but his time as a quarterback from the Buccaneers probably ended with the Bears.
Fitzpatrick, who racked up an NFL record of 400 yards in three straight games at the start of the season, took the start even though Winston was allowed to play after serving his time. Suspension of three games for allegedly groping a woman. It lasted until half time. Fitzpatrick was not the reason why the Buccaneers were trailing by 35 points at half-time, but he found himself on the bench for the second half.
Fitzpatrick, who was sacked twice, earned 9 of 18 for 126 yards, no touchdown, a choice and a score of 49.8.
It may be the last time we look at Fitzpatrick this season.
Winston returns
Winston did not start, but he played all the second half. It's hard to judge how he played against the backdrop – the Bears increased 35 points when he came into the game – but what we saw from Winston was pretty typical. He made some games by fending for himself in the backfield and he also made some mistakes that defined his career at this point.
Winston completed 16 of his 20 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown, two selections and a 74.0 passerby rating. As noted above, his first interception was more about Mack. His second choice, which took place at the end of the match, was on him because he failed to identify the blanket underneath and gave a gift to Aaron Lynch.
Again, given the context of the game, it is difficult to assess how Winston behaved when he returned. What is important is that he had the opportunity to reintegrate after missing the first three weeks. Unless a completely unexpected event, Winston should be the starting point for the team.
Probably.
Akiem Hicks ejected
Hicks, who cashed a Fitzpatrick bag, was ejected in the first period when he shoved an official. It did not matter much to the Bears who already controlled the game – at least it prevented them from getting hurt in bad weather – but it might be hard to move forward if the NFL imposed a suspension.
Hicks is the best Bears goaltender who does not call Khalil Mack. His bag in the first period pushed his season total to three. Since joining the Bears in 2016, he totals 18.5 bags in 36 games.
And after?
Not much. Both teams enjoy an early start for the fifth week. They will rest at home next week.
Beyond that, the Bears post-game schedule includes some AFC East devices. They will travel to Miami for an appointment with the Dolphins in the 6th week before returning home to host the Patriots and Jets. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers (2-2) take the Falcons back in Week 6. The Browns and Bengals are waiting for the Buccaneers in weeks 7 and 8.
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