The Chicago Bears improved to 2-0 after defeating the New York Giants 17-13 in their home-opener Sunday, and while their near-meltdown in the second half may have created more questions than answers about this team, the bottom line is the Bears are undefeated entering Week 3.
Wins in the NFL are hard to come by. They still count, even when they’re ugly.
“I don’t care how you get it,” defensive lineman Akiem Hicks said. “Two-and-0 is delicious.”
It certainly is, especially for a Bears team that began the 2020 season as a favorite among league pundits to finish near the bottom of the league.
“I’ll eat that every day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Hicks said. “There’s bumps in the road during the course of the game, and you’ve got to be able to pick yourself back up and keep fighting. And then each game is a smaller season.”
The bumps on Sunday against the Giants felt more like turbulence on a flight you’re just praying reaches a safe landing. Mitch Trubiusky, after throwing two touchdowns in an impressive first half, regressed in real-time over the final 30 minutes of the game. He threw two interceptions in the second half while leading a Bears offense that failed to score over the final two quarters.
“When you look at the whole season, there’s going to be times in November and December where you say, ‘Man, I’ve got to really improve on that,'” Hicks said. “And what do you do? You go and work on it and try to come out the next week and play better. I’m happy about 2-0.”
Here’s the problem: the Bears have been working on improving Trubisky and his inconsistencies for his entire career.
In Week 1, Trubisky didn’t get going until the fourth quarter when he rallied Chicago back from a 23-6 deficit to win the game. On Sunday against the Giants, it was the opposite. He gave the Bears a big cushion in the first half but was left holding on in the second half like a punchdrunk boxer who was ahead on points.
Still, a win is a win. And it’s a lot easier to get better after a victory than it is after a loss.
“We’ve got to clean a lot of stuff up,” running back David Montgomery said. “We’ve got to go back to holding each other accountable and go fix some things we know we can hit.”