Fed Up with Losing, Bears Overwhelm Texans 36-7
If the Bears intended to prove they hadn't quit, their message came across loud and clear.
It might be too late to matter, but their offense Sunday struck early and the defense dominated quarterback Deshaun Watson in a 36-7 victory at Soldier Field over the Houston Texans to stop a six-game losing streak.
"It feels good," quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said. "I think we really needed that as a team. Just the way we've been working the last couple weeks, after a win like that it feels all the work is starting to pay off."
David Montgomery started it off with an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play and then adequately explained the attitude the team took to achieve so thorough a win after such a devastating losing streak.
"Just get sick and tired of being sick and tired," Montgomery said.
The Bears improved to 6-7 but they still remain a game behind the Arizona Cardinals in the chase for the final NFC wild-card berth.
They're just excited to see it all come together, regardless of the team's situation.
"All three phases played together," Nagy said. "This is the first time all year that we've had that."
If any one player made a particularly loud statement it was Trubisky, with three touchdown passes while going against Watson, the player he is linked to from the 2017 draft.
Trubisky staked the Bears to a 30-7 halftime lead with three TD passes and finished 24 of 33 for 267 yards.
Trubisky threw 5 yards to Jimmy Graham, 12 yards to Darnell Mooney and 3 yards to Allen Robinson for the first-half TDs to turn it into a rout.
"I think we're starting to establish rhythm on offense, and then the defense doesn't necessarily know what's coming, the run or the pass, and we're able to avoid third downs and just move the ball down the field and stay in a rhythm," Trubisky said. "So, it's an on-going progress."
With leading receiver Brandin Cooks missing the game due to injury and starting running back David Johnson out due to COVID-19, Watson was trying to conduct a one-man offense.
The Bears defense wasn't willing to let him do it. They started with Khalil Mack's forced fumble and recovery on a running play, then carried over to the pass rush. Mack later had a safety.
"He was back there trying to wreak havoc," linebacker Danny Trevathan said of Mack. "It's good for him because a lot of us feed off him. The whole team feeds off him when he makes big plays. That's what we expect him to do.
"He had a big game and he came out with the right mindset all week and executed his plays. A lot of guys stepped up when they tried to double him and we had a lot of sacks today. That's what you want to see."
The defense contributed seven sacks, six of Watson and one of A.J. McCarron when Watson was shaken up briefly and left for a play. Mack's safety in the second quarter on one of them ended a four-game stretch without a sack.
They knocked Watson briefly out of the game on Roquan Smith's hit during a third-quarter goal-line stand. Watson finished 21 of 30 for 219 yards with one TD.
"It was awesome, especially versus a very mobile quarterback in Watson," said Roquan Smith, who had two of the sacks. "I mean, people don't get to sack him often but I just felt like it was just relentless pursuit from everyone on the D-line and from linebackers and things of that nature."
Montgomery and the running attack continued a resurgence begun three weeks ago, and did it with his career-long TD run up the left side for a 7-0 lead.
"Really, it had nothing to do with me, to be honest with you," Montgomery said. "You (media members) probably could run through that hole and run the 80 yards. Just being able to have that line move and push the way they did and create that amazing hole, it's crazy. I just seen it and I hit it."
After the longest run by a Bear since 1988, Montgomery finished with 113 yards on 11 carries. Robinson caught nine passes for 123 yards and went over 1,000 yards receiving for the second straight year.
Now the Bears are set up for a key game against Minnesota (6-7) as they try to catch the Cardinals.
"We let one get away from us last week but we can enjoy this one a little bit," Robinson said. "But at the end of the day, we got a big game coming up at Minnesota, and so, for everybody, again, I mean, we get a little bit of time to enjoy it but we're going to have to shift gears pretty quickly.
"I think everybody is excited for the opportunity."
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