(670 The Score) Well, gang. It wasn't great. The Bears opened their season with a 34-14 loss to the Rams on Sunday that was occasionally entertaining, frequently frustrating and generally what we all expected. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields made an appearance, so that was nice? Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald only had one sack, which was nice too. Otherwise, TBD. Let’s get to the grades for the Bears.
Offense: C-
What a weird night for the offense -- 14 points is, as you may have guessed, not good. The odd part about Sunday though is that the offense looked a lot better than the final score? Like, running back David Montgomery ran for 108 yards and they averaged more than five yards per carry. Fields played! And well! He scored a touchdown! There are reasons to be optimistic, is what I’m saying. Don’t get me wrong, there was also plenty to be pessimistic about. The Bears were 0-of-4 on fourth down, which ain’t going to get it done. Marquise Goodwin leading all Bears receivers with four catches and 45 yards probably wasn’t how they drew it up either. Tight end Jimmy Graham’s third-down 11-yard reception on the team’s second scoring drive was notable on account of being his only meaningful target of the whole game. The offensive line was bad, but that was to be expected – and all things considered, only allowing one Donald sack (in garbage time) was impressive in its own way. The play-calling was unsurprisingly suspect at times and surprisingly aggressive in others, though it’d help if the Bears occasionally threw, you know, past the sticks on downs that required them too. If you want to say it was ugly enough to make a quarterback change, I won’t stop you. Coach Matt Nagy will, but I won’t.
Defense: D+
Ultimately, giving up 34 points and close to 400 yards isn’t great. In fact, it’s what some in the business might call “very bad.” I’m not sure edge rusher Khalil Mack’s name was called at any point on Sunday night. Safeties Eddie Jackson and Tashaun Gibson have some explaining to do when it comes to the Rams’ first touchdown – the coverage wasn’t great, but the missed tackles were tough to watch, especially after how much was made during training camp about eliminating them. Rams receiver Cooper Kupp’s 56-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter was another example of the secondary looking overwhelmed and overmatched for most of the night. Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson was the sole exception, though he probably has six points if he can bring down Rams quarterback Matt Stafford’s first throw of the second half. Up front, it went a bit better – lineman Akiem Hicks and linebacker Roquan Smith each made a few flashy plays, and linebacker Alec Ogletree was active and around the ball (though he had his fair share of rough moments too). Holding the Rams to 74 rushing yards was objectively impressive. Even still, it went pretty poorly for most of the night for the Chicago defense. Allowing L.A to end the third quarter with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that took less than three minutes – right after Fields brought the Bears back within one score – felt a little soul crushing.
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Special teams: A
Nagy decided he simply wasn’t going to kick field goals Sunday. Undeterred, Cairo Santos nailed both of his extra points for two (2) points. Pat O’Donnell had one (1) punt for 36 yards. Khalil Herbert looked good on kick return too. Nothing *bad* happened, which I’d call a win.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.