Report Card: Bears Position Grades after loss to Lions |
The Bears opened up the 2024-2025 regular season at home against the Tennessee Titans, and this team obviously looks much different from what we’ve seen. Matt Eberflus was the man in charge, but the Bears decided to keep the No. 1 overall draft choice this season and spent their pick on Caleb Williams. Plus, D’Andre Swift and Keenan Allen have entered the mix offensively.
However, the Bears had a bumpy start to the season, a three-game winning streak, and now a losing streak that has spanned six games. The latest: a 23-20 gut-wrenching loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving to prompt a chaotic week at Halas Hall. So, let’s hand out our grades from after the loss: QUARTERBACK A- Caleb Williams has appeared to right the ship after a few rough weeks. After four straight weeks without a TD pass, Williams has thrown five in the last two weeks under new play-caller Thomas Brown. Williams looked as comfortable as we’ve seen him as he was 20-of-39 with 256 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday. Williams — as has been the case for Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky — has been under heavy pressure this season, and he was sacked five times on Sunday. The No. 1 overall pick used his legs four times for 39 yards as well, and he did not turn the ball over for the sixth straight week. RUNNING BACKS D DAandre Swift and Roschon Johnson have taken over this backfield. Johnson provides strong pass blocking and a goal line presence — but Swift out-touched him as Johnson went down with a head injury. Swift had 39 rushing yards and 35 through the air. A rookie QB’s best friend is a run game so more of this would be nice. RECEIVERS A We’ve seen big games from DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen, but Williams has done a great job spreading the ball lately. Moore led the way with 97 yards on eight catches, including a 4th quarter score. Keenan Allen had five catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Odunze had just two grabs for 25 yards. Working these weapons into this mix should go a long way. TIGHT ENDS C Cole Kmet had three catches for 26 yards. Kmet had been proving himself as one of the league’s best TEs and was not involved in weeks 8-10. Continuing to use Kmet is a good plan. OFFENSIVE LINE D The offensive line was not great, still allowing the pressure of Caleb Williams and five sacks, but they could open up holes in the run game and give Caleb ample time to throw. We will still need to see more out of this unit as the o-lineman audition for their place on the 2025 Bears. DEFENSIVE LINE D The Bears came away with just two sacks against Jared Goff. The Bears were getting gashed in the run game as well. The Bears will look to get Montez Sweat more involved. Gervon Dexter Sr. had a sack, and Austin Booker assisted with a sack as well. LINEBACKERS C T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds combined for 11 tackles, which helped pace the Bears' solid linebackers on Sunday. Jack Sanborn also had half a sack. This unit looks poised to continue leading the way. SECONDARY B Jaylon Johnson’s All-Pro journey is still going strong. Kyler Gordon made some plays. Kevin Byard III was extremely active and finished the game with ten tackles. Tyrique Stephenson forced a huge fumble late in the second half to create the Bears’ only takeaway. The unit still misses Jaquan Brisker, who has been missing from action with a concussion for almost two months. SPECIAL TEAMS C DeAndre Carter was solid, with nearly 24 yards of return yardage on one attempt. Cairos Santos was 2-for-2 on extra points. Tory Taylor had another strong day of punting with four punts and one of them inside the 20. COACHING F The play calling was much better, this team looked completely different and prepared. This team has a rookie quarterback and needs to do everything it can to make it easy for him, and offensively, it felt like they understood that. Matt Eberflus mismanaged the final drive of the game once again, which has been the glaring case in four of the Bears’ last six losses. This time, it was the nail in the coffin, as Eberflus was fired because the Bears never got a Field Goal or a Hail Mary off in the game’s deciding drive. Stay Tuned for more report cards as the season continues.
