Monsters and Merriment
Monsters and Merriment
Ho-Ho-Ho, What Do You Know?
December 20, 2020
Bears 33, Vikings 27
Signs of Something
The Chicago Bears put together their most impressive performance of 2020 on Sunday, topping the Vikings 33-27 in Minnesota to improve to 7-7 on the season, keeping their tiny playoff wishes not so tiny after all.
The Bears offensive line has gotten nasty, smart, and good and, combined with a greater commitment to the run and the evolving prowess of running back David Montgomery, the Monsters of the New Momentum ran for 199 yards on 42 attempts.
When you run the ball, you run the ball.
Montgomery bounded, scampered and punched his way to 146 of those yards and two touchdowns and, in the last four games has run for more than 400 yards and five scores.
Run to daylight, smash their mouth, get your pads under theirs and get it, baby.
Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky threw a terrible interception in the end zone late in the game that could have been costly. Let’s get that out of the way. It was ugly. But other than that, #10 looked good and is playing with confidence and throwing with accuracy. That’s what happens when you run the ball well and when you get plays called that, for the most part, play to your strength.
The Bears offense has been horrid for much of this season and the defense has been solid. So what is happening now that the offense has a spark? The defense looks tired. And in need of more tackling drills.
But the D got it done when it had to including an interception by Sherrick McManis in the end zone on a Hail Mary pass by Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins on the final play. We won’t, lie, it was a heart-stopper. The Bears were this close – can you see my fingers just a pinch apart? – this close to losing it at the end.
They didn’t.
It was a fun Sunday of football between two longtime rivals and the Bears, who started 5-1, then lost six straight, have now won two in-a-row and who in the blazes are these guys? In the strangest of years the Bears are having a season whose oddness mirrors the world’s. They are not thriving, they are surviving and, as Christmas arrives, they have much to celebrate.
Now if only they can keep this little run going against the pathetic 1-13 Jaguars and then get lucky against the playoff-bound Packers and get a little help from the 49ers and Rams, because they play the Cardinals in the final two weeks, maybe this crappiest of years can bleed happily into 2021.
But man do we hate to root against the Cardinals. Those Cardinals, oh those Chicago Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Phoenix Cardinals, Arizona Cardinals, those birds. The Bears don’t want to hurt the birds, but Christmas isn’t always kind. --TK
Sunday, December 20, 2020