Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears had a great chance to start the season with a home win over a division rival. They dominated more than half of the game and seemed to be on their way to doing just that.
And then it all happened. Again.
A bad call from the officials here. A missed pass there. Missed field goals, weak kicks, and a conservative offense when the Bears hadn’t put the game out of reach quite yet. We’ve been here far too many times.
Heck, I’ve been here far too many times writing a game ball column after a game that the Bears pissed down their leg. And I’ve only been doing it two seasons!
Slim pickings after the team failed to get it done in all three phases in the fourth quarter. But here we go.
Duverney was one of the only bright spots for a unit that was, as a whole, pretty terrible all around. He had some strong returns, though there were a couple bobbles that made me scared for a split second. He finished with three kick returns (27.0 yard average) and four punt returns (9.2 yard average).
Anyway, let’s get to the elephant in the room. Cairo Santos is not good enough to be on this roster. The Bears lost games on his leg last year, no real competition was brought in over the summer, and we were reminded yet again of why he’s a nice guy but a not good enough kicker.
We have been told that he might not have the leg of other kickers, but he’s oh so very accurate. Well, you can’t be missing 50 yard field in the NFL. Those are gimmes in this league (outside of Cleveland). Will Reichard had absolutely no problem putting a 59-yarder through just before halftime. And hell, the field goal that Santos did make just barely went in. So no, the accuracy isn’t good enough.
And the leg? Not being able to kick it out of the end zone at the end of the game to give your offense a chance was unacceptable.
Speaking of strong legs, I think Tory Taylor left his in Iowa City. Not good enough for that kind of draft stock.
I was extremely concerned about this defense coming into the game. With TJ Edwards, Jaylon Johnson, and Kyler Gordon missing the game, it was going to be imperative that the pass rushers had a good night. And they absolutely did. Well, until the offense couldn’t stay on the field in the second half and defensive stamina became a problem in the fourth quarter, helping Minnesota further establish the run.
Of those pass rushers, new man in town Dayo Odeyingbo had a heck of a night. One sack, one tackle for loss, a pass defended, and two QB hits. He was in the back field constantly, and JJ McCarthy looked lost for most of the first...
