Can you lose and be happy? Those two things don’t feel like they should go together, but after the Bears loss on Sunday vs the Dolphins, it certainly feels like this is the case. After all, everything is happening according to plan, right?
We knew the defense would be worse, and they were. They did make a big stop late in the game that gave us a chance to win this one, but for the most part, they didn’t put up much resistance. It was the Dolphins though; their offense is pretty decent. I guess the better test will be next week vs the Lions. If I was a betting man, I would take the over in that one, and not just from the points our offense will score. Yeah, trading Roquan meant the defense would be immediately worse; we knew that… Poles knew that. It was a decision that made our team worse; can’t be mad at that, right? Of course, the long haul on that decision is supposed to be awesome; I’m not convinced. Of course, the long haul means exactly that; we’ll need to wait and see, for maybe a few years… How’s your patience? Yep, the Bears scoring 32 points this week wasn’t enough… imagine that. We needed to score 36! Get used to it…
I can get used to the Bears scoring 32 points per game; imagine that! Yeah, our offense is looking pretty good, specifically Justin Fields. Finding out if Justin Fields was THAT guy was one of the main objectives heading into this year, right? With the NFL being a week to week league, either your team is winning the Super Bowl or the sky is falling, Fields has certainly turned our outlook around pretty dramatically from the start of the season. We’ve seen flashes; we’ve seen his arm and his legs do damage. Thing is, it’s happening more frequently now; he’s getting a bit more consistent. And oh yeah, setting records along the way. 178 yards rushing for a QB in the regular season is historic. Justin Fields looked the part, again, for us at QB; imagine that! The Bears actually having a QB; the QB NOT being the problem on our roster. Feels weird. I’m not 100% ready to stamp him a franchise QB this second, but man… I’m feeling better and better each week. Of course, to be a franchise QB, you need to win… but we’re not expected to win this year, right?
Right. And our lack of talent at the WR position will continue to hurt us, as it has all year long. Another catchable pass dropped in a big situation. Who knows if we would have won the game, but the drop ended our chances; Fields hit him in the hands for God’s sake. Kind of like that guy who had the ball taken from him against the Vikings, we’ll never know if Fields would have completed the game winning drive; it sucks. Kind of like when Mooney bobbled that catch against the Commanders. That’s 3 different instances of woulda coulda shoulda… thanks to the WR corp. Oh yeah, we did get jobbed on Sunday too. Didn’t know hugging somebody was not considered pass interference… you know what; I’m not even that mad about it.
The other part of the plan is to lose this year, or at the very least, not do TOO good. Yes, all that draft capital becomes even more valuable the worse our record is. I wouldn’t be surprised Fields gets “rested” at some point later this season; some kind of small injury that shelves him for multiple weeks. Yeah, winning is the last ingredient in the pot, but we don’t want to put too much in there too early, or it may ruin the final product…. you know what I mean? Of course, the reason for that is because we still need more talent, much more talent to achieve the ultimate win. Through the draft and free agency and maybe more trades, Poles will certainly try to do that. Sounds like I’m saying wait until next year…
That’s exactly right. The difference is, I really am excited about the direction of this Bears team this time; there seems to be a path forward, and that starts with our QB. The Bears having a QB… dare I say franchise QB for the first time in 80 years… no, no way… really? Really?… That would be the biggest piece accounted for; now it’s time for the rest. And I know I said we don’t want to win too much too early, but next week is Detroit, and… well… you know… we can’t lose to them OK? Bear Down!!!
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