Full Chicago Bears Report Card Heading into Week 9 Bye
Mercifully, the Chicago Bears have hit their bye week. It hasn't been pretty during the first half of the season, and you likely need a break from watching them as well.
This start wasn't what many expected, but luckily there is still time to turn things around. The Bears, of course, need to get back to winning football games at home if they want to even think about getting back in the playoff hunt.
How has each position performed during the first eight games? Let's just say there aren't too many A's passed out in this evaluation. Click ahead to see the cold, hard truth about an underachieving Bears team.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Despite having a career year in completion percentage (67.2 percent) and quarterback rating (95.8), Jay Cutler has taken plenty of blame for the Bears' poor start.
It's the same old song for Cutler. When he's good like in the comeback win in San Francisco, he looks every bit the franchise quarterback, but when he's bad, it's an ugly sight.
Cutler's poor performances against Buffalo, Green Bay, Carolina and Miami, where he has seven interceptions in the four losses, really cause his midterm grade to take a major hit.
In no way does Cutler deserve full blame for the team's start, but he hasn't done his best and forever remains the figurehead for the Bears' troubles.
Grade: C
Running Backs
2 of 10
This Bears offense was supposed to put up all kinds of points and threaten to break records, but it seems like only one guy got the memo.
Pro Bowl running back Matt Forte has been the only consistent player on this offense. Forte already has 58 receptions and is on pace to set an NFL record in that category for a running back. Despite having a slow start on the ground, he's bounced back to have more than 550 yards.
Rookie Ka'Deem Carey has been slow to get on the field in large part due to Forte's outstanding production. It's been a small sample size of action for Carey, but he is averaging 4.6 yards on the ground.
Grade: A
Wide Receivers
3 of 10
Here lies one of the team's biggest areas of disappointment. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery for multiple reasons haven't been the big play guys everybody thought, and it's holding the team back.
In defense of both players, they suffered nagging injuries that slowed them down to start the season. Marshall had an outstanding game against the San Francisco 49ers, and Jeffery played well against Atlanta, but outside of that, they have been average at best.
Lately, it seems the only time either receiver makes the news is because of off-field chatter and not on-field play.
Forget the spectacular plays we are used to seeing from Marshall and Jeffery. They have had plenty of drops, failed to come to the football on several occasions and have looked lazy and disinterested at times on the field.
Aside from Marshall and Jeffery, no other receiver has stepped up. Santonio Holmes and Josh Morgan have been useless all season.
Grade: C
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Tight Ends
4 of 10
Whatever passion on the field the stud wide receivers have lost, tight end Martellus Bennett has found it. In his second season in Chicago, he is on pace to have another career season yet again.
Bennett came out on fire to start the year. He cooled a little bit as Jay Cutler began to get Matt Forte involved more but still is on pace to have a terrific season for a tight end.
Bennett currently has 47 receptions and already has matched his career high in touchdowns with five. At this pace, he could finish with more than 80 grabs and somewhere around 10 touchdowns, which will earn him a visit to the Pro Bowl.
Outside of Bennett, Dante Rosario has been serviceable when needed and has actually caught a few passes. When looking at this offense, tight end is not the issue at all.
Grade: A
Offensive Line
5 of 10
Here's the root of all problems for the Bears on offense. Injuries and poor play along the offensive line have caused all kinds of issues for this team trying to get anything going.
Every starter from last season has missed time so far up front except for Kyle Long. Roberto Garza and Matt Slauson were out for a while. Jermon Bushrod was banged up, and when Jordan Mills hasn't been hurt he's just been bad.
There hasn't been any cohesion up front for the Bears, and it has affected the entire offense. Jay Cutler has been sacked 20 times already this year. Compare that to the 19 total times he was sacked last season.
Matt Forte took some time to get going on the ground, and the receivers have struggled to get into a rhythm because they haven't been able to do what they do best, which is get down the field and make plays.
Every offense is only as good as the protection up front. Head coach Marc Trestman's playbook has altered due to the poor play from the line and a lack of confidence in whichever five guys were starting that week.
Hopefully, the Bears can get a healthy five going forward and work on their fundamentals in the off time because they clearly need it. Slauson is out for the season with a torn pectoral, and Michael Ola will likely slide into his place.
Grade: D
Defensive Line
6 of 10
There's a lot of talent and money up front on the defense, and the only excitement is coming from the guys you wouldn't necessarily expect.
Let's start with the good. Defensive end Willie Young has been a great free-agent signing and very pleasant surprise. He already has seven sacks this season. That's one more than he had in his four-year career coming into this season.
Jeremiah Ratliff has also been solid. The veteran defensive tackle has missed three games due to injury but still has 3.5 sacks and has played hard every time he's been on the field.
Now to the disappointing. Prize free agents Lamarr Houston and Jared Allen have a combined 2.5 sacks. When Houston got his first one, he was so excited he injured himself celebrating despite his team being down 25 points in Week 8. He tore his ACL on the play and will miss the rest of the season.
Yes, Houston and Allen have been fairly good in hurries and pressure, but this is still a performance- and results-based sport. They just haven't gotten it done and have been burned on the outside by Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Tannehill, Cam Newton, EJ Manuel and most recently Tom Brady.
When Tom Brady is escaping from the pocket to make plays, that's a problem. Rookies Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson largely get an incomplete due to lack of playing time, while Stephen Paea has been awesome up front.
This can go either way. Do you want to view this line as a glass half empty or half full? Either way you meet at the middle, which is the grade the defensive line deserves.
Grade: C
Linebackers
7 of 10
The heart and soul of a Bears defense used to be its linebackers. Now, the linebackers are such a weakness it's laughable at times to see the effort they put out.
Lance Briggs has been slowed by injuries recently, but don't let that be an excuse for him. He wasn't playing very well before he got hurt. Whether he's lost a step, no longer has the passion to play for Chicago or it's a combination of both, it's clear he's no longer the All-Pro the Bears counted on in years past.
Veteran middle linebacker D.J. Williams went through the first game with zero tackles. Zero. Since then, he's been up and down and has been outplayed by reserve Darryl Sharpton. Williams clearly lacks the speed and athleticism to keep up in today's NFL.
On the other side, it's been a revolving door of sketchy play. Former first-round pick Shea McClellin's transition to linebacker has been very bumpy. He's also missed time to injury but just doesn't show the awareness to react to a play or keep up with savvier tight ends.
Second-year man Jon Bostic was actually playing fairly well, but he's been slowed by injuries. He's the one guy the Bears need back on the field sooner than later. Out of this entire linebacker group, he has the best chance to grow with the team going forward.
Khaseem Greene has been disappointing when given the chance and has been benched in favor of undrafted free agent Christian Jones. Don't get too excited about Jones; he's been below-average as well.
The middle of the field has been a gaping hole for this defense all season. You don't need to go any further than Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and his dominating performance to see how bad the Bears are at linebacker.
Grade: F
Safeties
8 of 10
The Bears don't have an adequate starting safety on their roster. It's time to stop being in denial about this and come to grips with the fact they didn't do a good enough job addressing this issue in the offseason.
Ryan Mundy is decent at times against the run but is absolutely terrible in coverage. He can't play zone and clearly can't play man-to-man. The Bears don't have a decent enough linebacker to cover a tight end, so Mundy gets the call all too often. He was the one getting torched the most against Rob Gronkowski.
Chris Conte seems to get hurt every other game. Give the guy some credit, though—he comes back, continues to play hard and stick his nose into the play despite knowing he's injury-prone.
Danny McCray has been bad every chance he's gotten, and Brock Vereen just isn't ready to be anything but a contributor on special teams.
Once again, the Bears are working with a light deck at safety, and it is what it is until the offseason rolls back around.
Grade: D
Cornerbacks
9 of 10
Who didn't get emotional when Charles Tillman went down with another torn triceps injury? Luckily, rookie Kyle Fuller has stepped up in his place and has done a solid job.
Fuller is great when he's healthy. The problem is, the hand and hip injuries have hampered his play of late. The Bears might want to do whatever they can to rest the young man. He's the future of this defense, and they don't want any nagging injuries when he's just starting his career.
Remember when Tim Jennings was good? It seriously has been a rough season for Jennings. He didn't play well at nickel and has struggled since moving back to his old spot. He needs some soul searching during the bye and has to get back to the physical, playmaking style everybody is used to out of him.
Isaiah Frey is no longer on the roster because he wasn't playing well, and nobody else behind Jennings and Fuller has been even close to average. Demontre Hurst and Al Louis-Jean both have made small contributions but have been burned big time when on the field.
Fuller is the only reason why this grade is respectable.
Grade: C
Special Teams
10 of 10
Robbie Gould has missed some key kicks. Pat O'Donnell has been out-punted by former training camp competitor Tress Way, and nobody has stepped up in the return game.
It's safe to say special teams have been the worst the Bears have seen in about a decade, if not more. It's sad to see what was once a strength of the team (like the linebacker spot) go downhill so fast.
Gould and O'Donnell need to step it up in the second half. The Bears need all the points and field position they can get, especially with a slew of home games coming up. As for the return game? Whoever is back there would probably be better off taking a knee in the end zone every time.
The kick and punt return coverage has been better of late but still remains below average. That seems to be the trend with this entire team.
Grade: D
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