Bears and Dolphins: Who Wins and Why

One man's tanking is another man's thoughtful rebuild.

Perhaps there is great irony in the fact the Bears face Miami on Sunday at Soldier Field in their first game since stripping down their defense by trading away Roquan Smith.

After all, it was Dolphins owner Stephen Ross who faced charges he actually was paying money to have former coach Brian Flores tank games. Flores was later cleared.

It is also true the White Sox were found not guilty of tanking the 1919 World Series.

There is art to tanking. It can't be like posting a neon sign that says "all players must go!"

The goal should be to do it in a way that results in the best possible draft position and as many draft picks as possible without causing the locals to come to team headquarters armed with pitchforks and torches.

It helps to avoid such confrontations if you have the GM and coach working together, if the head coach says he's excited about coaching a group of players who wouldn't be on a Pro Bowl ballot.

Certainly Matt Eberflus said the right things Friday when he said he likes the idea of coaching unproven players or rookies.

To do it, Eberflus plans to stress his HITS principle even more if possible.

"Just our core principles," he said.

To those who somehow missed this by now, it's hustle, intensity, takeaways or taking care of the ball and smart play.

"And just basic rudiments from the game, that's what you’re looking for from these young guys and that's really all you can ask," Eberflus said. "Max out their effort, max out their stamina and go from there."

Discipline in an undisciplined league might actually let them steal a few victories and cover any tanking intention. So could Justin Fields.

It might even ruin the tank.

Then again, the Bears play a schedule after Miami which includes Green Bay, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Buffalo and the resurgent Jets. Even Atlanta is looking better than before and leads its division.

HITS can only take a team so far when an opponent with actual talent is also playing with intensity and intelligence while pursuing a playoff spot.

This can make the rest of this season very difficult for the Bears, but who's to say they don't secretly like it that way?

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The Line: Dolphins by 3 1/2 (over/under 45 1/2).

BearDigest Record: 6-2 straight up, 4-4 ATS, 3-5 against the total.

Prediction: Dolphins 24, Bears 20

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