Waleed Alamleh
Sports Writer
The Chicago Bears narrowly defeated the 2-9 New York Giants 19 -14 on one of the better offensive games on the season for the Bears, although the scoreboard really didn’t show it. The Bears’ problem this season continues to be they cannot put points on the board in the first half. This was the fifth game of the season for the Bears that they failed to score in the first half, and they currently rank 28th in scoring in the entire league according to NFL.com.
It wasn’t as if the Bears weren’t moving the ball well either; they just had missed opportunities, the biggest being Brent Braunchers dropped wide open walk in touchdown that would’ve changed the game, or Trubisky’s interception later on in the drive. It was a different story in the second half as Trubisky locked in early, adding a deep 32 yard touchdown over the middle of the field to Allen Robinson to start the second half. He also added in a rushing touchdown which was a relief as the play calling from Matt Nagy actually allowed for Trubisky to do something he’s comfortable with. The defense was outstanding again, bottling up star running back Saquan Barkley for only 59 yards, while All-Pro linebacker Khalil Mack finally had his signature strip sack on Daniel Jones creating a turnover leading to the Trubisky rushing touchdown.
As we look ahead for the rest of the season it’s clear what the Bears must do, they have to run the table and win out the rest of the year. They currently sit at 5-6 and are in the 9th seed and would need to be 10-6 to even have a chance at the playoffs. However, there needs to be a lot of improvements on many aspects for the Bears. For starters, the play calling this season has been subpar at best. Matt Nagy has continued to allow Trubisky to throw the ball 40+ times a game and run the ball 23 times per game on average according to NFL.com. Nagy needs to come up with a better balance to help his young quarterback who at this point has clearly shown he is not ready to be throwing 40 times a game.
The kicking, as well, needs to improve down the stretch as Eddie Piñiero has continuously missed down the late stretch of the season, clearly affecting them in some games. The Bears’ defense needs to create more sparks like it did last season. There have not been any pick 6’s or fumble returns or many multiple turnover games. They need to help out the offense to score just as much at this point.
The Bears next game looks like another favorable one this Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions as they look to improve to 6-6 and try to keep their playoff hopes alive for the December home stretch.
Waleed Alamleh can be contacted at almalehw@student.morainevalley.edu.
