Report Card: Bears Position Grades after win over Panthers |
Let’s hand out our grades from the Bears' win over the Panthers:
QUARTERBACK A Caleb Williams has improved weekly and looked as good as advertised on Sunday. He was just 20-of-29 for 304 yards on Sunday against the Panthers with two TD passes. Williams—as has been the case for Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky—has been under heavy pressure but was only sacked once on Sunday. But he did not turn the ball over, which is a good recipe for winning. The No. 1 overall pick also used his legs five times for 34 yards. RUNNING BACKS A D’andre Swift and Roschon Johnson combined to tear up the Panthers' defense. Swift followed up his breakout game with 21 carries for 73 yards and a TD, plus he added two catches for 47 yards through the air. Roschon Johnson had 25 yards and 2 TDs on the ground as well. A rookie QB’s best friend is a run game. RECEIVERS B+ The WR trio of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Oduzne were excellent in week 5. Moore had his 2024 coming-out party with five catches for 105 yards and 2 TDs, Rome Odunze had five for 40 yards, and Keenan Allen had three for 33. Working Allen back into this mix should go a long way. TIGHT ENDS A Cole Kmet had three catches for 57 yards and excelled at blocking. It would be nice to see more of Kmet, though. Gerald Everett had two grabs for 22 yards. OFFENSIVE LINE B The offensive line was better, still allowing pressure on Caleb Williams and a sack, but it was able to open up holes in the run game. We will certainly need to see more from this unit if the Bears have any playoff aspirations. DEFENSIVE LINE B+ The Bears returned with four sacks against the Panthers but struggled with the run game. The Bears will look to get Montez Sweat more involved soon, but Andrew Billings and Gervon Dexter each had a sack. LINEBACKERS B+ T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds combined for 16 tackles, which helped pace the Bears' excellent linebackers on Sunday. This unit looks poised to improve on its strong 2023. SECONDARY A Jaylon Johnson’s All-Pro journey is off to an excellent start, but the story of Sunday’s game was Jaquan Brisker laying some big hits and Kevin Byard’s interception. This unit did a great job preventing damage all day — as they have all season. SPECIAL TEAMS B DeAndre Carter and the Bears’ other return men were quiet in the return game. A field goal from Cairos Santos and three extra points were solid, and Tory Taylor's one punt inside the 20 helped set the tone for a solid special teams unit. COACHING C+ The playcalling was better. This team has a rookie quarterback who needs to do everything possible to make it easy for him. Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron seem to be getting that. However, the defense has been strong, and the Bears continue to grow.
