The Chicago Bears were unable to capitalize on a chance to tie or take the lead in the last two minutes of the game against the Miami Dolphins, and ultimately fell 35-32 in front of the home crowd. It was one of those losses that actually left me feeling somewhat good about the performance, but there were still some lackluster efforts that need to be addressed.
The Chicago Bears’ defense did not do enough to slow down the Dolphin’s offense
Player One: Chicago Bears pass rush
We knew this would be an issue against the Dolphins team that uses a quick strike offense. With no Robert Quinn and edge rushers that are struggling to win their one-on-ones, it was going to take a team effort to get to Tua Tagovailoa. Unfortunately, they were not able to affect the game and it led to a hard time in the secondary as well.
When Tua is not under pressure, he is smart enough to find the open guy. Now that they have focused on protecting him and getting the ball out faster, Tua has been playing at an elite level for the last few weeks. This was the case today as he did not get sacked one time. The Bears were able to make him uncomfortable on a couple of attempts, but for the most part, his pocket was clean.
This led to a big ask of the Bears’ secondary which is hard to do against the offense of Miami. When Tua had time to throw, he could dissect the defense and get the ball in the hands of his playmakers. It all starts up front with the pass rush, and they failed to contribute their part on the defense.
It really is a shame because the Bears just lack talent on the defensive line. Dominique Robinson is still developing and Trevis Gipson is just not a good enough pass rush. Al-Quadin Muhammad is serviceable at best.
Player two: Equanimeous St. Brown
After being on the winners’ list last week, this week was a disappointment for Equanimeous St. Brown. He dropped what should have been an easy completion, and this seems to be a common issue for him this year. For a team with limited weapons, he has been trusted to play a big role on the offense this year. While he has done the little things well, it is starting to hurt with all the drops and poor plays on the ball.
Fans called his name last week when he failed to bring in a touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone. He is 6’4 so he is expected to be the big X target on this team. Even with Chase Claypool, the Bears like his size on the outside. Unfortunately, he has not been reliable as a consistent pass catcher, thus the trade for Claypool.
I do really like St. Brown for this team. He brings the toughness and grit out of the wide receiver positions. Still, you have to be able to catch the ball, especially in situations late in games. With Claypool on the team now, there is less of a need for St. Browns services.
St. Brown is going to have to show out over the next part of the season in order to be considered for another contract. There is little room for error for him now that the receiver depth chart has changed. He brings some of the best blocking out of the receiver position, but that is only worth so much.
Player three: David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert
The Chicago Bears were once again able to run for over 200 yards as a team. Still, 178 yards of that came from Justin Fields running from the quarterback position. Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery have been one of the best one-two punches in the league this year in the backfield, but they were very quiet against the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have a solid run defense, but not elite. The Bears offensive line failed to create room for the backs to run through, so not all of this is on Montgomery and Herbert. Still, though, we did not see the explosiveness from Herbert in his limited snaps and Montgomery just could not get anything going on the ground.
We have been spoiled with great play from the backfield this year, but today that was not the case. Both backs did not have an impact on the game and the lack of success on the ground from everyone not named Justin Fields allowed the Dolphins to sit back in coverage on the last drive. While the Bears did catch some tough breaks, they were able to get pressure on Fields on the final drive more than they did all game. A lot of that was because the team did not respect a handoff to the running backs.
The Bears should still continue to pound the rock against a Lions defense that struggles to stop the run. The run game is their core competency, and they should utilize it even if it is not working. The offensive line has shown the ability to consistently run block, so hopefully, it shows up again next week.
The Chicago Bears played a shootout against the Miami Dolphins as we all expected. The Dolphins’ defense edged out the Bears and was able to do enough to hold the Bears from taking the lead late. The Bears’ defense was again porous, which will most likely be a theme going forward. The bad defense and a lack of a running game outside of Fields held the team back in this game.