Chicago Bears Week 2 vs Bengals: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Bad

Having a defense that forces turnovers on a consistent basis is always a great thing. However, it means nothing if the offense can’t produce points from those turnovers. Apart from Smith’s pick-six, Chicago’s takeaways resulted in very little on the scoreboard.

Had the Bears’ offense taken advantage of not only the Bengals’ turnover but also the great field position which came along with them, this contest would have been a blowout. After the first turnover caused by Chicago (a fumble recovery), the offense started their drive on Cincinnati’s 39-yard line. Two false start penalties by Fields held the offense back, and they had to settle for a field goal. After the Bears’ recorded their second interception, the offense started at the Bengals’ 36-yard line and had a three-and-out, which was topped off by an offensive pass interference penalty by second-year tight end Cole Kmet. Following the fourth takeaway, Chicago had a first-and-goal on the nine-yard line, only to settle for yet another field goal.

Along with the inability to put up points, the Bears’ receivers had a hard time hauling in passes. There were quite a few dropped balls, and these were passes that could have helped build the confidence of their rookie quarterback. The biggest drop was by Robinson when he let a 35-yard pass go through his arms in the end zone.

The only blemish on Chicago’s defense was a couple of instances where players didn’t use their heads. Gipson was flagged for taunting on third down, which prolonged the Bengals’ drive. Cincinnati did eventually punt, but the penalty didn’t help in the battle for field position. During the Bengals’ first drive of the second half, outside linebacker Robert Quinn was called for unnecessary roughness on a third-and-long when he hit Burrow while out of bounds, which led to a Cincy field goal.