3 questions for Chicago Bears heading into Detroit
Coming off a victory for the first time in seven weeks, the 4-9 Chicago Bears have a short week before they head to Detroit for an NFC North clash Saturday against the 7-6 Lions.
The Lions trail the first-place Minnesota Vikings by 3 games but have not been mathematically eliminated in the NFC North race.
Here are three questions about the Bears that will be asked before the 3:30 kickoff.
1. Will the Bears' 33-7 rout of the Bengals be enough to alter the fate of coach John Fox?
No. One victory will not change the mind of the Bears' decision-makers. Now, if Fox's crew wins at Detroit and takes care of business Christmas Eve against the winless Cleveland Browns; and if rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky continues to progress along with fellow rookies Tarik Cohen, Adam Shaheen and Eddie Jackson, you never know. But that's a lot of "ifs."
2. Shouldn't the Bears be expected to defeat a team that was missing five defensive starters?
It's not fair to diminish a Bears victory because the opponent was in a weakened state because of injuries. The Bears' defense was playing without five of its opening-day starters for the same reason. The Bears have nine starters on injured reserve and three others were out Sunday.
3. Are the Bears done babying rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky?
They certainly should be. After nine starts, he's not a rookie anymore. In his last two games, Trubisky has completed 78.7 percent of his passes (37-for-47) for 373 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 113.9 passer rating. He also has reduced the number of sacks he takes. After getting dropped 15 times in a four-game stretch, Trubisky has been sacked seven times in his last four games.
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