CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- I’m sorry you all had to watch that. I really am. The Bears decided that looking bad in orange wasn’t enough Thursday night –they wanted to walk the walk and look bad on the field too. This 12-7 loss to the Commanders was unique though. It’s not every day that your offense compiles 392 yards – including 238 on the ground – while only scoring once and coming up a few inches away from winning. The good news is that the Bears are very clearly well on their way to a top-10 pick. The better news is that by the time you read this, the game will have ended. And ultimately, aren’t those the only two things you wanted from this evening? Let’s dive into some grades.
Offense: D
What a brutal way to lose. Justin Fields was sacked twice (and it could've been more) on the Bears' opening drive, which would have been the biggest bummer of the first quarter if Fields hadn’t also led an 11-play, 61-yard drive that ended up with an interception at the Commanders' 5-yard line, like, 10 minutes later. Not to be outdone by their first-quarter woes, the Bears immediately started the second quarter by marching it down the field and getting back to the Commanders' 3-yard line. On the next play, Fields missed a wide-open Ryan Griffin before Khalil Herbert was stuffed two plays later on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. That's 16 plays, 130 yards and zero points. But the time of possession was impressive! Here were some first-half stats, if you were wondering for some reason. Fields was 7-of-14 for 89 yards with an interception. Herbert had four carries for 65 yards, with 64 of those coming on one play. Darnell Mooney had four catches for 40 yards. Chicago somehow managed to outgain Washington 202-88 in total net yards and still went into the locker room down 3-0. The second half started a bit better, in that the Bears managed to actually score a point (seven, in fact!). Fields’ 40-yard touchdown bomb to Dante Pettis halfway through the third quarter was a thing of beauty, and him doing pushups on the field while everyone else celebrated only made it 10,000 times cooler. The Bears offensive line, believe it or not, continued to be an issue – Fields was sacked five times Thursday and stayed on the ground for a concerning amount of time on multiple occasions.
Defense: B+
I guess the Bears blitz now? The good news is that they were clearly better than the 1-4 Commanders' offense. Progress! Jaquan Brisker continued to look like he has a really exciting future ahead of him – he got to Carson Wentz on a third-down sack early in the first quarter and almost had an interception a few drives later. Since we’re here chattin’ sacks, Roquan Smith had one in the first half too. (We don’t need to specifically mention just how hard Wentz got him back for that later, do we?) It looked pretty good for the defense until, of course, the exact moment that the Bears scored some points. Immediately after Fields’ 40-yard touchdown throw, the Commanders got the ball back and marched 65 yards down the field on 13 plays – getting five first downs in the process – but had to settle for a field goal after some bone-headed red-zone mistakes. There wasn’t really much the Bears could do about having to take the field and defend six yards of field after Velus Jones Jr. fumbled punt in the fourth quarter, so it’s hard to blame them for the go-ahead touchdown that the Commanders' Brian Robinson scored that proved to be the difference.
Special teams: F
Jones probably lost his punt returning job. Trenton Gill do be punting, though.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
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