The 2017 Chicago Bears: In Memoriam
by ChiTownSuperFan | 8 years ago | 1 Comments
The 2017 Chicago Bears
Off-season
Free Agency
The Bears signed several key free agents that were crucial to their success this season. The signings included LT Andrew Whitworth, TE Jack Doyle, and DE Chris Long, brother of Bears’ OL Kyle Long. Andrew Whitworth anchored the left side of the Bears’ OL while Jack Doyle played a huge role in the offense while Zach Miller was out with injury.
The Draft
Round 1: WR Jarred Styles, Maine
Round 2: SS Deandre Clear, Temple
C Jerry Jurevicius, Yale, Quick Dev
Round 3: LG Gordon Sinclair, Princeton, SS Dev
Round 4: CB Cecil Moody, Wisconsin
Round 5: DT Devin Woolfork, West Virginia
LB Darius Fleming, Notre Dame
Round 7: SS Maxey Britton, Toledo
WR Ephraim Macklin, Michigan State
Notable UDFA’s
LOLB Delans Meadows
HB Ali Scott
QB Barry Middlebrooks
Regular Season
Week 1 at Baltimore (CHI 16 - BAL 10) (1-0)
The Bears’ first game was a true defensive struggle. The defense was able to intercept Joe Flacco (Eventual ‘Sexy Rexy Award’ Winner) five times during the contest. Jeremy Langford and Jordan Howard paved the way on offense, each scoring a TD.
Week 2 vs Detroit (DET 7 - CHI 31) (2-0)
First round pick Jarred Styles had his breakout game against the Lions catching four passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Trevor Siemian bounced back from his below average performance against the Ravens. The Bears’ defense tallied four sacks during the game and held the Lions to only 7 points.
Week 3 at Atlanta (CHI 20 - ATL 24) (2-1)
The Bears would suffer their first loss of the season at the (hands? Birds don’t have hands.) of the Atlanta Falcons. Jordan Howard would have a great performance with 130 yards and a touchdown. The Bears would come up just short.
Week 4 vs New Orleans (NO 0 - CHI 14) (3-1)
This would be the Bears’ best defensive performance of the season. They allowed 155 total yards and would sack Drew Brees 4 times.
Week 5 at Packers (CHI 20 - GB 23) (3-2)
The Packers would hand the Bears their second loss of the season in another tightly contested game. Jarred Styles had another great performance catching 4 passes for 112 yards and a TD. The Bears went down early 17-0. They would come back within a score in the 4th quarter. The Bears’ comeback attempt would end on a Trevor Siemian interception in the red zone.
Week 6 at Tampa Bay (CHI 20 - TB 14) (4-2)
This game had a wild ending. The Bucs had the opportunity to put the game away by running out the clock, but they opted to pass instead. BIG MISTAKE MISTER. SS Jarrett picked off the pass and the Bears were able to force the game into overtime. The Bears received the OT kickoff and promptly marched down the field. The Bears capped off the drive with a TD from FB Coleman. The Bears truly stole this win from Tampa.
Week 7 at Seattle (CHI 20 - SEA 6) (5-2)
This was a dominant performance by the Bears defense against a hot Seattle team. They allowed 148 total yards and intercepted Wilson 3 times. Trevor Siemian picked apart the Legion of Boom and lead the Bears to their 5th win of the season.
Week 8 at Minnesota (CHI 23 - MIN 14) (6-2)
The Bears defense once again carried the Bears to another victory. Teddy Bridgewater was intercepted three times, including a pick 6 by UDFA LB Delans Meadows. Pernell McPhee would get injured after getting an interception and would miss significant time during the season.
WEEK 9 BYE
Week 10 at Cleveland (CHI 7 - CLE 27) (6-3)
We’re on to Carolina
Week 11 vs Carolina (CAR 12 - CHI 30) (7-3)
The Bears finally ended their long road trip with a game against the Panthers. After an embarrassing loss to the Browns the previous week, the Bears were firing on all cylinders. The offense and defense were clicking in a rout of the Panthers.
Week 12 at Detroit (CHI 33 - DET 36) (7-4)
The Bears’ secondary clearly ate too much turkey before this Thanksgiving matchup. They allowed 435 yards and 5 touchdowns from as struggling Matthew Stafford. Trevor Siemian would break his collarbone at the worst possible time. Just as the playoff race was heating up, the Bears lost their starting QB and now had to turn to young up-and-coming QB Bryce Petty.
Week 13 vs Green Bay (GB 19 - CHI 20) (8-4)
What’s cooler than bein’ cool? Bryce cold! Bryce Petty made his first start of the season against the undefeated and NFC-leading Green Bay Packers. The Bears suffered a heart-breaking defeat during the last match up, but Bryce Petty and the and the Playmakers would make sure to not feel that way again. Petty would go 15/19 for 289 and 2 touchdowns. With less than a minute to go and down by 2 points, the packers punted to the Bears. Petty was able to drive the Bears into field goal range for Steven Hauschka to kick the game-winning FG as time expired.
Week 14 vs Dallas (DAL 31 - CHI 35) (9-4)
The Bears and and Cowboys engaged in a shootout of the ages in prime time. They exchanged touchdowns for 4 quarters until the Cowboys got the ball back while the Bears had no timeouts remaining. They could have kneeled to end the game but they decided to continue to air the ball out. WHEN WILL THEY LEARN??? Dak Prescott checked out his run play and threw a poor pass to Dez Bryant on the goalline. Logan Ryan undercut the route and intercepted it. He took it 99 yards for the game-winning TD. On the next drive Akiem Hicks would force a fumble to secure the victory for the Bears. Yet again the Bears were able to steal a win from the opponent declining to run the clock out.
Week 15 vs Minnesota (MIN 10 - CHI 17) (10-4)
This was another defensive stalemate with the Vikings. The Bears picked off Teddy Bridgewater 4 times. Bryce Petty led the Bears to their 10th victory of the year and knocked the Vikings out of playoff contention. With a 49ers loss to the Saints, the Bears were able to secure a playoff spot.
Week 16 vs Pittsburgh (PIT 25 - CHI 22) (10-5)
The Bears came out firing going up 22-3 by the third quarter. Then it all came crashing down. Ramik Wilson intercepted a Roethlisberger pass in the end zone but he fumbled and it was recovered by the Steelers. This would spark the Steelers’ come back and the Bears would have another embarrassing loss to an AFC North team.
Week 17 vs Cincinnati (CIN 10 - CHI 30) (11-5)
The Bears played a struggling Bengals team for their home closer of 2017. The starters would play the first half in order to rest for their Wild Card matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
Post-Season
Wildcard at Atlanta (CHI 28 - 31) (11-6)
This playoff rematch couldn’t have started any uglier for the Bears. On the second play of the game, Alshon Jeffery fumbled the ball and broke his collarbone. The Falcons would recover the fumble and take it to the Bears’ 3 yard line. Mark Ingram scored on the next play putting the Falcons up 0-7. The next drive, Jordan Howard fumbled the ball and it again recovered by the Falcons. Jerrell Freeman was able to intercept a pass on the goal line and prevent the Falcons from scoring off of the takeaway. The Bears would tie the game up 7-7 following the interception. Touchdowns and field goals were exchanged throughout the game until the 4th quarter. The Falcons were up 28-31 with just under 2 minutes remaining. Bryce Petty marched the Bears down the field into Falcon territory. Petty drove the Bears into FG range but wanted to go for the win. On third down around the Falcons 20, Petty fired a ball straight to Falcons’ DB Jalen Collins in the end zone, ending the Bears’ season.
Summary
This was an injury-plagued season for the Bears. Casualties included QB Trevor Siemian, HB Jordan Howard, TE Zach Miller, WR Alshon Jeffery, WR Markus Wheaton, WR Adam Humphries, and OLB Pernell McPhee. Somehow the Bears were able to drag themselves into the playoffs. Another year ended in disappointment for Bears’ fans but can be seen as a building block. The OL was solidified with excellent rookie LG and C and the Delvin Breaux was added to the secondary.
Trades
NE: 2nd Round Pick
CHI: Jeremy Langford
ARI: CB Delvin Breaux
CHI: Cody Whitehair
Will a Super Bowl under coach Vic Fangio be possible for the Bears?
“Well first of all, through God, all things are possible. So jot that down.”