Bears report card: How we graded Chicago in their Week 7 win
The Chicago Bears (3-4) had a dominating 33-14 win over the New England Patriots (3-4), which no one saw coming. Well, outside of the Bears themselves.
Chicago excelled in all phases — offense, defense, special teams and coaching — and it was the kind of win that this Matt Eberflus-led squad can build on. Justin Fields had his best game of his young career; the defense shut down the Patriots; Cairo Santos was perfect on the night; and Eberflus out-coached Bill Belichick (seriously).
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Bears in this win.
Offense: A
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Yes, you read that correctly, the Bears offense gets an “A” for their near-perfect outing against Bill Belichick’s Patriots. Which is something we all saw coming, right? Chicago scored a season-high 33 points, which was also the highest scoring game for the Bears with Justin Fields under center, per ESPN.
Speaking of Fields, this was easily the best game of his young NFL career. The passing stats weren’t flashy — 13-of-21 for 179 yards with one touchdown and one interception — but this game plan was catered to his strengths, where his athleticism was on full display. Fields looked poised, confident and was a threat with the ball in his hands. The Bears had more designed QB runs for Fields, who stunned the Patriots to the tune of 82 rushing yards on 14 carries and a score.
Chicago’s run game is the most dominant in the NFL through seven weeks, where they’re averaging 181 rushing yards per game. The Bears totaled 243 yards on the ground, where David Montgomery, Khalil Herbert and Fields all accounted for 60-plus yards on the ground. And, for the third straight game, Fields led Chicago in rushing.
They just barely missed out on a perfect A+ after allowing four sacks on Fields, fumbling the ball four times (recovering all of them) and Fields’ lone interception. It’s nitpicking. But this is about as perfect a game we’ve seen from the Bears offense in the last couple of years.
Defense: A
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Coming off their best game of the season against the Commanders, the Bears defense followed it up with an even more impressive outing against the Patriots. Even though it wasn’t perfect. But outside of two impressive plays by Bailey Zappe, New England’s offense couldn’t do anything against this Chicago defense.
The Bears continue to be a dominant second-half team, where they’ve allowed just two touchdowns in the second half this season.The Patriots were held scoreless in the second half after 14 second-quarter points, and neither Mac Jones nor Zappe could find success against them. Chicago’s defensive identity is taking the football away, as evidenced by their four takeaways against New England.
There were a number of standout performances on defense, starting with rookie Jaquan Brisker, who was all over the field in this win. He totaled seven tackles, one pass breakup and his first career NFL interception. Fellow rookie Kyler Gordon also added his first NFL interception to seal the game. Then there’s Roquan Smith, who led the Bears with 12 tackles, including one for a loss, a sack and an interception. Justin Jones continues to have a solid season, where he had two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Chicago’s defense set the tone early on that first drive, which included stopping the run. The Bears allowed just 70 rushing yards, which is impressive considering they’ve been one of the worst run defenses in the league heading into this game. Credit Alan Williams for having his unit ready to go and the improvement against the run.
Special teams: A
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Lost in the shuffle of some impressive outings by the offense and defense, the Bears special teams had a solid showing against the Patriots. Let’s start with kicker Cairo Santos, who makes it easy to forget that Chicago ever had an issue with kicking. Santos accounted for 15 of the Bears’ 33 points, connecting on all four of his field goals, including a 50-yarder, and all three extra points.
Dante Pettis assumed punt return duties over rookie Velus Jones, who had muffed two punts in the previous three games. Pettis had three returns for 33 yards, including a 27 yarder. Rookie Trenton Gill had an easy night with just two punts, but he continues to be solid averaging 40.5 yards.
Coaching: A+
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Any time you out-coach the GOAT in Bill Belichick, you’re going to get an A+. Good on Matt Eberflus for having his team prepared for this game after a mini-bye week, where they had 11 days off. We’d gotten used to the Bears losing coming off long rests during the Matt Nagy era, and Eberflus being a competent coach continues to surprise early on in his tenure.
Luke Getsy had his best game as a play caller against the Patriots, and we have to remind ourselves that he’s a first-time play caller at the NFL level, which requires patience. But Getsy crafted the perfect game plan that played to the strengths of his players, especially quarterback Justin Fields. There were at least eight designed QB runs, where Fields got the best of the Patriots defense, and Fields used his athleticism all game.
Alan Williams had his defense ready to go against a Patriots offense that had been rolling. The Bears forced four turnovers, including three interceptions by Jaquan Brisker, Roquan Smith and Kyler Gordon, and a fumble recovery by Justin Jones. This defense continues to a dominant force in the second half, where New England was held scoreless. Not to mention, the Bears run defense had its best outing of the season holding the Patriots to just 70 yards on the ground.
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