Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2017 16:05:07 GMT -6
Bears mid-season report card: Offense
By: Lorin Cox | 12 hours ago
Eight games have come and gone for the Chicago Bears at 3-5, and they have the luxury of a bye week right at the halfway point of the season.
In some ways, they have exceeded expectations, already matching last season’s win total, but certainly there have been many areas of the team that haven’t pulled their weight.
This time of year is perfect to take a big picture look at the team and evaluate what they’ve been able to do up to this point. The Bears’ offense in particular presents an interesting group to grade.
Let’s go position-by-position and hand out a report card to Mitchell Trubisky and the offense.
Quarterback: B-minus
This grade is purely for Trubisky’s four starts, ignoring the first four games of quarterback play from Mike Glennon. The rookie stepped in a difficult situation in Week 4 and helped lead this team to two wins, and it’s easy to forget how difficult that can be.
That’s why it’s hard to be too critical of the No. 2 overall pick’s performance so far, but he also has plenty of room for improvement so far.
He’s thrown a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions that killed Bears’ comeback attempts, but he’s also made some big time throws in critical situations, like on 3rd down in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens.
Running back: B-plus
It’s easy to forget Jordan Howard was battling a recurring shoulder injury early in the season, and it’s unclear if he’s even back to 100 percent at this point.
Even still, the Bears have the fourth-most rushing yards of any offense this season, despite opposing defenses consistently loading up the box with eight and nine defenders.
Tarik Cohen, meanwhile, leads the team in catches and is second in receiving yards, spending plenty of snaps lined up at wide receiver. His production has dipped as of late, but this running back position has largely carried the offense as a whole.
Wide receiver: D
The wide receiver position is widely criticized for its lack of talent, but the tape shows that this group is doing a better job of getting open than they’re getting credit for.
That doesn’t mean they’re a “good” group, but they aren’t completely useless. Tre McBride eclipsed 90 yards against the New Orleans Saints, while Kendall Wright has been relatively consistent at the position when he gets opportunities.
It’s hard for this group to produce when the offense was throwing the ball so little, on top of their talent deficiency.
Tight end: B-minus
Chicago Bears tight ends Dion Sims #88 and Zach Miller #86 (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports).
Before his devastating injury, Zach Miller was one of Trubisky’s favorite targets and one of the offense’s best play-makers, able to line up all over and get open.
Meanwhile, Dion Sims has not had the same impact. Even as a blocker, he’s struggled to be a difference-maker in the offense, finding success blocking defensive backs while struggling to take on linebackers and defensive linemen.
Adam Shaheen has had a slow start to his career, but that’s understandable for a rookie out of Division-II who is still adjusting to the game. This group will have their work cut out for them as they try to fill the void from Miller.
Offensive tackle: C
Charles Leno #72 and Bradley Sowell #79 of the Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images).
At this point, Charles Leno and Bobby Massie are what they are. Leno is an average left tackle who isn’t going to have any disaster games but also isn’t going to put together perfect games in pass protection.
He has been a little bit more consistent in run blocking up to this point than in years past, but he’s still had far too many penalties that hold his offense back.
Massie has been better this year than he was through eight games last year, when he struggled to even look serviceable. He still leaves a lot to be desired, but he’s a right tackle that at least gets the job done.
Guard: C-plus
Kyle Long and Josh Sitton have a track record of consistency, but they both have had down years through the first half of 2017.
Long has the injury excuse with his ankle that continues to affect him, before suffering a hand injury against the Saints that took him out of the game. He was replaced by Tom Compton, who was absolutely terrible and dragged this offensive line down.
Sitton hasn’t been his usual, Pro Bowl-caliber self, particularly in pass protection where he’s been uncharacteristically vulnerable at times.
The two veteran guards haven’t been “bad” but the Bears have needed better consistency from them given how difficult that has been to come by at the positions next to them.
Center: D-plus
Cody Whitehair was horrendous to start the season as Pro Football Focus’ lowest-graded center through the first four games, but once he started snapping to Trubisky instead of Glennon, he seemed to turn a corner and started playing more like his old self.
Even as his blocking improved, he still had issues with bad snaps for the first few games of Trubisky’s career, and he isn’t yet back to the quality center he played like as a rookie.
He is much less of a liability now than he was four weeks ago, and he’s definitely trending in the right direction moving forward.