Bears Fail to Make the Grade in Virtually Every Way Possible
Matt Nagy was a bit terse and edgy after the game.
Few Bears leaders wanted to talk, including Danny Trevathan and Khalil Mack.
It was a complete collapse and this 36-25 loss to New Orleans was weighing heavily on the Bears coming on the heels of a 24-21 defeat at the hands of Oakland.
The report card for this week's debacle reflects the current Bears misery index.
It's painful.
Bears Passing Game
Sure, Mitchell Trubisky had only 84 passing yards going into the fourth quarter with the Bears trailing already 26-10. He piled up 167 yards passing against soft, prevent zone in the fourth quarter. Tarik Cohen got his hands on nine passes in 12 targets, but gained only 19 yards with the nine receptions. The offense continues struggling to get him open. The Bears' 4.2 yards per pass attempted is an utter joke. Oh, but hey, Adam Shaheen is alive and well. We saw him catch two passes. Grade: F
Bears Running Game
There was one? Seven carries is a franchise low. The 17 rushing yards were the fewest they've had since gaining 6 yards against the Eagles on Nov. 26, 2017 under John Fox. David Montgomery fumbled and then barely had the ball. This is how the Bears celebrate their 100th anniversary, by desecrating their long-held tradition as a strong running team. Grade: F
Bears Pass Defense
This was probably the least offensive area the Bears put on display, and it was no bargain. Giving up 7.0 yards an attempt isn't a disaster, and getting picked apart by Teddy Bridgewater and Michael Thomas for nine catches and 131 yards is something plenty of other defenses would suffer. But this is supposed to be a dominant defense. Maybe a nice play by Buster Skrine and another by Prince Amukamara on long passes to prevent scores prevented another failing grade. Also, a public service announcement: if anyone sees Khalil Mack, let him know they're back in the states and playing football again. Grade: D-
Bears Run Defense
This was a case of the running attack persistently taking it at the Bears and finally getting them to break down. The Bears had given up only 33 yards at halftime on the ground, but the chips and cracks eventually led to an avalanche in the second half. The Saints weren't getting as many cutback yards as the Raiders did last week. They didn't need to cut back. Once Latavius Murray got rolling, he was just getting chunks going straight at the defense. Grade: F
Special Teams
This would be another failure if not for Cordarrelle Patterson's 102-yard touchdown run, second longest to Gale Sayers' 1967 103-yard return against the Steelers. The Bears got a punt blocked for a safety, had another punt deflected. The Bears gave up too many return yards and the Saints averaged their own 40-yard line to start drives while the Bears averaged their own 26. Covering kicks remains a problem for the Bears. Grade: D
Coaching
Well that's one way to get Mitchell Trubisky right back into the swing of things, just let him pass 54 times. You can't blame the excessive passing on RPO's that Trubisky turned into passes. Some of it is coming from the coach. If this is what it looks like from the Bears offense after two weeks off to self-scout, thank God for self-scouting or it might have been 50-0. One of the knocks on Chuck Pagano's defenses in Indianapolis was they couldn't stop the run. The last two weeks we've seen creeping Chuckstuff. There have been enough flaws in special teams for special teams coordinator Chris Tabor to start worrying about job security. They couldn't block people on punts Sunday, but key special teams contributor Kevin Pierre-Louis was a game-day inactive Sunday???? Grade: D-
Overall
An F. The Bears stated their pregame goal was to come out fast, and finish faster. They came out incredibly slow, but did finish fast. That's because they were so far behind if they didn't it would have been embarrassing.
Twitter@BearsOnMaven
