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Bears Report Card vs. 49ers

The Bears had a surprising mix of grades considering the major upset they achieved off, however it was anything but a complete victory.

The stunning turnaround and jaw-dropping 19-10 upset of San Francisco by the Bears Sunday failed to disguise some of their problems.

Fortunately for the team in general, their strict adherence to this creed known as the HITS principle pulled all of them through.

They couldn't run much of the game, couldn't get a pass completed in the first half to any wide receiver or tight end and really only remained within striking distance because of a combination of plays by their secondary—Jaylon Johnson stripped the ball from Deebo Samuel and safety Jaquan Brisker recovered at the Bears 12.

Otherwise they go into the locker room down 14-0, then trail 17-0 and the entire comeback seems all the more unlikely.

To their credit, they persisted and prevailed.

It's the worst possible scenario for the rest of the league because this belief the Bears have in their HITS principle has just been fortified 10-fold by an upset win no one could have realistically predicted.

The Bears will only become bigger believers in themselves now as a result and when that happens the snowball effect can occur.

Here is the Bears report card for an opening-week stunner.

Passing Game: C+

Two or three big plays elevated this from a total failure. And one of the plays came off script, the 51-yard TD pass that started it all to Dante Pettis. When Darnell Mooney is held to one catch for 8 yards, Cole Kmet goes without a reception for the first time in 25 games and no one catches more than one pass except David Montgomery, who had three dump-off throws, it obviously didn't go according to plan. Toss in the intense pass rush pressure given up on Fields by the offensive line in the first half, and there is plenty of room for improvement. Even Fields, himself, was tentative and errant early, although the playing conditions influenced this as well. Give them a passing game for finding a way to prevail against a very good defense.

Running Game: D+

Nothing much was there all day long. David Montgomery averaged 1.5 yards a carry on 17 carries and was outrushed by Fields, who had just 28 yards on 11 runs. Khalil Herbert's 45 yards on nine attempts made it apparent it wasn't all on the offensive line troubles. Otherwise, he'd have averaged what Montgomery did. The wide zone blocking scheme didn't get very wide for the Bears because of the strong play of 49ers linebackers and defensive ends. It didn't help offensive line continuity when they were alternating Lucas Patrick with Teven Jenkins at right guard. Patrick wore what Eberflus referred to as a "Q-tip" on his right hand, a ball cast over his hand because of the broken thumb he suffered. If he's this hurt, perhaps it's better to keep him out until he is fully healthy to return. The Bears probably gained more yards on inside zone than they would have preferred because of their blocking failures, or on cutback runs.

Pass Defense: A

Trey Lance's 50.3 passer rating says it all. Last year the Bears were last in the league and the passer rating against was 50 points higher on the year. He didn't complete 50% (13 of 28) and averaged 5.9 yards per attempt. First Jaylon Johnson and Jaquan Brisker and then Eddie Jackson got involved in takeaways. A superior effort in the coverage considering they started two rookies and linebacker Roquan Smith hadn't been a part of the coverage in games in preseason. Add in a pass rush that kept Lance contained. He led the 49ers in rushing with 54 yards but most of the damage came from designed quarterback running plays or quarterback options. The pass rush worked as a team and rookie Dominique Robinson came away with 1 1/2 of the two sacks. For a rookie who hadn't played the position until his junior year of college, Robinson was amazingly perceptive. He said he saw something in the stance of the blocker he faced that helped him get off the ball faster. They had four quarterback hits, which indicated a more persistent rush than they had last year when they were among the team sack leaders but only sporadically got pressure.

Run Defense: C+

Allowing 176 yards rushing and 4.8 yards a carry are grounds for an F, normally. However, a good chunk of Lance's rushing yards came on scrambles and most of the rushing yards given up came on the outside. Bears cornerbacks were adept at coming up and helping the linebackers, as were the safeties, so the big gainers were far and few between. It was surprising that Angelo Blackson, Mike Pennel, Armon Watts and Justin Jones on the inside at tackle were as successful preventing interior cave-ins, especially Pennel and Watts because they were later additions to the roster. It helped them having Roquan Smith backing them up, though. The Bears also got a break of immense proportions when Elijah Mitchell went out with a knee injury suffered in the first half. He already was gashing them for 6.8 yards a carry when it happened.

Special Teams: C-

Trentan Ebner was nothing special on kick returns as Velus Jones' replacement at two returns for 48 yards and Dante Pettis didn't get a punt return. The kicking game was atrocious. In all fairness, the rain made it difficult but the 49ers didn't display the same degree of ineptness. Rookie punter Trenton Gill and kicker Cairo Santos said after the game they didn't know the towel brought on the field could be the source of a penalty. Guess what? They're paid to know this, and so is coordinator Richard Hightower. They'll remember now. And Santos has no excuse for missing two PAT kicks even in the rain. It didn't bother Robbie Gould on his two kicks. Giving up 11.5 yards per two punt returns didn't say much for their efforts in this area but at least Gill bounced back from a few poor early punts to average 46.2 yards on six punts.

Coaching: A+

Matt Eberflus won this game when he convinced these players in OTAs and training camp that his HITS principle works. They believe in themselves and the way they constantly attack kept them in the game, fueling the second-half surge. So, too, did their conditioning that results from the HITS principle. Eberflus seems to have some magic over the 49ers. He beat them last year while with the Colts and the defense triggered much of that win, too. Luke Getsy deserves some credit for being persistent with the running game even though it went nowhere. They ran 37 times and made only 99 yards but the fact they ran 37 times was the important part. It kept their possession times longer and kept their defense off the field while letting them physically challenge the 49ers. Alan Williams also deserves great credit for a game plan that let the defense contain Lance and also contain Deebo Samuel. They held him two two catches for 14 yards and although he did score one of their touchdowns he was held to 4.2 yards a carry when they used him as the ball carrier. Samuel is often credited with running people over, and he did this to Eddie Jackson at the goal line on his TD. But for the most part, when Bears tacklers arrived they were the ones running over Samuel or at least dragging him down before he built momentum.

Overall: B-

A B- is a beautiful grade when most people are expecting you'll flunk the exam. Do something like this at Green Bay to Aaron Rodgers and then maybe it won't just be players who believe in the HITS principle.

Twitter: Bear Digest@BearsOnMaven