Nick Foles makes Bears kings of the comeback once again

Nick Foles and the Bears earned another comeback victory in Week 5 over the Bucs.

Maybe we have to expect these games every week now. As crazy as 2020 has been, crazy games and comebacks should be the norm. Such was the case for the Chicago Bears in Week 5. They hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Tom Brady. In a game with five lead changes, the Bears finished on top, 20-19.

The Bears really needed this short week to get back on the field. Last week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts was an awful performance by the offense. It was an embarrassing show. They needed to forget everything and start again.

Early on, however, it looked as if the offense was about to have a repeat performance. The Bears punted on two of their first three drives, and the one where they didn’t punt ended on an interception. Suddenly, it was the second quarter and they were down 13-0.

The defense also started out slow. There was a slew of missed tackles that allowed the Bucs to extend drives. Once again, though, the defense bent but didn’t break. On the three scoring drives, there was only one touchdown on a two-yard pass from Brady to Mike Evans.

Chicago Bears offense finally woke up

Finally, the offense got going. Foles started getting hot. He completed seven of eight passes for 64 yards. Ironically, the drive culminated with a David Montgomery three-yard touchdown run. That touchdown was the Bears’ first rushing touchdown of the season.

On the Bucs’ next drive, the defense came up big. Brady completed a short pass over the middle to Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Kyle Fuller blasted Vaughn and forced a fumble. Robert Quinn recovered it at the Bucs’ 27-yard line and the Bears were in business. Foles completed three of his four passes, the last one for a touchdown to Jimmy Graham.

As bad as the offense looked for a quarter and a half, the Bears found themselves leading at halftime, 14-13.

Third-quarter woes continue

One of the troubling aspects of the offense is what happens or, rather, doesn’t happen in the third quarter. The Bears have yet to score in the third quarter this season. That continued in this game. On their first two drives of the quarter, they had only four total yards and punted twice. The Bucs hit a field goal and took the lead again, 16-14.

The Bears have now been outscored 29-0 in the third quarter. They must fix that if they have higher hopes for this season.

Back-and-forth final quarter

The Bears finally got to the fourth quarter, their favorite quarter of the game. Things in that quarter are the opposite of the third quarter. The Bears own a +39 point differential. Things continued as they hit a field goal to re-take the lead, 17-16.

The Bucs came back, however. They went on a long drive and hit another field goal, and the lead changed hands again. With 4:49 left in the game, the Bears were down 19-17.

The Bucs defense came through, forcing the Bears to use up 2:01 and punt the ball. Things didn’t look good. However, the Chicago Bears have a pretty good defense themselves. They forced the Bucs to a three and out and the drive only took 27 seconds.

The Bears went 32 yards in nine plays and Cairo Santos hit the go-ahead 38-yard field goal. The Bears led 20-19 with 1:13 left in the game.

Head coach Matt Nagy made what could have been a critical mistake. After a beautiful pass by Foles to Montgomery for 17 yards that put the Bears into field goal range. After a Montgomery run, the Bucs called a timeout and had just one left.

On the next play, Nagy inexplicably called a pass. It went incomplete and stopped the clock without Tampa Bay calling a timeout. If Nagy calls a running play, the Bucs call a timeout. Then the Bears could milk the clock and give the Bucs less than 30 seconds and no timeouts remaining.

The Bears didn’t have to worry about that, though. They held firm and the Bears finished on top. They are now 4-1 for the season. Foles finished the game 30-42 for 243 yards and a touchdown. After a slow start, he made some big throws.

Bears defense beat up Brady

One of the keys to the game was the defensive pressure the Bears put on Brady. Early on, they got to him a little late. They kept hitting him, however, and that had an effect on him.

When the Bears pressured Brady, Brady was 9-16 for 78 yards and no touchdowns. He had a passer rating of 69.3 against that pressure. When he wasn’t pressured, he was 16-25 for 175 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating was 97.9 without the pressure.

The beating continued throughout the second half. The Bears had three sacks in the game, two of them by Khalil Mack. Mack had himself a great game. In addition to the two sacks (and had another one erased by a roughing the passer penalty), he earned six pressures on 34 pass rushes (17.6 percent). He was constantly in Brady’s face and Brady may have nightmares in his sleep tonight.

In addition to Mack, Quinn did a good job of pressuring Brady. He didn’t have a sack, but he had five pressures on 28 pass rushes (17.9 percent). This was exactly why the Bears brought Quinn to Chicago. He helps make Mack’s job easier.

Next up for the Bears they take to the road and take on the Carolina Panthers. Let’s see if this big win settles things and gets the Bears offense on a roll.