Chicago Bears Week 14 Report Card: Grading Every Defensive Player

Wow. What a difference the last half of the fourth quarter makes in an otherwise dominant performance.

During most of the game, I was thinking about the glowing report I'd be writing about the Bears defense and holding the Broncos and Tim Tebow scoreless.

Then it all came apart. A few boneheaded mistakes by the otherwise impressive Marion Barber and a sudden bout of football amnesia by the otherwise stout defense, and the Bears lose in overtime to the Mile High Miracles.

Now I sit here trying to make sense of the defensive performance, and it's not exactly easy to tell which way is up.

The defense played a flawless game for nearly three-and-a-half quarters, but fell flat in the fourth quarter as Tebow and the Broncos found their grove and carved apart the Bears porous prevent defense for 191 passing yards and a touchdown, along with two field-goal drives.

Follow me as we grade out every defensive player who touched the turf.

Defensive Ends

The defensive ends had a very solid game and were a large part of holding Denver scoreless through three-and-a-half quarters.

Julius Peppers, A: Peppers got to the quarterback once today and pestered Tebow the whole game. He was good in run defense, too, but did lose contain on Tebow once. Maybe the biggest problem Peppers had was an inability to get a holding flag.  

Israel Idonije, A-: Izzy had a pretty good day rushing the passer and got consistent pressure for the first time in a while. He was also very good defending the run and filling his gaps, and he recovered a fumble and blocked a field goal. This was probably Idonije's best game of the season.

Corey Wootton, C: In limited action, Wootton was relatively ineffective in applying pressure on Tebow, but did a good job of turning rushers in while defending the run.

Chauncey Davis, C+: Davis did a nice job filling in for Pep and Izzy, creating decent pressure and handling his gap assignments well.  He wasn't making plays, but he also wasn't making mistakes.

Defensive Tackles

The tackle unit was unusually solid this week against a very good Denver offensive line.

Henry Melton, A: Melton had one of his best games this season against Denver. He recorded a sack, got consistent pressure and collapsed the pocket on several occasions. He was nearly flawless in run defense as well.

Matt Toeaina, B-: Toe got decent pressure up the middle on several occasions and was stout against the run. Toeaina has worked his way into the starting roster, and he showed why today.

Amobi Okoye, C-: Okoye did little to make his presence known against the Broncos. He got little pressure and wasn't exactly an interior wall when defending the running game. In short, Okoye was decent at times, but won't be calling this game one of his best.

Stephen Paia, A: Paea played limited snaps, but made his impact felt, recording three tackles and two sacks. Paia is starting to show the world that the Bears made a wise decision in snatching the strongman in the second round.

Linebackers

The linebackers played a stout game throughout and have nothing to hang their heads about. No tight end had a reception, and the Denver running backs averaged just seven yards per reception.

Brian Urlacher, A: The Bears veteran middleman stonewalled the Broncos option rushing attack as well as their power run game, and Urlacher was a huge part of why. When he wasn't making his 11 total tackles, he was redirecting rushers back towards the pack.

Lance Briggs, B: Briggs turned in nine tackles and was on top of the running game. The only real problems he had today were a missed tackle, one poor angle to the ball carrier and a silly roughing penalty that he should have known better than to commit.

Nick Roach, B-: If Roach isn't careful, people are going to start expecting him to perform at a high level weekly. Roach isn't getting as much playing time as his fellow linebacker because of the Bears' frequent utilization of DJ Moore in the nickel position. But when he was on the field, he was a beast against the run.

Corners

The corners played well the majority of the game, but a few mistakes made all the difference. Of course, It's not as if Tebow threw a whole lot of passes prior to midway through the fourth quarter, either.

Charles Tillman, B: Tillman played well most of the game, defending the run and making plays in coverage, including a freakish interception on the sideline that would have been impressive no matter who the player was. But his inability to keep receivers away from the sidelines on the final drive brought down his grade.

Tim Jennings, C: Jennings did fairly well in coverage, but he was not so valuable in run protection. It seemed like the most lackluster of blocks thrown by Broncos receivers moved Jennings out of position in defending the run.

DJ Moore, C-: See the explanation for Tin Jennings grade and add a couple of missed tackles to that.

Zach Bowman, F: Bowman looked bad in his infrequent appearances on the field, and he cemented that image by allowing the only Denver touchdown.

Safeties

The safeties actually had a pretty good game.

Craig Steltz, B+: Steltz had another very good outing starting in place of Major Wright. He performed well in coverage and against the run. Steltz finished with five total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.

Chris Conte, C+: Conte was largely unseen in coverage, as the Bears spent most of the fourth quarter in two-deep prevent, with Conte and Steltz playing 25 yards off the line of scrimmage. He was decent against the run but often a step late to the pile.

Bradnon Meriweather, C: Meriweather didn't appear on the field often, and he recorded no stats. But he made several key fills to gaps that helped the Bears run defense but won't show up on a stat sheet.

There you have it, folks. Step up to the soapbox below and let your opinions be heard.