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Chicago Bears Dominated the New York Giants, Still in Playoff Hunt

The Chicago Bears dominated the New York Giants 19-14. Now they go to Detroit to beat the Lions on Thanksgiving Day and improve their Playoff chances.

The Chicago Bears (5-6) dominated the New York Giants (2-9) on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field by a score of 19-14. Dominated? I know what you’re thinking. Unfortunately, the Bears only won by five points despite the fact they dominated the game, but the little things got in the way. It was a sloppy yet dominant performance if that makes any sense. It’s hard to describe but Chicago could have easily won this game 28-7. However, a few mistakes here and there and the Bears almost blew the victory. That’s the way this team has done it all season. ‘Close but no cigar’, if you will.

Chicago Bears “Sloppily Dominate” N.Y. Giants; Still in the Playoff Hunt

The Bears could have won the game by a score of 28-7 if it wasn’t for just three plays. The first play was Ben Braunecker‘s drop of a potential 29-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell Trubisky late in the first quarter. Braunecker was wide open and dropped the ball on a beautiful pass from Trubisky at the Giants five-yard line.

If he catches it, he falls into the end zone for an easy score. Instead, Braunecker missed it. Later in the drive, Trubisky was intercepted. Zero points instead of seven. Now that we dove into this play, it’s been reported that Ben Braunecker got a concussion on the play before his drop. No wonder he missed the ball. He should’ve been pulled and put in the concussion protocol one play sooner.

Missed Opportunity: Failed Two-Point Conversion

The second play was the two-point conversion attempt after Trubisky’s two-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. On the conversion, Trubisky hit Anthony Miller with an out route that should have produced two points. However, fellow Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson was penalized for a ‘pick’.

It was a questionable call, especially when you study the replay and realize that nobody involved in the pick play was involved in the action. The Giants defender wasn’t covering Miller anyway, so it shouldn’t have mattered and shouldn’t have been called. The NFL referees need to hold their flags more. It seems every year they call more and more penalties for meaningless supposed fouls. Zero points instead of two points.

Missed Opportunity 3

The third play was the Giants last touchdown scored with four minutes and ten seconds left in the game. Giants receiver Golden Tate caught a pass from Daniel Jones in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-18 play from the Bears 23 yard line. The mistake was made by Bears safety Eddie Jackson.

Jackson took a false step when he was looking for an interception rather than playing deep, which is his responsibility as a deep safety on a fourth-and-18 play. Like the coaches always teach safeties: Never let the receivers get behind you. As the safety, you are the deepest man on the field. Jackson didn’t do what he was taught. Seven points for the Giants instead of zero.

Add up those three Bears mistakes and take off nine points from the Bears total and add seven points to the Giants total and what do you have? We have a final score of 19-14 that was much closer than the game appeared, and way too close for comfort. This game was more like the 28-7 “coulda, woulda, shoulda” final score when you analyze the statistics.

Chicago controlled the game according to yards (335-243), first downs (20-14), time of possession (33:11-26:49), etc. Nonetheless, the Bears did not make those plays as listed above. So what happened? A game that almost went the other way in the Win/Loss column.

Bears Should Feast on Lions for Thanksgiving

The Chicago Bears (5-6) play the Detroit Lions (3-7-1) on Thanksgiving Day in the traditional early game played in Detroit’s Ford Field. How will the players do with just three days off to rest their beaten-up bodies? Probably not well. That’s the NFL for you. Wouldn’t it be easy to just give all the teams that play on Thanksgiving Day Thursday their bye week on the previous Sunday? This affects the Bears, Lions, Cowboys, Bills, Saints, and Falcons this year.

Thursday Scheduling

The NFL has many problems. In my mind, Thursday Night Football schedule is one of the biggest issues they could easily fix. Why not always give the Thursday opponents their bye week the previous week? There are 17 weeks in the NFL season. Thursday games are scheduled for Weeks 1 through 15 (none in Weeks 16 and 17). There is only one Thursday game per week except for Thanksgiving in which there are three games.

Add it all up and we have 17 Thursday games. We don’t need to worry about Week 1 of course. That means the NFL could easily schedule byes for all 32 teams by using those 16 games and giving them their bye the previous Sunday. It would also be fair to teams because each team would only have to play one Thursday per season. Teams, especially coaches, do not like being thrown out of their routine.

Where is Roger Goodell regarding these important scheduling issues anyway? What’s he doing, other than reading this column? (I can hear the phone ringing now, “Mr. Wiersema, Please hold for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He needs you to fly to New York City for scheduling advice. Are you free on Tuesday? Don’t worry. We’ll pick you up in the Commissioner’s private jet.” Sure boss, can I get a chilled Coors for my efforts?)

NFC Playoffs?

The Bears have a chance to get back in this NFC North race as well as the NFC Wild Card Playoff chase. It’s a given that Chicago needs to win out and go 10-6. That would include victories at Detroit, at Green Bay, and at Minnesota. Currently, the Bears trail the Packers and Vikings by three games with five to play.

Beating them both would cut the deficit to two games. In the Vikings case, the Bears would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage by beating them twice this year. It could most definitely happen. It’s too early and the NFL is too unpredictable to count Chicago out. That’s what it made it so hard for Bears fans to watch Denver blow their twenty point lead (20-0) at Minnesota and lose to the Vikings 27-23 in Week 11.

Nonetheless, don’t give up on the Bears just yet. This week Detroit may have to start a third-string quarterback in rookie David Blough. Both Matthew Stafford and Jeff Driskel may have to sit out Turkey Day with injuries. Chicago is preparing for Driskel to play, per defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. But nonetheless, there’s a chance the Bears will luck out and get to play a first-time starter.

Thanksgiving Day Prediction

Chicago is favored by 2.5 points according to footballlocks.com. Trubisky is playing better as of late. The Bears defense is smoothing things out with improved play by linebackers Roquan Smith and Nick Kwiatkoski. The secondary is stable with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix picking up where Adrian Amos left off last year. The transition to new coordinator Pagano is definitely improving week by week.

Chicago’s defense is going to have a huge day soon with sacks, takeaways, and touchdowns. Why not on Thanksgiving Day against a poor Lions offense possibly playing a rookie quarterback making his debut? Look for the “Monsters of the Midway” to score a defensive touchdown in this game. The defense will feast on the Lions on Thanksgiving. Pick Chicago to win big, both straight up and against the spread.

Chicago Bears 27, Detroit Lions 13

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