Bears Week 2 Report Card: Predictable Ups and Downs

After two weeks and even at 2-0, it's obvious the Bears are what we thought they were, a team with a questionable offense and a defense with more flaws than in the past

The Bears almost seemed surprised by their level of inconsistency on offense.

"I don't know if surprised is the right word but when you put together two pretty good quarters in the first half and put up 17 points, I think going in at halftime you expect to build off that, build off that momentum and come back and continue to play good football and score points," quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said. 

Then maybe disappointed is the right word.

Of course, they had to sweat out a 17-13 win because an offense so dominant in the first half could only spin its wheels in the second half until late in the fourth quarter, which left them 2-0 only because the defense made a stand.

Here were the Week 2 grades, reflective of another so-so, roller coaster effort.

Running Game: B+

If there is a steady aspect of their offense so far, it's the running game. A 135-yard effort included their final drive, which was pure smash-mouth football and went 44 yards in 5:34, with runs of 11, 10 and 23 yards on it from David Montgomery. It establish 34:29 in possession time, which should be enough to win any game handily. The drive was Ditkaesque. It makes you think they can lean even more heavily on it than the 32 carries they had.

Passing Game: C

Production of the first half couldn't be sustained, and Allen Robinson's off game in a week when he couldn't get a contract negotiated makes it seem like it affected his play. He had three catches in nine targets. One of Mitchell Trubisky's interceptions should have been caught or at least knocked down by Robinson. No one could accuse Trubisky of playing favorites. He targeted 11 different receivers, including tackle Bobby Massie by accident. Trubisky needed to make quicker, better decisions in the second half to take the yardage being offered by the Giants' zone. Instead, he unnecessarily forced in some deeper throws and one wound up being an intercepted. Also negatively reflecting on the passing game were four sacks of Trubisky allowed. The line's pass blocking in general was only adequate, although they handled blitzes well. Their  breakdowns proved costly.

Run Defense: B

Saquon Barkley's knee injury sure didn't hurt the Bears here. The Giants gained just 75 yards on the ground and 18 came on one Barkley run, as the ground attack went nowhere otherwide. Nose tackles Bilal Nichols and John Jenkins played more stout this week and even though inside linebacker Danny Trevathan wasn't a stat factor with two tackles, he was only missing from his gap on one big gainer. Roquan Smith came back from a so-so opener to give a solid, physical performance and Eddie Jackson's run support kept some larger gains from developing. Jackson was never thought of as a physical player coming out of college but has developed into one.

Pass Defense: B

Even with four sacks, a forced fumble and an interception in the passing game, the Bears still can't get onto the high ground here because of the way the Giants drove on them at game's end to draw back within four and have a chance for the win. They limited Daniel Jones to a 68.9 passer rating and held down the big gainers. All the Giants receivers averaged 11 yards or less, except for Sterling Shepard who was knocked out of the game early with a toe injury.

Special Teams: C-

Punter Pat O'Donnell averaged 44.7 yards, a marked improvement over last week, but still nowhere near the 58 yards Riley Dixon averaged thanks to a 62-yard punt Tarik Cohen seemed to lose in the sun before it was downed inside the 10. This was a solid beating, as kicker Cairo Santos missed a 50-yarder in ideal conditions that he should have made. Even return man Cordarrelle Patterson seemed vulnerable for a change, as he was outperformed.

Coaching: B-

Game planning on offense looked as effective as any Nagy has had with possibly the exception of the 2018 win over the Bucs. This shouldn't be taken lightly because it wasn't easy to game-plan a team like the Giants with new coaches and only one week of film to use. Fourth-down gambles by Nagy couldn't be questioned in this one, unlike the fourth-and-7 call at Detroit. As good as the play calling was earlier, it took a step back during their second-half problems sustaining drives as they seemed too intent on challenging the zone downfield when other options were there. They needed to work the tight ends more in the second half.

Overall: B-

The Bears are 2-0 which is surprising. However, they are who we thought they were to borrow from the late Denny Green. They're inconsistent on offense and eventually it's going to catch up to them, possibly in a tough road game this week in Atlanta.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven