Grading the Bears: The Bears’ loss scenario seemed to be repeating itself, but Jared Goff’s 82-yard connection to Jameson Williams busted it open when Little went right early again.
To his credit, following Sunday’s 34-17 loss to Detroit, Bears safety Kevin Byard refused to participate in the Hail Mary defence. It is fortunate because it is the height of excuse-making to attribute their current predicament—which includes the second-longest losing run in team history—on a single play in a single game in Week 8 when it is Week 16. It has even been cited as a turning point by certain Bears.
“We put the Hail Mary behind us,” Byard said. “Like I said, we’re just not playing well right now. That was weeks ago. We’ve had some good stretches. Just consistency — there’s some good plays in there for sure, but not enough of them.”
Sunday’s defence and offence were insufficient to secure a victory. It was a complete mismatch and looked nothing like the Bears’ Thanksgiving game versus Detroit, except for the fact that they fell behind immediately away. After doing so in 15 of 16 games, it’s almost certain that they won’t play with a lead.
The Bears have fallen into a familiar losing streak and have yet to figure out how to break it. They’ve already sacked the head coach and the coordinator. The more bad games they play, the more obvious it becomes that the talent level isn’t where it should be after three years with GM Ryan Poles.
President Kevin Warren has previously stated that Poles will remain as general manager, but are 11-game and 14-game losing streaks enough to call those intentions into question? The general manager receives grades for seasons rather than games. Here’s how the Bears assessed Sunday’s blowout loss, which was sad but expected.
Passing: B-
The Bears passing attack gains a lot of yards, scores a couple touchdowns, and converts fourth downs, but it takes too long to get going. All of this causes detractors to believe that Caleb Williams hasn’t made much progress because he scores and gains yards when they’re behind and facing easier coverage, and he doesn’t test the defence early. It’s possible, but he did make enough plays in this one to make it a tighter game, with 334 yards, including 45-yarders, 22-yarders, and 21-yarders to Keenan Allen, a 30-yarder to Rome Odunze, and a 25-yarder to DJ Moore. Long plays aren’t merely the result of defeating feeble defence. Williams demonstrated what can happen when he is allowed time to throw because he received adequate protection with only two sacks despite the line losing both Teven Jenkins and Braxton Jones to injury throughout the game.
Running Game: F
Caleb Williams leads them in rushing with 34 yards, indicating a difficult day for the backs. D’Andre Swift was bottled up, and the Bears eventually fell behind and stopped handing it to him. They insisted on employing wide receivers as ball carriers, resulting in two fumbles, one of which was lost during an interchange between Williams and Rome Odunze. They couldn’t run against a Lions defence without key run stoppers such as Alim McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson, and Alex Anzalone.
Pass Defense: F
It appeared to be a parade of open receivers as Jameson Williams got beyond all of the safeties and cornerbacks for his 82-yard touchdown catch, Sam LaPorta got by Jonathan Owens, and the Lions had six catches of 20 yards or more and a 137.0 passer rating from quarterback Jared Goff. Zacch Pickens recorded a sack, and Montez Sweat and Chris Williams added quarterback hits, but the rush was spotty at best, which contributed to Goff’s 336 yards on 23 of 32 throws with three touchdowns.
Run Defense: D-
With David Montgomery out, Jahmyr Gibbs demonstrated his ability to bear the full burden, gaining 109 yards on 23 carries. The Bears defence began most running plays a few yards off the line of scrimmage, and Gibbs didn’t have to worry about being hit until well beyond the line of scrimmage. Gervon Dexter’s absence most certainly contributed to part of the Lions’ success. The had 146 yards on 32 carries. Detroit’s 78 running yards in the first half helped to open up the passing game.
Special Teams: C+
Tory Taylor downed two punts inside the 20-yard line, but there was little else done to have a significant effect. Tyler Scott had a 29-yard kick return, but the coverage team allowed 28- and 36-yard returns. They didn’t have as many negative plays as the offence and defence.
Coaching: D
Again, the rushing attack was immediately stalled and then abandoned in favour of 40 passes. Did Matt Eberflus’ direction of the defence matter? They’ve allowed 102 points in three games since Eric Washington took over the defence, with two of them against playoff clubs. A trick play cost them a score, which is never acceptable. The absence of fourth-down gambles at the end of the game mattered nothing in the end, but the decision did not appear to be consistent with their standing as a club with nothing to lose. For the better part of three games, they were without their power ball carrier, Roschon Johnson. He returned after a concussion, and they gave him the ball once. At least the Bears didn’t attempt a 65-yard field goal at Soldier Field.
Overall: D
The one saving grace was that they played hard till the end. At least they managed to score in the first half of a game.