I know it’s boring. I know that’s “old school” Bears football. Running and defense though, in speaking about the foundation of a team, I think those components are still very important. Certainly the weather dictated the play calling a bit on Sunday, but the Bears ran the ball, and they played defense. Oh yeah, they won the game.
The 37 rushing attempts on Sunday vs the Niners includes 11 “rushes” by Fields. Although those runs by Fields weren’t necessarily all by design, the fact that he’s athletic enough to run the ball, should be used to our advantage. “Traditional pocket passer” is maybe an overrated description; I prefer the term “winner” when I’m describing a QB. Part of Fields’ game is getting out of the pocket. Will that be the difference between a win and a loss? Maybe not. But for defenses to have to plan to account for that… will help open up the passing game. It’s the same for the running game. Montgomery’s 1.5 yards per rush over his 17 carries may not steal the headlines in the Bears victory, but the fact that we stuck to it… even though it wasn’t working… eventually opened up other things, like play action passing. Force teams to respect the run, and then open it up. That was one thing I never liked about Nagy… he was always so anxious to pass the ball and show off his offensive genius. There is something to be said for sticking with the run, even when it’s not working, because it will eventually open up other options for this offense that WILL work. It doesn’t sound too complicated… And oh yeah, the Bears have a pretty good backup RB. Khalil Herbert should play an important role this season, even if Montgomery stays healthy all year.
Defense… ah yes, that Bears defense… the Monsters of the Midway. Thinking about the great defenses we’ve had over the years, all the great individuals that have lined up on that side of the ball for us, warms my heart. We were reminded of one of those guys when our current #33 Jaylon Johnson peanut punched the ball out for the first turnover of the day. It’s tough to truly say after this game, due to the rookie QB we were facing, due to the weather, but the secondary didn’t play half bad; this has been one of our weaknesses outside of Jaylon. It was great to see our other vet back there make a play after he got knocked into next week by Deebo on his TD run; to be fair, most guys would get knocked by Deebo. Yeah, Eddie Jackson made a play… wouldn’t it be nice if he started to make plays again? And the rooks… Gordon and Brisker in the secondary, and Robinson on the DL… let’s build on this. Of course, THE guy on our defense is our LB; tell me if you’ve heard of the Bears having great linebackers before. Roquan… man, I love that guy. He lead the team in tackles; I could probably copy and paste this line from here on out. I’m expecting big things from him, again, and hoping the Bears pay the man his money before it’s too late. The defense stood tall on Sunday, and kept us in it when our offense was not scoring. They battled the bad field position the entire first half, and only gave up 7. Big reason why the game was still winnable come the 2nd half. Bravo D.
It’s not flashy, but running and defense can certainly help a young QB. And when that young QB has the talent to make those flashy plays… when games are kept in reach by our D… when opposing defenses are worn down a bit by the run… yeah, Justin, you go ahead and make those plays. Winning is fun…
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