The Chicago Bears used a short week to forget their horrible performance in Week 4. As a result, they came away with another comeback victory.
If ever a team needed a good win this week it’s the Chicago Bears. Despite starting out 2-0, head coach Matt Nagy pulled a struggling Mitchell Trubisky in favor of backup Nick Foles. It worked in the last quarter and a half, producing a comeback win.
Foles’ performance raised hopes for the season. Expectations were high for Foles. However, Week 4 happened and everything came crashing down. Foles struggled as badly as Trubisky did and folks questioned everything.
The Bears had a short week to prepare for future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In contrast to the Bears, Brady had his offense rolling. He threw five touchdown passes in a Bucs’ 38-31 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Having a short week to prepare and looking bad in front of a national audience on Thursday Night Football could really have a bad effect on the season. They started out 3-1 last season as well before they played the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders in England. In that game, they choked away a fourth-quarter lead and started a four-game losing streak (and five of six). They had to beat an unmotivated Minnesota Vikings team to finish 8-8.
Well, this year’s Chicago Bears prevented that bad loss from happening. They came from behind and beat the Bucs 20-19.
At the start of the game, things looked like they would be the same as last week. The Bears had two punts and an interception on their first three drives. They fell into a 13-0 deficit.
The offense wakes up and gets on a roll
Something happened on the Bears’ way to defeat — the offense woke up. It started with a Cordarrelle Patterson kickoff return that he took from nine yards deep in the end zone to the thirty. The Bears offense then marched 70 yards in 10 plays.
Suddenly, Foles couldn’t miss a pass, completing seven passes in a row. The drive culminated in a David Montgomery three-yard touchdown run. That run was the Bears’ first touchdown run of the 2020 season.
Then the defense made their presence known. After the Bears’ score made it 13-7, the Bucs wanted to answer. The defense had other plans, however. Tom Brady completed a short pass over the middle to running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Vaughn then ran into a brick wall that was cornerback Kyle Fuller. Fuller blasted him and lodged the ball out. Linebacker Robert Quinn picked up the fumble and the Bears were ready for business.
Fifty-five seconds later, Foles connected with tight end Jimmy Graham on a 12-yard touchdown pass and suddenly, despite the slow start, the Bears found themselves leading at halftime.
In the second half, both teams traded field goals. In the end, the Bears made the plays to win the game. Foles finished 30-42 for 243 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
The defense harasses Brady
The Bears defense struggled in containing Bucs running back Ronald Jones. He finished the game with 106 yards on 17 carries, an average of 6.2 yards per rush. This continues a problem the defense has had throughout the season.
What the defense did well, though, was rush Brady. They were in his face the entire second half. They were effectively pressuring him. Furthermore, when the Bears pressured him, Brady completed 56 percent of his passes, had zero touchdowns, and had a passer rating of 69.3.
Without pressure, Brady completed 64 percent of his passes, threw a touchdown pass, and had a passer rating of 97.9.
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The Bears sacked Brady three times. Khalil Mack had two of them and was meeting Brady constantly. The Bears pressured Brady on 43.2 percent of his dropbacks, the most since 2017. They were led by Mack and Quinn. This is why the Bears brought Quinn to Chicago.
Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn led a Bears defense that pressured Tom Brady on 43.2% of his dropbacks, his highest rate in a game since 2017.
Khalil Mack
➤ 6 pressures, 2 sacks on 34 pass rushes (17.6%)Robert Quinn
➤ 5 pressures on 28 pass rushes (17.9%)#TBvsCHI | #DaBears— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 9, 2020
The Bears pressure had Brady so discombobulated that on the final play he didn’t know it was a fourth-down play and not third down.
The Bears were able to avert disaster and now are 4-1. Let’s see if this game gets the offense going finally and they avoid the slide they had in 2019.
