Category: Latest Bears News

Marquise Goodwin calls Bears’ lack of downfield plays in opener ‘challenging’

The Bears’ downfield passing attack was nonexistent against the Rams, which Marquise Goodwin explained was “challenging.”

The Bears’ downfield passing attack was nonexistent against the Rams, where a conservative plan with quarterback Andy Dalton consisted of short, quick passes and pounding the rock with running back David Montgomery.

Dalton didn’t complete a pass over 10 yards against the Rams (going 0-for-2 and an interception). His longest pass attempt was 16 yards, and only 5 of his 38 attempts were for 10 yards or more. Dalton had just one pass attempt travel more than 15 yards.

The complete lack of a downfield passing attack is shocking considering Nagy’s emphasis on opening things up with the additions of speedy weapons like Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd.

Goodwin, who led the Bears with 45 yards on four receptions, was asked about the team’s lack of downfield plays against the Rams.

“It’s challenging,” Goodwin said. “But I mean, you just got to work with what you get. I don’t control the plays that are called. I don’t control anything but just going out and doing my job, and I just do it the best that I know how: fast.”

Chicago’s game plan was clear: run the ball and throw quick, short passes to keep Aaron Donald and the Rams’ pass rush at bay. But it also benefited All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

“He’s a unique player, All-Pro, Pro Bowler, instinctive, especially in short spaces,” Goodwin said of Ramsey. “And us not running past 10 yards, that fell right into his hands I feel like.”

It sounds like a criticism of the offensive game plan, which was content to do the basics while relying on the defense to keep things close. Not exactly how you win football games in this day and age.

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Tashaun Gipson calls missed touch tackle on Van Jefferson the kind of play that ‘keeps you up at night’

Tashaun Gipson said he’ll be kept up at night by his failure to touch Van Jefferson down on the turf in the Bears’ Week 1 loss vs. Rams.

The Bears were embarrassed in the team’s season opener against the Rams, where their defense was the biggest liability for Chicago.

There were mistakes aplenty from the Bears defense, including missed tackles and broken coverages. But perhaps the most egregious error occurred in the first quarter when quarterback Matthew Stafford found wide receiver Van Jefferson, who beat Eddie Jackson and Tashaun Gipson, for a deep completion.

Jefferson should’ve been down around the 11-yard line, but neither Jackson nor Gipson had the awareness to touch him and Jefferson got right up and sprinted into the end zone for what went down as a 67-yard score.

When Gipson met with the media Tuesday at Halas Hall, it was the first question he had to address. Gipson couldn’t believe they screwed it up and said it’s the kind of play that “keeps you up at night.”

“Too much football IQ between Eddie (Jackson) and me to let that happen,” he said. “It won’t happen again as long as I’m employed by the National Football League.”

But in a 34-14 blowout loss, there’s usually more than one error, as evidenced by the broken coverage on Cooper Kupp’s 56-yard touchdown pass on the opening series of the second half.

Marqui Christian, who was covering Kupp in the slot, didn’t go with his man, and neither did Jackson nor Gipson, which left Kupp streaking wide open for the easy score.

“It was a brain fart on the secondary, myself included,” Gipson said. “I take ownership on that play. We all got to be on the same page.”

When it was time for the defense to watch film from that brutal loss, the mood was exactly as you’d expect.

“Film session was hard, it was tough,” Gipson said. “There was a lot of ugly plays out there.”

The Bears defense will be looking to turn things around in Week 2, when they face Joe Burrows and a Bengals offense that found success against the Vikings in Week 1.

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Bears RB David Montgomery is second in rushing yards through Week 1

Through one week of NFL action, Bears RB David Montgomery is the second leading rusher in the league with 108 yards.

Running back David Montgomery was the best player on the field for Bears in their 34-14 loss to the Rams in Week 1.

Chicago’s offense established a balanced attack with Montgomery, who cranked off 79 yards rushing and a score in the first half alone, including a beauty of 41-yard run on the Bears’ first offensive series.

Montgomery finished the game with 16 rushes for 108 yards — his third 100-yard rushing game in the last five regular-season contests dating back to 2020. Montgomery could’ve had more if not for the hole Chicago’s offense found themselves in late in the game.

Through one week of NFL action, Montgomery is the second leading rusher in the league, where he trails only Joe Mixon.

  1. Joe Mixon, Cincinnati – 127
  2. David Montgomery, Chicago – 108
  3. Eli Mitchell, San Francisco – 104
  4. Melvin Gordon, Denver – 101
  5. Damien Harris, New England, 100

Montgomery was nominated for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week for his performance, where he’s up against the likes of Mixon and Gordon, who are also among the leading rushers.

Interestingly enough, the Bears will face the leading rusher in Mixon when Chicago host the Bengals on Sunday.

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Bears Week 1 snap counts: Justin Fields plays 5 snaps, Trevis Gipson gets 7 on defense

Before we put an exclamation mark on Week 1, here’s a breakdown of the Bears’ snap counts against the Rams.

The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where left the team faced with some concerns heading into Week 2.

Looking at the snap counts from Sunday’s loss, there were some surprises by the usage of some players. But, for the most part, it was what we expected heading into the season.

Before we put an exclamation point on Week 1, here’s a breakdown of the Bears’ snap counts against the Rams.

Some Bears and Rams fans got into fight following Week 1 game at SoFi Stadium

Some Bears and Rams fans got into an altercation following the Week 1 game at SoFi Stadium.

Sunday night marked the first game at SoFi Stadium with fans in attendance, where the Chicago Bears were dealt a 34-14 loss by the Los Angeles Rams. But it also marked the first fan brawl in the new stadium.

TMZ Sports obtained footage of Bears and Rams fans getting into an altercation following the game in the course of SoFi Stadium.

According to one witness, things got aggressive early in the game when they were sitting in their seats. Security stepped in and made fans change seats in an attempt to keep things in order.

But the fans ran into each other after the game inside the concourse, where the brawl then ensued with several punches being thrown. Security once again stepped in and broke up the fight.

Warning: This video contains foul language.

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Leash Watch: How short is Bears QB Andy Dalton’s leash heading into Week 2?

Following a so-so performance in the Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Rams, here’s where Andy Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 2.

The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where quarterback Andy Dalton was far from the problem. But he also wasn’t the solution either, which could spell the beginning of the Justin Fields era much sooner than expected.

Dalton survived Week 1 with his health and starting job in tact. But there certainly appears to be an expiration date on his time as starter. It’s going to be sooner rather than later when Fields gets his chance to start in place of Dalton. We just don’t know when, exactly.

While we wait for Fields to get his starting chance, we decided to have some fun with our Andy Dalton Leash Watch, where we take a weekly look at how short — or long — Dalton’s leash is heading into a given week, until it’s inevitably pulled.

Whether it lasts for three weeks six weeks or longer remains to be seen. But we’ll be following along the entire way.

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the shortest and 10 the longest leash, here’s where Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 2.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Stock up, stock down from Bears’ Week 1 loss

From David Montgomery to Marqui Christian, here’s a look at whose stock is rising or falling after the Bears’ Week 1 loss against the Rams.

The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where they’re left to answer a slew of questions ranging from a declining defense to injury concerns at offensive tackle.

Now that the dust has settled, we’re taking a look at which players saw their stock rise and which players saw their stock dip during the win.

Bears open as 2.5-point home favorites vs. Bengals in Week 2

The Bears will host the Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago is early 2.5-point favorites in Week 2.

The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener on Sunday at Soldier Field, but it won’t be a cakewalk against a Bengals offense that was impressive in their season-opening win.

The Bears are coming off a brutal 34-14 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, who abused Chicago’s defense for the entirety of the game. Despite only scoring 14 points, the Bears offense showed signs of encouragement, led by running back David Montgomery’s 108-yard outing and Rookie Justin Fields’ brief stint in a small package of plays.

With the season opener in the rearview mirror, Chicago is now on to Cincinnati, where the Bears have opened as 2.5-point home favorites against the Bengals, according to Tipico Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 44.5 points.

The 2.5 points doesn’t suggest much confidence in Chicago, as the home team is usually afforded 3 points. It’s not really a surprise following an embarrassing performance by the Bears’ once-vaunted defense, where they allowed 34 points. Now, they’ll be tasked with contending with Joe Burrow and his cast of weapons.

Last season, the Bears were favored in just three of 16 games against the New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars. Chicago were big 7.5-point underdogs in Week 1 against the Rams.

Can the Bears rebound following a brutal Week 1 loss? Or will the Bengals make it 2-0 against the NFC North? We’ll see when the Bears and Bengals kick things off Sunday at Noon CT on CBS.

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It doesn’t sound like we’ll see Bears rookie Justin Fields as a starter before Week 4

According to Jay Glazer, we’re not likely to see rookie Justin Fields take over as starter before Week 4, when the Bears host the Lions.

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Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields made his brief NFL debut during Sunday night’s loss to the Rams, where he saw five snaps of action throughout the course of the game.

His first play was a 9-yard completion to receiver Marquise Goodwin and his final play of the game was a 3-yard rushing touchdown that left Fields’ teammates and Bears fans alike incredibly excited.

Despite an ill-advised interception in the end zone, Andy Dalton had a decent outing, which should be enough to keep his starting job heading into Week 2. But we could soon be close to Fields’ starting debut.

According to FOX NFL insider Jay Glazer, we’re not likely to see Fields take over as starter before Week 4, which paints that game against the Lions as a prime target date for Fields’ first NFL start.

“The plan was for him not to be the starter before Week 4,” Glazer said. “That one I can tell you without a doubt. The Bears were really hoping their defense would come up big, they’d be able to play ball control football and Andy Dalton would be able to manage that team and Justin Fields could just learn. They did want to take him along a lot more slowly than throwing him in there in Game 1 or Game 2 or something along those lines.”

While Fields didn’t light the world on fire during his mere five snaps, even that was enough to show what Fields brings to this offense that Dalton doesn’t.

So did Fields do enough in his debut to change Nagy’s plan (which Glazer says is that Week 4 timeline)?

“No,” coach Matt Nagy said. “We’re where we’re at and I think he did a great job of what we were asking him to do.”

That’s about the answer we expected out of Nagy, especially given Dalton wasn’t terrible in his debut. But decent isn’t going to be enough to win games with this struggling defense, which is why Nagy will likely find himself making the switch much sooner than he anticipates.

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14 crazy stats from Bears’ Week 1 loss vs. Rams

Here are 14 crazy stats from the Bears’ brutal 34-14 loss to the Rams in Week 1.

The Chicago Bears opened the 2021 season with an embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football, where it wasn’t Chicago’s offense that was the biggest disappointment.

The good news is the rest of the NFC North also lost, so the Bears are somehow tied for first place in the division with the Packers, Vikings and Lions. Small victories, right?

Here are 14 crazy stats from the Bears’ loss to the Rams in Week 1.