(670 The Score) In his first career NFL start, Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields was sacked nine times. And somehow that was barely the worst part of Chicago's 26-6 loss at Cleveland on Sunday afternoon? And perhaps not even the worst part at all? Here are the grades for the now 1-2 Bears. Spoiler, they're bad.
Offense: F
It's like Bears coach Matt Nagy woke up this morning and got all the way to the stadium before he remembered that veteran quarterback Andy Dalton wasn't starting. We'll start with the quarterbacks because, apparently, that was the position Nagy was hired to revolutionize. Fields had 68 passing yards, which will surely get him blamed for the loss Monday morning. Did the Bears scheme into Fields' strengths? Nope! Did the Bears adapt when what they were doing clearly weren't working? Reader, they didn't. They did, however, run a draw on second-and-20. They also kicked a field goal while four yards away from the end zone. Somewhere in between those two plays, they allowed seven sacks -- and nine total in the game. The tight ends, who were apparently primed for their breakout game, had one catch on five targets. Running back David Montgomery had 10 carries for 34 yards and got close to half of his total yardage on the Bears' first offensive snap. Make no mistake about it – execution was lacking on Sunday afternoon, but that issue pales in comparison to the game-planning blunders that were on display in Cleveland. Nagy and the Bears had an entire week to prepare the most dynamic quarterback they've ever coached and ended the day with 47 total yards of offense.
Defense: C
In a sense, this defensive performance felt so deeply familiar. There was a lot of good, especially in the first half – and then, on account of playing for what felt like 57 of the game's 60 minutes, the Bears got sloppy. Robert Quinn's continued early-season resurgence (1.5 sacks Sunday) was great to see and probably the only reason why there wasn't extreme panic when Khalil Mack went into the locker room with a foot injury during the first half. And speaking of Mack, the Bears' very good edge rusher continues to be very good (two sacks). There were good Roquan Smith moments against the run and bad Roquan Smith moments against the pass. Jaylon Johnson had the unenviable task of shadowing Odell Beckham Jr. and did pretty well, all things considered. Eddie Jackson had the unenviable task of making a tackle and did *not* do pretty well, all things considered. Even on a good day, this defense probably isn't good enough to keep Nagy's offense in games anymore. On a bad day, like Sunday, this defense isn't even good enough to keep the Bears on your TV for the full broadcast.
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Special teams: B (or something, who cares)
Cairo Santos kicked two – two! – field goals, the second of which briefly made it a one-score game. It ended as a three-score game, but we'll always remember that time when the Bears kicked a field goal from the 4-yard line to make it a one-score game. On a punt return, Nsimba Webster dropped the ball but quickly made up for it, which is more than Nagy can say (are you getting the theme here?). Pat O'Donnell punted seven times for almost 400 yards. Give him the game ball!
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
