(670 The Score) Five hundred and four yards. The Bears allowed 504 yards Sunday. It’s just an insane number of yards for a professional football team to allow. But the Bears did! Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. There was nothing remotely memorable about the Bears' 41-10 loss to the Lions on Sunday at Ford Field, and I'd be surprised if anyone is talking about it three hours from now. For Chicago, this game was entirely meaningless, and the Bears (3-13) certainly made that clear. Here are some bad grades for some bad plays.
Offense: D
At the least, Luke Getsy’s opening script for Sunday was pretty impressive. The Bears converted on third down three different times as a part of their nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game. And only a few plays after Cole Kmet got a snap at quarterback (which he tossed to Justin Fields for a 31-yard gain, which ruled), he capped off the drive with his sixth touchdown catch of the season. It was the 12th time the Bears scored on their opening drive this season, the most of any NFL team. Would you believe it if I told you that on literally the next drive, Fields had a run nearly twice as long? It has been one season of this, and we’re all already deeply spoiled with these plays. Fields surpassed 100 rushing yards before the end of the first quarter, which is surprising in how unsurprising it is. It was also the last fun moment of the day. The Bears offensive line lost Teven Jenkins to yet another neck injury on the first drive of the game and proceeded to fall apart almost immediately after – Chicago gave up five sacks in the first half and seven overall. It’s hard to expect much when you’re already down to your third-string guard midway though the second quarter, but it was ugly. Not quite as ugly as Fields’ interception to end the first half, but close. The Bears' passing offense was non-existent. Fields had four completions going into the final quarter and finished 7-of-21 for 75 yards, one touchdown and one very silly interception. The lasting memory from Sunday will be that time when *both* of the Bears’ offensive tackles got flagged for holding on the same play, which also happened to be the Lions’ seventh sack of the day.
Defense: D
It wasn’t a banner start for the Kyler Gordon redemption narrative – mauling a wide receiver on a fourth-down Hail Mary in the end zone to all but gift the Lions a touchdown isn't what modern football minds consider “a good play.” So maybe the Lions’ first touchdown was his fault, but the other two Detroit touchdowns in the first half could be blamed on quite literally anyone else. The Lions kinda did whatever they wanted to in the first half, going into the locker room with almost 250 net yards and 15 first downs. Jared Goff wasn’t spectacular, but his efficiency was impressive, although carving up this Bears secondary isn’t exactly a challenge. Dominique Robinson’s first sack since Week 1 was a nice start to the second half, and those vibes lasted exactly 22 seconds – on the next play, a third-and-18, Detroit hit a draw for 35 yards. Then Jameson Williams went for 40 yards on a reverse. Then it was 31-10. By the time the fourth quarter began, the Lions already had 440 total yards and were averaging eight yards per play. They set a season-high in rushing yards Sunday, which you probably figured.
Special teams: B
Velus Jones Jr. has really come on as a return man of late, and his 63-yard kickoff return near the end of the first half was another impressive example of that. Cairo Santos was, in fact, up to the task of kicking exactly one (1) 23-yard field goal. Trenton Gill pinned almost half of his seven punts – a season-high, if you can believe it – inside the Lions’ 20-yard line, which was nice. Bears special teams didn’t drop any passes or miss (m)any tackles, so they’ve got that going for them.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
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