Chicago Bears Mailbag: Time to think Super Bowl?

The Chicago Bears mailbag this week is filled with more optimism than ever before, and it isn’t hard to see why after last Sunday.

With their huge win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Bears are now one more victory away from clinching the division title. It would be the first they’ve won in eight years. Better still? They have a chance to do it against their longtime nemesis, the Green Bay Packers. It would be so fitting for this team to end their playoff drought against the opponent that is most directly responsible for it.

That game plus much more will be addressed this week.

@ZLBigBaller
Can McManis fill the void left by Callahan?

Losing Callahan is tough because his coverage was such a stable part of the Bears’ success in pass defense. McManis has done a good job whenever called upon to come in, which is encouraging. Quarterbacks have just a 53.0 passer rating when targeting him this season and he’s been excellent as an extra blitzer. He probably won’t quite be at the same level as Callahan’s dependability, but he’s shown he can keep the train on the tracks at least.

@E_Sherman58
What did the Rams do to make Mitch uncomfortable? Aside from some bad footwork and obvious rust he also mentioned they played much more zone than they expected. How does this factor into his play?

Trubisky has a habit that a lot of young quarterbacks typically do. When he becomes overanxious to make a play, he loses focus on the little things like footwork and fundamentals. This leads to numerous mistakes like we saw Sunday night. Though the Rams caught him off guard with their zone coverages, most of the decisions he made in the game were the right ones. His throws just need to be better. He’s proven he can do that. It’s about making it a week to week thing.