Chicago Bears: Team can’t get comfortable after big win

The Chicago Bears decimated the Buffalo Bills on Sunday as expected. Even after a big win, here’s why the team can’t get comfortable.

The Chicago Bears traveled to Buffalo this week to square off against the Bills, and things went pretty much as expected. The Bills haven’t looked good on offense at all this year, and Sunday was no different. The Bears defense dominated and led the team to a 41-9 win.

The Bears went into this game with a pair of star players still sidelined with injuries. Wide receiver Allen Robinson and linebacker Khalil Mack were both inactive for the game like they were last week against the New York Jets. It didn’t seem to matter, and Mack got to rest his injured ankle.

The Bills were in a tough spot, forced to start third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman after rookie quarterback Josh Allen injured his elbow and backup Derek Anderson sustained a concussion. Peterman has had some historically bad performances at QB both this season and last.

Sunday was no different for Peterman or the Bills offense, and the Bears defense feasted on their mistakes early. While both offenses started slow out of the gate, the Bears struck first with a touchdown run by halfback Jordan Howard. After that, it was the defense’s turn to dominate.

A pair of Bears players who have been often criticized on defense this year came up with some big plays on Sunday. With the Bears up 7-0, Peterman completed a pass to tight end Jason Croom that was stripped and returned for a touchdown by safety Eddie Jackson.

Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was another Bears defender who has been much maligned this season after a slow start. My colleagues and I wrote multiple articles about how he needed to step up.

Floyd made a great play on Sunday when he intercepted a tipped pass from Peterman and took it to the house. Hopefully, that can get Floyd going on the right track as he still is without a sack this season.

Defensive backs Kyle Fuller and Adrian Amos also had interceptions on the day. On offense, Howard added another rushing touchdown that included him running over a Bills defensive back for the score. It was a dominant day for the defense, who had four sacks on the day.

Young quarterback Mitch Trubisky only had 135 passing yards for the Bears, but the team wasn’t in the position to need to pass much. Trubisky’s performance today is nothing to worry about, but he needs to step up in the coming weeks.

Despite looking good in all phases of the game, the Bears shouldn’t get comfortable at all after this win. The Bears are again in first place in the NFC North because every other team in the division lost last week.

While it’s nice for the team to be atop the division, they will be tested mightily over the next six weeks. In that time, the Bears will play four games against division opponents. They have huge games against the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field during that time.

The only “bad” team the Bears will face in that time is the 1-7 New York Giants. But there are no easy weeks in the NFL. The Bears will also go against the 8-1 Los Angeles Rams in that six-week stretch.

With this tough schedule approaching, we will finally be able to make a solid determination on if this Bears team can possibly win the NFC North division. All eyes will be on guys like Trubisky, Floyd, and Mack. They will need to step up for the push for the playoffs.

There are a lot of questions about Trubisky that still remained unanswered. We’ve watched him improve week-to-week, but this run of games will show a lot about the young quarterback.

Many analysts and fans will make a decision about Trubisky’s talent level based on this portion of the season. Whether or not this is fair, it’s important for Trubisky to prove his doubters wrong.

This week was a nice win for the Bears who dominated a team they were supposed to beat. However, the real work will begin next week against the Detroit Lions and with the big games in the coming weeks. Keep checking Da Windy City for Bears coverage as the season rolls on.