It appeared as if all momentum was in the Chicago Bears’ favor leading up to their Week 6 matchup against the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins were forced to start back up quarterback Brock Osweiler on short notice, the Bears had a large number of fans in attendance on the road, and they were coming off their bye week.
But it was too good to be true as everyone apart of the Bears was responsible for the 31-28 loss in overtime on Sunday.
In Week 4, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the offense wowed their critics as they scored 48 points by using deep passes against a bad Tampa Bay defense. Against the Dolphins in the first half, the offense struggled being shut out in the first half. Trubisky overthrew a wide-open Anthony Miller downfield early in the game and was held to just nine passing yards in the first quarter.
In the second quarter running back, Jordan Howard had an inexcusable fumble at the one-yard line costing the Bears a touchdown.
The second half was a completely different story as the offense came to life scoring four touchdowns and recording five plays of 20+ yards or longer. The most critical mistake came again inside the red zone as Trubisky threw an interception into double coverage at backup tight end Ben Bruanecker. It has been the only mistake by the young quarterback in the last two games, but it led to an 11 swing for the team not allowing them to build a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
On defense, it was a similar story of two different performances in each half. As the Bears offense struggled in the first half, the defense kept the team in the game limiting Miami to just one score in the first half. In the second half, however, it was the Bears defense that allowed the Dolphins offense to stay in the game. Miami’s offense scored 21 points in the second half with all of their points coming after Chicago scores.
Although the defense recorded three takeaways in the game, it could not generate any pressure on Osweiler as he was only pressured four times and was not sacked once. Dolphins head coach Adam Gase deserves credit as he countered Vic Fangio’s blitzing defense with quick passing routes. The Bears defense had no answer to the Dolphins screen passes or shallow routes. Slot receiver Albert Wilson scored touchdowns of 43 and 75 yards in the fourth quarter. On both touchdowns, Bears defenders either missed the tackle or took the wrong route in pursuing the receiver.
Head coach Matt Nagy deserves his share of responsibility for the team’s loss as he had a few questionable decisions in the game also. The offense appeared to struggle early as Nagy called for several screen passes that were diagnosed quickly by the Dolphins offense. In overtime, following a miracle fumble recovery at the goal line preventing a Miami score, the Bears offense chose to run the ball rather than pass the ball. On 3rd and 4 at the Miami 35 yard line, Nagy elected to run the ball with Jordan Howard rather try and pass the ball to get the team closer in field goal range. Kicker Cody Parkey came on and missed a 53-yard attempt eventually leading to the Dolphins game-winning score the following drive.
A loss like this stings the most as even with everything going their way before the game, the Bears still found squander a golden opportunity. With a win, the team would have been three games above .500 and would momentum heading into next week’s home game against the imposing New England Patriots. The loss could be more fathomable had a fluke play cost them the win, but everyone had miscues that resulted in the costly loss.
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