5 Things on the Bears: Poles must be happy with haul for Roquan Smith
Not a bad haul.
That was my knee-jerk reaction Monday after hearing the Bears traded linebacker Roquan Smith to the Ravens in exchange for second- and fifth-round draft picks and 31-year-old LB A.J. Klein.
As a few more minutes went by, I thought, actually - it's a very solid haul.
While Smith leads the league in tackles and is a talented player, he's not a difference-maker in the mold of Dallas' Micah Parsons. He's certainly not worth $18 million or more per season, which is what he'll hope some team pays him in 2023.
The only bummer for fans is that the rest of this season could be awfully painful as opposing offenses steamroll over a defense that lost two of its best players in less than a week.
In the bigger picture, the Bears are likely at least two years away from becoming a serious contender. So why hamstring yourself by overpaying a solid middle linebacker?
Makes no sense.
Now, Poles has six picks in the first four rounds - and three in the first two. That's how you build a team, something that was lost on most of Poles' predecessors.
If Poles chooses wisely and adds a few impact free agents, the Bears could be a playoff contender next season. And after that? Maybe - just maybe - the Bears will become a serious force in the NFC.
Caught off guard?
Sports writers love honest athletes - especially after a loss.
So credit Justin Jones, Roquan Smith and other members of the Bears defense for owning up to a wretched first-half effort Sunday during a 49-29 loss at Dallas.
Smith called it embarrassing, unacceptable and inexcusable - all in the span of three questions.
Jones had perhaps an even more shocking admission when he said: "They had a good game plan. I wasn't ready for it. What can I really say? I have to watch the film and see where we fell short. There are a lot of things we can get better at."
Why, exactly, wasn't the defense ready? After all, they knew the Cowboys had a stout offensive line and wildly talented skill players in running back Tony Pollard, quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
It's a question we'll ask coordinator Alan Williams this week.
For now, let's simply take a quick look at the miscues during the Cowboys' first drive:
• On Dallas' first run on second-and-6, Jones exploded off the ball, but took a bad angle and Pollard easily picked up 4 yards.
• On third-and-2, seven Bears were near the line of scrimmage, but Pollard found a seam and burst through for 9 yards.
• On the fourth play, Smith was slow to react to Dalton Schultz and the tight end caught a 9-yard pass.
• The Bears actually stuffed Pollard for a 5-yard loss to set up third-and-6, but Prescott beat CB Kindle Vildor by zipping a quick pass in to Michael Gallup for 11 yards.
• Now the Bears are really reeling and despite a false start by Dallas, Pollard scooted out of the backfield and found himself all alone in the flat. He scampered for 17 yards. Smith was nowhere to be found.
• Finally, on Prescott's 7-yard TD run, Dominique Robinson was completely bamboozled by a run fake. With no outside contain, Prescott used a block and easily beat Nicholas Morrow to the end zone.
The rest of the first half was just copy and paste, copy and paste for the Cowboys.
Running wild:
We'll make this a staple of Five Things as long as the Bears remain have a chance to break the record for most rushing yards in a season (2,974 by the 1984 squad).
This team has 1,507 yards on the ground, a 188.38 average that puts them on pace for 3,202. Khalil Herbert has 563 yards on 91 carries (6.2 average) and could become the first Bear to run for more than 1,200 since Jordan Howard had 1,313 in 2016.
Meanwhile, Justin Fields has 424 rushing yards, 230 coming in the last three weeks. Fields needs to average 60.5 yards per game to pass Bobby Douglass' QB record of 968.
No guts, no glory:
The offensive line is one reason why David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert are having solid seasons. But it's far more than that. Plenty of credit goes to the tight ends and wide receivers.
"It's a commitment by those guys and they've done a really good job of buying into that. Some of those guys aren't very big," said Matt Eberflus, who heaped praise upon the 5-foot-11, 173-pound Darnell Mooney and the 6-1, 195-pound Dante Pettis. "They're in there cracking on linebackers and defensive linemen. Man, that takes some guts to do that.
"The guys are gritty, and they're getting in there and the runners are running with their pads down."
New captain:
The Bears lost one of their captains when Robert Quinn was traded to the Eagles last week, so coach Matt Eberflus replaced Quinn with safety Eddie Jackson. Eberflus told the team Saturday so that he could speak to the team's other leaders before he made the announcement.
Jackson, who intercepted his fourth pass of the season Sunday in Dallas, was chosen because he received the fifth-most votes in the preseason.
"He's having a really solid year for himself, but he's also leading our group too, so we're excited for his opportunity," Eberflus said.
The Bears began the season with Quinn, Justin Fields, Cody Whitehair and Roquan Smith as captains, so it will be interesting to see who replaces Smith.