Bears vs. Jaguars: Full Report Card Grades for Chicago
One could almost feel the sense of dread coming from Soldier Field Sunday as the Chicago Bears took a 13-point advantage into the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While the lead was nice, the Bears had been too conservative, left too many points on the field and were too reliant on the Jaguars shooting themselves in the foot.
The Bears lost 17-16.
Many things went wrong, the little good lost in yet another defeat to fall to 1-5. The Bears don't have any time to dwell on the epic choke, either, with the Green Bay Packers awaiting on Thursday Night Football and the Minnesota Vikings the week after.
Before starting the short prep for Packers week, here is a look back at complete grades for Chicago's ugly-but-not-surprising loss to the Jaguars.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Somewhere, someone is happy Chicago quarterback Brian Hoyer threw for more than 300 yards in a fourth consecutive game.
Most have probably realized it's a mirage.
Like his past starts, Hoyer didn't do anything special in Week 6 against the Jaguars. He took a dink-and-dunk approach, fired 19 incompletions out of 49 and didn't score despite the line around him holding up well.
On one notable play, he even missed a dump pass that would have gone for a score late in the game.
Hoyer has looked good at times, but the idea that he's the best option for the Bears continues to fade. He's not pushing the ball downfield or keeping defenses honest, and it's a huge part of the reason the Bears have scored more than 20 points in a game once in six tries.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
The Bears did well to get creative at running back against the Jaguars.
Knowing one of the knocks on Jordan Howard out of college was his durability, the Bears started to work in Ka'Deem Carey to notable usage and effect.
Carey wound up leading the team in rushing with nine carries for 50 yards, while Howard took more quantity and managed 34 yards and a score on 15 attempts. Howard seemed to face tougher running scenarios, while Jacksonville looked more relaxed with Carey in the backfield.
Either way, it was a smart usage approach for a team still missing Jeremy Langford. It was also another good example of the Bears' depth.
Grade: B
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Those 49 pass attempts went to the right targets.
Unlike last week's odd ignorance of top wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, Hoyer hit him with 13 targets against the Jaguars. Jeffery turned it into seven catches for 93 yards, though he still didn't lead the team in targets.
That honor went to Cameron Meredith, who continued his push for a breakout season by catching 11 of his 15 targets for 113 yards.
Elsewhere, Eddie Royal saw six targets before leaving the game with an injury, and Zach Miller caught six balls for 36 yards.
In an offense comprised of mostly short passes, the team's top targets put on solid performances. The continued star of the show in a season about talent for the future, though, was Meredith.
Grade: B
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
One of Chicago's biggest weaknesses to start the season has turned into a strength on a weekly basis.
This refers to the offensive line, where Cody Whitehair continues to put on a show despite an unexpected deployment at center. Josh Sitton, who joined the team just before the season, keeps looking good.
Against the Jaguars, the line only let up one sack of Hoyer. It would have been nice if the unit helped the offense average better than 3.4 yards per carry, but it's hard to throw too much blame on a line trying to pave running lanes when the defense knows the quarterback won't throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field.
At the least, Chicago seems stable in the offensive trenches as it heads into what might be a rebuild.
Grade: A
Defensive Line
5 of 10
It was a quiet day at the office for the Chicago defensive line.
Despite the absence of a strong starter in Eddie Goldman, the crew of Will Sutton, Akiem Hicks, Mitch Unrein and others held up relatively well.
The unit held up well enough at the point of attack to let the rest of the defense swarm and limit Jacksonville to a 2.7 per-carry average. As one of the places on the Chicago roster boasting high-upside talent for the future, this wasn't the most surprising development.
Then again, there is only so much excitement to go around when the unit only had to deal with 17 rushing attempts by running backs, and no one on the line recorded a sack.
Grade: B
Linebacker
6 of 10
More than anything, Sunday was the Willie Young show for the Bears.
Young recorded both of Chicago's sacks of Blake Bortles, giving him four in two games.
While Young was impressive on an individual level, the rest of the unit left much to be desired. Jerrell Freeman and Danny Trevathan weren't terrible on the inside, but for a unit supposed to apply pressure, the Bears didn't do it often Sunday.
So it goes when high-profile rookie Leonard Floyd and notable veteran Pernell McPhee remain sidelined.
Considering the Jaguars had coughed up 12 sacks of Bortles entering the weekend, two opportunistic plays by Young aren't enough to make up for the fact that the unit wasn't doing its job well as a whole.
Grade: C+
Secondary
7 of 10
On paper, the Chicago secondary did a solid job against the Jaguars.
The unit only allowed one touchdown, and Tracy Porter recorded an interception. Allen Hurns was only able to bring in five of his 11 targets. Allen Robinson didn't look much better, reeling in three of his six.
But the big gaffes persist for those who saw the game. Porter let up a 51-yard touchdown to Arrelious Benn—his only catch on the day—because he slipped in man coverage. Harold Jones-Quartey got hit with a wicked truck stick. Others committed costly penalties down the field.
Statistically, the Chicago secondary can avoid much of the blame. On film, though, the unit continues to make too many costly mistakes at bad times to help take the burden off the rest of the defense.
Grade: C
Special Teams
8 of 10
To reward Chicago's special teams for not making any catastrophic mistakes against the Jaguars or not?
Nah.
Connor Barth hit all three of his field goals to take some heat away from himself and stop the fanbase from chanting Robbie Gould's name for at least a week.
Pat O'Donnell punted six times and stuck four of those inside the 20-yard line. But it felt more like an anomaly than anything because he had gone two games without doing so.
In an uneventful game, the unit treading water isn't too exciting.
Grade: B
Coaching
9 of 10
Believe it or not, but the Chicago coaches were in attendance Sunday.
Head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains once again called an uninspiring offense. The inclusion of various backs and actually pretending Jeffery was on the field was great, but going as conservative as possible ruined the game.
On defense, coordinator Vic Fangio didn't commit any atrocious errors and worked with what he had.
The bottom line, though, is Chicago seems afraid to take risks. Fox has the team playing not to lose, and even that isn't working. If the Bears don't take risks with what is a talented crop of players at skill positions, a blown lead against a team such as Jacksonville is what happens.
Grade: D
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Position Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | B |
| WR/TE | B |
| OL | A |
| DL | B |
| LB | C+ |
| Secondary | C |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | D |
| Cumulative Grade | C |
What is there to say about the Bears?
Chicago doesn't look like a team wanting to win many games. The coaching staff has to work with a backup under center, but the team's non-committal approach to what happens when Jay Cutler is healthy enough to play suggests the staff would call games like Sunday's loss anyway.
This gaffe against the Jaguars almost has the feel of an apathy-building moment. Losing to such a team late because of conservative coaching despite a roster talented enough to win—and perhaps comfortably—is one of the worst feelings in sports.
As mentioned, Chicago now has to pick up the pieces in a hurry before Thursday's encounter with Green Bay.
Other than starting to wonder how the team will rebuild in the offseason, one of the most interesting things about the team is whether the staff throws its hands up in the air and starts taking risks, letting the young talent go out and make plays and learn from mistakes.
Only a few days of rest between this loss and finding out.
Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.
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