The Chicago Bears took back control of their season last Sunday by dominating the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, 16-6. And no, the final score did not do that game justice — Chicago was in complete control from the opening kickoff.
With that win, the Bears improved to 3-1 on the season and 1-1 in the division (with both games played at home). An 0-2 start in the division, with two home losses, could’ve ruined their chances of repeating as NFC North champions. Alas, they avoided that.
Now, the Bears shift their focus to the Oakland Raiders. They will battle this coming Sunday at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London before going on their bye week. With a difficult post-bye schedule on the horizon, it’s almost imperative that the Bears win on Sunday.
Chicago is dealing with a few absences, though. Starting QB Mitch Trubisky injured his left shoulder on the opening drive of last week’s win, so Chase Daniel is likely to play in his place again. DE Akiem Hicks missed last week’s game with a knee injury, as did DE Bilal Nichols with a hand injury. Star ILB Roquan Smith missed the game with a mysterious ‘personal issue’ and is highly questionable to even make the trip to London this week.
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It’s not yet clear who will return for the Bears this week, but if the Bears were able to dominate a solid Vikings team with this many key contributors missing the game, they should be able to handle an inferior Raiders team at a neutral site.
With that, I’ll reach into this week’s Bears Mailbag. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. Always appreciate the participation. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Mailbag
Here’s where I’m at with Mitch Trubisky: Through 2+ seasons, there are no indications that he can be consistent enough to be THE reason the Bears win playoff game(s), let alone a Super Bowl. Let’s explore.
I’m willing to throw out 2017 under John Fox, so let’s focus on 2018. He was very good in some games last year (Tampa Bay at home, Detroit at home, Green Bay at home, Minnesota on the road), brutal in many games (Green Bay on the road, Seattle at home, Arizona on the road, Minnesota at home, Los Angeles at home, San Francisco on the road), and a mixed bag in the rest (Miami on the road, New England at home, New York at home, Buffalo on the road, Philadelphia at home in the Wild Card game).
Sure, he made the clutch drives in the fourth quarter against Philadelphia last January to put the Bears in position to win. At the end of the day, he did the job at the crucial moment. But if the Eagles had caught three first-half INT opportunities, the Bears perhaps lose pretty comfortably.
So far this season, he was awful against Green Bay, largely bad against Denver, and decent at best against Washington. Not nearly good enough. The evidence just isn’t there that he can consistently be a reliable QB for the Bears.
The defense he’s playing with is almost legendary already. They’re the main reason the Bears are competitive and winning games. Trubisky has 10 games left to prove that he can catapult the offense to a level that supports the defense well. Let’s see if he can. But I have a lot of doubts.
See the answer above. At this point, I don’t see why the Bears would want to pick up his option. He hasn’t provided enough evidence to show that he’s on his way to consistent production and a strong enough command of the offense. The Bears are built to win now — their window, with their current, CRITICAL talent under contract, is likely open through next year. So the Bears basically have this year and next year to try to win before they’ll need to start planning on contract decisions for key players.
The Bears can’t afford to waste this window trying to figure out what Trubisky is. If he hasn’t proven himself by the end of this season, my guess is the Bears will try to add a veteran QB next season (paired with a young, developmental QB) to try to take advantage of the window one more time.
Q: What’s going on with Roquan Smith? — Damon S.
As Matt Nagy has said all week, it’s a “personal issue”, and I’m going to take him at face value on that. Despite rampant rumors all over Twitter and the larger Internet, there is no proof or evidence to support any of those rumors. So instead of trying to fan any flames, I’m going to respect the situation and not comment on it.
The good news is Roquan Smith confirmed to the media earlier today that he is expecting to play against Oakland in London this Sunday.
Q: Favorite 2019 Bear? — Bailey M.
I love this team in its entirety. I know it seems like a cop-out answer but I really do. Every person and personality on this team makes it special and to see them truly have fun in post-game gatherings with Matt Nagy and Club Dub, it’s really special to watch.
This is about as likeable and fun a team as I can remember. Ever. Enjoy this era of Bears’ football. We’ve seen too many dark days to take something like this for granted.
