Chicago Bears Week 7 Report Card vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Chicago Bears defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18 Sunday in London.

The win moves the Bears to 4-3 as the head into next week's bye. Then it's on to Philadelphia for a Week 9 showdown against the Eagles on Monday Night Football.

Tampa Bay dropped to 4-3 and now lose the tie-breaker to the Bears if a Wild Card spot comes down to it.

The report card is in for the Bears performance. It will cover numerous aspects of the game.

Offensive Line

The offensive line had a solid game.

Chris Spencer had his best game as a Bear despite a false-start penalty.

Guard Chris Williams sprung running back Matt Forte on numerous long runs. The rest of the line lead the way for Forte to 145 yards on the ground.

The downfall was left tackle J'Marcus Webb, who continues to struggle.

The line was unable to open up holes to pound the ball in the middle, especially when they needed to keep the clock running in the fourth quarter.

Offensive Line Grade: B

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Wide receiver Roy Williams overcame a first-quarter drop and made a third-quarter juggling catch.

He wound up with four catches for 59 yards and his first touchdown as a Bear.

Johnny Knox and Devin Hester had solid games, combining for seven receptions for 99 yards.

Hester also saved Jay Cutler a pick by coming back and knocking the ball away from Ronde Barber of Tampa Bay.

The tight ends did well blocking but did not factor into the passing game.

Wide Receivers Grade: B+

Quarterback

Jay Cutler had an OK performance. He wasn't great, but he wasn't horrible either.

His QB rating was a feeble 60.2, and he threw two interceptions.

One was off the fingers of Marion Barber on a screen that should have been caught.

He was sacked twice, but other than the picks and a few errant throws he kept us on top the whole game.

Quarterback Grade: C+

Running Backs

Matt Forte was simply amazing.

He rushed 25 times for 145 yards including a huge 32-yard touchdown run that set the tone.

He hit the edges the entire game and made the Bucs miss repeatedly.

Marion Barber played well, rushing six times for 39 yards and a TD.

Running Backs Grade: A

Defensive Line

The defensive line didn't get as much pressure they would have liked.

They did assist in slowing down third-string Tampa Bay running back Kregg Lumpkin.

Amobi Okoye came up with a sack that stopped a Bucs drive.

Defensive Line Grade: B

Linebackers

The Bears linebackers played great, coming up with two interceptions.

LB Lance Briggs got one, and Brian Urlacher came up with a huge one in the red zone in the fourth quarter.

Briggs was all over the field as the linebackers stopped the run and didn't let up big plays.

Linebacker Grade: A

Defensive Backs

Safety Chris Conte had a huge interception in the red zone in his second NFL start and nickel back DJ Moore sealed the victory with the Bears fourth and final pick.

Chris Harris bit on Dezmon Briscoe's corner route that brought the Bucs to within three in the fourth quarter.

Defensive Backs Grade: A

Special Teams

Robbie Gould missed a 41-yard field goal but sealed the game with a 25-yard chip shot.

Adam Podlesh nailed two inside the 20 but averaged just 38-yards on his six punts.

The return game was pretty much non-existant.

Special Teams Grade: C

Coaching

In the biggest surprise of the year—Love Smith won a challenge!

Mike Martz called a great game for three quarters, then crapped the bed in the fourth and made every call to try and give the game to Tampa Bay.

The Bears were ahead 21-5 and Martz called 16 pass plays vs. 11 running plays (not including Cutler's knee to end the game).

Coaching Grade: B

Overall Grade

The Bears did come out of London with a win, and good things did happen for them.

There are some things that need attention during the bye week. (Hopefully contacting Matt Forte's agent is on the list).

The play-calling needs to be addressed, as does coming up with a better game plan to get pressure on the quarterback.

Overall Grade: B+