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Writer's pictureWill Gray

The Beginning Of The End For Dalton



If you’re reading this article and have not watched the game let me give you some context. The Chicago Bears picked up more first downs than the Ram’s. The Bears led in time of possession by almost 12 minutes, and the Bears lost by 20. It’s really kind of weird because I don’t really remember a Bears game like this. I mean Chicago was moving the ball tonight. Pretty decently at some point. When we trailed early by 13 it felt like we were losing by 25. Then when we were losing by 20 late in the game it felt as if we kinda let this one slip away. Which is weird because we trailed every moment of that game. So let’s dive into my Sunday.


For starters I felt great going into the Sunday night game with the rest of the North going 0-3. Which many people did not see coming. The Packers getting absolutely demolished by the Saints was very fun. Rodgers did not look like classic Rodgers. Jameis did not look like classic Jamies. Another fun one was Minnesota losing to Cincinnati. Two games where Bears rivals were favored and they lost. So going into Sunday Night’s game I felt pretty relaxed about dropping a game to the Rams. Who I do have appearing in the NFC title game this season, if not the Super Bowl. This isn’t some overnight prediction either. I’ve been saying this since Stafford became a member of LA. Then the Bears make their way into the Rams red zone within two minutes of kickoff, and all of the sudden I feel a rush come across me. Classic Will G was back and bought in way too early. The drive finished in classic Bears fashion with a timeout very early, and an interception immediately following the timeout. So you got the jist of my ~emotions~ throughout Sunday’s ball game now let’s hear my thoughts.


The Rams are by far the better football team no doubt. The inexcusable missed opportunities is what made this a blow out. With proper execution this easily could’ve been a 3 point game. Let me put this into context for you. You drive down the field opening possession and put 7 on the board. It's then already a much different ball game. That’s pretty clear right? Okay so let’s say you walk away with even just 3 points on that drive. Disappointing? Yes, but it completely could've changed the complexion of the game. Just look down the road of the game when Matt Nagy, who couldn’t pick up a 4th and 4, went for it on 4th and 15 down 13. The Bears walk away with 3 points on that opening drive we’re down only 10 in that situation and then probably kick a field goal and make it a 7 point ball game with 10 minutes to go. It’s a classic butterfly effect with Matt Nagy’s offense. Lack of execution leads to sticky situations late in the ball game. He is so confident in his offense that he’s barely crossed the 50 yard line and going for it on 4th down. News flash it doesn’t work, and it hasn’t worked. It gives teams great field position when you could’ve pinned them deep inside their own territory.


The defense. Really not surprised. All I’ve heard all year long is analyst’s on ESPN say that Justin Fields should be starting because of the defensive help he will be receiving. All offseason long I was not confident in our defense at all so they assumed since we have Khalil Mack on our squad we were a great defense. The nightmare became reality tonight. It needs a lot of work. It is early and it’s a brand new system. So I understand the occasional blown coverage. Two 50+ yard touchdowns with not a man in sight I don’t expect from high schoolers. That is just more inexcusable play right there. The offense actually played well enough where they might’ve been able to hang this ball game if the defense didn’t look completely clueless out there every play. The missed tackles is what really pushes me over the edge. It’s really hard to watch your team mis tackle after tackle on big play opportunities. Granted McVay has always had an explosive offense so I wasn’t expecting us to shut them down. The fact that they had chances to turn the game around defensively and didn’t is where I get angry.


The positives. David Montgomery can be a premier back in this league and proved it tonight. A man who was absolutely locked in from start to finish having himself a game. There’s no reason why he can’t do that every game this year. The Montgomery truthers have been preaching it since his rookie year and it in year 3 the sky’s limit. Justin Field was on the field for 5-6 plays total and scored a touchdown while Andy Dalton had 0 in probably 50+ snaps. Don’t you dare hit me with that “Well he actually didn’t play that bad” either. No shit he didn’t play that bad. Did the man take a single shot down field passed 20 yards? Did he extend more than 1-2 plays with his legs? Was he being protected from making a mistake pretty much the entire game? You can mark all of those questions with a fat YES. There wasn’t a damn thing that Andy Dalton did on that field tonight that Justin Fields could not do. Not one. So don’t give me that bullshit. The most impressive thing I saw Andy do was probably escape a fully collapsed pocket and pick up two yards on his feet. Fields probably would’ve been long gone out of the pocket and picked up more than 2 yards. David Montgomery is already looking like he’s gonna have a very good year. He could have a great year with Fields under center. So Matt you had your fun, bite the bullet on the contract, and let the damn kid ball.


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