Past the cute phase
If the Bears don’t burp all over themselves in Miami, it might be time to put them at the big kids’ table
Legitimacy hovers in South Florida for the Bears like so much humidity, and in both cases, this team looks amply prepared for the elements.
A victory over the Dolphins on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium would solidify the Bears as NFC North front-runners, one of the NFL’s biggest surprises and Chicago’s antidote to a Cub-less October.
It also would turn the next game at Soldier Field into more than just a chance for locals to point and click at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for perhaps the last time. It would create an opportunity for the Bears to emerge as one of the league’s elite teams.
Habit compels us to remember the Bears remain just as capable of losing two straight against good AFC East opponents as winning them, but duty also requires we ponder the possibility of a special season brewing at Halas Hall. Expect the next two weeks to determine whether the magnitude of each game will multiply as the season progresses.
My hunch says that will happen, compellingly, with the Bears resuming their quest toward relevance by dominating a Dolphins team incapable of protecting its quarterback. Injuries have weakened an offensive line that, even if healthy, would struggle blocking a fierce Bears pass rush.
A week off gave Khalil Mack more than time to shop for furniture and run into star-struck Bears fans; it allowed him to feel more at home in Vic Fangio’s defense. The more comfortable Mack gets, the more uncomfortable the remaining opponents should become. Just wait until Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, a turnover machine lately, starts squirming in the pocket.
All the deserved attention Mack receives tends to overlook how the rest of the defense has evolved into a unit good enough to think the Bears’ 3-1 start is sustainable.
The interior goes five deep for two spots, keeping everyone fresh, which will matter in Sunday’s heat: Pro Bowl-caliber end Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Roy Robertson-Harris, Jonathan Bullard and rookie fifth-rounder Bilal Nichols. The pass rush opposite Mack needs more flashes from Leonard Floyd, but Aaron Lynch has been a revelation.
Linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, whose comfort level only increases, regularly disrupt plays. The secondary benefits from the Bears blitzing less than any team in the league — a lowrisk, high-reward approach — and safety Eddie Jackson appears to have taken a major step forward in terms of leadership and consistency. The importance of Fangio, whose presence takes inordinate pressure off rookie coach Matt Nagy, cannot be measured by any football metric.
Fangio’s past working with Dolphins coach Adam Gase and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains — both former Bears offensive coordinators — has been overstated this week as a potential advantage. No familiarity with Fangio will make Mack less of a force. Gase and Loggains could have shared an Uber with Fangio every day of the 2015 season, and Tannehill still would have a hard time navigating the traffic in the pocket caused by the Bears pass rush.
It’s amazing, really, that Loggains landed on his feet after two seasons as Bears offensive coordinator under coaching fossil John Fox. Suffice to say Loggains did his part to supply weekly material for one of the most scrutinized jobs in Chicago sports. The surest way for the Dolphins to slow Mitch Trubisky, coming off a sixtouchdown performance, would be if Loggains could call plays for Trubisky. More than anything, that limited the Bears quarterback’s growth in 12 starts as a rookie.
Trubisky running Nagy’s offense compared with the one he operated in 2017 is like a kid going from coloring books to the classics. His education is obvious, the evolution natural. Now comes the maturation of the kid deemed worthy of becoming the Bears franchise quarterback.
Against the Dolphins, that translates into Trubisky worrying more about being efficient than explosive. Take what the defense gives you without forcing the issue against a unit that ranks second in the league with 11 takeaways. Life on the road challenges young quarterbacks more than a home game, forcing them to settle for checkdowns instead of touchdowns. Recognize that. Reduce the risk, especially early.
Nagy can help by trying to establish the run more than he needed to against a Buccaneers defense with gaping holes in the secondary. Running the ball early and often would serve a dual purpose for the Bears: It also would remind running back Jordan Howard of his importance to the offense.
Howard denied it, but his postgame reaction after the Bears scored 48 points depicted a player discontented with his role. And while speculation about Howard’s future livened up the week off, the truth is, a team desperate to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010 needs a running back with proven ability to gain tough yards between the tackles and in cold weather. If the Bears want to trade Howard because he doesn’t fit perfectly into Nagy’s scheme, fine, but gauge the market for one of the league’s top 10 running backs in the offseason — not now.
Now is the time the Bears inject themselves into the conversation about the best teams in the NFC along with the Rams and Saints. Now is when the Bears prove the adage that defense travels in the NFL, particularly when Mack is receiving an itinerary.
Now is a moment the Bears can seize, or risk letting it slip away with any credibility their surprising start created.