The Chicago Bears have started the season at 1-0 for the first time in seven years following a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback, where Mitchell Trubisky tossed three touchdowns, in a 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions.
The Bears landed at No. 14 on Touchdown Wire’s way-too-early Week 1 power rankings ahead of two Monday Night Football showdowns. Though, to be fair, they’re the lowest-ranked of the teams that won so far this week. I’ll give you one guess as to why.
In the first half, Trubisky completed eight of 20 passes for 110 yards and looked so bad, you couldn’t blame anyone for wanting head coach Matt Nagy to pull the kid and put Nick Foles in there. But then, Trubisky threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, which was a highly improbable event under any circumstances. As a result, we still have no earthly idea what Trubisky is. Perhaps the Giants can provide clarity next Sunday. Perhaps not.
While Trubisky orchestrated one heck of a comeback in the fourth quarter, where he completed 80% of his passes and tossed three touchdowns each to a different receiver, he struggled through the first three quarters with his accuracy and footwork.
Until Trubisky can prove that he can operate on a consistent basis — if he even can — there are going to be questions about the Bears, and rightfully so.
While not mentioned, the defense was certainly an area of concern for the Bears in Sunday’s win. The pass rush was suspect and the run defense clearly missed the presence of nose tackle Eddie Goldman in the middle. The Bears are going to need to find a way to generate pressure on the quarterback and find an answer at nose tackle if they’re going to be better than they were last season.
Chicago’s schedule is certainly favorable in these next three games, where they’ll face the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and the Indianapolis Colts. We’ll see if the Bears can establish an identity in the reminder of this first quarter.
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