The Bears came into Thursday night’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 3-1 record. Despite their winning record, the Bears were getting no respect after their ugly loss against the Indianapolis Colts. To make things worse, QB Tom Brady, a.k.a. the GOAT, had a perfect 5-0 against them. To be fair, the Bears haven’t looked great in any game this season, but they are playing just well enough to win games.
QB Nick Foles (30-42 243YDS 5.8AVG 1TD 1INT 46.3QBR 83.7RTG) had his second start of the season. He still didn’t look great but made some huge throws on the final drive to get the Bears into field goal range. Foles has yet to do $22 million worth of damage, but he has led the Bears to two wins so far. Hopefully, Foles will help this team become a more balanced offense in the long run.
Right now, the Bears offense can’t run the ball. They tried and failed against every team they played so far. Head Coach Matt Nagy shouldn’t be so ready to abandon it so quickly, either. On Thursday, the Bears only ran the ball 14 times for measly 35YDS; however, RB David Montgomery got the Bears their first rushing touchdown of the season. WR Allen Robinson (10REC 90YDS 9AVG) kept up his impressive play despite not getting a contract extension. GM Ryan Pace has to pay this man, and I will keep saying it until he does.
The Bears defense is one of the Bears’ strong suit and why they won on Thursday night. They did have a shaky start, going down 13-0 in the first half. After that, the defense only allowed six points. LB Khalil Mack (3TOT 2SOLO 2SACKS 1PD) was finally back to his sacking self. He ruined Brady’s night and continuously disrupted his offensive line.
The Bears were also very fortunate when it came to penalties. The Buccaneers committed 11 penalties for 109YDS, which, assuming conversions, could have been two touchdowns. The constant loss of yards kept the Buccaneers from ever getting into a good tempo. Even the GOAT himself made a mistake on his final last drive. After Brady’s incomplete pass on fourth down, Brady quizzically looked around, signaling for the fourth down. He miscounted and thought they had another down to go.
The confusion could have resulted from a miscommunication between Brady, head coach Bruce Arians, and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich or maybe Brady is just a QB of a certain age. Either way, the Bears will take it and move on to 4-1 with a nice 10-day break before their next game.
Being at 4-1 after taking down Tom Brady feels awesome, but I hope Nagy will take these ten days to work on some fundamentals. The Bears need to tighten up their game better before their next game against the Carolina Panthers. The Bears have to get this running game going ASAP. They need a balanced offensive attack if they want to keep winning. Promoting Nick Foles did nothing to improve the offensive line; they still have to do a much better job in passing protection and run-blocking.
The Bears keep winning ugly. They barely pulled off the upset, winning 20-19, but they keep marching forward regardless. That tenacity is by far the best thing I have seen from the Bears so far. They are coming back from deficits and winning close games, which should be a huge asset going forward for this team.