The Bears’ offense has surged and dipped throughout Matt Nagy’s run as head coach, and the first two weeks of this season have been a continuation of that volatility.
The performance has shifted constantly, sometimes from play to play, and consistency keeps eluding them.
“It’s a roller coaster,” wide receiver Allen Robinson said Wednesday, when the Bears got back to work following a 16-14 win in Denver. “At the end of the day, we need to get back on that roller coaster each and every week.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs throughout the whole game — especially the last minute or so. We made the plays when we needed to, which is what ultimately matters.”
Not exactly. That’s all that mattered against the Broncos, but it’s going to take far better production — the Bears are bottom-three in yardage, points and passer rating — to string together a winning streak and earn prime playoff position.
The goal is to be steadier, starting with their visit to the Redskins on Monday. It’ll be a rough season if it keeps feeling like they’re on one of the wild rides just north of them at Six Flags.
“We’ve really been just even keeled,” right guard Kyle Long said of the mood. “We want to let nothing affect us.”
While football players tend to rationalize that the only meaningful indicator is wins, the Bears seem to have a healthy grasp that the first two weeks haven’t gone well.
They’ve reached the red zone twice in 19 full possessions, hardly got anything going offensively in the opener and needed everything to line up perfectly in the final 31 seconds to beat the Broncos in a stunning comeback Sunday.
The resulting 1-1 record is fine for now, but the process is clearly unsustainable.
Nonetheless, the offense remains upbeat.
Nothing is more helpful than their world-class defense, which gives them more margin and more time to figure this out than most teams enjoy. But beyond that, the ground game has surprisingly turned into a potential avenue for the Bears to right themselves.
Rookie running back David Montgomery has established himself as their best option in the backfield and turned in 62 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against the Broncos.
“He can make things happen regardless of what happens,” Long said. “But it’d be better if we can do a little bit more and give him a little bit more daylight.”
Montgomery’s effort was part of a 153-yard rushing game for the Bears, their fifth-highest under Nagy. Logic says they’ll keep pounding it Monday, given that the Redskins were middle-of-the-pack in run defense last season and rank 31st this year.
That would help Mitch Trubisky, too.
The best thing Trubisky has done so far is avoid turnovers, with his only one being an interception in the end zone against Green Bay. That’s significant, but Super Bowl aspiring teams need more than that from their quarterback.
Trubisky’s numbers from the first two games are worse across the board than his rookie season. The most troubling statistic is his 58.3 completion percentage, which ranks 27th among the 33 quarterbacks with enough attempts to qualify.
And with all that being said, when the Bears were on the brink of defeat in Denver, he stepped up in the pocket and zipped a 25-yard pass to Robinson that set up the game-winning field goal.
Throws like that keep sparking hope that Trubisky can ignite the offense more regularly.
“It’s one play,” Robinson said. “Each and every week I know he’s coming in here trying to get better... It does give us confidence because we won the game, but you’ve got to look at it from the whole perspective.
“I don’t think one play is going to drastically change anybody’s anything. We’ve got to come in here and stay tuned into the game plan and try to get better.”
