The Chicago Bears beat the Las Vegas Raiders, but a lot of things in that game said that the Raiders were a fraudulent team more than they said that the Bears turned things around. A lot of Bears played some of their best games in the win, but there were still some questions and concerns.
Which players were still duds for the Chicago Bears in week 7?
4. Larry Borom did not play well for the Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears line has been playing much better in recent weeks. In both of their wins, it came down to the line being in sync and playing their two best games. However, while Tyson Bagent was only sacked once, and it was by Maxx Crosby, which is standard for him, the team still saw a bad performance from Larry Borom.
Darnell Wright spent most of the day against Crosby, so Larry Borom got to square off with Malcolm Koonce and Tyree Wilson. Against the lesser competition, Borom still allowed three pressures. Even worse, he had three bad penalties that held up drives.
The Raiders rookie Tyree Wilson had four pressures in six games but ended up with two pressures against Borom in his best game yet. Most Raiders fans were calling him a bust, but a game against Borom got him out of his slump.
It is not a coincidence that the players going against Borom always have some of their best games. He has been struggling since stepping in for Braxton Jones. This will bring a lot of questions to the left tackle position now and in the future.
It is hard to see the Bears turning their season around with such a liability on the left side because there will only be better pass rushers coming up.
3. Cole Kmet had zero yards in the Chicago Bears win
After five weeks, it was looking like Cole Kmet was going to have a career year. He was the clear number two behind D.J. Moore, and Justin Fields had a lot of trust in him. Now, he has gone two games with just nine yards. That is a drop from 46.2 yards per game to just 4.5 yards per game. Talk about a fall. Some of this makes sense.
We have seen Tyler Scott emerge the minute that Tyson Bagent set foot in the lineup. All of the practice time this summer, when Cole Kmet and Justin Fields were going over things, Tyson Bagent was working out with Tyler Scott. Beyond that, Darnell Mooney is looking healthier, so the team is getting more out of their wide receivers. That is a good thing, but now we need to see Cole Kmet continue his pace from before so that it all comes together.
Kmet should still be able to earn targets, and the matchups were not good enough for him to get blanked that hard. Will Tyson Bagent be able to get on the same page as Cole Kmet, or will he only get back to his career-high pace when Justin Fields returns?
2. The Chicago Bears are lucky Tyrique Stevenson was not picked on more
Tyrique Stevenson was clearly the person of interest for the Las Vegas Raiders. He ended up with a few strong reps against Davante Adams, and after allowing four catches in the first quarter, he held Adams in check the rest of the game. Still, overall Stevenson allowed ten catches for 78 yards, including a touchdown to Jakobi Meyers. Adams also was wide open for a touchdown against Stevenson, but the quarterback missed him, and the ball went off of his fingertips.
The Raiders' game plan was to match up Adams on Stevenson and attack him. However, after a drive or two, when they got out of their scripted plays, they ended up getting away from that game plan. Stevenson always plays the field side, so teams can know where to line up their receivers to target him.
The Raiders got him matched up with Tre Tucker and Meyers for catches, but they got away from Adams after the initial gameplan. No wonder he came out angry to the media.
The combination of quarterback and play calling saved Stevenson from this day being similar to the Buccaneers game.
1. The Chicago Bears are getting nothing out of Travis Homer
Darrynton Evans was on the Chicago Bears last year. The Bears decided to let Evans walk, then paid Travis Homer more than him to fill the same role. The team saw this as an upgrade. Seven weeks into the season, that has proven to be wrong.
Homer was about to get his chance to make an impact when Khalil Herbert was placed on the IR, but he had an injury himself. So, the team signed Darrynton Evans off of the Miami Dolphins practice squad.
Evans looked good in week six, and when Travis Homer returned in week seven it was still Evans getting work over him. Evans played 34 snaps and Homer played just three. On one of the three snaps Homer fumbled as well.
This was not what you wanted to see. It is a minor move, but a bad move nonetheless. The Bears paid more and did the extra legwork, and they benched him for someone they let walk and signed off of a practice squad. They should have kept Evans in the first place.