(670 The Score) Well, that was ugly. Turns out that having to run and pass for 150-plus yards each week in the NFL is physically taxing. The Bears came out of halftime in a tie game on the road with about 50% less energy and lost to a very beatable Falcons team Sunday – that’s now four losses in a row for Chicago, for those who aren’t extremely aware of that already. There’s plenty of on-field matters to be worried about, but the health of quarterback Justin Fields’ shoulder and hamstrings probably takes priority. I bet you $100 we all hear our first "time to shut him down!" argument sometime this week. Should be fun! Here are the grades from the Bears' 27-24 loss.
Offense: C+
Find something you love the way the Bears love throwing that corner fade to Darnell Mooney in the red zone. To be fair, it works like two-thirds of the time. (And also shouts to Riley Reiff for knocking a would-be interception out of the air a few plays earlier.) Mooney probably should've had a second touchdown on the next drive too – there wasn’t anyone within 10 yards of him on that deep shot that Fields overshot him on. The best news is that Fields had another productive day. It wasn’t quite as prolific as the last couple weeks, which admittedly feels dumb to even write on a day in which he still had 153 passing yards, 85 rushing yards and two total touchdowns. With that being said, the coaching staff continually putting him in unnecessarily vulnerable situations when he was obviously hurt is certainly a decision. The scramble play in which Fields directed Montgomery (17 rushes for 67 yards and a touchdown) upfield and hit him in stride while on the run was one of the more impressive individual moments he’s had all season. Some other good news is that Cole Kmet apparently makes insane one-handed catches now?!? The offensive line still, politely put, has plenty of room for improvement! Teven Jenkins’ absence was pretty sorely felt right around the time that Michael Scofield (who had the day of all days to forget) was giving up sacks that pushed the Bears out of field-goal position. The pass protection never got much better, and as a whole the unit gave up four sacks and five quarterback hits. The pass-catchers weren’t much better – after Mooney’s early touchdown, the only person who really had a productive day was Kmet. When your two leading receivers are a running back and your Y tight end, you have a wide receiver problem.
Defense: C+
The day started in a comically predictable way, with the Bears' defense getting dragged 69 yards down the field on 10 plays before giving up a touchdown on Atlanta’s first drive of the game. The Bears actually played somewhat better after that, allowing 14 points on 153 yards (88 passing, 65 rushing) in the first half. Jaquan Brisker (forced a fumble), Jaylon Johnson (picked up said forced fumble) and Justin Jones (generally good play) were all main characters through the first two quarters, which was, if nothing else, a good reminder that the Bears do have some dudes on that side of the ball. Kyler Gordon is probably (/definitely) not quite a dude yet, but you saw on Sunday why the coaches have kept their faith in him. After looking overwhelmed at times in the first half, Gordon sacked Marcus Mariota and blew up a third-down screen on back-to-back plays in the third quarter, which was a nice response from the rookie. Jack Sanborn had another good day (eight tackles, one quarterback hit) and continues to vindicate general manager Ryan Poles for the Roquan Smith trade. Giving up 27 points isn’t exactly something to write home about, but it was quite literally the Bears' best defensive performance in a month, so that feels commendable.
Special teams: B-
It was a weird day. On one hand, Velus Jones Jr. had a 55-yard kickoff return and DeAndre Houston-Carson forced a fumble on punt coverage. On the other hand, the Bears gave up a (record-setting) 103-yard kickoff return touchdown immediately after going up 10 points late in the first half. It was Cordarrelle Patterson though, so its kinda hard to blame the Bears there. Cairo Santos had his typical productive day (six points), but he missed his first field-goal attempt of the season – a 56-yarder that would've been the longest of his career. He also made perhaps the funniest business decision of the entire season on Patterson’s touchdown run.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
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