Tag: Chicago Bears

Bears open as 1.5-point underdogs vs. Lions in Week 13

Coming off a victory over the Giants, the Bears are underdogs heading into Thursday’s Thanksgiving matchup against the Lions.

Coming off Sunday’s 19-14 victory over the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears (5-6) will have a quick turnaround before Thursday’s meeting against the Detroit Lions (3-7-1).

This marks the second straight Thanksgiving meeting between the Bears and Lions, which has a different feel this season as the Bears’ struggles have been noticeable.

The Bears will likely be facing off against Lions backup quarterback Jeff Driskel again as starter Matthew Stafford continues to deal with tiny fractures in his back.

In their first meeting this season, the Bears defeated Driskel and the Lions 20-13 behind Mitchell Trubisky’s three touchdowns on Nov. 10.

With all of that and the Bears coming off a win over the Giants, Vegas still isn’t as confident in Chicago’s chances against the Lions.

The Bears have opened as 1.5-point underdogs against the Lions, according to BetMGM.

Chicago has been favorites in every game they’ve played this season except three — the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9, the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 and now against the Lions in Week 13 — which is surprising considering their struggles this year.

But the fact that the Lions are only 1.5-point favorites doesn’t indicate much confidence from Vegas, as home teams are usually afforded a three-point advantage.

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What we learned from Giants’ 19-14 loss to Bears

The New York Giants lost to the Chicago Bears, 19-14, in Week 12 and here’s some of what we learned from that loss.

The New York Giants went on the road to face the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday, and what transpired was a disaster. The defense largely did its job, save for Corey Ballentine, but the offense couldn’t put enough points on the board, in part due to two missed field goals by Aldrick Rosas.

That said, here is what we learned from the Giants’ loss to the Bears in Week 12.

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Aldrick Rosas is a mess

Rosas ranks 32nd among 38 active field goal kickers in percentage made at 67%. He missed two field goals against the Bears. Had he made those, the Giants would have won. One miss was due to a poor snap, but he’s now missed either a field goal or a PAT in the last five games straight.

Not only that, but Rosas had a kickoff go out of bounds and had some words with Pat Shurmur on the sideline. An All-Pro kicker one year ago, Rosas’ decline is surprising and frustrating. He’s in his third year in the league, all with the Giants, and this is by far his worst season yet.

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Bears RT Bobby Massie spotted with walking boot on injured ankle

The Bears lost RT Bobby Massie and ST/DB Sherrick McManis to injury in Sunday’s 19-14 victory vs. Giants.

New game, same result for Bears right tackle Bobby Massie, who suffered another injury in Chicago’s 19-14 victory over the New York Giants.

Massie, who suffered a back injury against the Los Angeles Rams last week, was a full participant in practice and started Sunday’s game before exiting with a right ankle injury in the third quarter.

But this injury doesn’t appear to be a quick turnaround for Massie, as he was spotted leaving Soldier Field with a walking boot on his right ankle.

Massie was replaced by Cornelius Lucas. If Massie can’t go for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions, Lucas figures to fill in for him, as he did similarly in Week 3 against the Washington Redskins.

Also on the injury front, special teams standout and cornerback Sherrick McManis suffered a groin injury and was ruled out for the rest of the Giants game.

We’ll likely get an update on both Massie and McManis when Matt Nagy meets with the media on Monday in what’s a short turnaround for the Bears as they prepare for a Thanksgiving meeting in Detroit.

Bears organization has ‘serious confidence’ in QB Mitchell Trubisky

While Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky has faced a ton of scrutiny this season, the Bears organization still believes in their young QB.

For those Bears fans hoping that 2019 would be the last they’d see of beleaguered quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago, you might want to sit down.

While Trubisky has garnered plenty of scrutiny for his erratic play this season, the Bears organization has “serious confidence” in their young quarterback moving forward, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.

While Trubisky deserves his share of the blame for the offense’s struggles, he’s far from the only person struggling on offense, which the Bears organization understands. Whether it’s the offensive line in pass protection or run blocking or the receivers — and now tight ends — who continue to drop passes or play-calling on Matt Nagy’s part, it’s been a collective disappointing effort by the Bears.

It would be easy if Trubisky were the only problem on offense. That would mean that it would’ve been a quick fix awhile ago. But everything around Trubisky isn’t working, which has led to a disappointing output where the Bears offense ranks 30th in the league.

Trubisky was always going to be on the roster next season as he’s heading into the fourth year on a rookie deal that’s fully guaranteed. But how the Bears choose to address the quarterback position in the offseason will be intriguing to say the least.

Will they bring in a veteran to compete for the job? Will they turn to the NFL Draft for another project? Or will they — hopefully not — choose to stick it out with just Trubisky and Chase Daniel in 2020?

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NFC North watch: Packers get smoked, Bears win ugly

It was an awful day of football in the NFC North

The Detroit Lions weren’t the only NFC North team in action in Week 12. The Lions also weren’t the only team in the division to leave a stinky impression upon their fan base.

Chicago hosted the New York Giants in an ugly, poorly executed game by both teams. A strong third quarter from Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky produced 16 of Chicago’s 19 points in the 19-14 win. Trubisky also tossed two INTs that rival Jeff Driskel’s brutal picks at the end of the Lions loss.

The Bears were bad. The Giants were worse. New York missed two field goals and failed on 4th down twice in the fourth quarter to cement the loss. Chicago improved to 5-6 in advance of Thursday’s game at Ford Field.

Green Bay got blasted on national television, suffering an embarrassing 37-8 loss in San Francisco in a game that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score indicates.

Watching the rival Packers get blown out and completely outclassed by the San Francisco 49ers in primetime was a little bit of consolation for Lions fans on Sunday night. Aaron Rodgers managed just 102 passing yards before being pulled late in the game for his own safety against the 49ers pass rush.

The Packers fell to 8-3 with the loss. It drops them back into a tie with idle Minnesota at the top of the division. Green Bay won the first matchup between the two leaders.

Standings

Green Bay 8-3

Minnesota 8-3

Chicago 5-6

Detroit 3-7-1

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WATCH: Bears return to Club Dub following Week 12 win over Giants

The Bears returned to Club Dub following Sunday’s 19-14 victory over the Giants.

Club Dub’s doors have remained closed most of this season, as the Bears had only notched four wins prior to Sunday’s 19-14 victory over the Giants.

Call it unimpressive. (It was.) Call it ugly. (It was.) But it was a win, and the Bears celebrate every victory.

Following the celebration, coach Matt Nagy addressed the team, where he addressed their struggles and how they’ve fought through adversity this season.

“It doesn’t matter how they come, they’re always hard,” Nagy told his team. “When you go through this kind of stuff, it challenges you. I’m going to continue to tell you, and this goes back to what I told you last night, it’s about you guys. It’s about believing in one another, it’s about execution, it’s about playing hard. And if you do that, you get good results.”

The Bears have a short turnaround as they play the Detroit Lions on Thursday, which will be the second year in a row they’ll be in Detroit for Thanksgiving.

Chicago is looking to bring Club Dub back to Detroit, as they did in a 23-16 victory last season.

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Bears keep playoff hopes alive with win over Giants

Per FiveThirtyEight, Chicago still has a one percent chance to make the playoffs.

It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win nonetheless.

The Bears beat the Giants 19-14, thanks to 16 third-quarter points, to improve the team to 5-6 on the season.

Per FiveThirtyEight, Chicago is holding onto playoff hope, with a one-percent chance to make it.

The 8-3 Vikings have a three-game lead on the Bears, but Chicago has the tiebreaker from its Week 4 win over Minnesota. The two will meet up again in Week 17.

The Bears also play the Lions, Cowboys, Packers and Chiefs to close out the season. Not exactly an easy stretch.

With the Bears likely to miss the playoffs, there are a lot of questions to answer this offseason in Chicago.

This is a team that finished 12-4 in 2018, looking like one of the teams of the future in the NFC. Not so fast.

The struggles of Mitch Trubisky have become too much for the Bears to overcome. The 2017 No. 2 pick is averaging just 5.6 yards per attempt this season. He’s had trouble throwing to the left side of the field. When you take away half the field for a defense, things become a bit easier.

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Trubisky was replaced this offseason (Ryan Tannehill, anyone?), which would likely extend coach Matt Nagy’s time in Chicago as well.

Watch: Julian Love’s First NFL Pick, Golden Tate’s Touchdown

It was Love’s first career NFL interception and happened to take place in his hometown of Chicago as Love grew up just outside Chicago.

It’s been on a long few seasons for the New York Giants, entering Sunday just 2-8 on the year and with a defense that has struggled to slow almost anything down.

Well, things didn’t go a whole lot better for the Giants this Sunday as they fell to the Bears 19-14. Despite the score a couple of former Notre Dame stars made some big-time plays for Big Blue.

Trailing 19-7 at the start of the third quarter the Giants forced a third and ten when Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky tried to throw deep, only to connect with former Notre Dame Thorpe Award finalist Julian Love.

It was Love’s first career NFL interception and happened to take place in his hometown of Chicago as Love grew up just outside Chicago.

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Love’s interception probably meant a little more to him this week as two of his childhood friends he was planning on seeing while in Chicago died in an automobile accident earlier this week.

Still trailing 19-7 later in the fourth quarter it was former Biletnikoff Award Winner and Notre Dame product Golden Tate making another outstanding grab to cut the lead to 19-13.

The touchdown was Tate’s fourth of the season.

Despite the help from a couple of Domers, the Giants ultimately dropped the game 19-14 in Chicago while falling to just 2-9 on the year.

5 takeaways from Bears’ 19-14 win over Giants

Here are five takeaways we learned from the Bears’ 19-14 victory over the Giants, including the return of Khalil Mack.

The Chicago Bears (5-6) followed up a disappointing loss with a 19-14 win over the struggling New York Giants (2-9), although it certainly was anything but pretty.

While the Bears were plagued by the same self-inflicted mistakes and missed opportunities that cost them last week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, this time they were struggling against a stumbling Giants team that had issues of their own.

The Bears defense has held opponents to 17 points or less in four of the last five games, and this time their offense was able to take advantage despite the sheer amount of missed opportunities left out on the field. But a win is a win, even if it’s an ugly one against a Giants team going nowhere.

Here are my five takeaways from the Bears’ 19-14 win over the Giants.

1. Mitchell Trubisky shines in hurry-up offense

Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

While Mitchell Trubisky certainly didn’t have a great game, he stacked another solid performance, even if the statistics don’t necessarily indicate it. Trubisky certainly had some ugly moments — including two interceptions — but it was during the Bears’ hurry-up offense where the young quarterback stood apart from his struggles.

Trubisky is at his best when he’s in up-tempo situations where he doesn’t have to think and just plays football, and he certainly shined in those moments where the Bears ran their no-huddle offense.

While Trubisky’s statline isn’t anything to marvel at — 25-of-41 for 278 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, as well as one rushing touchdown — it was definitely another step in a positive direction for Trubisky in a struggling offense.

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Studs and Duds from Bears’ Week 12 win over Giants

The Chicago Bears’ victory over the New York Giants followed a familiar script for the 2019 season. The offense was allergic to first downs in the first half as they fell behind an inferior opponent. Something changed at halftime and Mitchell …

The Chicago Bears’ victory over the New York Giants followed a familiar script for the 2019 season.

The offense was allergic to first downs in the first half as they fell behind an inferior opponent.

Something changed at halftime and Mitchell Trubisky looked like a new quarterback in the third quarter, giving the Bears a lead and giving the fans new hope.

Then in the fourth quarter, the defense forgets how to play football, Trubisky turns back into a pumpkin, and the Giants keep it close with one final drive to win it.

This time, Chicago’s defense held strong and they went to celebrate Club Dub for beating a two-win opponent.

Still, the signs of life the Bears showed on both sides of the ball brought some excitement back to a season that was lacking it.

Here are the studs and duds from win number five.

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