It was another interesting week at Halas Hall before the Bears’ game with the Saints today. The Bears had to fire their running backs coach David Walker due to multiple HR violations. This was the 2nd Bears member of the coaching staff to be dismissed this season because of HR infractions. The Bears also allowed starting corner Jaylon Johnson to seek a trade before the trade deadline on Tuesday. On the plus side, the Bears sent a 2nd round pick to Washington to get DE Montez Sweat and then signed him to a massive 4-year, $98 million deal on Saturday.
Then today’s game happened. The Bears let plenty of opportunities slip away as they fell to the Saints 24-17 to drop their record to 2-7. This was a tale of two halves as it seemed that everything that was working well for the Bears in the 1st half turned ugly in the 2nd half.
QB Tyson Bagent really had the best of times and the worst of times today. In the 1st half he had over 200 total yards & 2 TDs as he led the Bears on two good touchdown drives. He found 6 different receivers in the game and led the rushing attack in the 1st half… but he also accounted for 4 of the Bears’ 5 turnovers today. Bagent finished 18 of 30 for 220 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs. He also had 70 yards rushing with a lost fumble. His 3 turnovers in the 2nd half were critical mistakes as he seemed to crumble under the mounting pressure and forced throws that were picked off. It also didn’t help as his teammates committed 8 penalties for 71 yards. TE Cole Kmet caught 2 TD passes today and Darnell Mooney led all receivers with 5 catches for 82 yards. RB D’Onta Foreman continues to be that guy who produces when called. He had a team high 20 carries for 83 yards.
Defensively the Bears gutted it out and kept the game close when the Saints had plenty of opportunities to blow the game wide open. Despite the Bears turning the ball over 5 times, the Saints were only able to score 10 points off of those turnovers. The Bears also held the Saints to 87 yards rushing on a 3.7 yards per carry average. The Bears also went another whole game with zero sacks and only 2 QB hits. The MVP for the Saints was Taysom Hill. He had 65 total yards and 2 TDs becoming the 1st NFL player since Frank Gifford to throw 10 TDs, receive 10 TDs and run for 10 TDs.
The Bears had chance after chance to tie the game but their last four possessions went INT, INT, punt and fumble. You can’t win football games when you keep turning the ball over.
Grading The Bears
Offense: The Bears out-gained the Saints 368-301 and played well in the 1st half. Second half turnovers and penalties killed any chance of stealing a win on the road today. You also can’t turn the ball over 5 times today. Any talk of Tyson Bagent of being ‘the guy’ were shattered today as he himself had 4 turnovers. Once again conservative play calling by Luke Getsy in the 2nd half reared its ugly head. Grade: D+
Defense: Credit the defense for keeping the game close. 5 turnovers by the Bears offense only led to 10 points. Yes, the Bears defense didn’t record a sack nor did they force a turnover but their tackling was much better than last week. In a game like this giving up 24 points is an accomplishment given the circumstances. Grade: C+
Special Teams: A missed 40-yard FG by Cairo Santos and a critical face mask penalty by Velus Jones led to good field position for the Saints. In a close game every play matters and those were two plays that really hurt. Grade: D+
Coaching: The offense grinding to a halt in the 2nd half falls squarely on OC Luke Getsy. There were head-scratching, conservative calls in the 2nd half that didn’t help the young QB or this offense. Defensively Matt Eberflus kept the team in the game by getting his team in position to get some stops and get the offense the ball back. All of that went for naught as the offense couldn’t capitalize off of it. Grade: C-
Head Coach Matt Eberflus met the media after the game:
Final Thoughts: This was a winnable game the Bears had in their pocket but turnovers, key penalties and conservative play calling in the 2nd half stopped any hope of the Bears getting a road win. The media hype machine continued for Tyson Bagent including this nugget at halftime by CBS’ Boomer Esiason:
“If Tyson Bagent keeps playing like he is, I don’t know how they can go back to Justin Fields.”
– Boomer Esiason, CBS Halftime Show
This type of lunacy by the media has to stop. I like Tyson and his story but Justin Fields is your starting QB. If you want to draft a QB next year and have a QB competition, I’m cool with that but this narrative about Bagent has to end. It’s not fair to both Fields and Bagent. It’s obvious the coaching staff doesn’t want Justin to be their QB so as I said last week it’s going to be up to ownership to decide if the coaching staff stays or the QB. I’m actually of the mind of getting rid of everyone. The coaching staff is not equipped to lead a team and as much as I like Justin he has been ruined by this organization. He deserves to go somewhere else to show what he can do.
Up Next: Short week for the Bears as they have to quickly get ready for the Carolina Panthers at home on Thursday. Whether or not Justin Fields plays is up to Eberflus.
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