To the highly trained eye, there was something about the Bears‘ 9-3 loss to the Vikings in their home opener at Soldier Field that didn’t quite resemble their 59-point outburst in a Week 1 win at Carolina.
Hmm, what could it have been?
Ah, yes — all-out disaster.
Let’s get to the grades. Warning: They’re ugly as sin.
QUARTERBACK — C-MINUS
Caleb Williams went down with a hamstring injury in the red zone in the fourth quarter, a gut punch to the Bears and their fans on a drive that ended up producing no points to pour salt in the wound. Before that, Williams’ best moments were jukes and spin moves on desperate scrambles that didn’t really amount to anything important. It’s hard to dock him too much for the Bears’ nonexistent passing attack considering how little time he had to operate, but he hardly was sharp when he did get a pass off. Tyson Bagent came in and led a promising final drive but, when he needed it, had no magic up his sleeve.
OFFENSIVE LINE — F
A million times, F. From center Garrett Bradbury’s cavalcade of first-half penalties to the unit-wide inability to create running lanes or protect their star QB, the Bears got their tails utterly handed to them up front. What a bitter pill to swallow and a giant step back.
RUNNING BACKS — D
Kyle Monangai ran hard, averaging 4.7 yards per carry, and D’Andre Swift had a beautiful 32-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter that looked like it might set up the Bears for a go-ahead touchdown until everything blew up in their faces. But Swift’s earlier fumble on first-and-goal from the 1 was a devastating mistake — as bad as the offense was, maybe the Bears are 2-0 if Swift hangs on to the ball there — and the running backs had a rough day in the pass-protection department.
WIDEOUTS AND TIGHT ENDS — F
Wait, what pass catchers? Rome Odunze couldn’t squeeze a third-down slant that would’ve moved the chains. Luther Burden didn’t show up until very late. The tight ends were no-shows, other than when it came to some glaring errors. Was there any type of mistake — penalties, missed blocks, a dropped potential touchdown pass — rookie Sam Roush didn’t make?
DEFENSE — B
You hold the other guys to nine points, you deserve an overall tip of the helmet even though the Bears gave up 100-plus on the ground to run-of-the-mill Aaron Jones and didn’t create any turnovers or make any truly big plays on that side of the ball. Lineman James Lynch was stout against the run, for whatever it’s worth. It’s not the “D’s” fault the Bears blew an opportunity to win a division game against far-past-his-prime QB Carson Wentz.
SPECIAL TEAMS — F
Getting a 23-yard field goal try blocked when the Bears absolutely had to have it in the fourth quarter was pathetic. Guess who got beat on the play by Isaiah Rodgers, who crashed around the end to block it? Yep, Roush.
COACHING — D
Ben Johnson’s gutsiest decision was to go for it on fourth-and-one in the red zone in the fourth quarter, the Bears down 6-3, and they converted. On the whole, though, Johnson got his lunch handed to him by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
