Chicago Bears: These were the biggest disappointments from Week 8
By Dakota Wayne
Chicago Bears Disappointing Player No. 1: James Daniels
In a game that was surprisingly sound from the offensive side, James Daniels was one of the weaknesses of this offense early on.
On the #Bears' first offensive drive of the game, James Daniels has been flagged twice: once for holding and the other for illegal man downfield.
— Nicholas Moreano (@NicholasMoreano) October 31, 2021
Bears still get on the scoreboard with Cairo Santos' 39-yard field goal.
While the Chicago Bears only had four penalties overall for 30 yards, James Daniels accounted for more than half of that with two penalties on the opening drive: a drive that could’ve ended in more than a field goal had Daniels not gotten flagged twice.
Now, that’s somewhat nit-picky, but with a score as close as it was, getting a touchdown instead of a field goal would have added major momentum, especially to start a game at Soldier Field.
Considering the Chicago Bears had 324 total yards (148 passing, 176 rushing), it’s tough to say Daniels had a bad game overall, but it’s easy to say that an opening touchdown would do well for the team’s momentum, as well as maybe take away some of the momentum from the opposing team.
Not to mention, Daniels is one of the few offensive linemen on this Chicago Bears offense that usually doesn’t get much negative attention. That being said, he’s getting some this time. Two penalties in one drive are significant, so him being one of the disappointing players this week had to be done.
With one out the way, who’s next?