UNBEATEN, UNSCATHED
Unlike many other teams, Bears lucky to avoid injuries
Seven plays after Giants running back Saquon Barkley suffered a knee injury when Bears safety Eddie Jackson drove him out of bounds early in the second quarter Sunday, Bears running back David Montgomery left the game after getting flipped into the air and falling on his neck.
Barkley is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Montgomery was back on the field by the start of the third quarter — and had 76 total yards, including 59 yards on 11 carries, after returning.
Every NFL season is a war of attrition, but winning that war seems even more important in 2020 after several key players suffered serious injuries in Week 2. Barkley, 49ers defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas, Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin and Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton were among seven players to suffer torn ACL injuries, according to Dr. David Chao, the former Chargers team doctor who analyzes sports injuries for outkick.com.
Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey (high ankle sprain) is out for at least a month. Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr (torn pectoral muscle) is out for the season. Washington guard Brandon Scherff (sprained medial collateral ligament) is out three to five weeks, and Colts safety Malik Hooker (torn Achilles) is out for the season, according to NFL Network.
Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (high ankle sprain) and running back Raheem Mostert (knee sprain), Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (hamstring), Broncos quarterback Drew Lock (shoulder) and Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones (groin) did not finish Sunday because of injury. Most are likely to miss games.
The Bears are on the opposite end of that spectrum. Slot cornerback Buster Skrine, who suffered a finger injury against the Lions and returned for the Giants, was shaken up and left the game after tackling running back Dion Lewis in the third quarter — and returned three plays later. While more than half the league — 17 teams at least — lost a starter to injury Sunday, the Bears came out clean. “Nothing significant,” coach Matt Nagy said.
The 2-0 Bears are undefined at this point after shaky victories over the 0-2 Lions and Giants. But with opponents dropping interceptions and game-winning passes, a deflected pass going straight to the right tackle and officials getting the crucial call in the end zone right, they have the schedule and
the football gods on their side. But this war is far from over.
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Mitch Trubisky played better against the Giants than his final numbers showed — 190 passing yards and a 78.0 passer rating
— but his inconsistency is still disconcerting in the big picture.
It’s one thing to be inconsistent from game to game — that often can be a matter of playing the Ravens’ defense one week and the Dolphins’ the next. But Trubisky has been hot and cold in the same game against the same opponent.
His passer ratings by half this season are 58.3, 138.5, 136.1 and 17.1. Regardless of Trubisky’s culpability there, that’s not likely to be a survivable trend for a playoff contender.
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Did You Know? Since 2018, Trubisky is the only full-time starting quarterback in the NFL without a passer rating in the 90s. In 31 starts (excluding the Vikings game last year when he was hurt in the first quarter), Trubisky has had a passer rating of 102.7 or better 11 times and a rating of 86.3 or lower 20 times. There’s no middle ground.
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Glass Is Half-Full Dept.: The Bears’ improved running game provides the best hope that Trubisky and the offense can take the next step. The Bears gained 135 yards on 32 carries (4.2 average) against the Giants after gaining 149 yards on 28 carries (5.3 average) against the Lions.
It’s the first time the Bears have rushed 25 or more times with an average of 4.0 yards or more in back-to-back games since 2018, against the Patriots (25-134, 5.4) and Jets (34-179, 5.3) in Weeks 8-9.
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Outside linebacker Robert Quinn beat Giants rookie (and fourth overall pick) Andrew Thomas for a strip-sack on his first play as a Bear but also impacted several key plays, including Deon Bush’s interception and Daniel Jones’ incompletion on the last play of the game.
Quinn had a dubious start as a Bear. He was slowed in training camp after dealing with a personal issue, then missed the opener with an ankle injury. But in 25 snaps Sunday, he showed the potential of a defense with himself, Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks on the field at the same time. If Eddie Goldman had not opted out because of COVID-19, the Bears’ defense could have reached a new level in 2020.
Quinn and Mack might be the Bears’ best pass-rushing duo since the heyday of Richard Dent and Dan Hampton in the mid- to late ’80s. For what it’s worth, the Bears haven’t had multiple players with 10 or more sacks since Dent (12½) and Trace Armstrong (11½).
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The Bears seem to have inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, 30, on an unusually short leash as he tries to play himself out of an early-season funk. Trevathan played only 31 of 64 snaps (48%) against the Giants.
Nagy said it was a matter of substitution packages, but that has never curtailed Trevathan’s snaps before. In fact, Trevathan played in 97.3% of the defensive snaps when he was healthy last year. He has played in 93.1% of the snaps in his four previous seasons with the Bears.
The Bears just signed Trevathan to a four-year, $28 million contract with $12 million guaranteed in 2020 — over re-signing the younger Nick Kwiatkoski or the less expensive Kevin Pierre-Louis. It seems a little early to make Trevathan a situational player. He’s supposed to be the opposite.
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The List: Mel Kiper’s 2017 NFL Draft quarterback ratings:
1. Trubisky, North Carolina;
2. Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech;
3. Deshaun Watson, Clemson.
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You could almost see the wheels turning in Nagy’s head when he noted Jackson’s “great effort” in returning an interception for a touchdown — a play that was nullified by a passinterference penalty on Jackson.
If Nagy ever gets the offense back into “fun play” mode, Jackson figures to contribute on offense, especially after another example of his open-field prowess with the ball in his hands.
Jackson was rated the No. 48 wide receiver prospect in the nation by scout.com coming out of high school. And even without the nullified touchdown Sunday, Jackson still has five touchdowns in 15 touches in the NFL — on returns of 76, 75, 65, 41 and 27 yards.
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Josh McCown Ex-Bear of the Week Award: Washington’s Pierre-Louis, who started the last three games of the 2019 season for the Bears in place of Roquan Smith, had a career-high 15 tackles (10 solo), a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in a 30-15 loss to the Cardinals.
Honorable mention: Mostert had an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the 49ers’ 31-13 victory over the Jets. His 23.09 mph was the fastest speed for any player in the last three seasons, according to Next Gen Stats. He also had a 67-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding penalty. Mostert had eight carries for 92 yards before suffering a sprained knee.
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Bear-ometer: 9-7 — at Falcons (L); vs. Colts (W); vs. Buccaneers (W); at Panthers (W); at Rams (L); vs. Saints (L); at Titans (L); vs. Vikings (W); at Packers (L); vs. Lions (W); vs. Texans (L); at Vikings (L); at Jaguars (W); vs. Packers (W).