Chicago Bears Report Card Week 11: Grading Each Unit

Five weeks ago, I opened the Week 5 edition of the "Grading Each Unit" series by lamenting the Bears and poor Jay Cutler.

The Bears sunk to 2-3 in spite of Cutler putting up a very good game while being harassed at a rate that was reported by ESPN's Kevin Seifert as the worst single pass-blocking effort statistically on the year by any team in the league.

To that point, the Bears had allowed 23 sacks and 80 total pressures.  In the aforementioned article, I noted that the Bears had effectively become a joke.

Looks like it's the Bears who are laughing now.  

Since that horrid effort at Ford Field in Detroit, the Bears have won five straight games over opponents like the Lions, Eagles, Buccaneers and now the Chargers while allowing just five sacks and 63 total pressures in those contests.

Cutler has continued to play with poise, making smart decisions and trying not to force plays while using his mobility to help the line do its job.

For their part, the line has gelled as offensive coordinator Mike Martz and offensive line coach Mike Tice have adjusted the game plan and blocking schemes to improve their young linemen.

Even with the now injured Cutler watching from the sidelines for what appears to be the remainder of the regular season, the Bears are looking to be in pretty good shape. With a resurgent defense and the always tops special teams unit, the Bears and their young offense have worked their way into prime position to make a deep run into the playoffs.

With that said, let's take a look at the Bears' performance against the Chargers this week as we assign grades to each unit.

Offensive Line

There was some question as to how the line would perform after Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi were put on injured reserve this week.  

Williams was one of the best surprises of the 2011 season at the left guard spot and moving Carimi to the IR list meant that the Bears needed Lance Louis to remain at the right tackle spot and couldn't use him on the inside to replace Williams.

Making matters even worse was that Chris Spencer left the game with an injury in the second quarter, leaving the Bears awfully thin on the line.

But Edwin Williams stepped in and performed admirable in Chris Williams' absence and Frank Omiyale stepped in to help out at guard—a position he is actually better suited for—while Spencer recovered on the sideline.  

So the Bears adjusted and the line came through with another fine day in pass blocking. The numbers on total pressures are still out, but the Bears allowed no sacks for the second time this season.

Run blocking was more problematic, though.  Forte had his second poor game in a row, and it was largely due to the Chargers winning the battle at the line of scrimmage on running plays.  Forte was routinely hit at the line of scrimmage and behind it, as was Marion Barber.

But the Bears were able to run the ball when it mattered most: the fourth quarter.  Rivers spent the majority of the quarter watching from the sidelines as Forte and Barber ran the ball 12 times across two possessions that netted 46 yards and took a total of 8:45 off the clock. The Chargers ran all of four plays, culminating in two interceptions and no yards. 

Grade: B-

Defensive Line

The Bears' defensive line needed to step up in order for the Bears to contain the Chargers' high-powered passing game.  

Philip Rivers is among the best in the league when allowed time, but tends to fold when pressured—especially this year.

The D-line didn't disappoint.  

The stat sheet will try and deceive you.  The Bears recorded no sacks.  But the line pressured Rivers with regularity Sunday (they forced him to dump off the ball underneath quite a bit) and really harassed him in the second half, prompting the Chargers QB to toss two passes the Bears' way in the fourth quarter.

Against the run, the Bears' defensive line plugged holes all night.  Melton and Idonije were both spectacular in run defense and the whole defensive line did their job defending the ground game.  In a game the Chargers came into trying to emphasize the run, the Bears allowed just 57 yards on 17 rushes.

Had the line ever consummated their pass rush with a sack, they would have gotten an A.

Grade: A-

Receiving Group

Weren't the Bears' receivers supposed to be a weakness?

An orange-shoeless Earl Bennett made three great catches for 75 yards.  A suddenly relevant Roy Williams made five grabs for 62 yards and five first-down signals.

Johnny Knox emerged from the fog he's been in to make three fantastic receptions for 97 yards.  This included a beautiful 42-yarder to set up Jay Cutler's one-yard touchdown dive in the third quarter and another catch off of a great adjustment for a 24-yard score.

Tight ends Kellen Davis and Matt Spaeth weren't much involved in the passing attack, but both made an important catch in the game.  Davis caught a four-yard touchdown pass to put the Bears up by seven at the half and Spaeth caught an inside screen and took it for 13 yards on a crucial third down from the Bears' own 10-yard line.  This occurred in the fourth quarter as the Bears were trying to run out the clock.

There were a few poor plays.  Williams had problems finding the handle on three targets in the first quarter and Knox slipped in the fourth quarter, causing an interception.  But all in all, the receiving group did everything you could ask of them.

Grade: A-

Secondary

Today was an up and down day for the Bears' secondary.

Charles Tillman, coming off of a masterful performance against the Lions Calvin Johnson, was all but lost against Vincent Jackson early in the game.  Jackson caught seven passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.

When Tillman tightened up on Jackson in the second half, the Chargers found ways to get Jackson matched up against someone else, with Jackson catching a 47-yarder in the seam when Chris Conte was late getting to him, and catching a touchdown behind Lance Briggs in the red zone.

Tillman redeemed himself somewhat in the third quarter when he punched the ball loose from the hands of Ryan Matthews and then recovered the fumble, setting up a Bears' touchdown that put them two scores ahead of the Bolts.

But Jackson was also the target of Rivers' first interception to Major Wright, who now has three picks in the last three games.  Wright also played well against the run.

Conte had a rougher day in coverage than usual, but other than allowing Vincent Jackson's long reception, he wasn't a liability, and performed well against the run.

Corey Graham did well filling in for DJ Moore who was out with an injury.  Graham recorded his second INT in the last two games after he broke on the final Chargers' pass of the game, a duck thrown by Rivers as he ran for his life from Peppers and Idonije.

Corner Tim Jennings locked down rookie Vincent Brown, who had one catch for eight yards.

Grade: C+

Running Backs

Matt Forte had his second consecutive game rushing for under 100 yards though he only rushed for 2.85 yards per carry.  It wasn't his finest day, but he came through when it mattered and moved the ball to run out the clock.  The line didn't help him much, either.

Marion Barber was his usual hard-charging self and ground out the tough yards.  He also scored the Bears first touchdown of the day.

Tyler Clutts continues to be an unsung hero for Chicago.  Not only did he block well and catch a nine-yard pass to help the Bears grind out the clock in the fourth quarter, but he took over long-snapping duties from the Devin Hester of longsnappers, Patrick Mannelly, when the veteran fell to injury in the second quarter.

It wasn't a great day overall for the rushers, but they did what had to be done when it mattered most.

Grade: C+

Linebackers

The linebackers had a pretty good day, especially against the run.

Nick Roach continued his march of improvement this week, and was good in both pass and run coverage.

Urlacher was the Bears' savior, sealing the edges in the running game and forcing plays back inside.  He also had a pretty good day in coverage both in the short middle and in the deep zone.

Lance Briggs, however, had a beastly day.  He made some fantastic plays to the outside against the screen and was dominant in the middle against he rush.  Briggs did give up the touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson when he lost him in coverage, but had a pretty good day otherwise against the pass.

The Linebackers showed up and made a lot of plays, both in the forefront and out of vision in the coverage scheme.

Grade: A- 

Quarterback

While his 58.1 completion percentage may not show it, Cutler had possibly his best game of the year on Sunday.

He played well in the pocket, using his legs to avoid sacks and his crazy strong arm to make some impressive throws.  Outside of the pocket, Cutler showed once again that he's one of the best in the league when throwing on the run.

His one interception came by way of a Johnny Knox slip and his completion percentage wasn't helped by his receivers early in the game, but overall Jay had a great game as did his receivers.

Grade: A

The bad news?  Jay was lost for the year.  Cutler finished the game after breaking his thumb. But the thumb requires surgery to fix and will keep Cutler out likely for the rest of the regular season.  Hold on to your hats, Bears fans.  We're about to find out if Caleb Hanie can start in the NFL.

And now it's your turn, ladies and gentlemen.  Step up to the soapbox and let your voice be heard.