CINCINNATI – How in the holy heck did the Bears emerge from Sunday with a 47-42 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals?
How’d they blow a two-score, fourth-quarter lead, yet retain the resolve required to score a last-second touchdown and come out with a win?
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We’ll spend several days ironing all that out. There was a lot of good and a decent amount of terrible on display in this one, so the grades in this Bears report card will be uneven. That’s how it should be, but the Bears deserve some praise for gutting out a win that seemed to be blown.
“It’s easy to fold, but our guys didn’t do that,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. “They kept the faith and found a way to come out on top. There will be a lot of tape that we can coach off of and clean up. The best this is you go in the locker room after an exciting win and there are a number of guys who are pretty disappointed with how they played. That’s the sign of a good football team when they can recognize it immediately.”
Bears Bengals Report Card Olamide Zaccheaus
Rushing offense
The Bears rushed for 283 yards against the Bengals. And they did so without feature back D’Andre Swift. True freaking story. Rookie Kyle Monangai was excellent in this contest, with 176 yards on 26 carries. A rookie seventh-round pick did all that, plus three receptions for 22 more yards. His punishing style wore the Bengals down over time. The offensive line did, too. The line’s right side was awesome all day, especially on outside zone runs.
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Even Brittain Brown got into the action – Roschon Johnson was also unavailable – and had five rushes for 37 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals run defense is bad, but that shouldn’t supersede excellent execution from all involved in the rushing attack, from Johnson’s play designs down to the runners and blockers.
Grade: A-plus
[READ: Bears 47, Bengals 42: Three observations in Chicago’s NFL Week 9 win]
Passing offense
Caleb Williams’ completion percentage (58.8%) is still too low for an offense that values completion volume. The second-year quarterback wasn’t as accurate as he needs to be. His scrambles while still trying to get the ball down the field are erratic and all the spinning takes his eyes away from the pattern. There are moments he’d like to have back, but that matters far less when you come through in the clutch.
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Williams stood tall when it mattered most, delivering a great ball to Colston Loveland for the decisive score. Williams was also a clutch receiver on Johnson’s trick plays that turned him into a receiver. Loveland had a breakout game. DJ Moore was really good in a variety of roles. The pass protection was an issue at times and Rome Odunze didn’t have a catch.
It wasn’t a perfect day, but the Bears were good at the right times.
Grade: B-plus
Rushing defense
The Beare had a tough time with the Ravens last week. They were far better against Chance Brown and the Bengals, who had just 46 yards on 15 carries. The Bengals were explosive moving through the air and were playing from behind a bit, so they kind of gave up on the run game. The Bears made some good stops and made Cincinnati one dimensional. That was a plus in this one. Andrew Billings had a solid game in his return to Cincinnati, and the front overall was stout against the rushing attack.
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Grade: A
[READ: Five Bears whose stock went up or down in NFL Week 9 win vs Bengals]
Passing defense
Flacco threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns. Tee Higgins couldn’t be stopped, with seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Ja’Marr had 111 yards, and the Bengals were taking yards in chunks. The defensive backs had a tough time, but that happens frequently against Cincinnati.
Austin Booker had a strip sack. Montez Sweat and CJ Gardner-Johnson had sacks. The Bears were impactfui at times, Tremaine Edmunds had an interception in the red zone, but let up a bit too much down over the last five minutes and let a big lead slip away late. The veterans were upset about that postgame, even after the dramatic win. They consider themselves closers, and they didn’t do that on Sunday.
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Grade: D-minus
Special teams
The Bears allowed the opening kickoff to be returned for a touchdown. They had a penalty that wiped out a long Devin Duvernay return. They had a field-goal attempt blocked. And, worst of all, the Bears allowed Cincinnati to recover an onside kick that helped them erase the Bears lead. It was a terrible overall special teams performance and it nearly cost Chicago the game.
Grade: F
[READ: Watch Colston Loveland’s unreal catch-and-run TD as Bears bust Bengals]
Coaching
Johnson knew his team had a tough time scoring in the red zone. On the first trip down there, he dialed one up and had Moore throwing a touchdown pass to Williams. He kept the fun plays coming and they were effective. His. Run plays were super effective, with a good about of deception in addition to quality blocking schemes.
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While Dennis Allen’s defense gave up tons of yards, he brough the house on Flacco’s hail mary attempt, which rendered the attempt fruitless. That gets him a pat on the back.
Grade: A
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