Of the various stats that confirmed the lack of the Chicago Bears protection to cease the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, right here’s one which didn’t make the sport ebook.
In the guests locker room after the Cowboys’ 49-29 victory, Bears linebacker Roquan Smith used the phrase “embarrassing” thrice and “unacceptable” thrice, with one “inexcusable” and one “frustrating” combined in.
Safety Eddie Jackson added to that rely.
“That’s what it is — it’s embarrassing,” Jackson mentioned. “The offense put up (almost) 30 points. It’s like, what more can you really expect?”
On a day when the Bears offense confirmed continued indicators of progress, the protection was practically powerless from the begin to cease quarterback Dak Prescott and operating again Tony Pollard.
The Cowboys bought ultimately zone on their first 4 drives and 6 of 9 total earlier than the ultimate kneel-down. They punted twice, and Jackson intercepted Prescott on the opposite drive, one of many few huge performs from the protection. The Cowboys transformed 9 of 11 third downs, with Bears coach Matt Eberflus saying the Cowboys had too many third-and-short conditions.
“Everyone has to look themselves in the mirror and we just have to grow from this and get better,” Smith mentioned. “Because there were mistakes out there. It was simple mistakes, but they cost us big.”
Prescott was enjoying in his second sport after a thumb harm saved him out for 5 video games, however he didn’t present any of the rust he had in Week 7. He accomplished 21 of 27 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 34 yards and a landing.
The Bears sacked Prescott solely as soon as, and Jackson mentioned Bears gamers bought “riled up” when the Cowboys went up-tempo. A few different Bears gamers talked about not being prepared for the Cowboys sport plan.
“There was nothing where we said, ‘Oh, they can’t handle it,’” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy mentioned of going up-tempo. “It was just really we’ve been averaging, what, 58 plays a game? So we wanted to get up and get as many punches as possible regardless of who the opponent was. I think it speaks to the confidence that we have as an offense.”
While the Cowboys confirmed injured operating again Ezekiel Elliott cheering on the sideline on their large video board above the sphere, Pollard made positive they hardly missed Elliott. Pollard rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries — 9.4 yards per carry.
Pollard’s 54-yard landing run on third-and-1 early within the fourth quarter was the Cowboys’ ultimate dagger. Jackson bought behind the road of scrimmage to chase Pollard, however Jackson and Smith bought tripped up on one another. Pollard left linebacker Nicholas Morrow diving at his ankles on the 50-yard line and security Jaquan Brisker greedy at his ft on the 5.
It was removed from the one time Pollard evaded Bears defenders, together with a nasty minimize to get by Jackson on an 18-yard, second-quarter landing run.
“He’s a shifty guy, speedy guy,” Jackson mentioned. “Hits holes, gets to the second level good and tries to make guys miss. Today he did that. We saw that on film, what he does. We didn’t do a great job keeping him under control.”
The Bears protection had an emotional week. After a 33-14 upset victory over the New England Patriots on Monday, normal supervisor Ryan Poles traded revered veteran and group captain Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday. Bears gamers admitted in the course of the week that the commerce was powerful for them on and off the sphere.
But Jackson, who was named a captain to interchange Quinn, wasn’t utilizing that as an excuse.
“I’m not going to blame this on that,” Jackson mentioned. “We’ve bought a job to do as males. We’ve bought to return out right here and put together effectively and we’ve bought to execute. I felt like at this time it wasn’t good execution.
“To come out and let them score the first (four) drives, that’s not us. So we’ve got to get that fixed — and fast.”
Jackson’s fourth interception of the season — on the drive after a Justin Fields landing go — appeared to offer the Bears momentum going into halftime. Kicker Cairo Santos made a discipline objective to chop the Cowboys result in 28-17.
But after the Bears minimize that result in 5 factors within the third quarter, the Cowboys put collectively a 75-yard landing drive, fueled by Prescott hitting tight finish Dalton Schultz for 30 and 14 yards. Pollard capped it along with his second landing run, a 7-yarder.
Three performs later, linebacker Micah Parsons returned a fumble 36 yards for a landing to swing the momentum solidly again within the Cowboys’ favor.
The efficiency got here after the Bears held the Washington Commanders and New England Patriots to 12 and 14 factors in back-to-back weeks. Eberflus careworn that Bears defenders must get again to fundamentals as they appear to bounce again from the tough outing.
“We didn’t do a very good job, really all day, on run defense,” Eberflus mentioned. “We didn’t do a superb job of sustaining our gaps, sustaining our obligations.
“I told the guys after the game, guys are going to look at the tape and you’re going to see it. You’re going to see there’s no mystery here. It’s about good fundamentals, technique. And you’ve got to do that down in and down out to play good defense.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com