The Chicago Bears (3-10) were defeated 28-19 by the Green Bay Packers (5-8), which marked their sixth straight loss of the season. It’s also the Bears’ eighth consecutive defeat to the Packers.
All things considered, it’s impressive that Chicago led this game until their fourth-quarter collapse. They were down three starters in the secondary with Eddie Jackson done for the year and rookies Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon still in concussion protocol.
The offense benefited from the return of Justin Fields, who had his most complete game as a true dual-threat quarterback. But it wasn’t enough to pull out the win (which might be the best thing in the long run).
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Bears in this loss.
Offense: C
It was a tale of two halves for the Bears offense, which got off to a strong start but stumbled in the second half. Justin Fields’ return sparked the offense early. Fields reminded everyone, almost immediately, why he’s one of the NFL’s most exciting young players. Fields looked like his usual self, including breaking free for a 56-yard rushing touchdown (and if you ask Fields, he thought he was slow on that run). But, most importantly, Fields had his best passing game this season. He completed 80 percent of his passes (20-of-25) for 254 yards and two interceptions. Fields reminded everyone that he’s an elite deep ball thrower, which included some dimes to Equanimeous St. Brown (56 yards) and N’Keal Harry (49 yards).
David Montgomery had another solid game for the Bears, including rushing for 61 yards on 14 carries (4.4 average) and a touchdown. Oh, and the offensive line actually has a pretty good day in pass protection. Fields wasn’t sacked once — for the first time this season. The offensive line did a good job of giving Fields time and allowing him to find receivers deep.
Unfortunately, it all fell apart in the second half. The Bears were held to two field goal attempts (including one that was missed) inside the 22-yard line, which allowed the Packers to crawl their way back. Chicago was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, and Fields tossed two interceptions (including one that led to Green Bay’s game-winning touchdown. Although, that was on St. Brown). The Bears just can’t seem to close things out in the fourth quarter this season, which might what’s best in the long run.
Defense: B
Allowing 18 points in the fourth quarter isn’t a good look. But when you factor in the fact that this is an injury-depleted Bears defense (particularly in the secondary), the fact that Chicago allowed just 10 points in the first three quarters is nothing short of remarkable.
You have to give it up for the Bears’ young secondary really stepping up in place of injured starters Eddie Jackson, Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon. DeAndre Houston-Carson, rookie Elijah Hicks and undrafted rookies Jaylon Jones and Josh Blackwell were impressive against Aaron Rodgers, and the Packers offense couldn’t get anything going for the first three quarters. Undrafted rookie Jack Sanborn continues to be one of the best parts of this defense over the last month. Sanborn had a team-high 11 tackles, including one for a loss, and was solid in coverage. He’s really making a case for a starting job in 2023.
Unfortunately, Chicago’s pass rush remains unresponsive. The Bears failed to notch a single sack or quarterback hit, and Rodgers had all day in the pocket. Chicago’s run defense once again struggled to stop the run, allowing 175 yards, including 93 by AJ Dillon.
Special Teams: D-
It was an ugly day for the Bears special teams. There was a time when Cairo Santos felt automatic, but that hasn’t been the case this season. Santos missed another two kicks against the Packers, including a blocked field goal (that was low) and a missed extra point. Trenton Gill only had to punt once (which travels 39 yards). Velus Jones had a solid day returning kickoffs, which included no muffed punts on four returns for 114 yards (28.5 average).
Coaching: C-
Matt Eberflus is 0-2 against the Packers in his first season, but his team had a good chance to beat them on Sunday. The Bears led for the first three quarters but were ultimately outscored 18-0 in the fourth quarter. It certainly felt like Chicago was playing not to lose, which — shocker — resulted in them losing.
There’s no denying Luke Getsy has done a great job with Fields this season. But Getsy has been wildly inconsistent with his play calling at times this season, and this was one of those frustrating days for the former Packers assistant coach. Getsy got too conservative in his play calling when Fields was slinging it downfield. Instead of put the ball in Fields’ hands in the third quarter, Getsy leaned on the run with some head scratching plays that led to one field goal and one blocked field goal. There’s still plenty to be desired when it comes to Getsy’s situational play calling.
