Written by: John Stocco
Twitter: @realJohnStocco
The Chicago Bears are rolling, kind of. Two wins in one week against the Giants and the Lions. Is it something to really stick your chest out and act like your team is officially back? Not really, but damn it, it feels pretty damn good so I’m going to stick out my chest today and act like the Bears are almost back at 6-6 and they still have a shot at this thing. Whenever the Bears play on Thanksgiving it’s a dangerous game. A great holiday with the family is on the line. If the Bears win the night is going to be beautiful, but if the Bears lose, the holiday is ruined, and I start to eat as much as possible out of hate, not love. Thankfully the Bears won and there was a whole lot of loving yesterday.
The Bears offense showed up Thursday afternoon. I’ve been hard on Mitch Trubisky this year, and rightfully so, but Mitch Trubisky came out ready to play and he had his best game of the season. Thursday was why Bears fans are so high on Mitch Trubisky. It felt like he finally put everything together. His mechanics were sharp, he was playing with confidence, and he was accurate. He was running outside the pocket, and he was spreading the ball all across the field. It was a game where Mitch Trubisky finally looked confident in his throwing ability. Matt Nagy called plays to Trubisky’s strengths. Trubisky was rolling out of the pocket, as well as standing tall in the pocket. Nagy kept it simple for Trubisky and it’s why we saw Trubisky have his best game. 29/38, 338 yards, 3 TD’s, and 1 INT. That’s probably the best Mitch Trubisky we’ll see all year. People from the outside looking in wanted to see Trubisky use his legs more. Analysts on television and people on Twitter just want to see Trubisky being used like Josh Allen, and I don’t see Josh Allen in Mitch Trubisky at all. I think these coaches are afraid to let him run with the ball because of his injury history, and I also think Trubisky is afraid to run on his own. There was a play where Trubisky could have ran the ball for the first down, but instead, he pulled back with a yard or two to go because he looked like he was afraid to get hit. So before anyone kills Nagy for not letting Trubisky run the football, I genuinely believe that Trubisky is afraid to run in open space.
It wasn’t just a great game for Trubisky, it was a great day for his receivers. Taylor Gabriel was inactive, and people thought it would affect this team, but that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Allen Robinson continued his great play on Thursday and is playing like a top 10 receiver in the NFL. He’s the perfect number one target for Trubisky as he’s someone who’s willing to make that extra effort to make a catch that’s out of his radius or take that extra to fight for the extra yard. The Chicago Bears front office should seriously start talking extension for Robinson. Anthony Miller also had a breakout game as he had 9 receptions for 140 yards. The Bears traded up in the second round to draft Anthony Miller, and up until now, he’s been a disappointment. Now that Miller is a bigger part of the gameplan without Gabriel, Miller showed the Bears coaching staff what type of dangerous weapon he can be from all over the field. Javon Wims got a chance and he showed up in the passing game and the running game as a primary blocker, and also Jesper Horsted. Who? Wait? What? Jesper Horsted the tight end out of Princeton made the catch of the game bringing it down for a touchdown. The receivers came out to play on Thursday, and they gave Trubisky all the help he needed.
The running game wasn’t pretty, but it was effective, and it was a good sign for things to come. David Montgomery showed what type of dual-threat running back he can be for the Bears when he gets time from the offensive line. The offensive line was very good on Thursday. Probably the best performance of their season. They created holes and pushed the Lions off the line of scrimmage. Montgomery was able to find the holes in the defense and was able to zig and zag out of trouble. When you give Montgomery time in the backfield he can be a dangerous running back on all downs. Give him space, give him patience, and give him an opportunity to create holes for himself, David Montgomery will be a pro bowl caliber running back for multiple seasons.
The Bears are 6-6, coming off of two wins against the Giants and the Lions. Should we go crazy here? No. But should we totally dismiss these two wins? Absolutely not. The Bears need something to build off of for next season, and they still need something to believe in. This team believes, and they still have each other’s backs.