Not Everything Looks Great After First Bears Win

Bears tight end Cole Kmet expressed the feeling all the players and coaches felt Thursday night, although his words probably pertained more to those around last year when the 14-game losing streak began.

"Yeah I mean relief, relief," Kmet said. "It's been a long time coming here and this one win and we would like these to come earlier, but its momentum we can build on, you know?

"I think coming from last week, we had a good offensive performance. We gotta finish the deal and like I said, we come out in third quarter, we could be better. But all in all, a lot of good stuff, but I mean a lot of opportunities left out there as well."

They can't be too relieved and satisfied. As they take a weekend off now before starting practice to host the Vikings Sept. 15, there are problems facing them even with the streak now history.

If unaddressed, they can't start building the kind of streak they really want.

Here are problems persisting or popping up new after Week 5 and Win 1.

1. Third Down

This issue needs to be corrected and it's tied into No. 2 on the list. The Bears gave up 50% conversions on third-down plays and it was an improvement for them, which is really hard to believe.

They're last in the league at 57.3%.

Really bad among conversions from the game were third-and-8, two third-and-10s and a third-and-13. They gave up 6 of 12.

Considering all of their injuries in the secondary, it's probably to be expected but they started out the season playing the same way with their starters on the field.

2. Pass Rush

This is part of the third-down problem. They'll look at the five sacks and feel energized about it after they had two total for the first four games. So yes, it is more but look at when they had the sacks. Two came in the fourth quarter when the game essentially was out of hand. They also had a sack not counting on the stat sheet because it was a two-point conversion.

At least DeMarcus Walker got his first sack. They have 3 1/2 from defensive ends, which is more than half of last year's total. It needs to get better, as does the consistency of the rush.

3. Darnell Mooney

Not only does Mooney have only eight catches for five games, but he has had three games without a reception including last week.

If Chase Claypool had worked out and they had catches coming in from all receivers it would be one thing, but he's gone now and Tyler Scott, Eqanimeous St. Brown and Velus Jones Jr. haven't been piling up catches. Jones hasn't even been targeted, Scott hasn't had a catch the last two games and St. Brown has been in only two games with one catch.

Eventually defenses will go back to doing to Moore what Green Bay did and try to sandwich him in coverage.

Then where are they if Mooney doesn't begin to make receptions.

The issue might not be Mooney, though. It could be Justin Fields not getting through his progression past Moore and tight end Cole Kmet.

Seeing an offense using more receivers needs to be a goal. Sure, they needed Moore's connection with Fields to strengthen and it has. Now, the next step should be getting Mooney more involved to balance out the attack.

4. The Takeaways

Not to pick of nit but this scheme on defense was supposed to produce takeaways.

Not a single takeaway made by the Bears defense so far came from a starting player.

The interception Jack Sanborn made came when he had been put in as the middle linebacker backup, not as strong side starter. The two other interceptions were by backup defensive backs Quindell Johnson and Greg Stroman Jr. and the fumble forced and recovery was by Terell Smith. Stroman really isn't even the backup. He was on the practice squad but had to come up. Johnson is the fourth safety.

They are overdue for this.

5. The Injuries

Eberflus said he couldn't be certain of Khalil Herbert's status on Friday due to an ankle injury that knocked him out of the game. Roschon Johnson had a concussion and Travis Homer has a hamstring injury.

This leaves only D'Onta Foreman, and he has been inactive the last four games. Foreman is a different style runner than Herbert. He's more of a one-cut downhill type with much more power but less elusiveness and cutback skill than Herbert.

That's only one aspect of the injuries. The secondary got ravaged with Smith and Stroman going out toward the end after Kyler Gordon, Eddie Jackson, Jaylon Johnson and Josh Blackwell already were out.

Some will likely return this week. Some might be just starting stints on the sidelines.

Jackson was expected back long ago from a foot injury. According to Eberflus, it wasn't that serious. He's already missed three full games and part of another. Gordon could return for the next game, though. Johnson's a guessing game because it's a hamstring.

Offensive line injuries continue with Braxton Jones out but now Lucas Patrick is out with a concussion. He wasn't supposed to start anyway and was in because of Teven Jenkins' injury, but Jenkins is now back.

The hope was they would be getting health after this bye week but as it stands it's probably more accurate to say they'll be healthier-ish.

6. Tyrique Stevenson

He is a rookie and a certain amount of leeway needs to be given, but Thursday and against Denver it seemed the opposing quarterback was looking to pick on him downfield. His technique in one-on-one needs tweaking to say the least. He gave up a 25-yard pass interference penalty and received a colossal break on another one that was waved off.

Sportradar has Stevenson at a 139.9 passer rating against when targeted with three touchdowns allowed and 72.4% completions allowed when targeted.

Pro Football Focus grades him 79th out of 107 cornerbacks with grades posted.

No one with the team is suggesting it but it wouldn't be a shock if the Bears gave another look to Smith as a starter after his start. He's graded 30th overall by PFF and has been on the field for 163 snaps. Stevenson's stats are for 267 plays.

However, Smith's status is unknown after he left the field during Thursday's game with an apparent injury.

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