Bears Beat the Jets, But My Eyes Are Already on Green Bay

 

The Bears beat the Jets, and while it wasn't the kind of game that had me jumping out of my chair, there was plenty to like about what I saw.

This is Season 3, Episode 20 of The Shawn Mackey Show, and once again, the Bears have found a way to win with a different quarterback. That's three victories this season with three different quarterbacks, and I think that says something about the direction of this football team.

Tyson Bagent got the start against the Jets, and I thought he did a pretty good job. He finished 25-of-34 for 268 yards and had one interception. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But he ran the offense, took what the defense gave him and continued moving the football.

And that's what I want from a quarterback.

Everybody loves talking about arm strength, but I don't necessarily need a quarterback who can throw the football 60 yards downfield. I need somebody who can run the offense, make the right decisions and keep the chains moving. Bagent did enough to earn my respect in this game.

At the same time, I haven't forgotten what Case Keenum did previously. Keenum came in against Philadelphia and delivered two touchdowns, and it was great to see a veteran quarterback step into that situation and perform. His story is fascinating, considering where his career started and how he eventually became a journeyman quarterback before getting another opportunity with Ben Johnson.

But I'm not calling this a quarterback controversy.

When Caleb Williams returns, Caleb is the guy. That's obvious to me.

Until then, I believe Tyson Bagent earned the right to be the guy behind center.

Kyle Monangai Gives the Bears' Running Game a Spark

One of the biggest things I noticed against the Jets was the running game.

Kyle Monangai got the football 30 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. That's a heck of a day.

DeAndre Swift, meanwhile, had 15 carries for 58 yards.

That got me wondering whether we're watching the beginning of a shift in the Bears' backfield.

And knowing Ben Johnson, I'm not willing to assume anything.

I've said before that Ben Johnson is like a mad scientist. What he puts on tape is there for a reason. If he gives you a heavy dose of Monangai one week, maybe he's setting you up for something completely different the next week.

Maybe the Packers are sitting there thinking, "We've got to stop Monangai."

Then Johnson comes out and gives them Swift.

That's the kind of chess match I think we're watching with this offense.

The Defense Continues to Improve

I also really liked what I saw from the Bears defense.

Dennis Allen's defense is tightening things up, and Austin Booker continues to catch my attention. His ability to recognize what was happening, get himself into position and make plays was impressive.

There was one play where Booker jumped early because he anticipated Geno Smith throwing the football. He landed, recovered and got to Smith for the sack.

That's the kind of playmaking I want to see.

The Bears didn't give up many points, and outside of a breakdown that resulted in a big Geno Smith touchdown, I thought the defense played extremely well.

Tyrique Stevenson did get beat on the touchdown, and I'm going to put him in my "chumps" category for the game. But I also think there was more to that play than simply saying Stevenson got burned.

There appeared to be a breakdown elsewhere that allowed Smith to find the receiver one-on-one. Once the receiver got a step, Stevenson was in trouble.

So I'm giving him some grace on that one.

My Champs and Chumps

My biggest champ from this game is Kyle Monangai.

Thirty carries. 146 yards. Two touchdowns.

That's a performance that deserves attention.

I'm also giving Tyson Bagent a champ designation. He made some mistakes, but he played well enough to keep the Bears moving and help them get another victory.

Austin Booker gets one too.

And I'm giving Rome Odunze some love. I thought he had a really good game and showed some toughness making difficult catches and holding onto the football.

My chumps?

Tyrique Stevenson gets one despite the circumstances surrounding the touchdown.

And DeAndre Swift gets one after the fumble that helped lead to three Jets points.

But honestly, I didn't have a long list of chumps for this game.

And Then There's Replay...

One thing that really bothered me during this game was replay.

There were multiple situations involving touchdowns that got reviewed and overturned, and I just don't know where we've gone with this.

Football is played at full speed.

We're taking a game that happens in real time and slowing everything down to the point where we're analyzing whether the tiniest part of a football touched the tiniest part of a line.

I understand why replay exists.

I also understand why people love it when it helps their team.

But I don't think the game should be reduced to microscopic slow-motion analysis of every single play.

When replay helps your team, you love it.

When replay hurts your team, you hate it.

I'm not done with this subject either. I think there's an entire episode hiding inside this discussion.

Stop Saying "You Don't Know Ball"

Then I shifted gears into something else that has been driving me absolutely crazy: people online telling other people, "You don't know ball."

If you're going to throw that phrase around, at least understand the statistics you're using to make your argument.

This is especially true with baseball.

I went down a rabbit hole looking at statistics like WHIP and WAR, and I'm not saying statistics are useless. They're not.

But I don't believe you should use a statistic as a weapon to tell somebody they don't understand baseball.

Baseball has been around for more than 150 years. People watched the games. They kept score. They looked at box scores. They evaluated players based on what they actually saw.

And sometimes you don't need a complicated formula to tell you that a player isn't producing.

If a guy is constantly striking out with runners in scoring position and isn't driving in runs, I'm going to notice that.

That's not me saying analytics don't matter.

It's me saying analytics aren't the entire game.

So please, stop throwing around "you don't know ball" simply because somebody sees the game differently than you do.

Now It's Packers Week

At the end of the day, I like where the Bears are headed.

They've won three games with three different quarterbacks. The running game showed some life. The defense continues to improve. Ben Johnson continues to keep opposing teams guessing.

And now we get Green Bay.

That's where things get really interesting.

Because if this Bears team can carry this momentum into the Packers game, we're going to learn a whole lot more about what this team really is.

And I'm ready to find out.