The Chicago Bears are riding a three-game winning streak and slowly, but surely, are increasing their playoff odds by the day, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 31-24 in front of a raucous crowd at Soldier Field.
After a slow start on both sides of the ball, the offense and defense both turned it around and dug the Bears out of an early 7-0 hole. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky played his best game of the season, accounting for all 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing) and showing he may not be the bust many pegged him to be halfway through the season.
Meanwhile, the Bears defense locked in on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and forced him out of the pocket on many occasions. His timing was disrupted and, despite scoring 17 points in the final quarter during garbage time, he couldn’t rally his team back from such a large deficit. Dallas has now lost three straight and is searching for answers while attempting to compete for the NFC East division title.
The Cowboys may be moving backward, but the Bears are surging forward with just three weeks to go. Here are my five takeaways from Thursday’s convincing win.
1. Mitchell Trubisky played his best game as a Bear
Mitchell Trubisky’s best game as a Bear wasn’t the 6-touchdown performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018, or even last week’s game Thanksgiving showing against the Detroit Lions. No, it was Thursday evening against the Dallas Cowboys.
Trubisky looked poised all night, threading the needle on multiple occasions to wide receivers Anthony Miller and Allen Robinson and taking the game over with his legs, particularly on the Bears’ final touchdown drive. This is the quarterback fans have waited to see. Trubisky not only kept the offense ahead, he did it in a figurative “do or die” game, in which a loss would have truly all-but eliminated the Bears from playoff contention.
The game not only keeps the Bears “in the hunt”, but also silences the chorus of fans, media, and players who may have wanted Trubisky out of Chicago. These final few games of 2019 were always going to be big for the Bears’ quarterback, and he has risen to the challenge thus far.
2. The defensive backups continue to rise to the occasion
Injuries have ravaged the Bears defense recently, but the unit is still playing at a high level thanks to a few key backups. Inside linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, filling in for Roquan Smith, who exited with a pectoral injury, didn’t miss a beat and totaled 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss.
Inside linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski continues to show he probably should be a starter in this league, leading the Bears in tackles with 10 and slowing down the Cowboys’ running game led by running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Cornerback Kevin Toliver, starting in place of Prince Amukamara, did enough to limit big plays from the Dallas receivers for most of the evening. The Bears will need to keep getting production out of their backups, particularly the linebackers, as the news for Smith doesn’t sound promising.
3. This offense operates differently with effective tight ends
All season, the Bears offense has lacked production from the tight end position. Starters Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen were hurt and ineffective for most of the season, until both were shelved and placed on injured reserve within the last few weeks.
In their absence, however, reserve tight ends Jesper Horsted and J.P. Holtz have stepped up in a big way. On Thursday night, the duo combined to total 7 catches on 7 targets for 92 yards, helping to move the chains on key third downs and set up scoring drives.
Trubisky was accurate when throwing to them and brought a new dimension to the offense they haven’t had all season. Good things should continue to happen as long as Horsted and Holtz remain an integral part of the game plan.
4. Cordarrelle Patterson is beginning to change games
He’s been a pleasant surprise all season, but lately, Bears receiver/kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson has been making an impact all over the field. On the heels of winning NFC Special Teams Player of the Month, Patterson continued to rack up the yards on kickoff returns, returning his first kick to the Bears’ 34-yard line to set the offense up in good field position.
He then contributed on offense in the third quarter, catching a short pass from Trubisky and spinning his way for 33 yards and setting the team up for their third touchdown of the night.
Finally, to lead off their final touchdown drive of the game, Cowboys kicker Brett Maher kicked away from Patterson, leading to an out-of-bounds penalty and setting up the offense at Chicago 40-yard line. Whether he’s touching the ball or not, the Bears special team’s ace is having a major impact on the game lately, and it’s leading to positive outcomes on both offense and defense.
5. This game felt like it was 2018 again
Even at their highest point prior to Thursday night, the 2019 Bears haven’t reached the highs of the 2018 season when they captured the NFC North division crown. Until now.
The score wasn’t indicative of how dominant this performance was for the Bears. Outside of their opening drives on offense and defense, this was a convincing win and it was led by #10. The offense was in sync, the defense was stifling, despite having no turnovers, the play calling by coach Matt Nagy was effective and balanced, and Soldier Field was electric.
Will this three-game win streak lead to three more to secure a spot in the playoffs? Possibly, but the odds aren’t in their favor. Still, at least for one meaningful December victory, that 2018 magic returned. Hopefully it will lead to an improbable push to the postseason.
