After an impressive win in week one over the Atlanta Falcons, the Bears traveled to New Orleans looking to out stage another NFC South opponent. This time however, it didn’t go as planned for the Bears.
The Bears took a 7-0 lead on a long drive capped with a Jay Cutler touchdown pass to rookie receiver Dane Sanzenbacher. The Saints then scored 16 unanswered points until the Bears cut the lead to 16-13.
It was all Saints after that. The Bears defense couldn’t stop the high powered Saints offense. The Bears offense on the other hand struggled, and had poor play for the offensive line.
The good news is that it’s only week two, so panic shouldn’t be an option. The bad news? We’ve seen this before from the Bears.
Here are the week two grades for the Chicago Bears.
Quarterback: C-
You can’t fault Jay Cutler for poor play in the second half. He was pressured most of the half and seemed out of rhythm. He was sacked six times in the game, and at times looked extremely frustrated at his offensive line.
Cutler did have some nice completions early in the game. On the other hand he did deliver some bad throws to receivers.
Running Backs: A-
The good news: Matt Forte had another stellar game. With over 150 yards on total offense, Forte accounted for over 75% of the teams offense.
The bad news: Matt Forte accounted for over 75% of the teams offense. A formula like that won’t get you many wins.
Wide Receivers: D+
The receivers were virtually no where to be found in New Orleans. Some of that has to do with Cutler, the rest have to do with receivers not getting open.
Offensive Line: F
This is being generous. If there was a lower grade, I’d give it to them. The offensive lines performance in today’s game was absolutely unacceptable. You can’t let your quarterback continue to take shots and expect to win.
Defensive Line: C+
Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The only way to beat the elite quarterbacks is to get pressure on them early and often. The Bears failed to do that as recorded only one sack on Drew Brees.
Linebackers: C
It was certainly an emotional week for linebacker Brian Urlacher, but he said it had nothing to do with his or the teams play this week. The linebackers for the Bears were virtually taken out of the game by the Saints offense.
Secondary: D-
With starting safety Chris Harris out for the game, Major Wright and Brandon Meriweather got their chances to shine. By the end of the game, we saw two more safeties get paying time in Chris Conte and Craig Steltz. None of the four had good games, and Wright was burned deep with gave the Saints momentum.
The bright spot in the secondary? Charles Tillman forced another fumble today.
Special Teams: C+
There was no return game for the Bears today, so field position wasn’t all great for them. Punter Adam Podlesh had another solid game punting. Robbie Gould was his usual, going 2-2 on field goals.
Team Grade: C
This was a tough loss for the Bears, especially after an impressive win against the Falcons last week. There are still many problems to fix on this team. This was a poorly played game on both sides of the ball for the Bears.
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