adam Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Thursday Night Football, where home teams normally have an advantage. Both teams come in 3-1, but the Bucs are favored by 5. The Bucs are stingy against the run, which won't help the Bears running game, but the passing defense is in the bottom half of the league. I am not as impressed with TB as the media is. They beat a rookie QB in Herbert at home (West Coast team playing on East Coast) by 7, a bad and depleted Denver team, and another injured team in Carolina. They have led in every game and scored first in all 4 games. So they have always played with a lead. OJ Howard was lost for the season and Godwin is still injured. With a short week, injuries will be key. The Bears have yet to win a coin toss and have not scored in the 3rd quarter this season. That will come to an end on Thursday. The Bucs are 3-0 when they score 28 or more, and 0-1 when they score 23 or less. The Bears are 3-0 when they score 17 or more, and 0-1 when they score 11 or less. I think the Bears benefit from the short week and get TB at the right time, Bears 23-21 in a close one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted October 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 Ok, so the injury report is out; Godwin is out, Howard is on IR, Evans will be a true game time decision with a bad ankle. Fournette is doubtful, McCoy is out, and Scotty Miller is also questionable but expected to play. So we catch a break again with both Godwin and Howard out, and Evans and Miller not playing at 100%. That is 4 of the top 5 receivers out or injured. That leaves Gronk as the only non-RB with more than 2 catches. So I expect Ronald Jones to see a lot of action and dump offs tonight. He will also see alot of rushing attempts. The Colts were not this beat up or playing away on a short week. The Bears have no excuse not to win this game. I don't see how TB scores more than Indy did last week. I am changing my prediction to Bears 23-17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Grizzly Posted October 8, 2020 Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 As long as Tom Brady is in the game, nothing is impossible. They keep mentioning the last time these two teams met Trubisky went on a 6 TD tear to beat them handily 48-10. Even though that was only 2018 it seemed like an eternity ago...alot has changed since then. I think a HUGE key piece to this will be getting pressure on Brady...early and often. There was a trivia type stat put up recently that said in the last six games, Brady has thrown 4 pick sixes. Trubisky has yet to throw one...(??) Anyhow, it seems the incident rate for Brady to make mistakes is on the increase. I can only imagine how that would look if the Bears can put some pressure on him. Another significant key to success will be the offensive performance. Nagy needs to stop calling running plays that amount to Montgomery (or whoever) running into the wall of people waiting for him. And keeping Foles upright. I'll hold judgement on how this will all play out until i see the first series or two. If the D comes out on fire, Bears win. If not...well...3-2 ain't so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGowan Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 Trubisky wouldn't miss that throw. Oof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted October 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 A pretty crazy half. The Bears were down 13-0 and then finally mustered a TD drive. Then Kyle Fuller decides to kill a man with a textbook hit over the middle, forcing a fumble and the Bears recover in TB territory. The offense capitalizes and scores another TD on a pass to Graham to take the lead into the half 14-13. Within two minutes, they go from shutout by 13, to up 14-13. Outside of one weird play (where they allowed a 35 yard reception) where no Bear seemed to want to tackle, they haven't allowed a play longer than 13 yards to Gronk. The Bears still killing themselves with penalties. Two more that gave TB first downs. Besides that one long play and the two penalties, the defense has been solid. For what seems like the millionth time, ARob has a ball hit his hands that ends up as an INT. This time he juggles a back shoulder throw right into the defenders hands for an INT. Foles threw the ball only where ARob could catch it, maybe a little short, but for that to end up as an INT sucks. Foles is still a work in progress, but even without a running game, he has a much better command of the offense. Now he needs to get some better timing with the receivers, which is not quite there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted October 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 So the 3rd Quarter Bears show up again and score 0 AGAIN. The Bucs obviously get a FG to take the lead. We get a FG ourselves after an uptempo drive. However, Foles wanted to keep it going, but Nagy called a huddle and the team went backwards and they almost didn't score. Luckily Santos hit a season high 47 yarder. Then TB drives back down and hit their own FG to take the lead. After basically exchanging 3 and outs, Foles is able to drive the team into FG position, and amazingly Santos hit the GW FG. The defense shuts the door and Tom Brady wanted 5 downs apparently. Regardless, it's another win, and now versus a legitimate team, in conference. Bears are 4-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bears4Ever_34 Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 Yet another insane, improbable win. I'm watching that game in real-time, and 90% of the time, I'm angry at the offense and defense for the way they're playing, yet at the end of the day, they somehow end up winning... The offense was terrible again, save for a few hugely important throws by Foles to keep the chains moving. The defense gave up a ton of yards on the ground again, but didn't allow many big pass plays downfield after a shaky start. They've got to figure out the middle of the field, though. I was about ready to call for Trubisky after those two horrendous throws by Foles to start the game. There was one to Robinson on 3rd down, and another one to Mooney that would have been a walk-in touchdown. He honestly looked as bad as Mitch has looked at his worst until the last few minutes in the 1st half. Then, he started rattling off some big plays with those wheel routes to Patterson and Montgomery, and of course the throw to Graham. At 4-1, it's hard to say they aren't in good shape to be a playoff team, but their next 5 games after Carolina is going to be brutal. I think they honestly needed to win this to make that a realistic possibility. Now with Daniels likely out for the rest of the year, and Cohen already out, injuries are starting to become a concern on an already thin roster for talent on the offensive end. Bars was terrible when he replaced Daniels. That is something we'll have to pay attention to in the coming weeks. They can't afford anymore serious injuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Grizzly Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 Defense looked bad at tackling especially early in the game. The run game just did as they had most of the year. Roquan was left grasping for air on a few occasions and failed to meet the RB in the hole a few other times. Johnson did ok in coverage but totally wiffed on one tackle. Someone needs to remind him you have to actually see where the guy is to tackle him, not blindly fling yourself at him. Defense needs to work on tackling. As a group they improved as the game wore on. I like that Foles was essentially telling Nagy he was killing that one drive late in the game. Foles was preferring the no-huddle and like adam said Nagy called a timeout and nearly blew the momentum while doing so. And how about that pass play late in the game that stopped the clock? Then pretty much assured Brady a full minute to try to get in position for a FG. Nagy was completely idiotic at times tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bears4Ever_34 Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 Yeah, I loved Foles giving it to Nagy for not allowing him to run a no huddle when he had the Buc's defense on their heels. I hated Nagy's playcalling for most of this game. Too much side to side crap and WR screens. The decision to throw the ball at the end of the game there was an inexcusable mistake. I get that he was probably not comfortable with Santos being able to make a kick from that spot, but if you're going to have Foles pass, you need it to be a higher % throw, and a jump ball down the sideline is the exact opposite of a high % play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 I love Nagy the head coach. I'm not impressed with Nagy the play caller. I compare him to Joe Maddon. He was great get the team ready, keeping an even keel and making them know they can win at any time. He was bad managing his pitching staff. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.