The Chicago Bears finally won their first game of the season, and there are plenty of reasons for fans to be excited. However, they still sit at 1-4, and there are plenty of questions to be answered on the roster as they stand. Even this game was not completely pretty. Who were some of the duds from the Bears' week five win?
3. The Chicago Bears got nothing out of Darnell Mooney
The Chicago Bears did not need Darnell Mooney because they scored 40 points. Still, it is amusing to see the teams stat-line at receiver. D.J. Moore obviously led the way with 230 of the 282 passing yards in this game. So, it left just 52 yards, 42 for Cole Kmet and 10 for Robert Tonyan. That is right, not a single yard for a receiver other than D.J. Moore.
While this is great for Moore, it is alarming for Mooney. It is not like he had better cornerbacks facing him; the coverage was bad across the board. Justin Fields should favor Moore, but a lot of the time, Mooney could not create. He was open once early in the game, and Fields could not hit him.
It could be because Mooney is coming back from a serious injury last season. Still, he has done next to nothing all season long. At some points, teams are going to make sure that Moore does not do this to them. Not every secondary will be as bad as Washington. This is when someone like Mooney will need to step up and make a play. So far, he has not shown he is ready for that moment.
2. The Chicago Bears need to replace Elijah Hicks
A lot is being asked of Elijah Hicks as he is in his second NFL season. The former seventh-round pick was a special teams asset last year, but the injury to Eddie Jackson has thrust him into a starting spot. Last week, he looked a bit in over his head as he missed a couple of tackles and allowed a big catch to Marvin Mims.
This week, we saw a little bit of the same. He was the worst-graded defender on the Chicago Bears, per PFF. He missed two tackles, and he was the culprit of both touchdown passes, one to Curtis Samuel and one to Logan Thomas.
It is a lot to ask of the player because he is not nearly as good as Jackson, and Jackson was supposed to lead the secondary. Still, he is failing in a big way. The Chicago Bears added Duron Harmon from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, and you have to wonder if Harmon will end up starting for Hicks if Jackson is not able to come back soon enough.
The team cannot deal with the consistent questions that Hicks is bringing right now.
1. Tremaine Edmunds is a major dud for the Chicago Bears
Through five weeks, nobody on the Chicago Bears has proven Ryan Poles to look smart as D.J. Moore. At the same time, nobody has done more to make Poles look dumb than Tremaine Edmunds. Edmunds has been more of a liability than a helper for the defense right now.
That is a major concern when you factor in the money that he is being paid. He is expected to lead this defense, and he is doing anything but. The Chicago Bears tried to get him going on some blitzes last night, but he was not as effective as TJ Edwards. Edmunds had a couple of missed tackles and did not have any run stops in this game. His impact is hardly felt.
There is a grace period because it is a new team and defense. However, he was hand-picked by Matt Eberflus, a former linebackers coach, because he was supposed to fit this system well. What makes it worse is seeing Roquan Smith hit the ground running on the Baltimore Ravens.
On a night where so many players were able to change the narrative, at least for one night, we still have so many questions about Tremaine Edmunds. That is a big issue for the Chicago Bears.