Grading the Bears' Preseason Opener

The Bears did so much right in Saturday's preseason opener, it's almost difficult to find something to pick at unless you stumble over the special teams problems and more specifically the punt returner.

Coaches will no doubt spot plenty of problems for the Bears to correct. That's what the HITS principle Matt Eberflus uses is all about.

"Really it's about the style," Eberflus said Saturday after the 23-17 win over Tennessee. "We want to make sure that the Chicago Bears are playing with the right effort, the right intensity, being smart about how they play, and playing smart with good fundamentals and technique, and that is all we are trying to do.

"We are trying to help each player, and we are going to give each player a couple of things to work on this coming week based on this tape so he can really hone in and focus on his skill."

One thing to work on for the punt returner might be sufficient.

The Bears defense made numerous plays in the preseason opener like Eberflus wants to see from the entire group. The offense had flawless execution on two big plays to start the game, then third quarterback Nathan Peterman made a few longer connections to help get the lead back. Cairo Santos was spot-on with shorter field goals.

The Bears go to Indianapolis Wednesday for two practices and then a game on Saturday and it's likely to be more of a dress rehearsal game than the last preseason game, which normally gets reserved for backups and players trying to make the roster.

Here are their grades from Week 1 of preseason

Passing: A-

The only real flaw besides the interception P.J. Walker threw on an unncessary deep ball, one play after the Bears defense had its own interception, was an overall lack of passing. The Bears threw it only 22 times. While they averaged a hefty 11.04 yards per pass attempt, the passing game is what they really need to work at. Nathan Peterman hit a nice 37-yard pass to Isaiah Ford down the sidelines. In practice, Ford has gotten open several times like this and has been overthrown, but this time it clicked. A 25-yard completion by Tyson Bagent to Daurice Fountain also rated up there, just behind the 62-yard and 56-yard TD passes Justin Fields had with short tosses. Overall, their timing in the passing game was sharp for this time of the year and the pass blocking held up well -- they allowed just two sacks and didn't need their quarterbacks to scramble at all. The only other regret might have been getting tight ends involved as targets just three times. Stephen Carlson got targeted twice and Jared Pinkney once, with two catches for 6 yards. They even threw a pass to fullback Khari Blasingame. People have been asking for this for over a year. How can you target a player that big and fast one time in a regular season, like they did last year? The 116.3 combined passer rating from this one says it all. Pay no attention to P.J. Walker's 16.7 passer rating. Most of that number came from one ill-advised interception.

Chicago Bears OL allowed the fewest QB pressures (3) among all teams from Week 1's preseason games so far
— Brad Spielberger, Esq. (@SpielbergerBrad) August 13, 2023

Rushing: C

The backup offensive line used in the game lacked push in the running game but it was easily explained. They don't usually play together. Without Lucas Patrick at center, Doug Kramer was moved up from third team. Ja'Tyre Carter normally is a second-team guard but started because Patrick and Nate Davis were out for the game with injuries. Roschon Johnson displayed nice speed and power on one run in early for 24 yards but gaines just 20 yards on his other 11 carries with the line struggling. He also needed to have his pad level down more. He was caught at the line or behind it twice standing straight up when he could have plowed forward for a yard or two with lower pad level. Running backs Trestan Ebner and D'Onta Foreman both had three carries for 9 yards and didn't show much but Travis Homer showed an ability to navigate through heavy traffic to find yards on a few of his carries and had 25 yards rushing. Combined, the backs had 28 runs for 102 yards, which isn't spectacular but not poor considering the lack of push by the backup line.

Pass Defense: A-

To see this defense play, you'd never have thought the edge rush was an issue for the Bears. Then again, Yannick Ngakoue and DeMarcus Walker were not playing so it was largely the backups and the backup Titans who were facing each other. Eight official sacks from seven people weren't the only positive from the pass rush. They were getting the pressure consistently and without blitzing. Terrell Lewis had two sacks, including a strip-sack, and although he was admonished by Eberflus for jumping offsides, if he does this while producing a few sacks at a time then it might be acceptable considering last year's abysmal pass rush. He could fit as a situational rusher. Trevis Gipson was energized and probably deserved half a sack more than stat keepers gave him. He had the most steady pressure besides Lewis. Rookie Jalen Harris' three quarterback hits and forced fumble showed he could be someone deserving more attention. When the Bears had a sack, they also had one or more other linemen who were close enough to have made a play, as well, except when Zacch Picke0ns made his blindside hit on Will Levis. Interceptions by A.J. Thomas and Bralen Trahan and big hits from Kyler Gordon with the starters let the Bears hold the Titans backup QBs to a 63.4 passer rating. They had six pass breakups, including the biggest by Barrington Wade on fourth down in the end zone. The biggest flaw in the defense might have been an inability of starters to cope with the scrambling of Willis, who isn't one of the better scramblers. He had a 13-yarder and hurt them for one key first down. The QBs had 28 of the 126 yards rushing by scrambling.

Run Defense: B

Seven tackles for loss shows they were getting penetration. Tennessee had 68 of its 126 yards rushing on one 26-yard Julius Chestnut run, a 14-yard Tyjae Spears run and four scrambles. The other 19 carries resulted in 58 yards, which is more acceptable. In short yardage, they were tough and it took a fourth-down dive over the top to prevent a goal-line stand. Noah Sewell and Micah Baskerville played off the linemen nicely. The starting defensive line overall needed a little less penetration and a more gap-sound approach.

Let’s pump the breaks just a bit. The OL is still a HUGE ? And I know neither of our Starting DEs played yesterday, but that first drive down the field on us was a little sus.
— Inconsistently Consistent (@InconsistentlyS) August 13, 2023

Special Teams: C-

The negatives were obviously Jones' inability to cleanly field two punts. A punt that hits the ground almost always is an invitation to trouble for the receiving team. One other negative was Trenton Gill's fourth-quarter punt when the Bears were backed up. He punted very low and 41 yards, allowing for an easy 17-yard return. It gave the Titans one last chance to win it but Trahan's interception ended this on a play that started at the Bears 36 with 19 seconds left. Coverage units generally were a step above good, with the Titans starting drives at their own 17 and 8 following kickoffs and their own 10 after one punt.

Overall: B

Only a few plays dragged this overall grade down out of the A range but in the regular season it takes only a few plays to make for a loss.

Bears fans vs Packer fans all week #bearsnation pic.twitter.com/4szmHkdWFg
— Unbearable Sports (@UnbearableSport) August 12, 2023

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven