Chicago Bears escape with a victory again but still sit at 2-0

Another week, another heart-racing victory for the Chicago Bears.

The Chicago Bears came away with another heart-racing victory. This time, they hold on for dear life until the clock ran out, beating the New York Giants 17-13. They made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter of their Week 1 victory against the Detroit Lions.

The Bears have made a habit of playing in close games in the Matt Nagy era. In 34 games as head coach, the Bears have had 23 of them were decided by one score. In those games, they are 14-3.

Whether it’s by coming from behind or hanging on, the Bears just aren’t comfortable unless they’re in an uncomfortable position. Being a Bears fan forces you to go through all sorts of emotions.

The Bears were on their way to an easy victory after building a 17-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was carving the Giants’ secondary. After completing 8-of-10 passes for 89 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter in Week 1, he completed 13-of-18 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the first half against the Giants. He kept the momentum that he got from Detroit and all was good.

Then the second half hit and the switch that was flipped on suddenly flipped back to off. He completed just five of his 10 pass attempts for a paltry 32 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Thankfully, the Bears defense prevented the Giants from converting those turnovers into touchdowns. New York scored two field goals on those turnovers and that helped win the game.

The Bears got a boost again from running back David Montgomery. In Week 1, he gained 64 yards on 13 carries for an average of 4.9 yards per rush. Against the Giants, he rushed for 82 yards on 16 carries, averaging 5.1 yards per rush.

Montgomery was instrumental on the Bears’ final drive. He gained 45 of the team’s 59 yards on the drive. He did it on six carries, giving him an average of 7.5 yards per run. He came up big, but unfortunately kicker Cairo Santos missed a 50-yard field goal attempt, giving the Giants a final chance to win the game. Additionally, he led all Bears receivers with 45 yards, catching all three of his targets.

After two weeks, we’re seeing why the Bears were so high on Montgomery last year when they drafted him.

Another unit to be happy about is the offensive line. Some might point out that the line gave up four sacks, but one was a play in which he had wide receiver Darnell Mooney right in front of him but he held onto the ball looking for a bigger play. Another one came on the last drive when he dropped back, couldn’t find anyone, then ran and slid a yard behind the line of scrimmage.

Trubisky had a pretty clean pocket all game long. He found the rookie Mooney for a 15-yard touchdown. No one was originally open but the line did a good job of keeping him clean. He then moved around the pocket and found Mooney.

The offensive line has done a good job in the first two weeks. The even got more involved in the passing game. On a critical fourth-and-one on that last drive, Trubisky threw a pass that was deflected to tackle Bobby Massie. He made the catch for four yards and kept the drive alive.

After a three catch, 38 receiving yards game, Nagy said he’d try to involve him more in the offense. We saw that right before the game when Ted Ginn was inactive for the game. That meant more time for the rookie. He came through, catching all three targets thrown his way for 36 yards and that touchdown. He’s rewarding the Bears for drafting him.

The duo of Kyle Fuller and Jaylon Johnson is doing well so far. In Week 1, the two combined for 10 tackles, four pass breakups and an interception. In Week 2, they recorded nine tackles and four pass breakups. These two can combine to make it very tough on opposing quarterbacks to complete passes.

Robert Quinn missed the Week 1 game with an injury but he was ready to go this week. The Bears had their trio of Quinn, Khalil Mack, and Akiem Hicks together for the first time. They did fairly well. They each recorded a sack in the game and put some pressure on Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.

Jones threw an interception and lost a fumble due to the pressure. While they did exert some pressure, they still weren’t able to convert pressure into sacks. They came so close on a number of occasions to reaching Jones, but he was just able to get rid of the ball.

Can Chicago Bears fans take a full season of this erratic play?

After the first two weeks of the season, we’re still looking for Trubisky to have a complete game. Last week, he stumbled through three quarters before waking up and doing his best Joe Montana impression. That momentum continued into the first half against the Giants, but suddenly he reverted. As decisive as he was in the first half, he was exactly the opposite in the second half.

Trubisky again did what frustrated people. He missed passes and missed open receivers. He stared down his receivers, mainly Allen Robinson. The two interceptions were thrown to Robinson. On the first one, Trubisky threw it despite having four defenders in Robinson’s direction. The pass was batted and Julian Love (the hometown kid) came up with the turnover.

On the second interception, Robinson was covered perfectly by James Bradberry. Robinson attempted an incredible acrobatic pass, but even if he did, he’d be out of bounds. Bradberry was still on the field of play and he looked at Robinson’s eyes and put up his hands at the right time. He ended up with the interception.

Yes, the Chicago Bears are now 2-0 and that’s the most important thing to keep in mind. However, they could very easily be 0-2. They cannot continue to play Jekyll and Hyde and expect to consistently win games. Both the defense and Trubisky need to play a more complete game if Chicago wants to be treated seriously in 2020.