Hello, Chicago Bears fans! Welcome to the second installment of Good, Better, Best as we look back at what worked, what was improved, and what was worthy of superlatives in the Monday night game that pitted our Chicago Bears against the Washington Commanders.
Good
Theo Benedet
Theo Benedet, the undrafted “Canadian Eagle” who wowed the Chicago Bears coaching staff in training camp, made his first start in place of Braxton Jones against the Commanders. He more than held his own as a pass rusher, and was a force
in the run game. While Benedet lacks ideal arm length, his quick feet and overall athleticism has allowed him to compensate for that limitation. Could the Bears have found their present and future left tackle? Arrow is pointing up.
Offensive Adjustments in the Bye
Benching Braxton for Benedet was not the only change the Chicago Bears made in the bye. Ben Johnson went into the lab over the bye and self-scouted his whole operation. The adjustments that coaching staff made was apparent in the different approach to the usage of D’Andre Swift – featuring him much more significantly in outside zone and the quick toss game than inside zone runs. Further, while the Bears under Ben Johnson had used 12 personnel the most of any team in the league, on Monday night they were almost exclusively in 11 personnel.
Better
Run Offense and Defense
Speaking of the running game, there seemed like no worse matchup when it came to running the ball, both on offense and defense, than the Chicago Bears versus the Washington Commanders. The Commanders featured one of the best rushing attacks in the first five weeks of the season, while the Bears were dead last in rush defense. Narratives in the NFL are made to be broken week-to-week. The Bears rushed for 145 yards on Monday night, easily eclipsing their season high and moving them out of the basement in the rushing category. Meanwhile, the Commanders, despite magic by Jayden Daniels in creating runs out of the pocket seemingly at will, were held to just 124 yards rushing.
The pass rush
The Bears only managed one sack of Jayden Daniels on Monday night, but that stat is misleading, the Bears consistently pressed the pocket and hurried Jayden Daniels’ processing. If not for Daniels’ elite escapability, the Bears could easily have notched 3 or 4 sacks on the evening. But even so, the Bears rush was considerably improved from the last three games. Credit to Dennis Allen for scheming up pressure to make Jayden uncomfortable in the pocket.
Best
Team’s resiliency
I’m not going to belabor the officiating in this column, but needless to say, the Bears had two opponents on Monday night, and despite numerous phantom calls that either sustained Commander drives or ended Bears bids for six, the Chicago Bears just kept coming. There’s an old saying that “luck” is when opportunity meets preparation. We saw that on Monday night from the Chicago Bears. They overcame adversity and secured their third victory of the season.
D’Andre Smith
Talk about bursting out of the dog house and taking the elevator straight to the penthouse – D’Andre Smith was the star on Monday night. Smith had 14 carries for 108 yards for 7.71 yards per carry, and he was clearly the best offensive player for the Bears on the field Monday night. He capped off his triumphant game with a 55 yard touchdown catch where he juked the Commanders’ middle linebacker Quan, and caused the defensive back, Lattimore, to stutter, leading to a house call and pulled the Bears within a field goal.
Jake Moody
What can you say? Jake Moody was as close as you get to busting out of the league when he was cut by the San Francisco 49ers and landed on the Bears practice squad. But a Cairo Santos quad injury forced the Bears to call him up on Monday night. It was a misty, wet field with strong crosswinds. Moody had been plagued with inconsistency in his NFL career. And he would have one of his kicks blocked. But despite all of that he had kicked three through the uprights – two near-50 yarders. And of course, the ball would find him, with the game on the line, and the entire weight of the Chicago Bears franchise upon his shoulders. He wasn’t good. He wasn’t better. He was the best.
