Many folks picked the Dallas Cowboys to beat the Chicago Bears in Week 8, but I doubt anyone thought it'd be a shootout. The two teams combined for 78 points in this high-scoring affair, with the Cowboys accounting for 49 of them, 28 in the first half. But the Bears showed plenty of fight, whittling the 28-7 deficit down to a one-score game in the third quarter before losing control after that.
Defensively speaking, this was a game to forget. There's little good to be said about the defense anytime they give up nearly 50 points. They're in the doghouse this week. But we still have plenty of studs to recognize from the game, so let's get to it.
Justin Fields
For the second week in a row, Justin Fields had arguably his best game as a pro. He completed 74% of his passes, a career-high, and finished with a 120 passer rating, also a career-high. He combined for 211 yards of offense and three touchdowns, two through the air. He looked poised, confident, in control, and unstoppable.
There's not much more praise I can heap on Fields at this point in the season. He is the Bears' franchise quarterback, and a guy that general manager Ryan Poles will have no doubts about building around. He also has made a strong case for being the best quarterback from his draft after Mac Jones, Zach Wilson, and Trevor Lawrence all struggled mightily on Sunday. And I will take it one step further: Justin Fields is the best quarterback in the NFC North. Jared Goff is average at his best, time has caught up with Aaron Rodgers, and Kirk Cousins is good but limited.
For Fields? The sky is the limit.
N'Keal Harry
Harry, unfortunately, missed most of training camp and the start of the season due to an injury, only getting back on the field last week against New England, his former team. He caught a tough pass there, which was a nice start to his Chicago career. Then on Sunday against Dallas, he made another tough catch, this one in the endzone for a touchdown.
The sample size is still too small, but given his incredible potential coming out of college and the weak state of the Bears' wide receiver corps, I think it's time to start talking about whether or not the Bears already have the big X receiver we've been lacking.
Time will tell, and hopefully, he will have earned more snaps and targets in the next game so the Bears can determine whether he's a long-term piece of this rebuild or a one-year rental.
Luke Getsy
Just as Chicago seems to have finally found itself a franchise quarterback, I think the Bears also found a long-term offensive coordinator. In the last two weeks, the Bears are averaging over 400 yards of offense and 31 points per game. The run game has gone for over 200 yards in three straight games, the first time that's happened since 1968.
Fields looks comfortable in this system and is delivering in spades. A bare cupboard of offensive talent dropped more points on the vaunted Cowboys' defense than any other offense has managed.
Like Fields and the rest of the offense, Getsy had an abysmal start to the season, but he seems to have hit his stride against two very good defenses. Next week, he'll be at home facing an up-and-down Miami defense that has struggled on the road. Another big game would help cement his place in Chicago.
Honorable Mentions: Darnell Mooney for 70 yards on five catches, Cole Kmet for snagging his first touchdown since December of 2020, Khalil Herbert for a 99-yard, one-touchdown performance, and Eddie Jackson for his fourth interception on the year, tied for best in the league.