The Chicago Bears are coming off one of the most embarrassing early-season losses in franchise history. Ben Johnson went to his old stomping grounds and let the Detroit Lions offense drop 50 on his team.
There is nothing good that came from this game for Chicago. They are now 0-2 on the season and within the division. It’s hard to say an NFL team’s season is over in mid-September, but it’s fair to say the hole that they dug is incredibly steep. It would take a miracle for them to turn it around and be a playoff team.
Every unit of the football team needs to be better. This is a letter grade for the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching following this truly lousy performance:
Offense: F
The offense, which was hyped up to be great with Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, an improved offensive line, and all of these weapons, has been a civic embarrassment. In this game against the Lions, they were not good enough to win a football game, no matter how badly the defense played. The Bears mustered up 339 yards of offense, 205 passing and 134 rushing, but they weren’t efficient enough to earn anything other than an F grade.
Nineteen games into Williams’ career, you can’t say with a straight face that he is the future of the team. He still could become that guy, but nothing is certain at this point in time. He is working harder in the room than he was under Matt Eberflus, but Johnson certainly hasn’t unlocked anything special yet. There were no targets for first-round pick Colston Loveland, which is not what this team should be doing with the 10th overall pick. If you were going to draft a tight end when you already had a pretty good one, use him.
Defense: F
The Bears’ defense, which was never going to be elite, has been far worse than expected. They allowed 52 points, which tells the story, but it gets even worse than that. They allowed 511 total yards. Jared Goff had 334 yards passing and five touchdowns. The running game produced 177 yards and two touchdowns.
Goff was able to use the running game and passing game however he wanted against this Bears defense. Both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery found their way into the endzone as rushers. Amon-Ra St. Brown had three of their five touchdown receptions, and Goff sprayed the ball all over the field. With the injuries to players like Jaylon Johnson, T.J. Edwards, and Kyler Gordon, things aren’t going to get any better any time soon. They get an F.
Special Teams: D
The opening kickoff was placed out of bounds. That tells you everything you need to know about the special teams units on the Bears right now. They do the offense and defense no justice at all. Cairo Santos wasn’t asked to make a field goal, so he had no opportunity to miss one, but he did make all three extra points asked of him. Their kick and punt returning is what saves them from getting an F, as they were okay in that department. Luther Burden III and Devin Duvernay each had some nice returns, averaging over 24 yards per kick return. However, it wasn’t good enough to get the special teams units a higher grade than a D.
Coaching: F
All of the coaches failed in this one. The Bears clearly weren’t ready to play against the Lions in this one. Ben Johnson takes accountability for his coaching, but he went to his old team’s building and allowed them to run up the score on him. His offense wasn’t good enough, and Dennis Allen’s defense was truly terrible. It’s another week of F caliber coaching in Chicago.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears report card: How we graded Chicago in Week 2 Loss vs. Lions
Reporting by Vincent Parise, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
