The Chicago Bears just keep on chugging along. Somehow underdogs to a well-coached but still an upstart Carolina Panthers team, the Bears went into Bank of America Stadium and throttled Teddy Bridgewater en route to a 23-16 win that wasn’t as close as the final score.
Chicago is 5-1 and sits atop the NFC North. And still, no one seems to believe in them. Here was my post-game thread on the game:
Thread: A few extra thoughts on Bears-Panthers…
1. Nick Foles is right: The aesthetics mean nothing. Did the Bears play a perfect game? No. But guess what! They won anyway and they're 5-1. They're 3-0 on the road. They're 5-0 in the NFC. And they're absolutely legit.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 19, 2020
And here was my review of the All-22, which always helps clarify a lot of things!
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Thread: Bears-Panthers All-22 Film Observations…
1. Panthers' first drive, Robert Quinn and Bilal Nichols run the same stunt on consecutive plays, leading to a sack of Bridgewater and a pressure on his INT. Quinn crashed inside and Nichols came around to get to Bridgewater.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
The Bears do, however, have a tough stretch of games coming up. They go to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Monday night. Then they host New Orleans at home — if you recall, the Saints dominated the Bears at Soldier Field in 2019. And then Chicago heads to Nashville to take on the Titans, who are arguably the league’s best team. Yeesh.
The Bears do play Minnesota as well before the bye week, so if they can salvage a split of these four games before the bye, they’ll stand at 7-3. Not bad at all.
With that, I reach into this week’s Bears Mailbag. Thanks to all who submitted questions. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Mailbag
Great question. We didn't get a clear answer from Matt Nagy during his press conference.
I'll say this: Upon reviewing the All-22, I can understand why they gave him a shot. He didn't play well, but he did exhibit good power when he was assignment-sound.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
To expand on this a bit further — Coward was pretty solid in pass protection overall, and while he made mistakes in the running game, it’s clear that he is powerful and physical. Do remember that this was his first game (ever) playing LG. He played RG last year for a bit before losing his job this training camp to Germain Ifedi. So fans (like the coaches) should expect mistakes. And there were plenty. But his raw talent is intriguing, at the very least.
But with Aaron Donald on deck on Monday night, the Bears are going to have to game plan specifically to neutralize him. Nick Foles is doomed if the interior of the pocket routinely collapses.
I would be surprised if the Bears made a move, honestly. Given an OL is meant to be more than the sum of its individual parts, it's not likely a new external player can come in and learn the scheme effectively in time. The best bet is to have internal growth from Coward/Bars.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I'm a sincere believer in a team that wins in the trenches will often win games. The Bears' OL needs to block better for *anything* to have a chance to succeed. I'd also like to see fewer personnel substitutions to allow for players to get into a better rhythm in-game.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
It's too early — I really haven't done much QB study so far.
I did stumble upon a potential third/fourth round prospect I thought was interesting, though — Wake Forest's Sam Hartman.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I'm sure they do. I'm sure they sent in Eddie Jackson's pick-six that was called back against NYG, too. The Bears have been hosed by some of these calls, no doubt.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
They might have to change their scheme a bit to account for a very leaky OL. That's about the only thing I can think of. And it's hard, because Foles is not mobile…
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I'm not worried about his perceived 'rigidity', but I am open to another play caller. Bill Lazor has experience and it's worth a shot to see if he can ignite some rhythm.
As it is, I've seen glimmers of potential the last two games. Let's see what happens on Monday night.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
Montgomery is suffering from a bad offensive line. He ranks fourth in the NFL in broken tackles, and there are way too many of them happening at or behind the line of scrimmage. His vision and balance are both exceptional. But we don't get to see it often.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I don't think the Bears will make a trade before the deadline, but if I'm looking at a Falcons' lineman, I'd look at Alex Mack instead.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
They're reportedly in discussions with the City of Chicago right now, but I'd be surprised if they got anything agreed to before the bye week.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I don't believe they will. If anything, I could see them potentially trading Anthony Miller to a WR-needy team for a draft pick (or perhaps an OL).
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
He was just activated before the Panthers game and was questionable. He was probably active as a precautionary measure. He'll be out there again.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
He has to get out of his own head and focus! His issues are related to concentration, not talent. It's heartbreaking, because the Bears could have their own, homegrown Antonio Brown; instead, they have a disappointment.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
It's a good observation. There are plenty of throws that require leaps, but many others that don't. I've noticed that a few times.
I'm not sure if that's coached, but it does hurt legitimate chances at decent YAC. Hopefully, Mike Furrey will get on them about that.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
He doesn't provide the Bears as much as value as Javon Wims because he doesn't contribute on special teams. And he's comfortably behind Robinson, Mooney, Miller, and Ginn (currently). But I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears decided to get Ridley some time in favor of Ginn.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I'm sure they have, but let's be fair. Charles Leno was at least a league-average tackle just two years ago. His drop-off has been swift. Bobby Massie has been a serviceable RT before this year.
The Bears *should* invest more, no doubt, but these drop-offs have been sudden.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
Not unless Foles gets injured, or he's so horrifically bad that it's not justifiable to keep playing him.
Think Mitch vs. New Orleans for 2-3 games in a row.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
Pace's head coach and roster is currently 5-1 and atop the NFC North. There are certainly areas where they can and should improve, but I would not call Pace's seat warm at the moment.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
@ Rams — L
vs. Saints — W
@ Titans — LThe Rams are beatable, but Aaron Donald can wreck the game entirely vs. this OL, like he did last year.
The Titans have an excellent QB (the best one on this list), so I'll go with Tennessee.
The Bears match up vs. NO better on grass.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
You can doubt the formation, but the throw was there to be made. Nick Foles has to make a better throw.
I'd like to see Nagy improve on a few things, and if it doesn't improve over the coming few weeks, then I'd be open to Bill Lazor getting a shot.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
Mooney is already the Bears' WR2. I'm starting to lose faith that the Bears will be able to bring back Allen Robinson at this point, unless they franchise-tag him. It's hard to project, but I'd tentatively guess the following:
Robinson
Mooney
Miller / Draft Pick
Ridley— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
I expect the Bears to have packages prepared for Lamar Miller — remember, he's played with Bill Lazor and Charles London before, so they know what he can do.
But David Montgomery will (and should) remain RB1.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
Improving the execution will help a lot. I'd like to see the design change a bit in the run game, but there are many calls that Nagy has made that would absolutely work, but execution ruined a great opportunity.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
The only situation I can imagine is if Foles is somehow so unjustifiably bad that Trubisky would somehow be an upgrade.
Foles hasn't really come close to that, so I'd say he's 100% safe, unless injury comes about.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 20, 2020
