Report Card: Bears Position Grades after loss to Packers |
The Bears have had a bumpy start to the season, a three-game winning streak, and now a four-game losing streak.
The latest: a 20-19 gut-wrenching loss to the Green Bay Packers to cap off a chaotic week at Halas Hall. So, let’s hand out our grades from Week 11: QUARTERBACK: A- Caleb Williams has appeared to right the ship after a few rough weeks. While he has not thrown a TD pass since throwing four in week 6, Williams looked like a rejuvenated version of himself under new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. Williams looked as comfortable as we’ve seen him as he was 23-of-31 with 231 yards on Sunday, including three clutch throws to get the Bears into field goal range late. Williams — as has been the case for Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky — has been under heavy pressure this season, but he was only sacked three times on Sunday and just once before the game’s final drive. The No. 1 overall pick used his legs nine times for 70 yards and did not turn the ball over. RUNNING BACKS: A D’andre Swift and Roschon Johnson have taken over this backfield. Johnson provides strong pass blocking and a goal line presence — but Swift out-touched him 16 to 11 on Sunday as they combined to tear up the Commanders' defense. Swift had 71 rushing yards and 13 through the air with an electric TD. Johnson had a goal-line touchdown as well and 41 total yards. A rookie QB’s best friend is a run game, so more of this will be nice. RECEIVERS: B Week 5 saw DJ Moore’s breakout game, and week 6 was Keenan Allen’s turn. This week, the ball was spread around. Rome Odunze led the way with 65 yards on six catches. Keenan Allen had four catches for 41 yards, and D.J. Moore had seven catches for 62 yards. Working these weapons back into this mix should go a long way. TIGHT ENDS: B Cole Kmet had three catches for 42 yards. Kmet had been proving himself as one of the league’s best TEs and was not involved in weeks 8-10. Continuing to use Kmet is a good plan. OFFENSIVE LINE: C The offensive line was not terrible, still allowing three sacks, but it opened up holes in the run game and gave Caleb ample time to throw. We will still need to see more from this unit if the Bears have any playoff aspirations. DEFENSIVE LINE D The Bears came away with just one sack against Jordan Love. They also held up in the run game. The Bears will look to get Montez Sweat more involved, as he had a sack. LINEBACKERS: C T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds combined for 12 tackles, which helped pace the Bears' solid linebackers on Sunday. This unit looks poised to continue leading the way. SECONDARY: C Jaylon Johnson’s All-Pro journey is still going strong, but slipping on what turned out to be a massive 60+ yard completion hurts. Kyler Gordon was back in action and made five tackles. Kevin Byard III was extremely active and finished the game with nine tackles, including one on a fourth-down attempt. Terell Smith had an interception. A few huge plays from Green Bay hurt this grade for the secondary. SPECIAL TEAMS: F DeAndre Carter was solid, with nearly 55 yards of return yardage on two returns. Cairos Santos was 2-for-3 on field goals and 1-1 on PATs, but the story of the game was Santos’ 46-yard attempt blocked at the buzzer — which just can’t happen. Tory Taylor had another strong day of punting with two punts and 1 of them inside the 20. COACHING: C+ The play calling was much, and this team looked completely different and prepared. This team has a rookie quarterback and needs to do everything it can to make it easy for him, and offensively, it felt like they understood that. Matt Eberflus mismanaged the final drive once the Bears were in field goal range, as a closer kick has less of a chance of being blocked or missed, which hurts this grade. Stay tuned for more report cards coming soon.
