A gray day brings a dull football game and, more important, a Bears win

Caffeine gets a bad rap. It can cause insomnia, we’re told. Other side effects include headaches, indigestion and even incontinence, a possibility I’m now haunted by, thanks to Google.

But caffeine was a godsend Sunday afternoon. It got us through a dull game that moved at the speed of sound, if the sound was a prolonged moan.

OK, maybe dwelling on aesthetics is missing the point. What kind of victory was the Bears’ 24-10 takedown of the Jets at Soldier Field? The much-needed kind. The Bears entered with a two-game losing streak. Because of a bye, their last victory had been almost a month earlier.

This was a game they knew they should win, and win they did. It’s what good teams do, and it’s what teams that want to be good do. At 4-3, the Bears are somewhere in between.

The beaten-up Jets are bad. There’s nothing that can change that truth — not even a blah game by the Bears.

“No game is a pretty game,’’ Bears wide receiver Taylor Gabriel argued.

He has a point, what with blood and pain being football’s foundation. Maybe it was the cloudy autumn day that set the drab tone. Or the brisk wind blowing in from the west. But outside of Tarik Cohen’s 70-yard touchdown reception on the Bears’ second possession, the game had a drowsy feel to it.

That play was enough of a pick-me-up that I didn’t need to re-caffeinate for at least another 20 minutes. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky, under serious pressure from a Jets blitz, dumped a short pass over the middle to a wide-open Cohen. What the running back saw after the catch must have been what settlers saw when they beheld the Kansas Territory for the first time. There was a lot of nothing. The wind whistled.

“I was kind of nervous not to see anybody,’’ Cohen said. “I just saw green grass, so I just took it.’’

A Bears fan would have had every right to think the floodgates were about to open. But no. Take away that 70-yard play, and Trubisky was 4-for-12 for 46 yards in the first half. Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold was 6-for-13 for 54 yards. Bland prevailed.

There’s a decent chance that Bears coach Matt Nagy has come to the realization that Trubisky’s running is the key to the team’s offensive success. Almost every time he runs, something good happens. Against the Jets, it helped set up the running game for Jordan Howard, who rushed 22 times for 81 yards. It helped set up the passing game, which improved in the second half. The Jets, like the Patriots the week before, needed to be aware that Trubisky might bolt at any moment. He ended up with six runs for 51 yards.

That might be one of the things the Bears liked about the kid when they took him with the second pick in the 2017 draft. But it can’t be what they envisioned as the engine to their offense. So the question becomes whether it can work in the NFL. Answer: within reason. Answer, Part II: If Trubisky doesn’t start sliding at the end of his runs, he’s going to be relieved of a body part by a defensive player.

His accuracy again was a problem at times, but he ended up with two touchdown passes, 220 yards and a passer rating of 102.7. His four-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller in the third quarter was perfectly placed in the left corner of the end zone.

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“It was clean,’’ Gabriel said of Trubisky’s performance. “It was very efficient. He made the decision in his throws that he was confident in. As long as he’s back there and he’s confident, I feel like he’ll have a great game.’’

“All I saw was good Mitch,’’ Cohen said. “A-plus-plus.’’

Good quote. I think Gabriel just fell behind Cohen as Trubisky’s favorite receiver.

The Bears wisely chose to sit outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who had been ineffective the last two weeks because of an ankle injury. There was no reason to risk further aggravation, unless you happened to think the Jets had a chance here. It was clear early on that they didn’t.

The Bears’ defense gave up only 57 rushing yards. The Jets averaged 3.8 yards per offensive play. Bears inside linebacker Danny Trevathan said the defense wanted to prove it could be excellent without Mack.

“It’s up to us to show [the league]every play, every snap when he’s not on the field that we still have some dawgs,’’ he said. “When he comes back, it’s just going to add fuel to the fire.’’

So now the Bears have a one-game winning streak, with a chance to make it two straight with a victory next week in Buffalo.

“After you get two losses, confidence seems to drop a little, self-esteem drops a little,’’ Cohen said. “To get back in the win column is great for the team.’’

It was a good day. A bit on the dull side but good. Nothing a Diet Coke truck wouldn’t solve.