The Chicago Bears came into the 2020 season with lowered expectations. But on Sunday, this team showed that they could be pretty good. For the past seven seasons, The Bears have come out flat in the first week of the NFL season. They have lost their first game. The first game always has a lot of overreaction by the media and fan bases, but last season the Bears looked not significant in their opener, which led to them never recovering and having such a down year.
The first half of this game was an ugly defensive battle, and the score was 6-6, but the Lions got the ball back with 40 seconds left. The hurry-up offense run by QB Matthew Stafford wrecked the stout Bears defense and scored the first TD of the game. The Lions took the lead 13-6. The Bears’ defense held its own during the first half, but one lapse in concentration can kill your team, especially with a QB as talented as Stafford.
The Bears had halftime to make the adjustments needed and hope that the Lions lost the momentum they had gained with the touchdown to end the half. But the Lions came out of the locker room with confidence, and the Bears defense couldn’t hold them back. The Lions got the ball to start the second half, and the first drive was a beautiful eight-play drive that took 4:23 off the clock and ended in another TD for the Lions.
The Bears offense had a chance to answer but couldn’t get anything going. The Lions had another promising drive, but the Bears defense held them to a field goal. It was looking like the Bears were staring down another disappointing loss to start the season.
The Bears got the ball back and started matriculating it down the field but couldn’t score before the end of the third quarter. They still had a 17 point deficit to overcome in the fourth quarter. The Bears and Trubisky were able to cash in on the drive to put their first touchdown on the board and cut the lead to 13-23 with 13:39 left. The Bears would still need to get stops, but the offensive explosion breathed new life into the defense. They got a stop then forced the Lions to miss a field goal, and the ball was back in Trubisky’s hands.
Trubisky threw with surgical precision on this drive. He managed to move the ball 55 yards in five plays and scored the second touchdown of the day—the Bears cut the lead down to 20-23 with 2:58 left. The Bears’ defense needed to get a stop and give the offense a chance to win the game. They got a huge interception to give the Bears offense and Trubisky a chance to win the game.
Trubisky only needed two plays on the drive to give the Bears the lead. Trubisky made the perfect pass to WR Anthony Miller; the Bears took the lead for the first time with 1:54 left in the game. Stafford took advantage and got the Lions down to the 16-yard line with 11 seconds left to try to win the game, but RB Deandre Swift dropped a sure-fire touchdown with only 6 seconds left. There was enough time for one last play. Stafford threw a last-second pass, and the Bears’ defense were able to swat it away to seal the win 27-23.
The Bears weren’t perfect. The defense was off for almost half the game, and the offense struggled for nearly three quarters. Overall, this is a game the Bears probably should’ve lost, but they won anyway. When needed, the defense made big stops, the running game looked better than it did last year, and Trubisky (20-36 242YDS 3TD 0INT 55.5QBR 104.2RTG) took the reigns.
Trubisky led the Bears to overcome a 17 point deficit for the first time since 1998 to win the first game of the season for the first time in seven seasons. Coming back from 17 points is not an easy thing to do for any team, but for the Bears, it is the comeback victory of the decade. The Bears are 1-0, tied atop the division with the Green Bay Packers. They need to ride this momentum as they take on the New York Giants in their home opener.