Chicago Bears Collapse vs Panthers: Week 5 Report Card
Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Special Teams (F-)
Could I give the Bears special teams a G? Is that a lower grade than F? If Joe DeCamillis were fired tomorrow it wouldn’t be soon enough. The Bears are sloppy, lazy and inconsistent. I will give a small portion of the blame to Phil Emery for continuously churning the bottom end of the roster to the point that you can’t get any consistency. Even the usually reliable Robbie Gould had a crucial miss. Not even a +2.3 day from punter Pat O’Donnell can rescue this unit from a failing grade.
Coaching (F)
In his introductory press conference, head coach Marc Trestman misspoke when he said the Bears would be a team that is “selfish and undisciplined.” That might have been prescient and he also forgot unprepared and sloppy. The Bears were penalized 10 times. That’s coaching. The Bears have been outscored 34-3 in the second halves of their last two games. That’s a lack of halftime adjustments. That’s coaching. Jay Cutler shares in the league lead in interceptions. That’s Marc Trestman’s fault. That’s coaching. I blame the Bears’ slow start on Marc Trestman. Do you agree?
The good news is that the Bears are still within shouting distance of the top of the NFC North thanks to Kyle Orton and the Buffalo Bills and their win over the Detroit Lions. There is still time to save the season, but after this report card, that time is slipping away. Time to fix things or start making January tee times.