Another week, another win.
The Bears now sit atop the NFC North with a 5-3 record and go into a tough stretch of their schedule getting a healthy Khalil Mack back.
But before we move forward and start looking to next week’s game, it’s time to take a look back at Sunday’s game against the Bills and see whose stock is up…and whose stock is down.
Stock Up: The Inside Linebackers
Have yourself a day, Roquan Smith! And while you’re at it…you too, Danny Trevathan! (Someone tell the commentators there’s no “I” in Trevathan, please)
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Just saw on RedZone… Roquan Smith is the current NFL leader in tackles today with 13. And Danny Trevathan is 2nd with 12. #Bears
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) November 4, 2018
When your linebackers, which are the centerpiece of this Fangio defense, come up with 25 total tackles combined…that’s a good day. Roquan was all over the field on Sunday and his speed was evident.
He needs to improve his coverage skills, as he got beat quite a few times, but that will come with time. Through a solid showing, Smith displayed exactly why he was chosen in the Top-10 of this year’s draft.
Stock Down: The Bears’ Discipline
Up until this game, the Bears were exceeding expectations when it came to the amount of penalties they were taking.
However, they went into Buffalo and the trend was reversed. The Bears were called for 14 penalties for a total of 129 yards.
Charles Leno, Jr. was called for back-to-back false start penalties, Aaron Lynch was called for too many hip thrusts, Prince Amukamara got called for a few penalties of his own…it just seemed to be constant.
It did seem like the refs were extremely willing to help the Bills get back into the game towards the end by calling some very questionable penalties, but 14 penalties is too much. When you’re playing close games, against tough opponents, those types of penalties can’t happen. Stock down.
Stock Up: Kyle Fuller
In the off-season, the Bears resigned Fuller to a long-term deal.
Through 9 weeks, it’s looking like a great decision by Pace. Fuller has 4 interceptions on the year and has been popping off the screen each and every week.
He finished the game with 3 combined tackles, 3 passes defended and one interception. If you were to watch the game again and focus solely on #23, you’ll see he’s constantly around the ball and shutting down his assignment.
The Bears needed the secondary to step up this year and Fuller’s taking charge. Stock way up.
Stock Down: The Offensive Line
Disclaimer: This is being super nitpicky.
It’s hard to find things that went wrong in a game that you win 41-9, so take this with a grain of salt.
Losing Kyle Long to injured reserve is a big deal. The offensive line had just started clicking and really playing well together and losing one of your key leaders is a big hit.
Kush is now playing at right guard, while rookie James Daniels is over at left guard and the chemistry has to be reset for this unit.
There were a few mental mistakes made and you could tell they were out of sync, but they held their own against a deceptively good Bills defense.
The chemistry will come with time. But there are a few things that need to be ironed out before next week’s game. It’s a slight bump in the wrong direction for this solid unit, but they’ll get it figured out.
Stock Up: Mitch Trubisky
It seems lately that people’s favorite pastime is declaring how bad Mitchell Trubisky is as a quarterback.
It’s ridiculous.
Is he inaccurate sometimes? Yes. Does he make the questionable throw now and then? Also, yes.
Here’s a hint…so does every other quarterback in the NFL. Even Rodgers.
Trubisky is in his first year in a complex system, but he’s shown progress each and every week. He’s consistently making better decisions, tougher throws and is committed to doing whatever it takes to get the win.
Credit to @SeabassSaid for reminding me about this throw. Fundamentally it wasn't pretty but man was it gorgeous from a talent perspective.
Trubisky is under pressure while rolling out, has to fade back and still gets enough juice on it to hit Gabriel for a 1st. #Bears pic.twitter.com/Ov3cqC6g2u
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) November 6, 2018
This is an absolutely incredible throw. The argument could be made that in Week 1, he doesn’t make that play.
He had one bad throw all game that sailed on him, which was consequently picked off. But again, every QB is going to have that from time to time.
This article is all about week-to-week progress. Trubisky’s stat line did not look stellar on Sunday, but it didn’t have to be. He did what the team needed him to do.
Trubisky’s trending in the right direction. Stock up.
(If you’re interested in seeing more, Erik Lambert wrote about two great throws Trubisky had on Sunday that’s a must read)
You can find that article here.
