Bears Week 8 Report Card: Tale of Lost Consistency

A game with so many positives produced nothing more than a negative for the Bears in the win column.

The 26-23 overtime loss to New Orleans Sunday finished out the first half of the 2020 season and left the Bears half a game behind Green Bay but light years behind most of the rest of the NFL when it comes to offensive consistency and continuity.

"So I look at it that it's another step along this journey and of building this team and of building this culture of what we want to be, the coaches and players," quarterback Nick Foles said. "Sometimes it's tough."

It's tough to chart any Bears progress.

The Bears are all over the map on any given Sunday offensively. Even when they managed to run the ball more effectively than in the previous four games, they committed huge blunders contributing to a sixth straight loss to New Orleans.

Here are the grades from Sunday's loss, and there are only the usual A-F grades, and no "S" for silly or sporadic.

Running Game: C+

Most NFL teams won't get too excited about a 96-yard rushing day but David Montgomery averaging 4.2 yards a carry and breaking a season-long 38-yard run proved plenty to be excited about heading forward. The fact he did it with backups at left guard, center and right tackle, then a backup's backup at right tackle indicates better things could be ahead. It would be good to have that second punch like the Saints have with Alavin Kamara and Latavius Murray, but maybe if they can ever get Lamar Miller up to speed on the offense they'll have it.

Passing Game: C-

A 92.7 passer rating by Nick Foles and a 50-yarder to Darnell Mooney, as well as Allen Robinson's 24-yard TD catch combined to help the Bears average 9.7 yards per completion, better than what the Saints averaged by .7 The 50-yard completion was their longest pass play since lsat November and Robinson played like he had been at practice all week even if he hadn't been there at all. The play of Nick Foles has been better at times, but while in Chicago it was his peak effort with a 92.7 passer rating despite five sacks. The down side of course was they couldn't sustain the efficient play over the full course of the game and vanished entirely in the third quarter.

Run Defense: C+

Much like with the running game, the numbers don't suggest celebrations but the Saints didn't get a run longer than 12 yards until they really needed it in overtime and Alvin Kamara broke a 20-yard run. The 122 yards allowed looks mediocre but within there were some brilliant plays like their fourth-and-1 stuff of Kamara to make an overtime game possible.

Pass Defense: C

A few breakdowns and inopportune penalties continued to eat at the Bears defense. They couldn't cover everyone and Kamara and tight end Jared Cook benefited the most. Giving Taysom Hill too much room to roam free for the fourth-quarter touchdown was a huge mistake, and it appeared to fall on rookie Jaylon Johnson's shoulders. Khalil Mack's sack proved one defensive highlight but by and large there wasn't enough overall pressure on Brees on this windy day.

Special Teams: C-

They benefited from a break early on when Wil Lutz hit the right upright from 27 yards, but then let Deonte Hill run all over them on returns, including a critical 42-yard punt return in the fourth quarter to set up a score. Cairo Santos' clutch 51-yard field goal into the wind served as the other big Bears special teams highlight of the day.

Coaching: C-

Chuck Pagano learned early in the game that it's better to stay at home than blitz when the Saints broke a longer gain. The Bears' halftime adjustments must be made in their sleep because it's not working. Now outscored 49-7 coming into third quarters, it seems to indicated the halftime adjustments just don't work and they're putting the Bears in prone situatons in a loss.

Overall: C

Beating a team like New Orleans requires more than an uneven effort. They need to win battles across the board. Considering they lost on offense, lost on defense and lost on special teams, it's surprising they even had a chance to win in the end.

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