Sloppy
play continued to spoil the Chicago Bears’ efforts this week, this time too much to overcome. Let’s get to my notes.
Offense:
- After a sharp start, Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears’ offense played a losing brand of football, highlighted by ineptitude in scoring range and costly penalties at the most inopportune moments.
- Great to see the run game once again show some life early, highlighted by some strong running by both D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, but a combination of game flow, penalties and poor play prevented from the run being as effective as it could have been on Sunday.
- Speaking of Monangai, it was noteworthy to me that he had the first carry of the game and then started the 2nd drive. Loved what he brought in pass pro as well, and it is easy to see why the coaches trust him.
- It was good to see Colston Loveland in extended action and he is going to be a great player for Chicago with a more diverse skillset than we have seen in a Bears uniform in years, but his false start on the 3rd and 1 early ended up being bigger than it first appeared.
- Theo Benedet had another rough outing, and his sack allowed in the red zone was a back breaker.
- Olamide Zaccheus caught a pass!
- Quick screens worked early, and then it started to feel like Luke Getsy was calling plays. Against a defense that struggles to get after the QB, getting the ball out early is not as critical, and I was not a fan of some of those calls.
- Speaking of play calls, Ben Johnson had his worst play calling game of the season. That said, this game was NOT on the new head coach.
- Joe Thuney had his worst game as a Bear from my vantage point. Again, not the reason we lost, but it was definitely something I noticed. He was beat one on one in pass pro and had an ill-timed penalty.
- Roquan made his impact early and often, most notably on a clutch open field tackle against Swift, where D’Andre may have been able to take it the distance.
- DJ is elite after the catch, but his one-handed grab on Caleb’s “Hail Mary” was a thing of beauty.
- Swift continues to look like our best player on offense, but I would like to see him carry the ball in his outside hand. The RB coach in me cringes every time I see it, and it almost led to a fumble.
- How was there not a helmet to helmet penalty on the near forced fumble from Marlon Humphrey on OZ that got reviewed? What in the actual %$%&?!
- Rome with another great game but his drop late hurt. Did not like Caleb’s decision on the INT to Rome, and I know he defended the decision, saying it was just a tick late (it was), but Monangai was wide open in the flat at a time we just needed yards to get out of our side of the field.
- Overall, Caleb continues to miss receivers and make questionable decisions. Holding on to the ball too long, extending plays instead of checking it down or trusting the simple throw and his decision to not run out of bounds late on his scramble ultimately proved detrimental. That said, I was NOT a fan of the officiating again. While it appeared Caleb intentionally grounded the ball late, it appeared to me he was expecting Rome to break out towards the sideline, which would make sense, needing to stop the clock.
Defense:
- Sweat had another sweet game. While Dayo Odeyingbo played stout against the run, it sure would be nice if we had another Edge rusher opposite Montez. But Sweat’s ability to athletically hang with even mobile QBs was one of the reasons we brought him to Chicago.
- Nahshon Wright had himself a decent game, I thought. Both after the catch and sticky in coverage. The bogus non-call OPI on DeAndre Hopkins hurt late, but Wright played that as good as he could have. Perhaps he could have sold it more.
- The whole world knew this would be a Derrick Henry game, and I was pleased with the run D, but Henry is King for a reason, and he (and Mitchell) got the yards on the ground when they needed to.
- Zay Flowers was carving up the reserve corners all game.
- Grady Jarrett made a play!
- So did Gervon Dexter Sr. who is quietly having himself a very solid season.
- Happy to see Sewell back and loved what he brought against the run, but his awareness and athleticism in pass coverage is a liability.
- Kevin Byard III nearly had his 5th INT of the season, but Tremaine Edmunds tipped it away.
- Daniel Hardy was forced into more action than he is used to and was victimized multiple times, unable to contain the edge in the run game.
- Big Bill had a decent game, but he had his own hand in the penalty issues, and his encroachment late stung.
- Overall, the lack of CBs was an issue all game, and the lack of pressure in the passing game allowed a backup QB to scan the field and hurt us at all levels. We need Tyrique back next week if we want a prayer against Cincy.
Special Teams:
- Rough game for special teams, though Devin Duvernay had his best return of the year. That said, the kick coverage team struggled more than I have seen all season.
- Cairo was accurate as expected. And he also left a lot to be desired with his leg strength. As expected. It will be interesting to see what they do with the Kicker position moving forward, considering how well Moody has been playing and his leg strength.
- Tory Taylor had his best punt of the year called back, then punted a flopper out of bounds. Bummer.
- Josh Blackwell had himself a bad game, especially on Kick Return. His fumble nearly put us in an insurmountable hole early, but his blocking left a lot to be desired. But he also showed poor effort on punt coverage when he could have downed the ball at the on,e but let it bounce into the endzone for a touchback.
- Kick coverage was suspect most of the game, which put Baltimore in good field position throughout. Overall, a bad game for the 3rd phase.
