by MADDIE TOPLIFF
Some teams win, some teams lose and some teams try really hard to lose but still end up winning by the skin of their teeth. The Chicago Bears channeled the latter this past Sunday. Let’s look into what went wrong and why it turned out alright.
Familiar faces
Excuse me, Joe Flacco plays for the Broncos now? Flacco played for the Baltimore Ravens for 10 years — that’s literally half of my life! But the Ravens traded him for a fourth-round pick and don’t seem to be missing him. They’re currently 2-0.
The Bears-Broncos matchup signified the first matchup between Matt Nagy and Vic Fangio, the Bears’ beloved former defensive coordinator who departed at the end of the 2018 season to try his hand at head coaching in Denver. Chicago’s defense is doing pretty well without him.
Slow start, big stops
The Broncos scored in their first series of the game with a 43-yard FG. The Bears went three-and-out for their first series. Luckily, Bears kicker Eddy Piñeiro tied it up at the top of the second quarter with a 40-yard FG. Then he brought out the big guns kicking a 52-yard FG, giving the Bears the lead heading into halftime.
Horsing around
The Bears waited until the very last minute of the third quarter to score their first touchdown of the season, and it almost didn’t happen. Trusty rookie RB David Montgomery muscled his way across the endline to put the Bears up 13-3.
The fourth quarter took seven years off of my life. The Broncos charged down the field to score a FG. 13-6. Chicago’s defense was all over the place. Kyle Fuller had an interception in the red zone and safety Eddie Jackson made a huge tackle. But this is the same defense that let the Broncos score a TD with 31 seconds remaining, and the same defense that committed an offsides penalty, allowing Denver to score a two-point conversion. 14-13 Broncos. By some miracle — with literally no time on the play clock — Trubisky managed to convert on fourth down and set Piñeiro up for a 53-yard field goal, which was a thing of beauty. So yes, Chicago won despite their efforts to choke it away.
Not a complete wash
I was looking for two things from Chicago this week: a better showing from Trubisky and a touchdown. Trubisky had the second lowest QB rating in the league after the disgrace that was the opener against the Packers. Trubisky wasn’t stellar but he did come up big at the end. And we finally saw a Bears touchdown.
Lessons learned
– Piñeiro was the right choice for kicker.
-It’s okay to win games by more than a few points.
-Every second counts.
Maddie’s Monster of the Game
Eddy Piñeiro. The game winner was money at 53 yards, and he made two other FGs at 40-yards and 52-yards. Hats off to you, good sir.
Divisional roundup
Green Bay (2-0) defeated Minnesota (1-1) and the Lions (1-0) defeated the Chargers, which means the Bears are last in the division. Only up from here, hopefully.
Will we keep Washington winless?
I’m surprised next week’s game against Washington has enough clout to land the Monday Night Football slot, Washington is 0-2, so hopefully we hand them a third loss and get a second win.
Tune into FOX @7:15pm on Monday to catch all the action. Until next time, Beardown!
