Chicago Bears come away with a thrilling, frustrating victory

The Chicago Bears woke up in the fourth quarter to steal a thrilling Week 1 win.

Well, this article ended up being a whole lot different than when I originally started it. For a while, it was Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Adrian Peterson gashing the Chicago Bears‘ defense. Stafford finished the game with 297 passing yards and Peterson had 93 rushing yards.

However, Mitchell Trubisky woke up and looked like a superb quarterback and the defense made big plays when it needed to and the Bears completed an improbable victory, 27-23.

The defense helped out, making enough plays to get the win. While the Lions went wild from late in the second quarter on, the Bears tightened things up and made things more difficult for Detroit.  Stafford picked on rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson, but he came through.

Right before the Bears offense got the go-ahead touchdown late in the game, Stafford through a pass down the middle that Johnson deflected. Kyle Fuller got the deflection for a huge interception. Johnson also deflected a pass on the final play of the game.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

We kept hearing about the new-look Trubisky throughout training camp. He supposedly had better footwork and better accuracy to go with better decision-making. The problem with Trubisky, though, is putting it together during a game. Again, we saw the same Trubisky with bad footwork and accuracy troubles. He threw too many passes that were too high or behind receivers. He missed a number of open receivers.

The Bears and Lions went toe-to-toe for almost two quarters. The Bears had the ball with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter. Instead of milking the clock, the offense went three-and-out in 13 seconds. The Lions took the ball and ended up with a touchdown, and that shifted the momentum.

Stafford got hot from that point and the Lions built a 23-6 lead. With the Bears offense unable to move the ball, it seemed like head coach Matt Nagy was headed to his third straight loss to start a season (he lost to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 of the 2018 and 2019 seasons).

To make things worse, Lions running back Adrian Peterson, who signed shortly after getting cut by Washington. He fit right in from his first run, gaining 19 yards. He finished with 93 yards on 14 carries, an amazing 6.6 yards per rush.

Trubisky and the offense woke up, however.

Trubisky finished the game completing 20 of his 36 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns. However, he completed just 12 of his first 26 attempts for 153 yards and no touchdowns in the first three quarters. Suddenly, he looked like Joe Montana, completing 8 of 10 (including six in a row) for 89 yards and three touchdowns in the final quarter.

Things looked bad in the middle of the fourth quarter when Trubisky was sacked and he fumbled the ball. Offensive tackle Charles Leno Jr. recovered the ball but the Bears took a 28-yard loss. Instead of getting close to a possible field goal attempt the had to punt the ball. The Lions then marched down the field but missed a field goal attempt, keeping the Bears’ hopes alive.

Welcome back, Chicago Bears running game

The offensive line did a pretty good job. Trubisky was sacked just one time and he had a clean pocket for most of the game. Trubisky still had memories of last season because he had happy feet throughout the game, even when he didn’t have much pressure on him. That protection came in handy in the fourth quarter as the line gave Trubisky the time to work his magic.

The running game was also the recipient of the good offensive line play. The Bears ranked 29th in 2019 in average yards per run, averaging only 3.7 yards. Things were different in Week 1, though. The Bears’ rushing attack averaged a very good 5.3 yards per run. David Montgomery had 64 yards on 13 rushes and Tarik Cohen had 41 yards on 7 rushes. Trubisky added 26 yards and Cordarrelle Patterson had 19 yards.

It was nice to see the Bears get good runs in this game. They had key runs that extended drives and helped the defense get some rest. If the Bears get this kind of running attack for the rest of the season, things could look up for the offense.

This wasn’t a pretty win but the Bears and their fans will certainly take it. The Lions certainly look the same. They blew seven fourth-quarter leads in 2019 and started the same way in 2020.

Let’s see if Trubisky doesn’t wait until the fourth quarter to perform well again for the rest of the way. For three quarters, many fans were already calling for backup Nick Foles. At the end of the game, though, they were calling Trubisky’s name in happiness.