Week 9 Bears Recap: Midterm Grades
Minus Indianapolis, who barely beat Tennessee at home this season, every team in the NFL has looked terrible at some point along the way and the Bears joined that majority on Sunday by losing to the Miami Dolphins 31-13. Wow, I think that is the first time I've written, admitted or accepted that the Bears lost just a few days ago.
On to the grades:
Quarterbacks: B
Rex Grossman has looked great in a few games and like Kyle Orton's brain-dead half-brother against Minnesota, Arizona and, most recently, Miami. He's thrown 14 TDs and 10 picks, two of which were returned for scores. You can't pull a starting quarterback on a 7-1 team but two out of three bad performances in the next three versus the Giants, Jets and Patriots and the Bears will officially have their 457th quarterback controversy of all-time.
Running Backs: C
Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson are averaging a combined 3.7 yards per carry. That's okay when Grossman is throwing three and four touchdowns in a game, but not when the passing game is so inconsistent. Benson is a north-south runner and needs more carries as his style will wear down defenses in the fourth quarter. Thomas Jones still gets caught dancing instead of just hitting holes.
Wide Receivers: B+
Bernard Berrian is having a breakout year. Muhsin Muhammad has already had a better season than he did last year. Rashied Davis has proved a decent slot receiver but with Berrian out for the time being somebody else needs to become the downfield threat.
Tight Ends: A-
Desmond Clark has moved close to the elite tight end class of the league and as a unit the group has 5 TDs and is averaging 14.3 yards per catch.
Offensive Line: B-
Some of the sacks have been Rex Grossman's fault, but many haven't. The running game is yet to get going but I can't grade this unit below a B- when the team has dominated so many games.
Defensive Line: A-
When the Bears have played bad and still won, it was the defensive line keying the victories in both Minnesota and Arizona. Mark Anderson has been a brilliant rookie sack artist and the tackles Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson have generally been rocks up the middle.
Linebackers: B+
If Brian Urlacher really is overrated, how good is he going to be if he ever actually gets good?
Secondary: B
The Bears are not the same without Mike Brown but I am sick of that excuse. Almost nobody throws at Nathan Vasher anymore and Charles Tillman is playing more consistently on the other side.
Special Teams: B
Brad Maynard=good. Robbie Gould=great. Devin Hester=all over the place.
Coaches: B+
Keeping the Bears focused on the opponent at hand and not the final game down in Miami is clearly going to be the coaching staff's biggest challenge as the season moves into December and so on. Rex Grossman should have less of the game placed on his right arm and a commitment to running the ball needs to be the new mantra.
Sorry. Don’t mean to be so negative. Things are still looking up despite the Miami loss. Brian Urlacher appears to be healthy and only nursing a sprained toe, the Bears are 7-1, and my buddy Ike made some delicious Chicago deep-dish pizzas for Sunday's game. It was the highlight of my day.
On to the grades:
Quarterbacks: B
Rex Grossman has looked great in a few games and like Kyle Orton's brain-dead half-brother against Minnesota, Arizona and, most recently, Miami. He's thrown 14 TDs and 10 picks, two of which were returned for scores. You can't pull a starting quarterback on a 7-1 team but two out of three bad performances in the next three versus the Giants, Jets and Patriots and the Bears will officially have their 457th quarterback controversy of all-time.
Running Backs: C
Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson are averaging a combined 3.7 yards per carry. That's okay when Grossman is throwing three and four touchdowns in a game, but not when the passing game is so inconsistent. Benson is a north-south runner and needs more carries as his style will wear down defenses in the fourth quarter. Thomas Jones still gets caught dancing instead of just hitting holes.
Wide Receivers: B+
Bernard Berrian is having a breakout year. Muhsin Muhammad has already had a better season than he did last year. Rashied Davis has proved a decent slot receiver but with Berrian out for the time being somebody else needs to become the downfield threat.
Tight Ends: A-
Desmond Clark has moved close to the elite tight end class of the league and as a unit the group has 5 TDs and is averaging 14.3 yards per catch.
Offensive Line: B-
Some of the sacks have been Rex Grossman's fault, but many haven't. The running game is yet to get going but I can't grade this unit below a B- when the team has dominated so many games.
Defensive Line: A-
When the Bears have played bad and still won, it was the defensive line keying the victories in both Minnesota and Arizona. Mark Anderson has been a brilliant rookie sack artist and the tackles Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson have generally been rocks up the middle.
Linebackers: B+
If Brian Urlacher really is overrated, how good is he going to be if he ever actually gets good?
Secondary: B
The Bears are not the same without Mike Brown but I am sick of that excuse. Almost nobody throws at Nathan Vasher anymore and Charles Tillman is playing more consistently on the other side.
Special Teams: B
Brad Maynard=good. Robbie Gould=great. Devin Hester=all over the place.
Coaches: B+
Keeping the Bears focused on the opponent at hand and not the final game down in Miami is clearly going to be the coaching staff's biggest challenge as the season moves into December and so on. Rex Grossman should have less of the game placed on his right arm and a commitment to running the ball needs to be the new mantra.
Sorry. Don’t mean to be so negative. Things are still looking up despite the Miami loss. Brian Urlacher appears to be healthy and only nursing a sprained toe, the Bears are 7-1, and my buddy Ike made some delicious Chicago deep-dish pizzas for Sunday's game. It was the highlight of my day.
posted by David Stassen at 6:50 PM
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