The Chicago Bears are officially 6-2. After a dominant victory over the New England Patriots in Week 7, they followed it up with a commanding 34-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks. The latter match was on the road in one of the toughest buildings to play in as a visiting team.
Getting two big wins over the defending AFC champions and reigning Super Bowl champions sends a message to the entire National Football League: the Bears are a legitimate threat to win the Super Bowl.
Still, as Ben Johnson preaches often, this season is far from over, and there is a lot of work to do. Here is how each unit of the football team grades out following that performance.
Offense: A
The Bears offense was spectacular. Against an elite Seahawks defense, they had no trouble scoring
enough points to win. It wasn’t perfect, but you can’t expect it to be against a team like that. Whenever the score gap started to close a little bit, Caleb Williams and company would widen it even further next time out. Williams opened the scoring with a touchdown pass to Luther Burden, and they didn’t look back from there. The player of the game on either side of the ball for either team was D’Andre Swift, who had three rushing touchdowns. It was a spectacular game by him, which made the passing game even more dangerous. They work in great cohesion for the betterment of the unit as a whole.
Defense: B+
The Bears mostly kept the defending Super Bowl champions at bay. However, there is one thing that keeps them from getting an A, and that is the secondary. In particular, Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson had awful nights. Sometimes, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to beat you, but those two were unable to defend well enough no matter who it was they were guarding. If the Bears were looking for a legit weakness to address ahead of the deadline, it would be the cornerback position. They aren’t going to go get a potential Hall of Famer, but a nice piece to ease the workload of Johnson and Stevenson could do wonders. Speaking of trading for potential Hall of Famers, this was Chicago’s first game with Jeffery Simmons. He was spectacular in his Bears debut as he had six tackles and one sack. The entire defensive front looked different with him in the mix.
Special Teams: A
This was one of those games where the special teams units get an A for more than just “not screwing anything up.” They were spectacular on all fronts against the Seahawks. For one, Tory Taylor looks like one of the best punters in the NFL. Was it completely arrogant to draft him when they did? Absolutely. However, they have him now, and he’s great. Taylor had a punt blocked, and it still went over 45 yards down the field, proving the power in his leg. With the modern-day NFL kick/punt return rules, you can’t expect much there. Gone are the days of Devin Hester returning multiple kicks or punts for big yards. Still, Kalif Raymond and Zavion Thomas know how to break for a big gain, which has helped Chicago's offense with field position. Cairo Santos was magnificent for the Bears in this one. He went 2-for-2 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra point attempts. The Bears put him in a position to be successful, and he was. It's fair to say special teams played a key role in the Bears comfortably winning against the defending champs.
Coaching: A
Ben Johnson is firmly amongst the best coaches in the NFL right now. He has this Bears team ready to go in every single game they play. So far, when Johnson has Williams under center for the entire game, they have not lost a game so far this season. Going up against one of the best defenses in the NFL, possibly the single best, Johnson's offense did things most teams don't do. The Kansas City Chiefs only scored a total of three points against them in that building in Week 7. They didn't even find the red zone once. The Bears dropped 34 on the back of Ben Johnson's scheming. Dennis Allen was given a new shiny toy with the addition of Jeffery Simmons. To say it worked well would be an understatement. In his first game with his new team, Simmons was a game-wrecker, and he isn't even totally used to their style yet. By the end of the season, it should look even better. The addition of Simmons allowed everyone else in Allen's defense to play better, too. It's almost like they've been looking for that incredible interior defensive lineman ever since Allen arrived. Now that the pieces are starting to come together, there is a clear path to success with this coaching staff.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears report card: How we graded Chicago in Week 8 win vs. Seahawks
