Patriots vs. Bears
Patriots
The roar coming from the inner linings of Soldier Field was quieted by the Patriots on Sunday, as they eeked out another tight win in a 38-31 show off against upcoming talent Mitch Trubisky and the chaotic Bears defense. Not without worry, we watch Sony Michel leave the game with a turned leg under a very much larger individual, in a game where Rob Gronkowski didn’t even touch down in Chicago. What can we glean from this game? Where are the bright spots? What are the worries as the Patriots take their extended week stay before they play the Bills on Monday Night Football? Will Batman be able to save Gotham in this 30-minute episode? Let’s dive in and see what we have to learn from this one!
Brady bears down in extremely tight shootout of a game
This game was an absolute tug of war for most of the matchup. Trubisky employed a dash of running to the play calling and threw the Patriots defense for a loop, so Brady was in for a long day as the captain of the ship, finishing his day 25 for 36, just shy of 300 yards, with few stars at his employment, Michel out before the halftime whistle blew, and Gronkowski more than likely at home on a couch chugging protein shakes while watching this one back in Foxborough. One of few bright spots was the ability to connect with his potential number one target in James White, connecting on 8 of 10 targets, for 57 yards and 2 touchdown scampers. Finishing with a 28 point fantasy output, efficiency was the key to this one, as it should be until later on in the year and fantasy playoffs bring back out a healthy Patriots squad. Brady did what Brady does, and with not much firework potential. It was a solid, but not an overwhelming game. Hopefully when Monday evening touches down, these New England boys are healthier and ready to face off against Buffalo.
[gfycat data_id=”LavishDeliciousCrossbill”]
What’s this running game going to be?
Not gonna sugar coat this one, folks. This sucks. A collective gasp was heard throughout the I-495 region when Sony Michel took a rush to the middle of the field on Sunday, and ended up fumbling out the ball, and having a leg rolled over, then taken off the field with help, brought to the big blue tent, and then back out to the locker room. A massive sigh of relief was then exhaled as of Monday morning, when the MRI results came back as positive, as there was no full damage, and Michel will now be week to week. While this is awful, it’s absolutely the best we could get out of this injury, as Michel came into the draft as highly touted as a talent, but fell a bit down the board due to injury woes, therein related to the knee. After seeing Sony taking a preseason off, and drained knees relief through week 2 of the season, only bad thoughts ran through my head as Michel was helped off the field. Week to week will leave us more than likely with a short-term prototype of a running back to fill in the holes that James White cannot fill, a standard three down back. Would not shock us if someone like Mike Gillislee or Orleans Darkwa potentially get the call for a few weeks of Patriots employment. For this game, we saw James White get the most carries he has in a dog’s age, rushing 11 times for 40 yards. Kenjon Barner ended the game with 10 carries for 36 yards,an underwhelming 3.6 yards average as he will more than likely be the 1a to a fill-in above signing. James “Sweetfeet” White will continue to be the competent hands to catch the ball from Brady.
Patriots receiving core starts to unleash secret weapons
The best the Patriots have is the potential most competent pass catching back in football. James White, who should absolutely have a 99 in “hands” in Madden, if he doesn’t already, he caught two seperate touchdown passes off of Brady. Aside from White, I’m going to take my lumps a bit and admit I may just have been wrong on Phillip Dorsett. My hope was that with the lack of options and talent before Josh Gordon arrived, that he could be the #2 to Julian Edelman’s #1. And he has not been. If anything, the addition of Gordon has led to the subtraction of Dorsett who is a droppable commodity at this point, only retrieving 1 of 1 targets. The true stars of this offense have now become White, Edelman, and Gordon. Gronkowski is hampering an injury, and seems like he could potentially be a top 10 tight end at this point, more than he was a top 2 or 3 tight end, as the addition of #1 tight ends in the league like George Kittle and Trey Burton and the possibility of Brady’s targets now converting long passes to Gordon, or swing routes to White could hamper the value of Gronkowski, as the strong games could be there, but will be far less likely, as he isn’t a required check down option any longer.
Gordon caught four of his seven targets for 100 yards, one of them being an extremely nice 55 yard conversion. Brady has found a new favorite, as the hands and athleticism of Gordon is something that Brady has not seen from a wide out since Randy “dandy” Moss. We’ll see how this team takes off against Buffalo, but a lighter match up defensively is just what may cure what ails this team at this point.
[gfycat data_id=”ScornfulAptCirriped”]
-Matt Bevins
Bears
Though it would be easy to feel disappointed after two close losses in a row to two teams that we could have beaten, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a quick look back at how far we’ve come. Last year, the Bears felt like a loser all the way, and I bemoaned how the offense couldn’t be any worse. I wondered if it was because John Fox didn’t care, or Mitch Trubisky couldn’t handle it. Well one year later, I am happy to say that we are on the right track. We are more than halfway to our 2017-18 win total (5) and we have two winnable games coming up. We played the Patriots and Packers right until the final buzzer, and both were lucky to escape with wins. Mitch Trubisky has had three consecutive 300 yard passing games. Though I want more, I am certainly happy that we are on the right track.
Bad Mitch, Good Mitch
This game really felt like a tale of two halves for Mitch Trubisky. He started out missing receivers left and right, including throwing two “should have been” interceptions in the red zone. Sure, there were some pass interference calls that took away at least a couple big plays. However, our QB was struggling. However, Trubisky eventually turned it around and lead the Bears on two late drives. The first ended in a touchdown and a 7 point differential. The second, which saw us to the end of the game, ended only a yard short of tying the game. As a fantasy player, I am feeling really good with Trubisky on my roster right now. He can run the ball and the passing ceiling is high. As a real-life quarterback, I know there are still going to be some bumps on the road.
Sell Jordan Howard/ Buy Tarik Cohen
It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Jordan Howard do something of meaning. Last year, Howard had five 100+ yard rushing games and 3 multi-touchdowns games. Howard was a fantasy force on the roster of many winning teams. This year? Howard has yet to hit 70 rushing yards in a game. To top it off, he only has 2 total touchdowns through six games. Howard likely cost you an early fantasy pick, so it’s hard to cut bait at this point. However, it’s starting to look like his only paths to relevance are a trade or a Tarik Cohen injury. It just feels like the offense is no longer designed to run through Howard with more emphasis on passing. On a brighter note, Tarik Cohen should be bought up anywhere you can find him. He is becoming integral to the Bears offense, he has 7+ receptions in each of the last 3 games, and he has a touchdown in each contest. Sure, touchdowns are fluky. However, that passing game volume is excellent. Cohen is a viable starter in PPR formats and still at least a flex in standard leagues.
Defensive Woes
The Bears defense continued to struggle this week after a poor showing against Miami, and I am starting to wonder about some things. First, is Khalil Mack 100%, or is he hurting more than we know? The Bears pass rush has been pathetic these last two weeks, and it started right around the time that Mack got hurt last week. Second, has the Bears defense been figured out? In two consecutive weeks, I watched the Dolphins and Patriots pick apart the Bears by throwing quickly before the pass rush can become an issue. It seems like teams are wising up: if they throw the ball quickly, they can negate the pass rush entirely. I hope that the Bears adjust so that this doesn’t become a long-term issue. I am also feeling like the top pick next year should be a cornerback. I am less all-in than I was before on the Bears defense, but I have faith that they will bounce back in time.
-Mike Miklius