Stock up, stock down: Bears vs. Dolphins

Sunday’s overtime loss was such a gut punch for so many reasons, but a big reason is because it felt so familiar.

For the last four or five seasons we’ve watched this team make what we thought was progress, only to take a huge step back right when they had a chance to assert dominance.

After a chance for a huge road win and a 4-1 record, now they return to Chicago and have to host a surging Patriots squad and try to avoid falling back to .500.

All is not lost though. The Bears’ offense looks like its hitting its stride and Mitch Trubisky’s play from the Tampa Bay game didn’t take a steep drop off.

Were there some bad throws? Absolutely. Should that be expected in the guy’s 17th start? Yes.

But the good out-weighed the bad. He shook off a bad first half and dialed in to lead the offense to 28 second-half points, unfortunately, it was the one game where that wasn’t enough for the Bears defense.

Stock up

Tarik Cohen, RB - I realize that his stock is high and that fans know what to expect from him, but he turned in a second straight game with over 100 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. He is out there making big plays and generally being a pain in defense’s rear ends. He still needs to improve his ability to take a cut and not lose yards and he also needs to improve his sideline discipline.

Allen Robinson II, WR - Robinson has been quietly solid all season, despite stats that aren’t eye-popping. He turned in a touchdown for the second straight game and his highest yards since week two. I think Robinson is poised for a breakout game, especially with Taylor Gabriel balling out on the other side of the field. Robinson will get an 8-catch 100+ yard game soon. I feel it.

Roquan Smith, ILB - Smith turned in six solo tackles and 13 combined. While his game lacked splash and impact plays, he was all over the field on a day where the Bears defense looked sluggish. He missed a couple tackles, but who on the defense didn’t miss any?

Stock down

Eddie Jackson, S - Jackson had his worst game of the season Sunday. He was missing tackles and just overall looked like he was standing in concrete.

Cody Parkey, K - Yes, it was the tail end of his range, but this is exactly what the Bears paid him $9 million guaranteed for. Of course they should have tried for extra yards but at the end of the day, the kicker has to execute. He was familiar with the stadium and the conditions.

Leonard Floyd, OLB - I was unfairly hard on Floyd a couple of weeks ago. I have come around to thinking he was playing pretty well, especially against the run. However, on Sunday he took a horrible unnecessary roughness penalty and he mustered just three tackles. That’s all overlooking his roughing the passer penalty, which was ticky-tack and a bad call.

Who stood out to you?

Who did you have anger for?