A Brief Summary of the 2019 Bears
by ChiTownSuperFan | 7 years ago | 0 Comments
It was a wild year for the Bears. Fans were treated to 10 exciting one-score games, two of them going into overtime. Coach Alex Brown delivered the Bears their first division title since 2010...nine years since their last. After starting the year 2-4, Brown rallied his team and lead them on an 8-2 run to steal the division from the Vikings via tie-breaker and knocking them out of the playoffs.
The Bears offense struggled in Alex Brown’s third year. The Bears posted the third worst passing offense but had the fourth best rush offense despite missing star running back Jordan Howard for more than half the year. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had a down year with a 16/14 TD/INT ratio. He struggled at times due to his nagging injury from last year when his elbow was shattered against the Lions late in the year.
Leonard Floyd was the highlight of the season. After coach Brown brought back the Bears’ famed Tampa 2 defense, he made Floyd his personal project. Brown saw great success in this system and knew he could get even more out of Floyd by moving him to DE. Brown’s mentoring of Floyd resulted in 30 sacks on the year, breaking the previous record of 25 held by Brandon Graham of the Philadelphia Eagles. Floyd was rewarded handsomely with NFC DPOY, Sack Leader, NFC Best DL, and his third Pro Bowl appearance. After three seasons under Alex Brown, Leonard Floyd is already third all-time on the Bears sack list with 78.5. With 1.5 more sacks next season, Floyd would become the fastest player to reach 80 sacks. The sky’s the limit for Floyd.
Post Season
What seemed like an impossibility after a 2-4 start became reality for the Bears when they clinched the division for the first time since 2010 with a convincing win over the Lions. The Bears hosted the defending champs, the 12-4 Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field. The Bears offense struggled early at first with the absence of their workhorse Jordan Howard. Paul Perkins and Tarik Cohen were able to carry the load and combined for three touchdowns on the day. However, the stout Eagles’ defense gave Mitch Trubisky fits all game, intercepting him four times and with four sacks. Besides Trubisky’s struggles, the Bears were never out of the game. A Kyle Fuller pick six followed by a long Paul Perkins TD run gave the Bears the lead for the first time in the game during the fourth quarter. Sadly, the Eagles were able to rally and steal the lead back from the Bears to win 34-31. In a playoff game in which many felt the Bears didn’t belong, the Bears gave the defending champs a run for their money. A promising performance against a top team showed fans that a Bears Super Bowl run may be closer that we think.
Final Record: 10-7
Pro Bowlers: DT Akiem Hicks, LE, Leonard Floyd, C Cody Whitehair, FB Michael Burton