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Chicago Bears Big Night Keyed by Defense

The final score belies how the Chicago Bears decisive win was keyed by defense. They trounced an overmatched team and got a much-needed win on Monday night.

Monday Night Football’s final score almost belies how the Chicago Bears decisive win was keyed by defense. They trounced an overmatched Washington Redskins team getting a much-needed, decisive 31-15 victory. There was lots of good, but the bad also made appearances and things got ugly on the injury front.

Big Night Keyed by Chicago Bears D

The Good

Mitchell Trubisky finally threw touchdowns (yes plural) for the first time since Week 15 of last season. And someone other than Allen Robinson had a big game. Taylor Gabriel went off for six catches (on seven targets) for 75 yards and three touchdowns, his most scores in a single game.

Robinson still had six catches (seven targets) for 60 yards and nine different receivers caught a pass; six caught at least three passes. A balanced game plan saw David Montgomery operate once again as the clear lead back. He toted the rock 13 times for 67 yards as only eight of Tarik Cohen’s touches came from handoffs and Mike Davis got one carry.

Expectations were that the Bears defense would overwhelm a Redskins offense missing their top running back and their Pro Bowl left tackle. They delivered, getting to Case Keenum four times, picking him off three times and forcing a fumble on a fourth-and-one sneak attempt. The picks were Keenum’s first of the season.

There were three forced fumbles in total, one by Danny Trevathan and two by Khalil Mack. Mack and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had the biggest games. The former had two sacks and numerous pressures in addition to his two forced fumbles and the latter had two of the interceptions (Kyle Fuller had the other), one of which he returned for a touchdown.

The underlying theme of the night was that both Matt Nagy and Chuck Pagano had good games calling plays. Pagano has quelled any concerns over a dropoff as the defense has looked like Vic Fangio was still calling plays. More importantly, Nagy seemed to find Trubisky’s comfort zone. He got the embattled passer in a rhythm on multiple drives and got him to look beyond his primary read.

The Bad

Of course, not everything was coming up navy and burnt orange. Aside from Terry McLaurin channeling Emmanuel Sanders, penalties were rampant and could prove costly in future matchups against better opponents. The Bears had nine flags thrown against them for 59 yards (the Redskins had nine for 61 yards).

It didn’t come back to haunt them this time but they allowed drives to continue with a couple of those calls in the first quarter. The good news is that they cleaned them up as the game went on, only registering one penalty in the fourth quarter, a defensive pass interference call with 1:50 left in the game.

Protection also looms as a concern moving forward. Trubisky was sacked three times, but they all occurred in the first half. That could be looked at as a positive but when you consider the Bears played with a lead the entire night it is less so. Hopefully, Bobby Massie can return from his bout with vertigo quickly but the unit was struggling with him.

Trubisky didn’t escape the night unscathed, he still missed a few wide-open receivers, either by overthrow or failing to hit them in stride. And he had another egregious interception in the red zone; a duck snort to Robinson that looked more like a pass to Josh Norman. The Redskins were unable to take full advantage, but they did make a mini-rally following the pick.

The offense, for all its success on Monday night, still looked slightly off and perhaps lacking consistent verticality; odd considering the big game from Gabriel. The Bears only averaged a little over five yards per play and finished with 298 total yards, 231 of which were from Trubisky’s (25 of 31, 80.6 percent completion).

The Ugly

Negative play or plays weren’t even the worst part of the night for the Bears. The injury bug reared its ugly head and claimed several key Chicago players. Just prior to the game Massie was announced as inactive, Eddy Pineiro (who hit one of two field goals) has a pinched nerve in his leg and was noticeably limping.

Gabriel’s big night was interrupted when he went out with a concussion. It happened later in the game and, with the short week, it is no sure thing he is cleared for Week 4. The other significant injury was Akiem Hicks who left with a knee injury. Nagy said he expects him to be ok so he appears to have avoided needing an extended absence.

Leonard Floyd had a quick scare but quickly returned. Trey Burton also made it through his second game back from his groin injury no worse for wear. If Hicks and Gabriel are able to bounce right back this may be a non-issue. But the real concern has to be the long term health of Pineiro.

It was surprising to see them trot him out there after it quickly became evident he was impaired by his injury. Of course, his miss was just wide right and he did nail a 38-yarder right down the pipes. Still, he is such a positive story for this team that was lacking them early on. Hopefully, he can shake it off enough to keep up his solid start on the lakefront.

Injuries are a part of the game. Just ask the Redskins, who got Jonathan Allen back last night but are still undermanned. Fortunately for the Bears, Ryan Pace has rebuilt this roster to have more depth than under the previous regimes.

Start of Something or Nah?

Part of the difficulty in analyzing this game is the opponent. Washington is in the midst of a rebuild with a coaching change not beyond the realm of possibility. Still, an NFL opponent is an NFL opponent. And, keyed by defense, the Bears still took care of business like they were supposed to. But we know they can beat bad teams handily. Next week, when they host the Minnesota Vikings, will be telling.

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