The Good, Bad, and Other from Bears' Week 7 victory

In an effort to be optimistic, I want to force myself to look for more good than just the bad in every Bears game. Three steps forward and two steps back is still a step in the right direction.

Every week, I’m going to look at how the Bears performed in their previous game and look for three good areas and two that need improving. And then, to finish the countdown, I want to look at something else that happened in the NFL this weekend. Either some important news that I can add my voice to or something that may have flown under the radar.

Let’s begin.

The Good

The Coaching Staff

I felt this was an incredibly coached game by Matt Eberflus, Luke Getsy, Alan Williams, and the rest of the Bears' coaching staff.

In previous games, Fields wasn’t given chances to do what he does best. The defense played soft. But the adjustments made by the coaches against the Patriots deserve just as much credit for this win as the players do.

Fields was allowed to play to his strengths: running play action, rolling outside the pocket, and running on designed runs instead of being forced to resort to scrambling. The defense played with more aggression, especially in coverage.

Bottom line: Eberflus and his staff outcoached Bill Belichick.

The Rookies

Ryan Poles continues to look incredibly smart with how his first draft class has been performing.

Safety Jaquan Brisker looks like a seasoned pro. Agains the Patriots, Brisker registered seven tackles, one pass defended, and an incredible one-handed interception. Kyler Gordon, who struggled in his first few games, has steadily improved as the season goes on, defending one pass and securing his first career interception Monday night. Dominique Robinson also had a pass defended.

Of the 11 rookies Poles drafted, eight of them have registered stats, and four have already become starters on this team. The future looks bright if Bears rookies continue to shine.

Justin Fields

I love that Fields has shown steady improvement as the season continues. While this wasn’t his best game of the season statistically, I felt like his decision-making was exemplary. Fields wasn’t just looking for the deep ball; he was going through his progressions, looking for his second or third receiver when his first option wasn’t open.

On running plays, Fields made smart cuts instead of just running to the sideline, as seen in his touchdown run. Unsurprisingly, having more time in the pocket helps, as a constant criticism of Fields is that he holds the ball too long. But he continues to show improvement and growing confidence in this offense, and soon enough, Fields can become a game-changing quarterback in this league.

The Bad

The Fumbles

As much as Fields deserves praise for his playing in this game, he also deserves criticism for putting the ball on the ground. He fumbled four times in this game, and through seven games has fumbled the ball eleven times, tied for worst in the NFL. He is lucky that only one of those fumbles has been lost, but if the Bears begin to compete seriously in the league, a poorly timed fumble will lose a game. Maybe Fields needs to work on his grip strength, or maybe he needs to get better gloves, but something needs to change to prevent him from fumbling the ball almost twice a game.

Sam Mustipher

He is inevitable. Every player added to replace Mustipher has been injured, including free agent Lucas Patrick, who exited Monday night early. Mustipher continues to get playing time, but he is one of the worst centers in the NFL. His embarrassing mistakes are going around social media, with his third-and-10 play early in the second quarter nearly going viral.

In that particular play, Mustipher gets behind the defensive line, and in an attempt to turn around and start blocking again, almost knocks Larry Borom, who is doing his job, over. He looks lost on the field, and with any luck, Patrick’s injury is not severe, and Mustipher can be back on the bench next weekend.

The Other

The Packers are…Bad?

The Packers haven’t had a three-game losing streak since 2018 when Mike McCarthy was in his last year as the Green Bay head coach. Their offense is middling, severely lacking talent at wide receiver. Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been playing the hero ball that Bears fans know too well. Matt LaFleur can’t rely on star talent to get out of a close game. Maybe the Packers aren’t BAD, but they certainly haven’t looked good.

Yes, Green Bay blew out the Bears in Week 2, but the Packers have always had Chicago’s number. But they currently have the same number of wins and losses as the Bears, too, and fans have not been happy on social media.

It turns out that having 30 years of uninterrupted hall-of-fame quarterback play can spoil you, and dealing with half a season of mediocre play has driven Packers fans crazy.

Looking at the performances between these two rivals this week, I see no reason why Justin Fields shouldn’t be able to beat the Packers when they come to Chicago in Week 13