The Bears returned to Club Dub following a 31-24 beat down of the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football.
Following a 31-24 beat down of the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football, the Chicago Bears opened the doors to Club Dub to celebrate the team’s most impressive win of the season.
The game wasn’t as close as the score might indicate, and it was a productive effort from all three phases that have the Bears sitting pretty at 7-6 after winning their third straight game.
But it was the offense and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky that were the talk of the night following the offense’s best performance of the season. Trubisky accounted for four touchdowns — 3 passing and 1 rushing — and utilized his mobility.
What better way to start off your Victory Friday than with a trip to Club Dub?
Club Dub has been busy over the past month with the Bears winning four of their last five games. They sit at 7-6 and are very much in the hunt for that final Wild Card spot.
The Bears will have 10 days to prepare for a divisional showdown against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field next Sunday, which should mark the return of defensive lineman Akiem Hicks.
The Bears lost another defensive starter to injury in a win over the Cowboys on Thursday night as Roquan Smith’s season appears to be over.
Just when it appeared that the Chicago Bears defense was getting back to full strength, they lost another starter to injury.
Second year linebacker Roquan Smith suffered a pectoral injury in the first quarter of Thursday’s 31-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
When Smith was immediately ruled out, it was an indication that it wasn’t good news. Bears coach Matt Nagy seemed to confirm as much in his postgame press conference.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that it looks like a torn pectoral muscle for Smith.
#Bears star LB Roquan Smith is feared to have torn his pec in last night’s win over the #Cowboys, sources say. If the MRI confirms, it would likely knock Smith, who has really impressed recently, out for the season.
The injury is likely to end Smith’s sophomore season. Smith had put together some strong performances over the last few weeks, and it’s certainly a brutal blow to the Bears defense.
Veteran Kevin Pierre-Louis replaced Smith and had an impressive defensive performance against the NFL’s best passing offense. But while the Bears certainly benefited from Pierre-Louis’ stellar performance, there’s no replacement for a Roquan Smith.
“Man, it sucks. It really sucks,” safety Eddie Jackson said. “You hate to see one of your brothers go down, but especially a guy like Ro. It was just kind of like a shock to the stomach.”
Smith suffered the injury on the Cowboys’ opening possession of the game, where they drove 75 yards for a touchdown. Jackson said that Smith knew he was hurt and wanted to play through it.
“He told us in the game — he thought he hurt his pec,” Jackson said. “And I was just like, ‘Dang.’ He said he’s going to finish the drive. You could see his face. I’m like, ‘Ro is still going to fight through it.’ And he fought through it. It just sucks. Ro’s having a good season. Unfortunately, it gets cut short with the injury.”
Joe Buck is undoubtedly a great broadcaster, but he has earned criticism for not always getting excited when the time calls for it. But, boy, did Buck show the haters on Thursday night during the Bears-Cowboys game.
Let’s fast-forward to the third quarter. The Bears have the ball deep in Cowboys territory and call for a bubble screen to Anthony Miller. The second-year pro takes advantage of some good blocking and scores a touchdown. Mitch Trubisky got credit for a touchdown throw, but let’s be honest: He didn’t have to do very much on the play.
Just don’t tell my man Joe Buck that. The Fox Sports announcer lavished the Bears quarterback with praise following the play…
Even before Miller crosses the goal line, Buck gives Trubisky credit for a “good throw,” which is already a little too much. But then he doubles down with “What a throw!” after the play. Who knew Joe Buck was such a big fan of bubble screens!
Compare that call to the one Buck made for David Tyree’s miracle catch in Super Bowl 42:
Oh, one of the craziest plays in NFL history? No big deal. But this basic screen pass on a Thursday night in December? Let’s get nuts.
Anyway, because I’m a moron, I spent way too much time putting together this video celebrating Trubisky’s beautiful toss.
Got inspired by the absolute DIME Mitch Trubisky threw last night.
The Chicago Bears beat the Dallas Cowboys 31-24 on Thursday Night Football, improving to 7-6 on the season.
The Chicago Bears beat the Dallas Cowboys 31-24 on Thursday Night Football, improving to 7-6 on the season.
With the loss, Dallas falls to 6-7 on the season.
What does Chicago’s win mean for the NFC playoff prospects?
Chicago is 1.5 games back from the Vikings in the wild card hunt with the Vikings set to play the Lions on Sunday. Minnesota should win that game, but if the Vikings were to lose, things would get real interesting in the NFC wild card hunt.
The Bears have the tiebreaker over the Vikings, but the two teams do play again in Week 17 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
As of now, the Bears have just a five percent chance to make the postseason, but if the Vikings fall to the Lions and the Rams (who are 7-5) fall to the Seahawks in Week 14, that numbers jumps to 15 percent.
If the Vikings beat Detroit, their percentage to make the playoffs increases to 82 percent, per FiveThirtyEight.
Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky played his best game of the season in a 31-24 win vs. Cowboys. It was also a performance that made NFL history.
Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had his best performance of the season in a 31-24 dismantling of the Cowboys on Thursday night, and it was a performance for the record books.
Trubisky became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 70% of his passes (30 attempts), throw three or more touchdowns, rush for 50 or more yards and rush for a touchdown.
Trubisky completed 23-of-31 passes for 244 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 115.5. He added 63 yards on the ground on 10 carries with a rushing touchdown.
While Trubisky’s third season hasn’t gone as planned, he’s put together five solid games, including back-to-back games where he played lights out.
In the last four games, Trubisky has accounted for 13 touchdowns (11 passing, 2 rushing).
Tom Brady is drawing unflattering comparisons to a struggling NFL QB.
Tom Brady’s season hasn’t come together like he’s hoped. The New England Patriots quarterback helped the team get off to a strong start in 2019, but they have regressed, particularly on offense, past Week 4.
In fact, Brady has drawn statistical comparisons to Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky from Week 5 through Week 13. Trubisky is getting blasted for his tough play this season, and some believe he could out of a job by the end of the season. (He’s making a rally in recent weeks with strong performances in Weeks 13 and 14.)
During that nine-week span, Brady’s statistical comparisons to Trubisky are not flattering. Brady completed 59.2% of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt, a 80.3 quarterback rating, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. Trubisky, meanwhile, threw 10 touchdowns and five interceptions with a 63.2 completion % and an 85.7 quarterback rating at 6.3 yards per attempt.
The biggest difference?
During that same span, Brady was 6-2. Trubisky was 3-4.
Since Week 4 Tom Brady's game has looked a lot like… Mitch Trubisky?!
BRADY TRUBISKY 11 PASS TD 10 6 INT 5 59.2%. COMP PCT 63.2% 80.3 RATING 85.7 6.2 YDS PER ATT 6.3 pic.twitter.com/BFBi5DqN4t
It’s a small sample size, and there’s plenty of time for Brady and the Patriots to make things right. But its does provide a look at how New England has struggled offensively in recent weeks.
The Bears beat down on the Cowboys in a 31-24 victory at Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football. Here are the night’s best photos.
The Chicago Bears (7-6) dominated the Dallas Cowboys (6-7) in a 31-24 victory at Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football.
The Bears offense had its best performance of the season against a top 10 defense in the Cowboys. For the second consecutive week, it was Mitchell Trubisky’s day to shine. The third-year quarterback completed 23-of-31 passes for 244 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also added 63 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown.
Chicago’s defense also managed to contain the NFL’s best passing offense, contrary to some garbage-time yards and scores by Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense in the fourth quarter.
The Bears have now won four of their last five games, and they’re making a push for a Wild Card berth in the final quarter of the season.
Here are the best photos from Chicago’s satisfying victory over Dallas:
A breakdown of the good, bad and mostly the ugly from the Dallas Cowboys’ crushing 31-24 loss at the hands of the Chicago Bears on Thursday.
The Dallas Cowboys’ crushing 31-24 loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday night was a signature game. The Cowboys have gone through various ups and downs during the 2019 season, but they are now riding a three-game losing streak at the hands of the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and now the Bears. Technically all is not lost as the Cowboys still hold first place in the woeful NFC East, despite their middling record of 6-7.
It has been an unfortunate turn of events for the Cowboys. The expectations of head coach Jason Garrett leading a star-studded roster into a Super Bowl run now seems like a pipe dream as the team again looked outmatched in every aspect. It was a bad scene and at times it looked liked many players were on the field reluctantly. Here is a breakdown of the good, the bad and mostly the ugly from Thursday’s primetime defeat.
The Good: The Opening Drive
David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
The Cowboys looked like a dominant football team to start the game. Their opening drive was impressive as they gained 75 yards on 17 plays. It elapsed 8:57 of game time and the end result was a rushing touchdown from Ezekiel Elliott for an early 7-0 lead. It was the longest drive of the 2019 season and by the time the Bears got the ball on their first possession there was only 6:03 left in the first quarter.
The Cowboys effortlessly moved the ball at will, and if the opening drive was to be an indication, Cowboys Nation was sure in for a treat on Thursday night. As it would eventually turn out, that wasn’t the case. In truth, there is not many positives to gleam from the loss. Playoff hopes and scenarios aside, it seems like the product on the football field has not matched the hype.
The Bad: Brett Maher
Cowboys’ owner and de facto general manager Jerry Jones has already voiced his opinions about Garrett and the state of his football team. At this point, it is safe to say the entire coaching staff will be allowed to finish up the season uninterrupted with the team’s current playoff positioning. With that fans can likely, sadly expect Garrett’s continued dependency on kicker Brett Maher in crucial situations.
In fairness to him, he has made some long kicks in his two-year tenure. But a couple 60-plus-yard field goals do not make up for the plethora of misses that have plagued the team throughout the season.
Cowboys kicker Brett Maher has now missed 10 field goals this season.
That's more than any kicker in a single season in the last 4 years.
For the second-straight week, Maher’s misses had a direct impact on Dallas’ late-game decisions, keeping them more than one-possession down late in the contest when they were finally able to put points on the board. The morale erosion when the offense makes headway only to come away not just empty handed, but gifting the opponent prime field position resonates throughout the sideline for a team barely hanging on to belief they can play a complete game.
To make matters worse in this contest, after Dallas was able to shrink the lead to 24-14 with a touchdown, Maher’s kickoff dribbled out of bounds, starting the Bears off at their 40-yard line.
The Bears went on to score in four more plays, their final points of the game and the final margin of victory; set up by the short field.
The conservative nature of Garrett and the inaccuracy of Maher has been the perfect disaster for a Cowboys team struggling to win in close games. But with three games left in the season the misses will continue to be a problem. Much like their current coaching situation, ownership seems adamant to stick with Maher for the remainder of the season in spite of the mediocrity. The Cowboys’ season in a nutshell.
The Ugly: The Cowboys’ Defense
AP Photo/Morry Gash
It was another poor outing for a porous Cowboys defense. They allowed the Bears, led by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to score 31 points. In addition, the defense had trouble tackling all night, which led to some bonus yards after the catch opportunities for the Bears’ offense.
Mitchell Trubisky threw multiple touchdowns in the opening half of a game for the 4th time in his career.
In the previous 3 instances, Trubisky had a 77.0 comp pct, 12 pass TD, 1 INT, and a 146.1 passer rating … and the @ChicagoBears won all 3 games.#ThursdayNightFootball
To put things into perspective, the Cowboys’ defense allowed Trubisky, who is an average QB at best, to pick them apart with surgical precision. To gauge Trubisky’s season from an analytical standpoint, ESPN’s Total QBR is a good measuring stick. According to their metric, Trubisky currently ranks No. 27 in the league with a a QBR of 43.0 for the season. A Pro-Bowl caliber player is rated with a QBR of 75. Against the Cowboys Trubisky produced a QBR of 80.6.
Another was to measure Trubisky and the rest of the Bears’ offensive efficiency is through the use of Expected Points Added (EPA). The nflscrapR package provides this data, with EPA measuring the value of a play given down, distance to first downs and field position.
This chart illustrates the Bears’ offensive efficiency, or lack thereof, over the course of the season. For the most part, the Bears have struggled to produce on the offensive end of the spectrum. Their EPA/play was usually well below zero, which means that the majority of their plays were unsuccessful.
Against the Cowboys in Week 14, they saw one of their biggest offensive breakouts of the season. The Cowboys’ defense surrendered 0.36 EPA per pass play, which is the Bears’ greatest mark of 2019.
Overall, this was a daunting loss for the Cowboys who were the road favorites against a Bears team led by Trubisky. There was hope the Cowboys would bounce back in Week 14 after their stunning defeat by the Bills on Thanksgiving. The team had a chance to prove they were a resilient bunch, able to withstand a string of losses. Now, after a three game losing streak and a record of 6-7, this team is treading the same old ground to end the 2019 season.
The Cowboys fell to the Chicago Bears in Week 14’s Thursday Night Matchup. Jason Garrett’s rope seems to be running out.
The end is near, for someone anyway. Once again, the Cowboys have averted taking control of their own division and increasingly hilarious playoff chances after losing in Chicago, 31-24. The final score belies how poor and out-of-reach this game was for the Cowboys, who fall below .500 for the first time in 2019.
It was over when . . .
. . . Mercurial Mitch Trubisky took a read option 23 yards to put Chicago back up 17 points early in the fourth quarter. He didn’t have to worry about getting hit because Cowboys defenders weren’t able to tackle the entire game.
In the brief moments where it seemed like this game would go a vastly different direction, Jourdan Lewis did his best WR impression, toe-tapping along the sideline while snagging his second pick of the season. As a team, it was the Cowboys fifth interception, which currently ties them for fewest in the league.
It was a quiet start for the team’s biggest receiving threat, but he eventually managed to shake loose, catch a touchdown, and set a milestone. His 83 receiving yards were the most he’s recorded in a month, since Week 9 vs Minnesota.
RB Ezekiel Elliott
Again, Ezekiel Elliott seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, before the flow of the game neutralized him completely. He took 19 carries for 81 rushing yards, found the end zone twice. Elliott also set a new season-long run of 31, with his two longest runs of the season coming in the last two games.
Key Stat: 171
In 12 drives, the Cowboys recorded 408 total yards of offense against Chicago. 237 yards were recorded on their first, 11th and 12th drives. The other nine generated only 171 yards, and zero points.
Quick Hits
Week 14 followed an eerily similar script to last Thursday, where the Cowboys peaked after their first drive of the game. They went up 7-0, and things slowly unraveled, as Chicago proceeded to score 24 straight points. It was alarming on multiple fronts, and proved to be yet another example of this team wasting its talent and potential.
The Cowboys’ opening offensive drive was perhaps their most dominant performance all year. They turned back the clock to 2016, chewing up 75 yards on 17 plays before Elliott plunged into the end zone from two yards out. Trubisky didn’t take his first snap until only 5:54 remained in the first quarter.
Dallas gained only 57 yards of offense for the rest of the first half. They converted all four third down attempts on their first drive, and then failed on their next nine third down tries. They didn’t pick up another third down until Amari Cooper’s nine yard catch on 3rd and 2 with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter. Overall, they were six of 15 on third down attempts.
The Bears on the other hand, never stopped converting third downs (seven of 12). The Dallas defense was absolutely woeful at bringing down Bears ballcarriers. It appears Michael Bennett’s post-Thanksgiving tirade didn’t have much of an effect.
FB Jamize Olawale, getting extra snaps in place of Tony Pollard, didn’t even turn around to look for the ball as Prescott targeted him on a 3rd and 4 from the Bears 24. It was a play that not only signaled how disjointed and out-of-sync Dallas was in this game, but also their larger issues, as K Brett Maher missed his 10th field goal of the season on the subsequent play.
Bet every last one of them is employed on Saturday.
Blake Jarwin continues to show a nice rapport with Prescott, and be productive in limited opportunities. He caught four passes for 37 yards, two of which came on the Cowboys’ prolific first drive. While the Jason Witten reunion tour has been fun, who knows what Dallas has been missing by not expanding Jarwin’s role in the offense.
The writing seems to truly be on the wall for Jason Garrett. He’s hardly alone in the deserved blame for this season’s disappointments, but Garrett’s also the one common thread through what’s now been multiple iterations of underachieving Dallas Cowboys teams.
Dallas has 10 days before they play next, in a rematch against the team that eliminated them from last season’s playoffs, the Los Angeles Rams.
Jason Garrett shared his thoughts on another bad loss.
The Dallas Cowboys went into Chicago on Thursday night knowing their game with the Bears had a must-win feel to it.
And boy did they not go out there and play like it.
Dallas left town with a 31-24 loss, their third straight defeat, and it was never really as close as that final score might lead one to believe.
The Cowboys fell behind early after scoring on their first drive. They were outplayed in all facets of the game, and could only watch in the fourth quarter as Mitch Trubisky put the nail in their coffin with a 23-yard TD run through the heart of the defense in the fourth quarter.
The first drive was great but the points put up in the fourth quarter by Dallas felt hollow, since the game was pretty much over.
Jerry Jones spoke to reporters in one of his patented impromptu press conferences but he didn’t say anything about Garrett’s job status. He ranted about how his team never had a chance and got run over, which was all true, and that they need to start winning games again.
The Cowboys are a mess right now but they’re somehow still atop the NFC East at 7-6.
But it feels like another lost season is staring them in the face.
