Da Bears Are Offensive

What an odd game. How do we dominate, I mean, totally thrash a team like we did to the Bears in the first half and only hold a 12 point lead. Then, the Bears didn’t even come out until after the first drive of the 3rd quarter allowing our Birds to go up 19 to zip. Yet we still had to sweat it out. I spent the bulk of the game thinking we should be up by 28, but that it’d only take one bad bounce, and the scoreboard wouldn’t show that we were completely outclassing the Bears. So let’s break it down.
Our Iggles D is getting healthier, and playing at a much higher level. The D line is what makes everything work, and they’re being consistently disruptive. Fletch was a force on the inside all afternoon. He looks like he’s all the way back. BG always manages to make a couple of big plays each game, and even Josh Sweat is starting to look like he might be able to contribute consistently. Vinny Curry hasn’t made a single play all year, so that’d be great if Sweat could take those snaps. Aside from Malcolm getting lost in coverage on the one big catch by Gabriel, the secondary is looking sound. Darby and Mills may not be the best cornerback duo in the NFL, but they’re our best bet and they play with some nice swag. We really miss Nigel Bradham, especially in the 3rd quarter when the Bears mounted their comeback. The rookie, TJ Edwards, is proving he can play the run, and Nate Gerry isn’t making mistakes, but these guys aren’t playmakers. While there are some nice positives on D, the question coming in to this game was who’s the bigger piece of trash, Josh Allen or Mitchell Trubisky. After watching them in back to back weeks, we know the answer, it’s clearly Trubisky who’s the bigger piece of trash. Especially given his draft status. I prefer to call him, “not Mahomes,” or “now Deshaun Watson.” The only nice thing I can say is that he doesn’t turn the ball over. So I like the way our D is playing, but you just cannot take much from looking good against the Bears or Bills. The degree of difficulty is gonna increase just a bit in our next couple of games.
After sitting on it for a bit, I’m not as upset with Carson and the O. The Bears D is good. Overrated, but good. I get that they’re not going to simply roll over, but come on, you cannot have multiple 12 play drives that end in FGs. Sure, a good D steps up in their own red zone, but the play selection was off. We got away from the mis-directions and screen passes that always work against an aggressive line. Carson didn’t have a particularly good game, missing a few passes by a lot, and making a couple of poor pre-snap reads — most glaringly, going to Sanders on a bubble screen that lost 3 yards on 3rd down. We cannot leave points on the field like that against the better teams. Now, it’s not like we’re doing Carson any favors. How does Djax go out after 3 plays? We seriously thought he was healthy, only for him to go out on the first drive? What a disconnect. Without Djax, we’ve really gotta figure out how to keep defenses honest, so they don’t stack the box. But until we give someone a reason to fear a throw downfield, they’ll just dare us to do it. Carson doesn’t even pretend to look at Mack Hollins anymore, and as much as I hate to say it, it’d be really nice for Carson to give it a shot and see what happens. If only to get some attention. It was really nice to see Ertz back in the plan as a primary weapon. And Goedert is a solid option. On the flip side, what in the world is going on with Alshon. I think he’s banged up a bit, and that’s making all the difference. He’s never been a speed guy, so it really hurts him if he cannot run as well as he normally does, cause he doesn’t run that well to begin with. And then the injury hurts his concentration, so he’s not being his normal big-bodied, strong on the ball self. The running game looked good, with the O line opening some holes so big that even I could’ve picked up a couple of first downs. As much as I respect Sproslie, there’s simply no reason for him to see the field ever again. He’s got nothing left.
I was ready to call for Nagy to be fired. His team isn’t well coached — 4 encroachments in the first half and no apparent strategy for offense. No plan. No clue. But I do give them kudos for mounting that comeback instead of simply packing it in. And their D kept us out of the endzone in some key spots. Dougie did enough to get us to the bye on a bit of a roll. Let’s hope he can figure out how to get a consistent rhythm on O, and solve for our WRs lacking any kind of deep threat. Is it too much to ask for JJAW to come back from the bye as a viable NFL WR? Or for Sanders to learn how to read the O line and consistently hit a hole in the running game? We’re gonna need it. Playing elite teams like NE and SEA means we’ll have to play a complete game and force some turnovers. I say Dougie comes back from the bye with answers, and we keep rolling.
#FlyEaglesFly