They’re in with win over Pack
Bears in control of their own playoff destiny in rematch with Green Bay
At this moment, maybe the details shouldn’t mean all that much. Maybe the meandering and often maddening path the Bears took to get here is irrelevant. Maybe the bestway to close the book on a taxing, turbulent and twist-filled 2020 is simply to zoom in. And then zoom in again.
After all, we’ve reached Week 17 in the NFL, and the Chicago Bears are staring at a golden opportunity— a win-and-in game against the rival Green Bay Packers in their regular-season finale.
With outside help no longer required, the Bears can leave Soldier Field next Sunday with a ticket to the playoffs. They just need one more win.
From within a jubilant locker roomat TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., Bears players and coaches had one predominant thought as they looked ahead to the arrival of 2021 and that coveted showdown against the Packers: Sign us up.
Said running back David Montgomery: “I wouldn’t want to do this with anybody else than the guys we have that I’m getting ready to do it with.”
The Bears took care of Sunday’s business with a dominant 41-17 steamrolling of the 1-14 Jacksonville Jaguars. It wasn’t a start-to-finish masterpiece by any
means. With 35 seconds remaining in the first half and the score tied at 10, quarterback Mitch Trubisky threw a woeful interception in the end zone, slipping away from pressure, scrambling left, then back right and firing on the run into heavy traffic.
As he prepared to launch, Trubisky thought he had a 13-yard touchdown passwaiting. Allen Robinson had his right hand in the air and Jaguars safety JarrodWilson had fallen.
“I figured itwas just going to be a jump ball,” Trubisky said.
Instead, his first-down pass into the front right corner of the end zone fluttered into a six-pack of bodies, and Jaguars linebacker Joe Schobert snatched it. An unimpressive first half had its defining moment.
“I knew right away Imade a bad decision trying to do too much,” Trubisky said.
Still, immediately after that mistake, the Bears came to life, showing the resilience that has spawned their late-season resurgence. Roquan Smith got the ball back two snaps later, recording one of his two interceptions and setting up the Bears for a 40-yard Cairo Santos field goal to end the first half.
The Bears then scored 21 points in the third quarter and one more touchdown seven plays into the fourth. Suddenly theywere in a laugher. Go figure, right? A third-quarter explosion.
After managing only one thirdquarter touchdown drive in the first 13 games, the Bears offense put together three touchdown marches in succession during Sunday's third quarter.
Eleven plays, 77 yards. Eight plays, 54 yards. Two plays, 25 yards.
The dam had broken. CoachMattNagy had noway to explain that unfamiliar outburst.
“With the third-quarter thing, I'll be completely honestwith everybody: I have no idea,” Nagy said.“We've studied it. We've looked at it. It's crazy the amount of struggleswe've had in that third quarter.”
Not Sunday, though. The Bears outscored the Jaguars 21-0 in the third and outgained them 166-8.
“We scored touchdowns. And our defense got stops and got the ball back,” Nagy said. “You put all that together and it jump-starts you.”
Trubiskywas determined not to let his unsightly first-half turnover define his day. His contributions to the thirdquarter eruption included a decisive 6-yard touchdown scramble and a pretty 22-yard touchdown pass to tight end JimmyGraham.
On the latter play, Trubisky noticed Graham with a favorable matchup in man coverage against Josh Jones. Graham froze Jones with an out-andupmove and left the Jaguars safety stumbling in hiswake.
“He ran a great route,” Trubisky said. “I just put it in a spot where only he could catch it.”
In December, a once-broken Bears offense scored 138 points in four games. For comparison's sake, the offense scored only 105 points in seven games in October andNovember.
Right now, however, everything is clicking. Robinson (10 catches, 103 yards) had his fifth 100-yard receiving day of the season. Montgomery contributed 95 rushing yards to top 1,000 for the year, including a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Trubisky, meanwhile, continues to boost the offensive energy with his own resurgence, playing with noticeable comfort, confidence and command in a revised scheme.
“It all starts with having a high expectation for us in this offense that, ‘This is whatwe're capable of and nothing less is going to be acceptable,' ” Trubisky said.
Better late than never.
The Bears have nowfollowed an exasperating six-game losing streak with an encouraging three-game victory surge. All three triumphs have been against reeling opponents with feeble defenses. But that's what the schedule makers offered up, so the Bears aren't about to rush to customer serviceMonday morning to return those gifts.
Instead, they're already dialing in on the Packers, withNagy confident his team will remain ready for next week's big-stakes challenge.
“We had amessage the last three weeks about wherewe're going and doing this together,” Nagy said.
That message, according toMontgomery, was about focus and unity and an in-the-moment presence.
“Honestly, (it's about) trust,” Montgomery said, “and being able to take it one day, one practice, one game at a time. It's relying on each other. And when it gets tough and when it gets hard, you really have to focus in on the guys next to you.”
Since the NFC playoffs expanded to 12 teams in 1990, only one team has experienced a six-game losing streak and made the postseason. Thatwas the 2014 Carolina Panthers, whowent from3-2-1 to 3-8-1 to 7-8-1 and an unlikelyNFCSouth championship. (Two other teams— the 1997 Vikings and 2015 Chiefs— overcame fivegame skids to reach the playoffs.)
But for these Bears, all that matters for the nextweek is finding away into this newly expanded 14-team playoff field. If they attain that goal, the Bears will have momentum and a chance to take their swings at the NFC'sNo. 2 seed.
“Everybody knows that once you get in, the records don't matter,” safety Tashaun Gipson said. “It's good against good. Andwe are going to give people our best shots.”
Added Robinson: “This team knows what's on the line. We know what's at stake. So everybody has been locked in. And everybody's going to continue to be locked in. I'm looking forward to it.”
That's the zoom-in approach, the only one thatmatters for the next week.
“We've got a great opportunity this week to continue to finish strong and get better,” Trubisky said. “And that's what I'm looking forward to. It's been a fun ride.”