Chicago Bears Week 9: Takeaways

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

3.) After a slow start, Alshon Jeffery played like a #1 WR

Early in Monday night’s game, the 6’3 Alshon Jeffery was being shut down by 5’9 corner Jason Verrett. Jeffery dropped a couple of passes that looked catchable, including one in the endzone, and appeared to turn the wrong way on a ball that was intercepted and ran back for a TD. On the next offensive play Jeffery beat Verrett deep for 47-yards and he was hard to stop from that point on.

He finished the game with 10 catches for 151 yards. Jeffery also made a very difficult catch on the game winning drive where he held the DB on his back and kept the ball off the ground to ensure it would be called a catch. It was a dominant performance in the 2nd half and showed his ability to be a legit #1 WR. It was Jeffery’s third consecutive game with over 100 yards and he is starting to prove that he deserves to be paid like a #1 WR this off-season.

4.) The makeshift offensive line had another solid game

Right tackle Kyle Long is the only player on the Bears stating offensive line who is in the same position they were tabbed to play in week 1. For the 2nd consecutive week the Bears started two guards signed for depth this off-season, a former 7th round pick who came into this season on the roster bubble at left tacke, and a center who was starting just the 2nd game of his 7 year career at the position.

The Chargers defense is near the middle of the pack statistically this season, but the Bears o-line still held them to just one sack and allowed the Bears to gain 446 total yards. The Bears had struggled with blitzes and stunts earlier in the year, but Monday the line did a solid job picking up whatever the Chargers threw their way.

Charles Leno did give up a sack that forced a fumble but for the most part neutralized an explosive pass rusher in Melvin Ingram. There were a few penalties and blown assignments but for the most part the O-line played a solid game and deserves plenty of credit for the win.

5.) Does Robbie Gould have the yips?

After starting the season a perfect 17-17 on field goals, Gould has missed three in a row. One of those misses was from 50+, but Monday night Gould missed attempts from both 47 and 34. Hopefully it’s not a long-term issue as the Bears aren’t good enough to win games without a reliable kicker.

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