Coming into today’s game against the Cowboys, the Bears were feeling confident about their slim chances after Monday’s win over the Patriots. It didn’t take long for the Bears to realize how in over their heads they were today as they were pounded by the Cowboys 49-29.
The Cowboys offense punished the Bears with 4 touchdown drives to give them a 28-7 lead midway through the 2nd quarter. The ease of which the Cowboys scored had to do with the offensive line dominating the line of scrimmage. The Bears defense could only muster one QB hit until late in the game when it was basically garbage time. No pressure up front left Cowboys QB Dak Prescott with plenty of options to use… and he used him. Even without starting RB Ezekiel Elliot, the Cowboys racked up 200 rushing yards and a 6.9 yards per rush average. Tony Pollard looked like he is ready to supplant Ezekiel Elliot as Dallas’ #1 RB with a 14 carry, 131 yard, 3 TD performance. The Cowboys were just as effective through the air as Prescott went 21/27 for 250 yards and 2 TDs. He found 7 different receivers throughout the afternoon. Prescott picked on Kindle Vildor heavily throughout the day as well as the youngsters Jaquan Brisker & Kyler Gordon. The DL & LBs got absolutely manhandled up front and Roquan Smith was missing in action all afternoon. The lone bright spot on defense was S Eddie Jackson who had 11 tackles and an INT.
Offensively the Bears put up 29 points today. In today’s NFL that should’ve been enough to get a win. It’s the most points given up by Dallas so far this season. After being down 3 scores, the offense put the team on its back and got going. Justin Fields & the offense never quit in this game and at one point put up 16 unanswered points to cut a 21-point deficit to just 5 points. The run game again set the table as the Bears ran for 240 yards on 43 rushes. And while the pass game mustered only 131 net yards, Justin Fields completed 74% of his passes and would’ve had more if not for some drops and a couple of bad passes.
The Good, Bad & Ugly
The Good: Justin Fields did work today. Fields went 17/23 for 151 yards & 2 TDs. He added 8 rushes for 60 yards and 1 TD. For the 2nd straight week, Fields looked poised and sure. He continued to make plays with both his feet and arm. The only thing that mattered this season for the coaching staff & management was to evaluate the young QB. I believe they’re beginning to see what Fields will be able to do once he has weapons around him. Justin is an exceptional, elite athlete and now it looks as though he is catching up to the speed of the game. I believe the Bears have their franchise QB.
The Bad: The drops by the WRs are deflating to a young QB who needs every bit of confidence he can get. When the Bears look at the tape they will all cringe at the Montgomery fumble that led to a Micah Parsons TD run back. The HITS principle that coach Matt Eberflus constantly preaches was not on display at all. Montgomery didn’t protect the ball, Fields jumped over Parsons instead of touching him while he was down and an OL just looked at Parsons get up & start running. The whistle never blew so the awareness on that play was completely absent.
The Ugly: The defense was trash – pure and simple. They allowed 6 scoring drives of 75, 69, 75, 54, 75 and 79 yards. For most of the afternoon Dak Prescott was allowed to do anything he wanted. He picked apart the Bears defense with short & intermediate passes that exposed 1-on-1 matchups. Pollard looked like a franchise RB today. The defense had problems with gap containment and discipline. Missed tackles were a huge problem today as the Cowboys had drives extended and/or long gains due to defensive players not making tackles at the point of attack. They had no answers for anything the Cowboys wanted to do today. It was an embarrassing performance. The Bears’ manhood was taken today and now one has to wonder how bad things will continue to get.
Up Next: The Bears welcome a Dolphins team who has the offensive weapons to put up a lot of points. The Dolphins rank in the top ten in total yards per game and passing yards per game. They also rank in the top ten in run defense.
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