By MIKE BLAKE Chicago Sports News Now October 29, 2021, at 9:30 PM
Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the perfect definition of the Chicago Bears football franchise. I am embarrassed calling myself a Chicago Bears fan. After winning the coin toss, and electing to receive the ball, the Buccaneers made quick work of getting the Bears offense off the field, forcing a three-and-out. This game was decided in the first 2 minutes of play. Not to mention that Justin Fields threw three interceptions and committed five turnovers. I understand he’s a rookie, and the offensive line is horrendous to watch, which does not help Justin improve his abilities as starting QB.
Every mistake the Bears made Sunday, the Buccaneers capitalized on. I do not understand how you can just make so many mistakes in the first half of play. And with all these mistakes the offense made really screwed over the defense performance who found themselves not getting a break and being worn down by Tom Brady and the Buccaneers offense.
Don’t let the Chicago Bears embarrassing 38-3 loss to Tampa distract you from the fact that my group and I will be covering Saturday’s homecoming football game at Perkins Stadium vs. UWEC. Be sure to check out Twitter.com/mblake99 for pre-game news and coverage during the event!
By MIKE BLAKE Chicago Sports News Now October 21, 2021, at 7:30 PM
This Sunday, October 24th, the Chicago Bears travel down to Tampa, Florida, to face-off against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers for the second consecutive year.
The Bears finally figured out that running the ball is the only way they are keeping up with teams this season. The Buccaneers have allowed the fewest rushing yards this season, which means both O-line & Justin Fields need to have a big game and perform under the immense pressure in the Florida heat. This will force the Bears to throw the ball more than they would probably like to. Not to mention, the Bears are in the Top 3 for rushing yards, but if Tampa takes the passing game away and stops the run it’s over.
Already this season, the Bears have played three really good teams, the Rams and Browns, which were both away, and most recently the Packers which was Sunday. However, the Bears did beat both the Las Vegas Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals of whom both have winning records. Before this season, the last time they beat a good team was their win over the Bucs about a year ago, but that was a case of catching them at the right time. The Buccaneers were on a short rest/travel week last year – and Tom Brady was still getting used to the Buccaneer’s offense when they lost at Soldier Field.
But unfortunately, the defending champs will be rested and with them playing at home, they will most likely steamroll the Bears.
By MIKE BLAKE Chicago Sports News Now October 13, 2021, at 8:00 PM
We have seen Matt Nagy go from being beloved by most and atop the next great coaches list in the NFL as the 2018 NFL Coach of the Year to now having most fans hypothetically outside Halas Hall with pitchforks screaming for him to be fired.
There are 3 signs that Matt Nagy will be fired after this season 1. Matt Nagy was already on the hot seat after a second Chicago Bears 8-8 season.
If we rewind back to the end of the 2020 season, the Chicago Bears backed their way into the playoffs with a putrid 8-8 season. The team embarrassed themselves versus the Saints in the Wild Card Round and lost 21-9 to be eliminated from the playoffs. At that point, I did not know many fans who would stick up for Matt Nagy as the Bears head coach. Bears fans knew that Matt Nagy could not return in 2021. In fact, most expected not only Nagy to be fired, but also general manager Ryan Pace to be fired. The outcome of that offseason left most of us filled with many emotions. Emotions ranging from hatred to anger, to heartbreak, to frustration, to even feeling stuck. That’s right, it’s easy to just feel stuck knowing that this is now what we expect this franchise to do. This is a lot to overcome and Nagy has not been off to a great start despite a 3-2 record on the year.
2. Matt Nagy’s inability to create an effective Chicago Bears offense.
Last season, when Matt Nagy gave up play-calling in Week 10, the Bears’ offense saw an explosion of efficiency. Bill Lazor was the play-caller heading into the matchup versus the Vikings on November 16, 2020. Many want to give credit to weaker opponents, but the Bears went from averaging 19.8 points per game under Nagy’s play-calling expertise to averaging 27.7 points per game with Lazor calling the plays. It is a little too early to tell from a points perspective, but in the first three games, the Bears averaged 13.3 points per game. After Matt Nagy gave up play-calling for a second time, the Bears averaged 22 points per game. It appears to me that Nagy is too stubborn to learn from his mistakes as he keeps making the same ones over and over again. I cannot be the only one who sees this.
3. Matt Nagy continues to mishandle the Chicago Bears QB position.
Over the last four years, he has mishandled the quarterback position over and over and over again. When he was brought in to coach the team in 2018, Mitch Trubisky had already established himself as the starter. That year was the golden year for everyone except Cody Parkey it seemed. After that season though, Nagy got in over his head. Nagy did a better job putting Trubisky in positions to succeed. However, in 2019, it seemed like he wanted to force his offense onto everyone, even if Trubisky does not have the skill set needed to operate it. Let’s be honest, we just discussed how no quarterback skill set is able to operate Nagy’s system.
Technically the title of this article is deceiving as Nagy will not be truly fired. He’s on the last year of his deal. I just don’t see how the Bears could bring him back in 2022 without a miracle.
By MIKE BLAKE Chicago Sports News Now October 6, 2021, at 6:00 PM
After Sunday’s win over the Detroit Lions, the Chicago Bears head coach informed Fields that he would become the team’s starting quarterback moving forward over Andy Dalton who was the original first string but was hurt Week 1 due to a left knee injury.
Instead of celebrating, Justin Fields chose to stay in and watch film on games to continue growing and to get good wins on Sundays. It’s moments like these that Fields is taking to being the Bears franchise quarterback. After throwing for 209 yards in a 24-14 victory at Soldier Field, Nagy spoke on Monday that when healthy, Dalton will take back over as starting quarterback, but after long talks with his coaching staff and Fields continuing to show growth and improvement since being drafted, he made the decision to give Fields the starting job.
So far this season, Fields has completed 25 of 52 passes for 347 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. He has had 17 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown. He has been sacked 12 times, nine of which came in from Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns.
There is definitely going to be a learning curve for sure. But Justin will have both Dalton and Foles along with his coaches to help adjust to changes and new offense schemes. This week the Bears head to Paradise, Nevada to face off against the Raiders which is going to be one of the hardest opponents they will play this season, but Justin Fields has worked really hard to get to this point and no matter the outcome of Sunday’s games, he’s ready for this opportunity.
