Bear Digest

Bears Report Card: Lions Far Too Advanced in Many Ways

Grading the Bears: Little the Bears did went right early again and then Jared Goff's 82-yard pass to Jameson Williams broke it open in a losing scenario that seems repetitive.
Gene Chamberlain|
Jahmyr Gibbs eludes the clutches of Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in the Lions' 34-17 victory.
Jahmyr Gibbs eludes the clutches of Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in the Lions' 34-17 victory. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

To his credit, Bears safety Kevin Byard wanted no part of the Hail Mary excuse after Sunday's 34-17 loss to Detroit.

It's good thing because blaming their current situation, amid the second-longest losing streak in franchise history, on one play in one game in Week 8 when it's Week 16 is the highest level of excuse making. Some Bears have even pointed to it as a turning point.

"I think we did 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, just not enough of them."

There weren't enough on defense or on offense Sunday for a win.

It was a total mismatch and looked nothing like the way the Bears played against Detroit on Thanksgiving, except for the part where they fell behind right away.

After doing that in 15 of 16 games, it's pretty much a given at this point that they'll not play with a lead.

The Bears have settled into a predictable, losing pattern and haven't figured out a way to stop it.

They fired a head coach and coordinator already.

The more they play terrible games you have to think it becomes more apparent the talent level isn't where it should be after three years under GM Ryan Poles.

President Kevin Warren already said Poles will remain the GM but are losing streaks of 11 games and 14 games under the same GM enough to stand those plans on its ear?

The GM doesn't get grades for games, just for seasons.

Here's how the Bears graded out for Sunday's loss, one disappointing by its lopsided nature but expected nonetheless.

Passing: B-

A lot of yards, a few touchdowns and fourth-down conversions but the Bears passing attack takes too long to get going. This all leads critics to assert Caleb Williams really hasn't progressed much because the scoring and yardage are coming when they're behind and facing softer coverage, that he doesn't challenge the defense early. It's possible but in this one he did make sufficient plays to turn it into a closer game with 334 yards, a 45-yarder, 22-yarder and 21-yarder to Keenan Allen, a 30-yarder to Rome Odunze and a 25-yarder to DJ Moore. Plays that long don't just come about from beating soft defense. Williams showed what can happen if he's given time to throw because he had adequate protection with just two sacks despite the line losing both Teven Jenkins and Braxton Jones to injuries in the game.

BEARS PROVIDE LITTLE OPPOSITION FOR LIONS IN 34-17 LOSS

CALEB WILLIAMS MAKES MOST OF YET ANOTHER LOSING EXPERIENCE

BEARS COACHING RUMOR TRACKER

Running Game: F

When Caleb Williams leads them in rushing with 34 yards it's been a bad day for the backs. D'Andre Swift was bottled up and then the Bears fell behind and stopped giving it to him. They insisted on using the wide receivers as ball carriers and it resulted in two fumbles, one lost on the exchange between Williams and Rome Odunze. They couldn't run against a Lions defense without key run stoppers like Alim McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson and Alex Anzalone.

Pass Defense: F

It looked like a parade of open receivers as Jameson Williams got behind all the safeties and cornerbacks for his 82-yard TD catch, Sam LaPorta got behind Jonathan Owens and the Lions had six catches of 20 yards or more and a 137.0 passer rating from QB Jared Goff. Zacch Pickens produced a sack, Montez Sweat and Chris Williams added quarterback hits but the rush was sporadic at best and part of the reason Goff could stand in and light it up for 336 yards on 23 of 32 passes with three TDs.

Run Defense: D-

Jahmyr Gibbs proved he can carry the full load as he had 23 carries for 109 yards with David Montgomery out. The Bears defense started most running plays pushed off the line of scrimmage a few yards and Gibbs didn't need to worry about being hit until well past the line of scrimmage. Gervon Dexter's absence likely led to some of the Lions' success. The had 146 yards on 32 carries. The 78 first-half rushing yards by Detroit opened up the passing game.

Special Teams: C+

Not much done here to make a big impact beyond two punts downed inside the 20 by Tory Taylor. Tyler Scott had one 29-yard kick return but the coverage team gave up 28-yard and 36-yard returns. At least they didn't have the negative plays the offense and defense did.

Coaching: D

Again the rushing attack was immediately stagnant and then trashed in favor of 40 passes. Did Matt Eberflus' direction of the defense matter? They've given up 102 points in three games since Eric Washington took over the defense, tow of the games against playoff teams. They got beat for a touchdown by a trick play, and that's never OK. The lack of fourth-down gambles at the game's end meant nothing ultimately but the decision didn't seem to coincide with their status as a team with nothing to lose. For the better part of three games they didn't have their power option as a ball carrier, Roschon Johnson. He returned froma a concussion and they gave him the ball one time. At least the Bears weren't stupid enough to try a 65-yard field goals at Soldier Field.

Overall: D

The only redeeming factor was they played hard until the end. At least they finally scored in the first half of a game.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.