Chicago Bears: Win over Jets offers more than just hope

The Chicago Bears got a crucial win on Sunday when they prevailed over the New York Jets 24-10. Here’s why this win offers more than just hope for Bears fans.

The Chicago Bears came into week eight of the NFL season scuffling a bit. After starting the season 3-1, the team suffered two tough, close losses to drop to fourth place in the NFC North. The Bears needed a big win over the New York Jets to prove they could still be playoff contenders.

The Bears got that much-needed 24-10 win after controlling the time of possession on offense and containing rookie quarterback Sam Darnold on defense. The defense was without superstar pass rusher Khalil Mack, who was dealing with an ankle injury.

The stop unit came up big by shutting down the run and putting enough pressure on Darnold to make him uncomfortable.

There were a lot of questions heading into this game about whether or not the defense could hold up without Mack, and if quarterback Mitch Trubisky could limit his mistakes enough to help his team get a win.

Trubisky definitely proved some doubters wrong with long drives in the second half to help bleed the clock down. The defense survived and even thrived without Mack.

Trubisky had a pretty good first half, but most of his passing yardage came on one play when he dumped off a pass to running back Tarik Cohen. Cohen did the rest of the work, going 70 yards for a touchdown. In the second half, Trubisky relied more on his running ability and it helped the offense move the ball and control the clock.

Running back Jordan Howard also had a very solid day with 22 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown. Howard kept the offense on the field in the second half by delivering some punishing runs between the tackles. It was good to see from the back who had been relatively quiet during the Bears last two losses.

While the defense only had one sack on the rookie quarterback, they did a great job of completely containing the running game of the Jets. This forced Darnold to have to pass 29 times, and he came up with only 14 completions for 153 yards.

The secondary had a great game, especially cornerback Bryce Callahan. Callahan had the team’s lone sack on the day from a corner blitz, but he also had three passes defended and four tackles.

Other than a boneheaded penalty by safety Eddie Jackson that kept a touchdown-scoring drive alive, the Bears secondary completely contained the Jets passing offense.

Yes, the Jets aren’t a good team. But no win is guaranteed in the NFL, and the Bears needed to win this game to show that they weren’t going down this season without a fight.

This big win should give Bears fans more than just hope because it was easy to see improvement from key players. The biggest positive I saw from this game was the development of Trubisky.

I’ll admit, I’ve been pretty hard on the second-year quarterback so far this season. I think that the polarizing nature of the Bears trading up in the 2017 NFL Draft to get him makes some fans expect too much, too soon from their quarterback.

The Bears probably didn’t even have to make that trade to get Trubisky, and fans want him to be a superstar right now like fellow 2017 draftee Patrick Mahomes. Trubisky isn’t there yet, but he showed some maturity in this game. It was very encouraging to see him go through his reads comfortably and fit passes into tight windows.

The day wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the Bears, however. Guard Kyle Long, who many consider the anchor of the offensive line, went down late in the fourth quarter with a foot injury. He had to be helped off the field and was taken to the locker room on a cart.

The defense should improve when Mack returns, and they’ll go against another rookie quarterback next week when they travel to Buffalo to face the Bills and Josh Allen.

This is another winnable game in which the defense must prove they’re still an elite squad in this league. Stick with Da Windy City for more pre and post-game coverage.