Report Card: Bears Position Grades after win over Rams |
Let’s hand out our grades from Week 4 after the Bears win over the Rams:
QUARTERBACK B Caleb Williams has gotten off to a rocky start, but this was by far the best he has looked as a passer. Williams was just 17-of-23 for 157 yards on Sunday against the Rams with a TD pass. Williams—as has been the case for Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky—was under heavy pressure and was the victim of a few drops from his receivers. Williams was sacked three times. But Williams did not turn the ball over, which is a good recipe for winning. RUNNING BACKS A D’andre Swift and Roschon Johnson combined to tear up the Rams defense. Swift had his breakout game with 16 carries for 93 yards and a TD, plus he added seven catches for 72 yards through the air. Roschon Johnson had 25 yards and a TD on the ground as well. A rookie QB’s best friend is a run game. RECEIVERS C+ The WR trio of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Oduzne were quiet in week four because of how much the Bears ran it. Moore had three catches for 22 yards and a TD, Rome Odunze had just one catch, and Keenan Allen returned to the lineup with a quiet 19 yards. Working Allen back into this mix should go a long way. TIGHT ENDS B Cole Kmet had three catches for 34 yards and excelled in blocking. More of Kmet, though, would be nice. OFFENSIVE LINE D The offensive line was better, still allowing heavy pressure from Caleb Williams and three sacks, 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 came away with three sacks against the Rams but struggled a bit with the run game. The Bears will look to get Montez Sweat more involved soon as he and Gervon Dexter each had a sack. LINEBACKERS B+ T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds combined for 11 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, who had 12 tackles, a sack, and an INT. The Bears allowed a few really big plays but, for the most part, were able to keep the Rams out of the end zone through the air. This unit did a great job preventing damage all day. SPECIAL TEAMS A DeAndre Carter was quiet in the return game. Cairos Santos's field goal and three extra points were solid, and Tory Taylor's three punts 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 and needs to do everything it can to make it easy for him. However, the defense was strong and the Bears continue to grow.
