Week 16: Bears 41, Jaguars 17 - Playoffs!?!?

 

   Yes, the Jaguars blow. Yes, they're more interested in earning the first overall pick to trap Trevor Lawrence into their carnival of horrors of a franchise, get him hit with enough frequency to turn his rotator cuff into the ghost of Cam Newton's shoulder, and drive him into the ground before quietly taking him out back and Blackfish-ing him, as is Florida custom. Still, the Bears did what good teams should do against bad teams: beat the everloving shit out of them. Holy crap. Where to begin?

The Good

Second-Half Adjustments

    After getting dangerously away from what the Bears offense is supposed to be now that the seemingly only sober man at Hallas Hall has taken away Nagy's keys, the Bears came out of the half utterly dismantling the Jaguars at every phase of the game. On offense, they embarrassed the Jaguars at every level of the field. Mitch took advantage of a defense that reacted to every play action with the discipline of a new COVID puppy getting faked out by a tennis ball (seriously, everybody's getting puppies this year, right? It's not just me?) to make good decisions (except for that interception, gah that was one of his worst ever) and throw accurately.

After brutalizing teams with their new play action/bootleg-based, sail concept-heavy passing game    , the Jaguars were ready. Their GM may have replaced the entire Jaguars roster with paper "I HEART TREVOR LAWRENCE" dolls, but the defensive coaching there is no joke. This is the team that held the Packers to 24 points. This week, they were ready all over the field for the Bears sail concept plays, showing single-high safeties while dispatching the corners into 3-high at the sign of deep routes. That, along with the aggressive edge-setting and disciplined LB play, made a legitimately daunting counter to the Bears passing game that had worked so well up until the first half of this game. Lo and behold, the Bears had the answer to the Jags' answer right back, taking advantage of their counters and smacking their bitch asses up and down the field.

I've seen a lot in my lifetime of Bears fandom, but I can say with confidence that dropping 21 unanswered points over the exposed asses of the Jaguars defense was one of the most dominant 3rd quarter performances of my life. For as much shit as we've given the Bears offense about their Cinderella-esque wilting into a flacid pile of sauerkraut every third quarter this season, they did what good offenses did, and kicked the everloving shit out of a bad defense.

Seriously, and this is a takeaway that can't be taken for granted - the Bears benched their starting QB because they scored too many points. If there was a mercy rule in the NFL, Akiem would've been back to his favorite river, slapping salmon out of the air by the end of the third quarter. What? What?

 

The Blazer

    Nagy better spend the entirety of the 2020 offseason honing his knowledge of the exact position and firmness Bill Lazor prefers to have his ass kissed. The dude took an offense that was league-worst in any category that matters and turned it into a juggernaut in a week. We talk a lot about the importance of getting timing and understanding of a playbook over the course of the entire summer at camp, meanwhile Lazer has single-handedly pulled the offense out of the depths of the Crap Sea and into the glowing lights of Holy Shit the Bears Have an Offense podium over the bye week.

    Hell, the offense leapfrogged into above-mediocrity the minute somebody took Nagy's keys away and handed them to Lazer. Had the defense not spent the Packers game in week 12 alternating between laying out the red carpet for Aaron Rodgers from endzone to endzone and shitting over themselves repeatedly, the offense absolutely had enough firepower to make it a game.

    It's not often that Bears fans get an OC that they can say is undeniably, unequivocally good. Like, seriously never. Like, it's about as likely as we are to see 21-point shutout third quarters. So awesome to see a coach scheme towards Mitch's and, by extension, the team's strengths. Goddamn, Blazer. What're we even supposed to do with these strange, alien feelings of... confidence in an offense?

    Let's have some fun and see if we can notice any changes after the bye and ohgod

 

Source: Pro Football Reference

  

    Now, is this sudden complete flip in offensive performance at every phase a sign that they'd actually had the talent to be great all along, and that Nagy was actually the sole reason they'd been driven into the ground? And that Nagy, the "offensive genius", has done more to keep his offense back than any opposing defense? And that this is all a massive indictment, not just on his handling of Trubisky, but on his ability to coach in any meaningful way? And that the fact that the Bears are now winning isn't just not proof he should keep his job, but actually compelling evidence he shouldn't? Well the thing is

 

Trubisky

    Jesus Christ, dude. Even in the outrageous 2013 offense with Cutler/Marshall/Forte/Bennett/Jeffrey, they never had an offensive run like this. Trubisky's playing some of the best ball of his career, and showing why we here at BWF know he'll succeed as a starting QB wherever he winds up. Mitch, whatever happens, just know that we love you. Unless you end up playing against the Bears, in which case you're a bust and dead to us.

Even his incompletions are fucking incredible

Guess that brings us to...

The Bad

Chuck Pagano

    Chuck, we get it. You always had your work cut out for you. You were handed the keys to a Porsche, driven by one of raddest dudes to ever drive it by the name of Don Fangio. Those were giant shoes to fill. Andre the Giant shoes, honestly. Many of us, including us here in this blog specifically, wondered if you were up to the task.

   You're not, dude. You're not. 

   You have one of the highest-paid defenses in the league. You have Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack, and a former all-pro pass rusher in Robert Quinn (though, to be clear, no current. Not... no. Not even close). Your defensive line is one of the deepest in the league. Seeing them fight against the fucking 1-14 Jaguars should be like watching a team of Hulks tear through a pile of orphans. Orphans with hemophilia. Instead, we've seen a defense with all-pro starters at every level play soft. 

   Eddie Jackson, All-Pro safety. Kyle Fuller, All-Pro corner. Khalil Mack, All-Pro OLB every goddamn minute of every game. Robert Quinn, former All-Pro pass rusher. And the only reason Akiem Hicks hasn't gotten an All-Pro crown every year of his career here is because there is no justice in the world. 

   Oh yeah, also there's the Super Bowl-winning linebacker Danny Trevathan, and Roquan Smith, a linebacker that makes every other player on the field look like they're running through molasses. 

   This team should be fighting eachother over picks. Opposing QBs should be faking injuries before the game, praying to God for a natural disaster to strike rather than have to face the Bears defense. Remember that game last season, when the Washington Racists sat back in horror while the Bears pass rush turned Case Keenum's face into the world's most expensive fertilizer for 60 minutes? That should be every game.

  The fact that every dude on defense - literally every player - has gone from proving themselves capable of greatness, to dwindling in mediocrity in the span of a few weeks, is a massive indictment of Pagano. Get it together, Chuck.

Somehow still better than the Chuck we're getting?

 

That one Trubisky Interception

    Yeah it was really bad. Yes, Robinson flagged for the ball, and sometimes they just come off your hand weird, but also that was terrible. It was first down, Mitch. In the redzone. It's one thing to have confidence in your receiver to go up and get it, but that throw wouldn't have passed as a bad Hail Mary. Somewhere out in the deep woods of Nashville, Cutler shook off an unexplained erection.

 

"Just make sure you don't run so much next time, showoff. Everything else looks fine." - Rex Grossman

The Defense

    You're collectively getting paid more than some US states. Be better. Jesus.

 

The Corpse of Mike Glennon's Career

    HahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA fuck you

 

Looking Ahead

Well, admittedly that was a stressful few games, but luckily that should subside now that we get to see our playoff hopes rest in the defense that gave up 41 points to Rodgers the last time they met.

Seriously though, week 17 against the Packers for the playoffs. Wouldn't have it any other way. Bear Down.

 

   - Patrick