That the wolves are ready to pounce doesn’t make the job any tougher for Bears left tackle Charles Leno.
‘‘It doesn’t because I never think about what other people have to say,’’ Leno said.
Yeah, but this is different. This isn’t a Week 1 opener after a playoff season. This is Week 10 of a disappointing 3-5 season marked by a mystifying offensive regression. The Bears have used up a playoff season’s worth of goodwill in record time.
The warning signs were there two weeks ago. The Bears were booed as they left the field at halftime against the Chargers on Oct. 27, when they had six snaps inside the 5-yard line — including three at the goal line — in the last minute of the half and settled for a field goal. After a historically bad first half against the Eagles last week, the Bears might be a half, a quarter, a drive or even a play from a home-field disadvantage.
‘‘Like I said, I don’t care what anyone says,’’ Leno said. ‘‘I never have. And I never will. I go out there and just do my job. At the end of the day, we’re out there playing football.’’
Coach Matt Nagy, quarterback Mitch Trubisky and a Bears offense that ranks 29th in the NFL in total yards, 28th in rushing and 30th in passing will be under the microscope like never before in the Nagy era against the Lions. It’s a perfect spot for a rejuvenation. They’re playing a Lions defense ranked 31st in total yards, 27th in rushing and 31th in passing. And they’re at home, though that’s a double-edged sword in this one. The weather should be decent, but the angst is high and the patience thin.
The three keys to this game are simple: 1. Start fast. 2. Start fast. 3. Start fast.
The Bears are in a tough spot. A team that hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown in the first half in its last four games needs to score early or face the wrath of a disappointed, disillusioned home crowd about to burst with pent-up frustration.
Nagy knows his team can’t afford to worry about that.
‘‘You start getting into how people think . . . if you do that going into the game, you’re beat,’’ Nagy said. “Everybody says, ‘‘What-if, what-if, what-if.’ Why can’t you be positive about it and say, ‘No, we are going to — mentality-wise — go into this thing and think positively’? Because if you go into it thinking negatively, you’re in trouble.’’
The Bears have to reverse their first-half fortunes to accomplish that. Their offensive malaise has been marked by slow starts. In eight opening drives this season, the Bears have punted seven times and scored once: a touchdown against the Vikings in Week 4.
And during their four-game losing streak, the Bears haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in the first half. The only other team that has gone four consecutive games without an offensive touchdown in the first half this season is the winless Bengals.
In fact, the Bears have scored an offensive touchdown in the first half in only two of their eight games this season (25 percent). Every other team in the NFL has done it at least four times. The league average is 72.4 percent.
The Bears have to reverse that trend when their whole world is watching. If that first drive is a three-and-out . . .
‘‘The hardest part is, it’s human nature to say, ‘Here we go again,’ ’’ Nagy said. ‘‘That’s where we’ve got to be mentally strong, and that’s the biggest challenge.’’
"fast" - Google News
November 09, 2019 at 07:14AM
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Chicago Bears need fast start vs. Detroit Lions ... or else - Chicago Sun-Times
"fast" - Google News
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