Bears Report Card: Easy Win Meaningless Minus Playoffs

Ultimately it could carry all the significance of a December rout last year of another Texas team at Soldier Field.

The 36-7 win over the Houston Texans seemed a great deal like the 31-24 win over Dallas last year, except in that one the Cowboys scored a couple of garbage time TDs to make the final score look closer.

On Sunday it got out of hand early and the Bears earned a clean report card for the effort. However, it still leaves them a game behind the Arizona Cardinals in the wild-card chase and they will only earn themselves a worse draft pick by finishing 9-7 or 8-8 and missing the playoffs.

Mitchell Trubisky's late-season surge since returning to the field could only be a tease, much like this "playoff run." He has played well against two weaker defenses, and it's been his M.O. throughout his Bears career.

The heat will be on Trubisky and the offense, as well as the defense, next week in Minneapolis in what could very well be an elimination game.

Here are the grades from a 36-7 rout of the Houston Texans.

Running Game: B+

The 80-yard run to start the game counts for plenty because big plays scare defenses, especially early. And it showed as Montgomery actually had the speed to break long runs. It was a knock on him coming out of college. Most impressive was the 80-yard run came out of the shotgun. This was supposed to be the run formation the Bears couldn't block when they switched to more under-center plays. The only problem with the running game was the lack of consistency. They struggled in the second half to run for much, and the same happened against Detroit. It didn't cost them this time when they ran for only 38 second-half yards. What also hurt were second-half silly penalties on the offensive line. It helped limit them to three points in the third quarter, but at least they scored in that quarter for a change.

Passing Game: A

Mitchell Trubisky averaged 8.1 yards an attempt, which almost never happens. His 126.7 passer rating told the story of his efficiency most of the day. They got him into the open field much of the time to throw with bootlegs and rollouts and he made the most of it. Allen Robinson's 35-yard gain produced the type of yards after catch the offense has lacked, and both tight ends made major contributions, Cole Kmet with four more catches for 41 yards after a five-catch game against Detroit and Jimmy Graham with the 5-yard TD catch in the red zone one play after his dopey false start from the half-yard line.

Run Defense A-

One key was limiting Deshaun Watson to smaller gains when he scrambled because he can come up with big totals on runs to frustrate defenses. The 108 rushing yards included 38 from Watson, and much of Buddy Howell's 42-yard total came after the game was over and the Bears had shut down the chief running threat, Duke Johnson.

Pass Defense: A

Allowing 7 of 14 third-down conversions wasn't a problem because they had pressure on Watson most of the day. The Bears hadn't been a good blitzing team and hadn't done it much but effectively accomplished it against Houston to add to the heat brought by Khalil Mack, Bilal Nichols, Brent Urban and Mario Edwards. They had 11 quarterback hits and wouldn't budge at the goal line even. Duke Shelley had three tackles and a pass defense in his debut replacing injured Buster Skrine.

Special Teams: A

Sherrick McManis forced a fumble on a punt return and Josh Woods recovered. Two more Cairo Santos field goals ran his streak to 18, while the Bears in general did the best thing you can do on special teams when you're facing Watson and that's keep him bottled up in his own end of the field. The average starting point in the first half for Houston was its 19, and the 23 for the game.

Coaching: A

Chuck Pagano used the blitz this time effectively and it was important because Watson has struggled when throwing against the blitz this year. The mix of man and zone coverages with disguises did the trick. Bill Lazor mixed up plays a little too much considering they broke an 80-yard run the first play and then shifted to the outside and then the pass, and they tried to shift to the shotgun on a play 10 inches from the goal line. However, he mixed up the type of pass plays well and it helped keep J.J. Watt from having too big of an impact in the pass rush. Matt Nagy's ability to coach through a COVID-19 scare this week and all the unsubstantiated reports he could be fired was a testament to his ability to focus and keep the team focused and together.

Overall: A

The real test will come against a better defense capable of limiting their rushing yardage and forcing Trubisky into throwing it. Detroit and Houston lost this ability earlier in the year. The Bears will see this in Minnesota because the Vikings held them to 41 yards rushing in Chicago. If they win that one, it could set up the real crusher when Mike Glennon keeps them out of the playoffs.

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