The Chicago Bears are a familiar foe for the Detroit Lions. But the NFC North rivals from Illinois have made quite a few changes.
To help catch up on the changes, or lack thereof at one key position, I turned to Bears Wire colleague Alyssa Barbieri for some questions and answers on the enemy from I-94 West.
What are the expectations like for the Bears in Chicago this year?
It’s pretty clear from a national perspective, and even from a local view, that there’s not much confidence about what this Bears team can accomplish in 2020. There have been some that believe the Bears will be one of the worst teams in the league, which is a tad surprising considering that they made improvements on offense and defense, and last year’s team still managed to finish 8-8.
Although, the lack of confidence is certainly warranted, especially with questions at the quarterback position. But the Bears have been a team that’s done better when there are no expectations, at least since Matt Nagy’s arrival.
Mitchell Trubisky appears to have won the starting job again. Was there really a competition or was Nick Foles just a pawn? Did Foles deserve to win it?
When you look at everything that the Bears did this offseason — declining Trubisky’s fifth-year option, trading for Foles and bringing in coaches that were familiar with Foles — it appeared that the Bears were setting Foles up to succeed. Obviously, the unorthodox offseason affected the QB battle greatly, and it’s possible Foles could’ve won the battle had it been fair in that regard.
My belief was always that Foles would have to outright win the job if he was going to be named the starter. And he didn’t. Neither Trubisky nor Foles really impressed during training camp. But Trubisky showed the coaches enough in terms of improving in some key areas, including decision-making, accuracy and mechanics, where they felt confident riding with him into the 2020 season.
But I still don’t believe the QB competition is over yet this season.
What do you think David Montgomery’s status will be for Week 1, and how does the Bears run game look?
Matt Nagy has been pretty secretive with injuries up to this point, but I have a hard time believing the Bears roll with Montgomery in Week 1 just two weeks removed from his groin injury. Maybe I’m wrong, perhaps the Bears feel confident about where Montgomery stands right now. One thing’s for sure, Chicago is showing a lot of confidence in their running back depth with not going out and seeing a veteran free-agent. Or it could be because they’re confident where Montgomery stands.
Aside from Montgomery and Tarik Cohen, the Bears have some new faces at running back — Ryan Nall, who saw limited action last season, and converted running back Cordarrelle Patterson, who the Bears are looking to get more involved in the offense. The Bears had one of the worst ground attacks in the league last season, and there’s definitely been an emphasis to fix that in 2020. We’ll see how that goes.
Who are the key new pieces for the Bears, especially on defense?
The Bears had one of the worst tight end groups last season, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them completely overhaul that position. They brought in veteran Jimmy Graham and drafted Cole Kmet in the second round of the NFL Draft, and both of those guys have impressed during training camp to the point that Nagy called tight end a “strength” for this team.
On defense, the Bears will have three new starters at pass rusher and the secondary. Chicago signed former All-Pro Robert Quinn to pair with Khalil Mack off the edge, which should serve their pass rush well (also the return of DT Akiem Hicks from injury.) The Bears signed veteran Tashaun Gipson to assume the strong safety role opposite Eddie Jackson. Jaylon Johnson will get the start at cornerback opposite Kyle Fuller, and the second-round rookie will certainly be challenged from the start.
And it wouldn’t be the Bears without a kicker problem. Eddy Pineiro has been placed on injured reserve, as he’s been battling a groin injury during training camp. That means Cairo Santos will get the nod against the Lions in Week 1.
Who wins and why?
Given the Bears’ recent success in this series in having won the last four — and Trubisky’s success against Detroit in his last three outings — I’m going to go with Chicago. But, as we’ve seen in these last couple of years, the games played at Ford Field have gone down to the wire. Bears 24, Lions 17
Thanks to Barbieri for the insightful answer!