The Bears started a fire that's going to be hard to put out
Right now, all the talk surrounding the Chicago Bears (3-4) is nothing but positive. And for good reason – Monday night's thumping of the New England Patriots (3-4) is a big deal. No matter what the Patriots' record may be. At the same time, all the talk surrounding the Patriots is anything but positive. And […]
Right now, all the talk surrounding the Chicago Bears (3-4) is nothing but positive. And for good reason – Monday night's thumping of the New England Patriots (3-4) is a big deal.
No matter what the Patriots' record may be.
At the same time, all the talk surrounding the Patriots is anything but positive. And it all starts with their aforementioned record – their 3-4 record.
But it doesn't stop there. The current enigma that is also the Patriots' dysfunctional quarterback situation adds layers of misery, tension, and conflict the franchise hasn't seen in a long, long time.
Ever since last night's postgame press conferences, folks have been trying to piece together just exactly what the hell is going on when it comes to Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.
Belichick stated the plan all week long was to play both quarterbacks and Jones himself knew of the plan to rotate quarterbacks. This has been proven.
The timing of Belichick's decision to pull Jones, however, was odd and ill-timed, at best. To pull Jones after just three series, especially when Jones had several key runs that showed a healthy ankle, was questionable, at best.
But the reason why Belichick made the decision when he did was because of the Bears and the Bears alone.
When reviewing Jones' three series, it's clear he wasn't the problem on the Patriots offense. An intense, tough, and effective Bears defense made life hell for the Jones and co. from the start.
It all started with the pass rush. Robert Quinn led the way as the Bears defense racked up a tackle for loss, and a sack (that was called back due to offsetting penalties, but still), and denied the Patriots their first two third down conversion attempts over the course of the first two offensive drives.
The defense's impact went beyond the box score, as well. Quinn's relentlessness forced two holding penalties and a false start upon Patriots right tackle Trent Brown. One of the aforementioned holding penalties offset a Bears defensive holding penalty and the false start changed a manageable 3rd and 5 into a 3rd and 10 in which the Bears kept the Patriots from converting, thus killing the drive.
And then, of course, there's Jaquan Brisker's interception that put the proverbial final nail in the coffin for Jones' "turn" in the planned rotation.
But, the key with that play is it's not all on Jones. Sure, it was a bad decision, but more pressure from the Bears' pass rush forced Jones into making the bad decision.
Who knows what happens if the Bears are unable to force Jones out of the pocket and throw off his back foot?
In all, Jones' wasn't the cause of the Patriots' offensive issues. He wasn't even the majority of them. The Bears defense did its job and forced the unit into mistakes.
Give credit to Matt Eberflus and co., too. They had a feeling Belichick would pull something like a two-QB move in Monday night's contest.
"I don't know, I just thought we had a sense for that," Eberflus told reporters after the game. "Because the other guy's been playing really good the last two weeks [Zappe]. So we thought if they started with 10 [Jones] that we might see both of them in a planned role, a planned rotation.
"We didn't know [for sure], but we certainly had a plan for that."
The fact the Bears had a plan for both Zappe and Jones is what is going to make the Patriots' decision even that much tougher moving forward.
But, it didn't stop there.
The Bears offense also forced Belichick's hand when it came to playing Zappe.
Justin Fields and co. kept the pressure on the Patriots by scoring 10-points on the first two offensive drives of the game. What mattered most, however, was how easy they made it look.
The Bears racked up 98 yards and six first downs over the course of 15 plays that included a seven-play, 56-yard drive that ended with Fields diving into the end zone.
It was obvious the Patriots defense was going to have issues all night long, so Belichick felt like he needed a spark and subsequently put Zappe into the game.
Belichick sure did receive the spark he wanted, but that spark eventually turned into a fire.
And it wasn't the fire he envisioned. Belichick thought he set things back on track with Zappe at the helm, and that looked true after the rookie immediately led the Patriots to 14-points.
According to Belichick, the relentless from the Bears offense -and the 33-points put on the scoreboard- was the reason why Jones didn't come back into the game. Which muddies the waters even further, for obvious reasons.
The Bears absolutely ruined the Patriots' plan and it's left the Evil Empire with a ton of questions moving forward.
These aren't not innocuous nor routine questions, either. These are questions with more of a "what the hell is going on?" pretext behind them.
They were being asked Monday night and are still being asked Tuesday morning.
And of course, Belichick is taking his usual approach of ambiguity and borderline-conceit when it come to providing answers.
Fans were literally booing the offense when Jones was in and were so thrilled when Zappe came in they were chanting his name throughout the first two drives.
Then, he fell flat on his face and left fans with more questions than answers, honestly.
The Patriots are teetering on the brink of a quarterback controversy and some can even argue they already have one. We know how that goes in the NFL and where it usually leads.
This isn't going to go away anytime soon. The Bears started a fire in New England and honestly, there's a tremendous chance it won't be extinguished in 2022.
Featured image via Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
