The Chicago Bears watched the Super Bowl on Sunday like everybody else. They saw a rather boring game unfold to its anticlimactic conclusion, resulting in a sixth championship for the New England Patriots. Most fans were less than impressed with the displaying, believing it to be one of the worst championship games in recent memory. Maybe ever.
That being said, any of the Bears players or coaches watching must’ve been excited about what they saw. For one it proved that they are indeed good enough to win a championship. Their hammering of the Los Angeles Rams a couple of months ago was not a fluke since the reigning champions did the same exact thing.
Aside from that, there were a few other keys from the game that proves Chicago is closer than they might think to finally getting back.
Chicago Bears followed Patriots edict of hiring a top offensive line coach
Bill Belichick is the greatest head coach in NFL history, but there has been a secret to his success throughout his incredible run in New England. His name is Dante Scarnecchia. If people don’t know the name by now, you should. He’s one of the best offensive line coaches in the business and has been for the better part of two decades.
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A huge reason the Patriots won that game over the Rams was their ability to control the line of scrimmage. Tom Brady did not play well but he was only sacked once and the team rushed for 154 yards. This enabled them to make enough plays when it mattered down the stretch. Belichick has never won a Super Bowl in his career with Scarnnechia having some sort of influence.
That’s why it can’t be overstated how crucial it was the Bears hired Harry Hiestand. He’s one of the few offensive line coaches who could be considered on Scarnnechia’s level in terms of success. Just look at what he did in 2018. Charles Leno and Cody Whitehair in the Pro Bowl. Bobby Massie has a career year. Rookie James Daniels doesn’t allow a sack.
Great defense and running the ball will never stop having a place in the NFL
Everybody was saying it was the offensive revolution in the NFL. The highest-scoring year in pro football history. Defense is going the way of the dinosaur. Then the Patriots hold one of the best offenses in football to three points. They won the game the old fashioned way: by controlling the clock running the ball and keeping the opponent out of the end zone.
This is the philosophy the Bears have perfected over the past 99 years of professional football. It’s in their DNA at this point. To know it still can have such a prominent place on the biggest stage in the 21st-century offers a reminder that it’s okay to continue investing so many assets into those areas of the roster.
Mitch Trubisky was far more effective against the Belichick defense
Jared Goff was quickly being positioned as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL going into this game. He’s just made his second Pro Bowl and had some key throws in the win over the New Orleans Saints during the NFC championship. Conquering the Belichick defense of the Patriots was his final test. He failed.
Goff completed just half his passes in the game for 229 yards and a brutal 4th quarter interception that all but ended the game. It was an ugly performance and perhaps proof that he is little more than a product of Sean McVay’s offensive system. It’s for this reason that Bears fans should be encouraged because their young QB Mitch Trubisky showed that he was not in awe of that Patriots defense.
In their meeting during the regular season, he threw for 333 yards and ran for another 81, tossing two touchdowns. The Bears offense racked up 31 points and came a yard away from making it at least 37 before the end of the game. His ability to improvise and adjust to what the Patriots were doing shined despite some mistakes during the game, a welcome sign that he can overcome well-crafted game plans to stop him.
Tom Brady finally began to show his age
Back in the 1990s, the NBA realized that the best thing they could do was simply wait until Michael Jordan was no longer in the league. That’s how much control he had of the league at that point, being the ceiling that no other team could get past to a championship. The same has proven true with Tom Brady as he continues to hold sway over the NFL.
However, it seems what the rest of the league has waited for is finally starting to happen. Brady showed his age in the game. Despite being sacked just once and rarely pressured, he had the worst Super Bowl performance of his career. It’s apparent that he can do all the things he used to be able to, and this continues to slowly open the door for other teams win a championship.
The Bears appear to have timed their rebuild almost perfectly.
