The Chicago Bears traveled across the country to take on the New York Giants and the only points they scored were from a guy they signed off the street on Saturday as they lost 20-12. Kicker Michael Badgley, playing in place of Cairo Santos who missed the game due to personal reasons, accounted for all 12 points of the day with the Bears offense unable to find the endzone for the first time all year.
It was a lackluster performance for all phases. The offense struggled to stop the Giants pass rush, the defense couldn’t stop anyone running the ball, and a special teams blunder eliminated any hope of a comeback late in the game.
Despite playing the NFC East version of themselves, the Bears were outcoached and fall to 2-2 on the year. Here are our takeaways from the game.
1
This was a boring game to sit through
We’ll get to the analysis in a moment, but let’s just acknowledge that this game was a slog to sit through. No touchdowns scored for the Bears, very few exciting offensive plays, and gameplans by both teams that had quarterbacks combine for fewer than 250 yards. It was difficult getting excited for two offensively-challenged teams but seeing it unfold confirmed our fears.
If the Bears are going to lose, can we at least see a somewhat exciting product in the process? That’s all we’re asking in this. But let’s move on and get to the meat and potatoes.
2
Justin Fields made progress this week
Ever since Week 1, Justin Fields has seemingly gotten worse and worse at quarterback. The good news is that slide finally stopped as Fields looked better in Sunday’s game. The bad news is it still wasn’t good enough to push the Bears to victory. Fields completed 11-of-22 passes for 174 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. His highlight was a 56-yard bomb to Darnell Mooney, easily the longest play of the day for the young quarterback.
There were still issues with Fields’ game that were prevalent in the previous couple of weeks, but he was under duress for much of the afternoon thanks to the Giants pass rush. Fields was able to escape pressure more than a few times with his legs, but if he can’t get a clean pocket, he’ll start seeing ghosts.
Progress needs to continue to take place but if you were looking for those signs of life and growth, they were on display on Sunday.
3
Luke Getsy needs to be more aggressive
Watching offensive coordinator Luke Getsy lean heavily on the running game was admirable, if not frustrating, last week. After all, it was working well and the Bears were in prime position to win on the back of Khalil Herbert. This week, however, things were different and the offense would have benefitted from a more concerted effort to push the ball downfield.
Getsy became too predictable with calling run plays, especially in situations like third and long. When the Bears actually opened up a drive with passing, good things happened. Aside from the final drive, the Bears passed to open two drives. Fields went 2/2 for 79 yards with both drives ending in field goals.
The way Getsy scripts plays to open games should be commended. He’s helped the offense score points on the opening drive of the game in three straight weeks, but he goes into a shell as the game progresses. It’s important to remember this is still his first season calling plays in the NFL and we’ve seen coaches be slow to adjust to the challenges. Getsy has improved the run game dramatically, but that shouldn’t be the end all, be all with the offense. It’s time to be more aggressive in both play calls and specific game situations.
4
Lucas Patrick is a liability at guard
How many more times will we be forced to see Sam Mustipher get thrown around like a ragdoll at center? And with that, how many more times will Lucas Patrick struggle at guard? Patrick once again got the start at right guard on Sunday, but was forced to move to the left side when Cody Whitehair exited with a knee injury.
If Whitehair misses an extended period of time, I’m not confident in Patrick’s ability at guard. He was brought in to be the center this offseason, but the team continues to trot Mustipher out there with poor results. Patrick may need to play the guard position out of necessity for the time being, but when everyone is healthy, it’s way past time to put him at center. He can’t be any worse than at guard, right?
5
Eddie Jackson is officially good again
There comes a time in a season where a player is no longer having a good start to the year and instead is simply playing good football again. For Eddie Jackson, that threshold was crossed on Sunday. Jackson notched his third interception of the year, but more importantly, was easily the most consistent and best defender on the field.
Jackson finished second on the team in tackles with nine, six of which were solo, and had a pass defensed to go along with his interception. Multiple times, he was the last line of defense when everyone else got fooled with the bootlegs and kept everything in front of him. He’s diagnosing plays correctly and is playing with the natural instincts that made him so dangerous a few years ago.
With the way he’s playing, there’s little reason to believe Jackson is going to become a liability like he was the last couple of years. He’s officially back to being a menace in the secondary and the Bears are better for it.
6
Velus Jones Jr. is better than his muffed punt
We can argue about Velus Jones Jr. and his ability to play the wide receiver position in the NFL since we haven’t seen it in camp, preseason, or the regular season yet. But Jones made his living as a returner all throughout college and that was a major selling point when general manager Ryan Poles drafted him.
Jones missed the first few weeks of the season and finally made his NFL debut on Sunday, playing strictly on special teams. He did show some burst, particularly on punt returns, but he had his worst moment of the game at the worst time when he muffed a clean return to give the ball back to the Giants, ending any hope of a comeback.
We can joke about Jones’ age and how much football he’s already played in college but he knows what he needs to do to improve. He’s been off the field for weeks and really only has one other game under his belt since being drafted. This error won’t define him and he’s much better than what he showed. Better times are ahead for him and he will learn from this mistake.
7
Kyler Gordon needs to stick to one position
Kyler Gordon’s struggles in the secondary are starting to become a trend. After four games, the rookie cornerback continues to struggle in coverage. Quarterbacks are completing over 71 percent of their passes when targeting him, with a rating of 118.9. When he isn’t allowing completions, he’s getting penalized for pass interference or holding. It’s starting to become worrisome but perhaps there’s a solution that can help make things easier for him.
It would behoove the Bears to stick Gordon at one position when everyone gets healthy and stop moving from from outside to inside. Perhaps nickel is his best position considering how effective he can be in the run game. He’s also having to move around of out necessity right now with Jaylon Johnson still out with a quad injury. When he’s back, however, let’s see Gordon inside with Johnson and Kindle Vildor on the outside. The versatility just isn’t there yet and his issues are costing the Bears in big passing situations.
8
The Bears defense was woefully unprepared
How is it that nearly everyone saw the Giants gameplan of heavy runs and bootlegs coming except for defensive coordinator Alan Williams? It was clear as day with the weapons the Giants were missing and the limitations of Daniel Jones that there would very little passing and more running from the quarterback. To have half the field available for Jones to run on for touchdowns is inexcusable. Changes should have been made after the second drive, not the first half.
It became even worse when the Giants needed to improvise when Jones and backup Tyrod Taylor got hurt. They didn’t have a healthy quarterback to run their offense and yet they still moved the ball on the Bears late in the game. Even though the defense has struggled against the run all year, Williams has had a solid season as defensive coordinator thus far. But considering the opponent and how obvious their gameplan was, this was easily his worst performance of the year.
