The Chicago Bears lost again on Sunday, this time a demoralizing 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots. This makes it three losses in a row after a promising 4-2 start. Now, at 4-5, Chicago is left picking up the pieces.
The Bears didn’t just lose. They were beaten pretty-handedly by a Patriots team that is one of the worst in the NFL. New England probably would have been better off losing based on their current roster and hope for a draft pick but the Bears let the Patriots walk all over them at home.
Nobody in this game was particularly good. Whether it is the offense, defense, special teams, and definitely coaching. Everybody should be ashamed that they weren’t better. This is how we’re grading every unit of the Bears following another embarrassing loss.
Offense: F
The Bears offense scored just three points, mustered just 142 yards and allowed a season-high nine sacks. It was as putrid of a loss as anyone could have expected and their lack of offense was a big reason why. Caleb Williams was bad. Keenan Allen couldn’t hang on to anything. DJ Moore looks like he doesn’t want to be playing football. They don’t target Cole Kmet. Everything about the offense is just abysmal, and they got nothing going against a lousy Patriots defense. You have to score points if you are going to win in the NFL. Going the entire game without a touchdown and only one field goal is grounds for a failing grade. That’s exactly what they deserve here.
Defense: C
The Bears have a good defense. They’re the reason they have four wins this season. The defense wasn’t good in Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals, but they bounced back in Week 10 vs. the Patriots. The defense only allowed 19 points, which marks the 10th time in the last 11 games where they’ve allowed 21 points or less. If the offense managed to show up even a little bit, they might have given up even fewer points because they would have been on the field less. It’s a shame that a group this good is being wasted. Chicago wasn’t dominant like we’ve seen in the past, but it was an improvement back to the norm after the bad Arizona game. Still, in a loss, a C grade is what feels most fair. Hopefully, they continue to get healthier as time goes on which will make them even better.
Special Teams: C
DeAndre Carter had a good game in both the kick and punt return game. Cairo Santos was asked to make one field goal, and he did but was not asked to hit an extra point. Finally, Tory Taylor punted eight times for 335 yards. He also pinned the Patriots inside of the 20-yard line twice. The special teams didn’t win the game for Chicago like they did in team one, but they certainly didn’t lose it for them either. Everyone was able to do their jobs well when asked to do it. Taylor is going to become known as an elite punter in the NFL and he’s been doing great for the Bears since he arrived. It’s a shame that Williams wasn’t able to keep his less punting promise though. It would be nice for the special teams units to be more on the scoring side of things in the coming weeks. Maybe they can provide the spark that this team needs. That would give them an A grade but for now, they get a C.
Coaching: F
What else is there to say about coaching? The Bears don’t have any worth being excited about. Matt Eberflus has lost the locker room, he’s allowing Shane Waldron to drive the offense into the ground, and he’s putting star players in a position to get hurt. For the second week in a row, the offense was horrid. That falls at the feet of Waldron and Eberflus who doesn’t overrule bad playcalling by a guy Eberflus hired to do the job. He doubles down on every mistake that he makes and it never works for him. The defense was okay. Great. The offense scored three points at home against a bad team. With Eberflus and Waldron there, Williams is more likely to be a bust than a winner. This is the bad news Bears right now.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears Report Card: How we graded Chicago in Week 10 loss to Patriots