Arizona Cardinals vs Chicago Bears: Know thy enemy
By Scott Allen
We had a chance to do a question and answer session with Mike Burzawa, editor of the Chicago Bears FanSided site Bear Goggles On, ahead of the game against the Arizona Cardinals
The Chicago Bears come to the desert this weekend to take on the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. This was a good time to get to know a little more about the Bears.
We asked Mike Burzawa, the editor of Bear Goggles On, some questions ahead of the matchup. What should we know about the Bears ahead of what could be another struggle for the Cardinals.
RZ: It appears Khalil Mack is doing work for the Bears over the first two weeks. How excited are Bears fans?
BG: I don’t know if I can adequately quantify Bears fan excitement over Mack. Everyone was really excited when the trade happened, but after his first half against the Packers, the excitement skyrocketed. Mack jersey sales led all NFL players since his Week 1 performance. He’s already fifth among all players for 2018 behind four players who had months-long head starts on him.
The hype is legit; Mack is a BEAST. He has been a human highlight reel in his first two weeks and leaves Bears fans asking, “what’s he going to be like when he actually gets into game shape?” He has elevated the level of the entire defense with his relentless motor and dominance up front.
Of course, this adds to a Bears defense that already had high expectations coming into 2018. With defensive coordinator Vic Fangio returning with most of 2017’s starters, fans expect the Bears defense to return to the lofty heights that Lovie Smith had achieved over a decade ago.
RZ: The numbers are ok so far on Mitchell Trubisky. He seems to be handling this alright. Is he considered more of a game manager or will he be the real deal?
BG: The jury is still out on Trubisky. The kid is in a tough spot, being compared to Patrick Mahomes, who’s been the best QB this side of Ryan Fitzmagic so far in 2018. When you draft a quarterback second overall, you expect more from him than a “game manager.” Even though Trubisky started 12 games last year, his development was stunted playing under John Fox and Dowell Loggains last season.
Their goal for then-rookie Mitch was to not take risks, not make mistakes; to be a game manager. That’s not why GM Ryan Pace drafted him. It’s going to take a while for Matt Nagy to wash the Fox/Loggains stink off Mitch.
He’s been up and down this season; excelling in the early scripted drives and sputtering under the gun. Bears fans haven’t seen this in a while and need to understand that developing a quarterback is a process. It’s not instant and not linear.
There will be good moments and bad moments as figures out where he can fit the ball in and where he can’t. He needs to learn to read defenses and go through his progressions before tucking it to run. If the Cardinals can pressure him – and they certainly have the players to do so – the Bears offense could be in for a tough day.