Foles: “When we were in the huddle, I had explained to Anthony that if I do happen to kill it, I’m going to throw it to the L. So get to the L and it’ll be a pretty stiff ball, so I knew just in case I didn’t have time to get it off cleanly, he would be there.”

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) September 27, 2020

Read this Tweet. Now, read it again. This quote from Nick Foles illustrates why many, including myself, argued he should have been the starter from day one. He is a smart, competent quarterback. The sham quarterback “competition” could have cost the Bears wins. Thankfully, it didn’t. Foles is now the quarterback. And the Bears are undefeated.

Rapid fire.

• Tarik Cohen’s loss can’t be understated. But one would think Cordarrelle Patterson will see a significant increase of offensive snaps and Anthony Miller will assume the punt return duties full-time. Question. Why not use Ted Ginn as the punt returner? He was electric in that role at Ohio State.
• Two of the more telling moments of this broadcast were sideline cuts.
  • After Mitch was benched, Kyle Fuller made it a point to go over to him and give him a fist bump. Mitch wanted nothing to do with it but the moment mattered. Mitch will still be needed by this time at some point this season.
  • As Nagy and Foles were scheming later in the game, Mitch was seated on the bench, alone. Yes it sucks getting benched but Mitch needed to be right up beside them, listening to everything, devouring the concepts, learning. It’s great that he did the Zoom conference call with reporters after the game but the Zoom conference call isn’t making him a better quarterback.
• Don’t have the snap counts yet but Danny Trevathan played more than I expected. And not particularly well.
• Did Mitch Trubisky throw a single deep sideline route in bounds?
• Trubisky’s interception was awful but from all reports the Bears were considering making a QB change at halftime. That tells me Nagy was infuriated by the Miller deep miss late in the second quarter. Nagy had been setting it up the entire first half and Miller had three yards on the secondary. That’s an easy touchdown for most, if not all, starting quarterbacks in the league.

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Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

And they have started the season 2-0 without playing anything resembling a complete game. Maybe we’re seeing what they are offensively, a group incapable of consistency due to the failings of the quarterback. But defensively, they’ve been far more bend-don’t-break than one would expect. Once the pass rush hits stride, that should stop. That begins Sunday.

Thoughts on the Atlanta Falcons

• Hayden Hurst is a problem. And the Bears have not shown a particular ability to contain tight ends, with both Hockenson and Engram delivering solid performances in weeks one and two. (Moving Trevathan from the starting lineup may help sure up this issue.) When Matt Ryan has time in the pocket, he’s looking deep down the left sideline to Ridley or over the top to Jones. But when he senses pressure, Hurst is becoming his most reliable target.
• Takkarist McKinley (#98) is the team’s best edge rusher, and he’ll attempt to bull rush Bobby Massie on most passing downs. But he’s the only reliable factor on their front four. When they need to create pressure, they’ll bring John Cominsky (#50), often as a blitzer from the inside. (He’s listed as a defensive end but he sure doesn’t seem to play there very often.) If the Bears identify those two players and neutralize them, Trubisky will have plenty of time to look down the field.
• The Falcons seem soft in the middle of both their offensive and defensive lines.
  • On offense, they rely almost exclusively on their passing game in short yardage. Yes, they’ll occasionally hand one to the fullback to get ten inches but on 3rd and a couple they haven’t been able to get any push up front through two weeks.
  • On defense, they’ve been in shootouts so they’re allowing 372 yards per game in the air. But when Dallas needed to get the game back under control, they handed off consistently to Ezekiel Elliot and there were gaping holes for him. Can’t imagine the Bears don’t think they can control this one on the ground.

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Haiku.

The Kansas Comet,

May have gained his final yard.

But legends don’t die.

More than Football.

“They accept me as a football star but not as a Negro.” Gale Sayers’: “final major gesture” as a college student: getting arrested at the University of Kansas in the name of racial justice. Rest in Power. (HT @loumoore12) pic.twitter.com/R1ysSCiuil

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) September 23, 2020

The Origins of Brian’s Song.

From a wonderful Mike Vaccaro piece about Sayers and the origin of Brian’s Song in the New York Post:

Sayers was called to the dais and there was a round of respectful applause. Many of the men in the room had interviewed Sayers before; they knew he was a man of few words. Most started reaching for their topcoats as Sayers thanked his teammates, and Halas, and his doctors.

“It is something special to do a job many say can’t be done,” Sayers said quietly, barely audibly. “Maybe that’s how courage is spelled out — at least in my case.”

More polite clapping. Typical Sayers: Quick, Humble, Bland, Unmem… “But I’d like to tell you about my friend, Brian Piccolo.”

This was unexpected. Piccolo? He was an unremarkable running back who’d partnered in Sayers’ backfield as a mostly forgettable blocking back. He’d filled in ably when Sayers had been hurt in ’68, but he wasn’t a name most in the room were terribly familiar with.

Sayers continued.

“In the middle of last season, Brian was struck down by the deadliest, most shocking enemy any of us can ever face — cancer.”

Now he had the room’s undivided attention.

“Compare his courage with the kind I’m supposed to possess. There was never any doubt that I’d return, knee injury or no. But think of Brian and his fortitude in the months since last November, in and out of hospitals, hoping to play football again, but not too sure at any time what the score was or might be. He has the heart of a giant. He has the mental attitude that makes me proud to have a friend who spells out the word ‘courage’ 24 hours a day, every day of his life.”

He paused. Six hundred men in tuxedos sat in silence, glassy-eyed, numb. Then, somehow, Gale Sayers summoned the strength to finish his speech with this: “You flatter me by giving me this award, but I tell you here and now that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. Brian Piccolo is the man of courage who should receive the George S. Halas Award. It is mine tonight, it is Brian Piccolo’s tomorrow.

“I love Brian Piccolo, and I’d like all of you to love him, too. And tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him.”

Fifty years ago Monday, 600 men waited a beat, then jumped to their feet, filling the room and the hotel (now the Sheraton Times Square) with a roar most could still feel in their ears years later. Brian Piccolo died 22 days later at the age of 26, a few blocks away, at what is now called Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

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Tweet 1. 

I can’t get over this. Trevathan has been so bad through 2 games that Bears have him playing less than half the snaps.

His contract runs through 2022, and the Bears really can’t get out of it. Unless he turns it around, that’s an unmitigated disaster. https://t.co/cvrrPFj1s5

— Johnathan Wood (@Johnathan_Wood1) September 21, 2020

Tweet 2. 

We saw Chuck Pagano use Deon Bush significantly more in pass coverage and Danny Trevathan’s playing time plummeted the last 5 quarters. That doesn’t seem like a slow start, seems like Pagano sees a problem. And with that contract, that’s a giant mess for #DaBears moving forward.

— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) September 21, 2020

If Danny Trevathan has become the player he’s put on tape over the first two weeks of the season, and he chooses not to walk away from the game at season’s end (or earlier), the Bears will find themselves thigh deep in contractual quicksand soon enough. But that’s a conversation for the off-season. The Bears are in the thick of this season, their currently-undefeated 2020 campaign, and will face one of the game’s more prolific offenses Sunday in Atlanta. The Bears need to know now if Trevathan can still play. Not in 2021. This Sunday.

Because the game film suggests he can’t.

Week One featured Trevathan chasing backs in coverage and failing to shed blocks. Week Two was more of the same, just with severely limited playing time. All of the Trevathan traits fans have come to love – his dogged pursuit of ball carriers, ability to get sideline to sideline, ball awareness when sitting in the deep zone – are not present in 2020.

I texted someone close to the Chicago Bears organization.

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Last week a strong argument emerged that the Bears might be better off not extending Allen Robinson’s contract, instead relying on Anthony Miller to be the team’s top wide receiver.

That argument died on Sunday.

Calling the two passes Miller didn’t catch drops is disingenuous. Both would’ve required phenomenal moments from the young receiver. But Miller has that ability! What changed from Week One when he made those plays to Week Two when he couldn’t? How can the Bears rely on him when they don’t know what they’re getting from week-to-week?

Dan Pompei was among those who promoted that idea that the Bears could have a number one receiver in Miller. Nobody questions that Miller has the talent to be The Guy, but NFL history is littered with talented wide receivers who never developed the consistency to be The Guy. See: Price, Peerless.

Remember to hit “Real-Time” on the bottom of @TheAthletic app. Check out and comment on our thoughts on Allen Robinson, plus some other Bears statistical nuggets from Week 1 pic.twitter.com/NYPnVjHuod

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) September 15, 2020

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The Bears have now opened the season as they needed, beating the Lions and the Giants. Were either wins pretty? No. But nobody remembers how championship teams look in September. Here come the rapid fire thoughts…

• Mitch looked a different player in the first half but there are still the same mistakes being made over and over and over again and the second half played those out. Too many times Mitch passes on the easy completion. Too many times Mitch holds the ball too long. Too many times Mitch doesn’t run when the yards are there to be gained. This game was only competitive because Mitch made enough mistakes to keep it that way. That’s unsustainable.
• Mitch looks exceedingly comfortable throwing between the hash marks and thus he will always err on the side of throwing it there. That’s why he forces passes to Robinson in coverage. He’s got to get more comfortable on the outside.
• Anthony Miller should just forget this game happened.
• Allen Robinson too. Neither of the interceptions targeted his way were great throws but neither should have been intercepted either.
• Bears looked committed to proving Tarik Cohen’s value early. Then, it disappeared.
• Cairo Santos is fine but the Bears don’t have a kicker who can make a fifty-yarder. And Ryan Pace should be ashamed by that.
• Danny Trevathan is now the most serious concern on the roster. He doesn’t look slow. He looks done. And it wouldn’t surprise me at all if his retirement is sooner than expected. (Not this season or anything but not much after this season concludes.)

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The current shirt from 26Shirts is my concept and design and you can see it over on the right rail (or down below on mobile). Proceeds going to great cause. You can read all about that, and place your order, by CLICKING HERE. It ain’t just tee shirts, either. The hoodies, light and sweatshirt-style, are both very cool.

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears, despite this Allen Robinson situation.

Would I like to see Robinson in Chicago long-term? Of course. Would I be rushing to give him $20 million a year without knowing who my quarterback is in 2021? Nope. No I would not.

Nevertheless, Robinson’s case is only supported by positive play and that’s what I would expect moving forward.

Breaking Down the New York Giants

Offense

• Everything with this offense feeds off the running game and Saquon Barkley. If the Giants are getting four or five yards a carry with their star running back it opens up their entire playbook and makes them a very difficult group to defend.
• If the run game isn’t working for the Giants, they’ll try to compensate for deficiencies at the offensive tackle spots with quick, mid-range slants to Sterling Shepard or by mismatching their tight ends on opposing linebackers and safeties. This is a difficult way to move the ball because it requires 10-12 plays, mistake free, for points.
• Darius Slayton is the deep threat and the Giants will take their shots if Daniel Jones is given consistent time in the pocket. Eddie Jackson can’t let Slayton get over the top.
• Pressure, of course, is always key, but specifically against Jones. When Jones is drop-and-toss he’s strong-armed and accurate. When he sits deep for an extra second or two (and often pump fakes) he gives defensive backs opportunities to make plays on the ball. He’s also one of the game’s more prolific fumblers.
• If you blitz Jones, you better have eyes on Barkley. He’s a home run waiting to happen on every screen. And Barkley is one of the worst blocking backs in the sport so his only viability in the passing game is in space.

Defense

• This is not a particularly talented group but they compensate with (a) hustle and (b) disguise. If their opener is any indication, they’ll keep Trubisky guessing right up until the snap.
• Two players to account for on this defense: Lorenzo Carter and Blake Martinez. They are the engine.
• The Bears will once again be seeing an underwhelming collection of corners. James Bradberry can play but Corey Ballentine and Darnay Holmes are liabilities with the ball in the air. Trubisky can’t be afraid to give his receivers opportunities to make plays. If he’s waiting for Robinson and Miller and Mooney to get open in space, he’s waiting too long.

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