Improving Bears strive to finish games
The Chicago Bears offense dazzled during six of the last eight quarters.
Now quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, running back Tarik Cohen and the receiver corps need to do it four straight quarters just to keep up with the New England Patriots.
Considering their defense’s plight this week, the Bears could use all the points Trubisky can manage.
“I think a lot of guys are hungry, and we’re just eager for that next opportunity to prove ourselves,” Trubisky said. “And not really to the outside, but just prove it to each other – what type of team we are, just a hungry team that wants to close out games and really be a dominant force.”
The Bears want to leave the bad taste of losing a 21-10 lead to Miami last week in their past, but will be doing it with outside linebacker Khalil Mack slowed by an ankle injury. It was bad enough to keep Mack from practicing at all on Wednesday, and HEAD coach Matt Nagy called it a “day-to-day” situation.
“We’re just going to continue to keep an eye on it and make sure whatever we do, we’re more cautious than anything,” Nagy said.
If Mack plays, the injury is likely to slow him down, as it seemed to do last game when he finished without a sack for the first time this season.
With their defense battling this problem, and up against Tom Brady and a New England offense that put 43 points up in beating Kansas City last week, Trubisky and the Bears offense will need to produce.
“No matter how they start, they always finish strong and they get better every single week throughout the year,” Trubisky said of New England. “So it will be a great challenge for this team this week and we’ll kind of have a good measurement of where we’re at as a team and how we’ve grown from last year and the first bunch of games this year.”
The Patriots have a reputation defensively for taking away an opponent’s most reliable weapon, or go-to guy.
A defining trait of Nagy’s offense, though, is not being reliant on any one player. They’ve functioned well when running back Jordan Howard was shut down, or when any single receiver has been blanketed.
“It’s one of those things where, for our offense, a benefit for us is that we have different guys who can do different things,” Nagy said. “That’s a philosophy we have as an offense: When you run into situations where someone could take somebody away, then it’s on your other players to step up.”
The Patriots are 57-18 under head coach Bill Belichick on the road when they face a quarterback 25 years or younger, and Trubisky sees danger in the New England defense even if they gave up 40 points to Kansas City.
“I think their scheme fits really well to keeping the quarterback in the pocket while just being disruptive and confusing at the same time,” Trubisky said. “I just have got to play my game, trust our offense and not try to do too much. If I play within myself and play within this offense, I think I’ll be just fine.”
Bears offensive players say they’re ready for this test, after amping up production the last two games. They’ve beaten some poor teams, some average teams, but going against a perennial AFC power would be a good measuring stick.
The ability to come up with a key touchdown to take the lead in the fourth quarter Sunday may have made a statement about their progress, even in defeat.
“We didn’t do that in Week 1,” tight end Trey Burton said. “And so I see growth and you see guys mature and playing at a high level. And it’s fun to be a part of.”
The question is whether they’ve matured enough to outscore Tom Brady with their top defensive player less than 100 percent.
After losing leads in the fourth quarter to Green Bay and Miami, the Bears hope they’ve found something out about killer instinct that can help going against New England.
“I think that’s something that we’ve got to grow into, and continue to get better and better,” Trubisky said. “And we want to have that killer instinct in the second half, just to not to give the other team another chance because we did feel like we gave a couple away.
“But I think good teams will learn from that.”
SERIES HISTORY: 13th regular-season meeting. Patriots lead series, 9-3. New England won the last two matchups by a combined 87-30 score. The Patriots won the last game between the teams at Soldier Field, 36-7 in 2010. There has been one postseason game, Super Bowl XX won by the Bears 46-10 on Jan. 26, 1986.
