(670 The Score) To put the Bears' performance Sunday into perspective, there was a point somewhere in the second quarter when I looked out the window at someone walking their dog in the screaming wind and freezing rain and got jealous. The Buccaneers scored 38 points, and the Bears scored three. It was a blowout 10 minutes into the game. The Bears are back under .500, and it isn't getting any easier anytime soon. Let's get into some grades, with not a single mention about how much Blaine Gabbert we watched.
Offense: D
This isn't going to work. It's just not. The Bears had more than 100 rushing yards through the first two quarters and still went into halftime down 32 points. The only real positive, once again, is that rookie Khalil Herbert is really good. He had 91 rushing yards in the first half and finished the day with an even 100, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Everything else sucked. Justin Fields played poorly, but it's hard to place too much blame on a rookie quarterback playing in a befogged offensive scheme with a third-string offensive lineman. Still, the interception he threw in the first half was the type of play that Bears fans used to kill Mitchell Trubisky for over the years. Fields' pick in the fourth quarter wasn't a whole lot better. Elsewhere, the offensive line played to its expectations, pass-catchers dropped crucial would-be third-down receptions and coach Matt Nagy continued to be the most avant-garde timeout caller in the NFL. It was all as bad as it was familiar.
Defense: C-
For as lopsided as the final score was, especially in the first half, the Bears defense … didn't play terribly? Getting to Tom Brady at literally any point during the game probably would've helped, but of Tampa Bay's five touchdown drives in the first half, only one was longer than 50 yards. The others were 32, 35, 40 and 48 yards. Coordinator Sean Desai and company will take a good hard look at Bears' performance in the red zone this week, but asking the defense to keep the team in the game ... against Brady ... with only half the field to work with ... is unrealistic. Roquan Smith (13 total tackles) had yet another strong game, and safety DeAndre Houston-Carson put a couple more nice plays on his tape too. When you go up against as many No. 1 wide receivers as Jaylon Johnson does, sometimes you lock up Davante Adams for most of the game and other times Mike Evans has two touchdowns on you before halftime. Johnson will be fine. One wonders if Bilal Nichols will also post his coming four-figure fine on Instagram.
Special teams: A+++
Cairo Santos scored every single point for the Bears on Sunday.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
