I watched the end of yesterday’s game between the Bears and the Patriots thinking the story would be the Patriots made less mistakes and beat a young Bears team learning its way.
Then Mitchell Trubisky bombed a 54-yard pass to Kevin White that came up 1 yard short for a potential game-tying touchdown to send the game into OT. Hell, the way Matt Nagy can be, it could have been a game-winning touchdown with a 2-point conversion.
Instead, I stood up out of my chair with my hands on my head in disbelief. We were that freaking close.
Besides that 1 yard, there was plenty more to talk about with yesterday’s “Suck Bowl” as my Branded teammate and Pats fan Nick Dubs called it.
Here are my thoughts.
1 yard away: Did I mention the Bears were 1 yard away from potentially tying the game? That was the craziest end to a game I’ve seen in awhile (I don’t count last week’s shitheap of an ending against the Dolphins). It looked like Mitchell Trubisky was about to have the play of the year and Kevin White was finally going to have his first heroic moment as a Bear. So close. So close. So. Damn. Close.
Bears one yard away from an epic comeback… #NEvsCHI #BearDown #KevinWhite https://t.co/x5yFooBpYu
— The Smart Guy / Sports Truth (@SmartGuySports) October 21, 2018
Trubisky had a bad game and it still was decent: Let’s get it out of the way – Mitchell Trubisky did not play that well yesterday. Yes, he ran the ball well and had a killer 70-yard scramble for a TD. But, he struggled with his accuracy and both of his interceptions were not good decisions (even if Bellamy and Miller should have fought for the ball better). Guess what though? Even with his imperfections, the dude kept fighting and almost got his team into OT. I’ll also take these new standards for a Bears QB to lose by 7 to the Pats while also producing 400+ yards of offense, 3 total tuddies – and have THAT be a bad game.
Trey Burton had his breakout game: I knew it was coming, but Trey Burton finally had that breakout game we were waiting for. #80 was wide open underneath all afternoon and had a consistent connection with Tru – hauling in 9 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown. Burton has been good all year, but this game showed how great he can truly be. He’s also a genuinely nice dude, so I was happy to see him perform.
.@TreyBurton8 makes it a game.
38-31 late in the 4th.#NEvsCHI | #DaBears https://t.co/xJ0i1traKx— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 21, 2018
The Bears should have gone underneath all game: But, just as Burton shined by being open underneath all game, I felt like the Bears offense missed an opportunity to get more yards in that part of the field. I know we love these huge throws from #10 to Gabriel, Miller, Robinson and Co., but I felt like they missed out on gutting the Pats D where they were exposed the most.
And the run game NEEDS to be established: I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but I’m gonna say it again – the run game needs to be established. For a minute yesterday, Nagy looked like he was sticking to the run with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. However, it went away again when the Bears felt desperation to score after being down, which was evident with Mitch having 50 pass attempts. Take out Trubisky’s 81 yards on the ground and the Bears were left with 53 yards rushing from their backs. This needs to change and it needs to change fast.
Nice to see Kevin White: He only had 2 catches yesterday, but I loved seeing Kevin White get some action yesterday. I’m rooting hard for this guy to do well and I would have loved if he was a hero on that last play. With Allen Robinson possibly on the shelf after aggravating his groin issue, maybe White can get some more looks over the next few games. Love that Bears fans gave a loud ovation when he caught his first pass too.
Kevin White gets an ovation at Soldier Field catching his first pass of the season.
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) October 21, 2018
Khalil Mack still isn’t 100%: Stating the obvious here, but Khalil Mack is definitely still not himself. He was visibly hobbled on a few plays and was virtually non-existent on the pass rush. I think the Bears should consider resting him this week against the Jets and get him back to 100% for this next stretch of the season. I love him, but I’ll love him even more when he’s healthy and himself again.
Time to shake up the defense (a little bit): Whatever is happening on defense needs to be shaken up. It might be time to give some of the 2s a look during the game and open up some competition at key positions. Someone I’d like to see get a shot on the field? #49 Kylie Fitts, the Bears 6th round pick out of Utah. Am I saying he’ll be a difference maker? No. But, the pass rush could use some new life and the current guys could use a nudge to step up in Mack’s reduced ability.
Bad tackling again: I need to get Pro Football Focus and see how many tackles were missed by the Bears again. Either way, it was visible again how bad the defense’s tackling was yesterday. I texted my two buddies Joe and Jakub that “I don’t remember being taught to dive at people to tackle” and this is all I saw – just aimless diving with no wrapping up.
Special teams fucked up: This is the simplest thought of the game. Did the wind give Cody Parkey trouble kicking the ball out of the end zone on kickoff? What the hell happened with the kickoff unit? And how did the Pats just BLAST through the Bears punt team? Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor must have been pulling his hair out seeing all that shit go down.
This was WAY better than last time: At the end of all this, all I can say is this time against the Pats was better than the last time we played them in 2014. Remember? The game where the Marc Trestman-led squad got BLASTED 51-23 in Foxborough? Yeah, I remember that game. It was the same game where LaMarr Houston tore his ACL after celebrating a sack…in the 4th quarter…on Jimmy Garoppolo. You can’t say Matt Nagy and the boys didn’t turn in a better performance this time around.
My Boston Co-workers are honorable people: If you didn’t see, my Branded teammate Nick Dubs and I had some good ol’ fashioned back and forth on Twitter. But once the second half open, we were quiet because this game was too much to handle. Nevertheless, I can say that both Nick Dubs and Ali are honorable people and I tip my hat to this week to their Pats.
I want everyone to know that @ekurbyun is an honorable man. It makes up for him being the loser of today’s suck bowl @branded_sports https://t.co/p3dtnHkTR2
— Nick Williams (@NickDubss) October 21, 2018
Keep your head up, Bears fans. The Jets come to our turf this week and just remember…we have 10 games left. Bear Down.
-Kurbs
Follow us on Twitter @branded_sports and see what I’m saying @ekurbyun
Featured Image: CBS Sports Twitter
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