Bear Digest

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly for Bears Against the Vikings

From not covering T.J. Hockenson on critical downs to using backup center Doug Kramer again at the goal line as a fullback after earlier failures, there was plenty of Bears ugly to go around.
Gene Chamberlain|
D.Andre Swift's second-half running was among the few positive aspects of Monday's Bears loss.
D.Andre Swift's second-half running was among the few positive aspects of Monday's Bears loss. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The search for a new Bears coach hit a new phase on Monday night in Minnesota without anyone realizing it.

This idea about finding a "leader of men," the reported description of what the Bears are seeking in their next head coach, took a big hit in the 30-12 defeat by the Minnesota Vikings.

Oh, the Bears still want a leader, but more than anything else it became apparent Monday night -- if it wasn't already -- that they are going to ruin a third straight quarterback unless they get one of the brilliant offensive coordinator types who will be available in this coaching hiring cycle.

Williams appears hesitant, doesn't see open receivers at times but at other times he does, and he still makes brilliant throws while also displaying poor mechanics under stress.

Because he also makes plays without committing mistakes of this type, it's very apparent he hasn't lost his ability but he's starting to settle into the rot permeating the end of the Matt Eberflus coaching regime, the afterlife so to speak because Eberflus is gone.

Williams actually played on a level field with Sam Darnold statistically, or at least he didn't get embarrassed comparatively. Williams had a better passer rating (86.9) and yards per attempt (6.2) than Darnold (74. rating, 5.8 yards per attempt), got sacked the same number of times and threw the same number of touchdown passes. He threw one less interception than Darnold, who got picked off by Tyrique Stevenson.

Still, what Williams hasn't been able to do for three games is get points in the first half. The Bears are accustomed to falling behind by now after 13 times in 14 games, but no points at all for a half.

The Bears are going to need to bring in an offensive mind rather than a "leader of men" type simply to spray wash the garbage off of Williams that has accumulated over the season's first 15 weeks.

The leader of men candidate on the tip of everyone's tongue is obviously former Titans coach Mike Vrabel. As good of a leader as he is, he was a defensive side coach and is not known particularly for bringing along young quarterbacks. He'd need to depend on others to do this.

Hiring a Ben Johnson, a Joe Brady, a Kellen Moore or a Liam Coen and even Kliff Kingsbury despite his reputation for fading down the stretch, would be far better than bringing in someone whose only real experience came coaching a team with Marcus Mariota for one season, Ryan Tannehill for four seasons and then Will Levis for a season.

The coordinator types, many who had experience as quarterback coaches, will be necessary to get the bad habits knocked out of Williams and get him steered in the right direction.

It might seem like Vrabel could do this as well, with a good offensive coordinator or quarterback coach. The key word is "could."

The offensive coordinators/QB coach types have done this and would.

Vrabel had Tannehill and he's not even in football this year at the age of 36. It's merely possible Vrabel could get this done but at this point the Bears need will do it over could.

Watching Williams take one hit after the other and try to stretch his body on the sidelines in ways to get some pain relief on Monday night was not pleasant and said the Bears are not getting the job done as pass blockers.

The pass blocking was not as ugly overall as they could have anticipated.

Here is what was good, bad and ugly from Monday Night Football.

The Good

Punter Tory Taylor

Only three punts but they went for a 47.3-yard average and two of the three were downed inside the 10. Taylor is a remarkable punter and is just getting started this season.

RB D'Andre Swift

He ran hard and through tackles in this game, rushing for a 4.2-yard average per carry on 19 for 79 yards, including a 17-yarder. If Swift always ran with that kind of vision, power and tenacity, no one could be blamed for thinking the Bears had their backfield set going into the future.

DE DeMarcus Walker

The stat keepers had Walker at only one tackle and no sacks. The stat keeper apparently missed a good game. Walker was all over the place on defense, making four hits on Vikings QB Sam Darnold and also making a tackle for loss. It might have been his best game with the Bears in two seasons.

LB T.J. Edwards

Two tackles for loss, a sack and eight total tackles for the Bears' weakside linebacker. When he made his tackles they were felt.

DT Chris Williams

Like with Walker, the front seemed to come to life to make up for the loss of Gervon Dexter. Williams had a sack and two quarterback hits.

The Bad

Caleb Williams' Passing

Going 7-for-9 for 59 yards in the first half while Darnold was throwing for 145 yards then said little for Williams' chances to lead a comeback like he did last time against the Vikings. The Bears were 1-for-12 converting third downs partly because of his passing. Williams is settling in to slow starts and that can't be tolerated. He also needs to take some of the blame for nine penalties because some of the offensive linemen were flagged for being downfield or for holding because he was holding the ball too long.

Nickel Pass Defense

Sure, they held Darnold to one of his worst games of the year in passer rating and yards per attempt, but what they didn't do was cover tight end T.J. Hockenson. His five catches for 52 yards let the Vikings move the chains with 7 of 14 on third-down conversions. The Bears still can't cover tight ends.

The Ugly

Doug Kramer

It sure didn't look like the center turned fullback voiced anything to the officials when he came into the game with the ball at the 1-yard line again. He obviously was tasked with going up to an official and saying he was eligible, and didn't, resulting in a 5-yard penalty at the goal line and ruining a drive that might have reached the end zone. It's really not that hard to track down an official when you come on the field to play. They're usually getting in everyone's way.

Kiran Amegadjie

This is partly the fault of coaches who should have waited to give the rookie his first real test at tackle until he was better prepared for it. When he has had the chance to get on the field this season, it's been apparent he hasns't been fully prepared for it after missing all of the off-season work, training camp and preseason and then part of the regular season due to injuries in his rookie year. Still, he let Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard pour right past almost untouched to get the strip sack that led to a TD.

Thomas Brown

The Bears interim coach and play caller should have known Amegadjie wasn't ready. It's a bit like what happened with Teven Jenkins' rookie year, when he got thrust into a game against Green Bay after he hadn't been able to practice due to back surgery.

Brown should just about have his candidacy for head coach taken away for calling a play with Kramer in the backfield after the disaster they had earlier in the year using this in Washington. What's next, the option pitchout wide on third-and-goal from inside the 1?

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.