Chicago Bears Insider: Grading the Bears' Monday Night Game Against the Lions

The Bears and the Lions met on Monday night, where the Bears ended up losing the contest 24-13 in a way that has to frustrate many Bears fans.  The Bears have slowly started to crumble and it appears as if there is no end in sight to this demise.  Is what we saw against the Lions on Monday night and indication of how things are going to be for the Bears the rest of the season?

Can the Bears recover and get back to winning like they did last year?

After watching the game and taking in all of the information, here are some grades for the Bears in their game against the Detroit Lions.

Offense

Passing Offense: (D+) Cutler did a nice job of making something out of nothing several times during the game, but the protection was horrible and his receivers had some problems being in position and catching the ball.  Cutler appears to have a very short clock in his head when it comes to throwing the ball, and he feels pressure that may not be there.  His receivers struggle and don’t really help him out.  Without being able to do those simple things, the Bears' passing game is just simply broken.

Rushing Offense: (A–) The Bears had another strong game rushing the football, but it wasn’t enough to carry them to another win (like it did against the Panthers). 

Matt Forte is pretty much a one-man show out there, and the Bears have to be wary of his wearing down as the year goes on.  Barber looks promising but just doesn’t have what Forte has to run the ball effectively and keep defenses honest.

Defense

Passing Defense: (D–) The Bears' pass defense gave up a couple of long passes, including a 70-plus-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson. 

One of the problems the Bears had was rushing quarterback Matthew Stafford. With all the time he had, he was able to complete some nice passes.  The Bears' secondary found themselves out of position once again on those long throws, and the safety position continues to haunt the defense.  The Bear’s pass rush continues to be poor. 

Rushing Defense: (F–) The Bears started out the game well defending against Jahvid Best and the Lions' rushing attack, but as the game wore on, the Bears' defense crumbled and the Lions were able to run all over them.  There were some holes opened up by the Lions that were huge and those were exploited.  The Bears rushing defense has been on a downward spiral for the last few games and it now looks like it’s about to hit rock bottom.

Special Teams

Kickoffs: (B–) The Bears had some opportunities to return some kicks but didn’t get much going with those.  They did a nice job of keeping the Lions from returning kicks, though, and the special teams units keep on proving themselves as the best unit on the team.

Punt Returns: (A–) The Bears had to punt a lot in this game, and Adam Podlesh did a very nice job of placing the ball on his punts.  The Bears didn’t get a lot done in returning the Lions' punts, but the threat of Hester retuning one for a long gain did give the Bears good field position that they couldn’t take advantage of.

Coaching

Coaching: (D+) The Bears continue to realize that the running game is important to the success of their team, but it’s not going to be enough to win.  They have to pass the ball. 

The coaching staff clearly didn’t have the team prepared for this game as we saw with all of the penalties.  Even though they prepared for the noise in their practice bubble, nothing could have prepared them for what they would face in the dome. 

The coaching staff’s only positive was sticking with the running game.

Overall

Overall: (D–) The Bears are a team in a serious state of disarray.  The only thing they can do is play special teams and run the football.  Their defense isn’t nearly as good as it has been in the past, and the Bears seem to be crumbling almost everywhere. 

It’s hard to believe that this team was playing in the NFC Championship game just one season ago. 

Bigger tests are coming, but this team is hurting and needs to figure things out quickly before they remove themselves from the playoff race.