5 observations from rewatching Bears-Vikings: 3rd-down dominance, Kyle Long and Jordan Howard's promising performances and more
CHICAGO — Bears fans couldn’t have asked for a better postseason tuneup than Sunday’s 24-10 win against the Vikings. From the defense’s suffocation of quarterback Kirk Cousins on third down to Mitch Trubisky’s ball security and third-down efficiency, the Bears proved they’re ready for the Eagles in the NFC wild-card round.
Here are five observations from rewatching the game on the Fox telecast.
1. Mitch Trubisky’s success on third down exemplifies his improvement in avoiding sacks.
Other than Trubisky’s 11-3 record as a starter, there’s no better measure of his Year 2 growth than how he reduced his sack rate in the second half of the season. And Sunday’s game was the cherry on top.
Not only was it the first game this season in which he wasn’t sacked, he also managed to escape a Vikings defense that finished the season tied with the Bears for third in NFL with 50 sacks. And he did so in their loud stadium.
Consider this: Trubisky was sacked 16 times in his first seven games this season. But in the final seven, he was sacked only eight times. His passes-to-sacks ratio fell from 6.7 percent to 4.1 during that split.
How did he do it? Well, at this point for Trubisky in the offense, he’s more comfortable with his hot reads and
