(670 The Score) Imagine a football team that just easily wins games. Imagine what those Sundays are like. Think about how well all those fans sleep. Meanwhile, the Bears are over here making everyone sweat even during blowout wins. But it's better than sweating in a loss! The Bears earned their first win of the season with a 20-17 victory against the Bengals at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon. Let's hand out some grades.
Offense: C+
It was a weird day for Chicago's offense. On one hand, the Bears scored more points than their opponent did, which is typically a good sign. On the other, they only got into the end zone once, finished with pretty modest numbers (83 passing yards, 123 rushing yards, 206 total yards) across the board and, you'll recall, almost choked. The Bears probably could've scored close to 30 with better red-zone production too. Veteran Andy Dalton started the day at quarterback, and rookie Justin Fields finished it, which will certainly be a conversation of its own literally every single day until Chicago's game at Cleveland next Sunday. Dalton (9-of-11, 56 yards, one touchdown) wasn't playing terribly either. Allen Robinson is going to lose sleep over his fourth-quarter end zone drop, but already having a touchdown on the day probably helps the sting a bit. Darnell Mooney finished with a team-high 66 receiving yards, which feels a little underwhelming considering how involved he was early in the game. It wasn't a day to remember for Cole Kmet or Jimmy Graham, who combined for one total target. The offensive line allowed three sacks and didn't run block all that well, but a win's a win, right?!
Defense: B+
The last four minutes of the game ruined what was looking like one of the best Bears defensive performances in years. I know he comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree, but I'm not sure anyone is confusing Bengals coach Zac Taylor with McVay any time soon. Credit where it's due, though: The Bears defense no longer looked like the worst unit in football on Sunday. Forcing four turnovers sure is useful, and Roquan Smith's pick-six was the best moment of the afternoon. The pass rush showed up in full – Smith, Robert Quinn, Khalil Mack and Bilal Nichols all got to Joe Burrow at one point. The secondary looked much-improved (imagine that!) too: Cincinnati went at Jaylon Johnson – who finally came down with his first career interception in the fourth quarter – Duke Shelley and Kindle Vildor early and often but didn't have much success. Eddie Jackson had a particularly reassuring day, and the fumble he caused in the third quarter led directly to three points, courtesy of a 28-yarder from Cairo Santos. The Bears will want to clean up the multiple after-the-whistle penalties that gave Cincinnati's offense a new set of downs, but it's hard to get too critical about keeping a group featuring Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon out of the end zone until garbage time.
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Special Teams: A
Pat O'Donnell, man. It was another tidy day for the Bears' punter, who averaged 43 yards per punt and pinned three of his four inside the Bengals' 20-yard line. Santos made 22- and 28-yard field goals (pretty easy) and two extra points (also pretty easy).
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
