The Chicago Bears lost to the New Orleans Saints to fall to 2-7 on the season. The team covered the spread and made the game a lot closer than some expected. Still, it brings all kinds of questions about the team moving forward. What do fans need to know?
10. Did Tyson Bagent show the Chicago Bears why he is not an NFL starter?
In his first career start, we saw the best of Tyson Bagent. In a lot of the other games, we have seen the worst. Overall, we have seen why Bagent was a UDFA and why his ceiling in the NFL may be a backup. The good part of Bagent is that he gets the ball out quickly. He is not afraid to check it down and manage a game. He has enough mobility in the pocket to roll out, extend plays, and move the chains.
However, he cannot win games. Tyson Bagent is physically limited. Passes are too often behind where he wants them because the players are too fast, and he has too many underthrown passes. He also does not have the size or ability to get out of tackles or make throws off the platform. Tyson Bagent is closer to someone like Chase Daniel or Garnder Minshew than a true NFL starter, and that is okay. Now, it is time for Justin Fields to return. Fields will push the ball downfield more but will hold onto it longer, so there will be more splash but more clunkiness in-between. Both have pros and cons.
9. Did Jack Sanborn prove the Chicago Bears should have trusted him more?
The Chicago Bears got a little taste into what could have been with Jack Sanborn starting this week. A lot of fans thought he deserved a chance in the MIKE role after he had a strong rookie season. However, the Bears signed Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards, signaling his time on the field would only come in the SAM role.
This is when the Bears are not in nickel, which is not often, so Sanborn saw his snap count go down this year. With Edmunds out, the Bears saw how Sanbor would look in that role. He played well and recorded ten tackles overall. The run defense looked great with Sanborn. The coverage was questionable, but it is not like Edmunds has done well in that area, either.
Edmunds is expected to miss the Thursday Night Football game, so the Chicago Bears will get an extended look at Jack Sanborn. There is not much the team can do now, but the fans can recognize the opportunity cost the team lost.
8. Is Darnell Mooney about to break out in the second half of the season for the Chicago Bears?
Darnell Mooney entered the season, recovering from an ankle injury late into the 2022 season. He missed all of the offseason as he worked back. So, it is not surprising that Mooney entered the year rusty. He started off pretty slow despite a touchdown in week one. Mooney had just 104 yards over the first games. That is just 17 yards per game. It was a combination of him and his quarterback. However, in recent weeks, he has turned it on.
Mooney has 203 yards over the last four games, which is 50.8 yards per game. That is much more on track for expectations before the season. Mooney was expected to have a big game this week because the Saints' worst cornerback was in the slot. So, the question now is whether Mooney can just win in these easy matchups or if he is all the way back and ready to be a consistent producer. Luckily, he has another relatively manageable matchup against Carolina next week.
7. How did Montez Sweat look in his debut with the Chicago Bears_
The Chicago Bears traded for Montez Sweat on Tuesday, so they did not want to overwhelm him. Matt Eberflus said that Sweat was only going to play obvious pass-downs, two-minute personnel, and then just a few first and second-down snaps. So, we saw a lot of DeMarcus Walker being mixed in with Sweat.
Still, the debut of Sweat was not as eventful as the debut of Khalil Mack, but it was a debut nonetheless. On limited snaps, Sweat had a couple of pressures and a big-time hustle play chasing down Taysom Hill from behind.
Sweat was supposed to be a player who would buy into the HITS principle and that is why the Bears traded for him. So, to see him show that hustle after the extension at least gives us better vibes than Chase Claypool. Still, now we want to see more from Montez Sweat. He has a quick turnaround for Thursday Night Football against Taylor Moton, a strong right tackle. How will he build off of this, and what will his snap count look like in the second week?
6. Wil the Chicago Bears continue to ride with D'onta Foreman?
First, the Chicago Bears were going to have a three-man committee at running back. Then, they made D'onta Foreman inactive as they opted for a two-man backfield with Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson. Herbert and Johnson got banged up, and the team had to go back to Foreman with Darrynton Evans.
Now, Foreman has looked strong. So, do they stick with Foreman moving forward? The good news is that they may not have to make a decision soon. Johnson was always expected to be a passing down back who could work the two-minute drill and other areas. So, there is always the early down role for Foreman if Herbert remains out. Herbert had a pretty serious injury, and there is not much of a timeline on his return.
It is worth noting that while Foreman has 60 rushes for 271 yards since he took over the backfield, Herbert had 51 rushes for 272 yards before his injury. In the last two games, Herbert had 28 rushes for 179 yards, so Foreman may be a product of Teven Jenkins getting healthy and the run game getting better naturally. Either way, the Chicago Bears will take the production.
5. Wil Matt Eberflus be held accountable for the Chicago Bears sloppy play?
The Chicago Bears lost a one-score game when they turned the football over five times, missed a field goal, and lost in penalties with eight penalties for 71 yards, while the Saints had just one penalty for five yards.
Last year, one of the big feathers in the cap for Matt Eberflus was that his team did not commit a ton of penalties, and they took care of the ball. Eberflus focuses on the little things, and so does his team. What happened to that? The sloppy play is too consistent for this team at this point, and Ebeeflys is letting it happen by not holding his players accountable. It started by sticking with Chase Claypool for far too long after he failed in these areas. Did Eberflus lose the pulse, and can he get this group back to the details?
Ryan Poles job may be scure, but he is still working to show that he should be the head coach next year.
4. Is this the Cole Kmet breakout Chicago Bears have been looking for?
Cole Kmet was on track for the best year of his career before Justin Fields got hurt. After just nine yards in two games, he put up 134 yards in two games since then. That came on 16 catches out of 18 targets, and it came with two touchdowns on top of it. This is one of the best stretches of their career for Kmet, and Sunday may have been one of the best catches and games of his career. He got in sync with the backup quickly and went from no targets to the most trusted asset.
Justin Fields should be back on Thursday, and that should only mean more big things for Kmet, who was becoming the second trusted player behind D.J. Moore for Justin Fields.
Kmet has always been solid, but he lacked that dynamic nature. Showing that on Sunday was huge. At his age, the best was always yet to come, and we are finally seeing exactly what it means. This will be a career year for Cole Kmet; the question now is how good will the season look when we look back on it at the end of the season.
3. How can the Chicago Bears slow down passses to running backs?
The Chicago Bears have a serious problem giving up yards to running backs in the passing game. It started with Aaron Jones in week one and did not stop. Guys like Jaleel McLaughlin and Antonio Gibson had success, but they were not as dynamic. So, with Austin Ekeler and Alvin Kamara on the schedule for the last two weeks, this was overly exposed.
Ekeler rocked them, and while Kamara had four catches for 44 yards, he was held in check overall. Still, Kendre Miller also had a 31-yard explosive catch. What is going to stop this from happening? With Tremaine Edmunds out, they went with Jack Sanborn, and it was still an issue. TJ Edwards has been good elsewhere, but this was supposed to be his area, and he is struggling. Jaquan Brisker has been injured seemingly all season. Can anyone step up and make this less of an issue? Or will they continue to let guys like Kendre Miller and Alexander Mattison break long gains on them?
2. Why did the Chicago Bears play Larry Borom late in the game?
The Chicago Bears rotated Larry Borom and Braxton Jones in at left tackle against the New Orleans Saints. Jones was in his first game back since week two, so it made sense. However, with the Chicago Bears down seven late, Tyson Bagent was strip-sacked by Carl Granderson. Granderson beat Larry Borom. It brings up the question of why Borom was out there.
It is one thing to split their snaps, but you have to think about the time and place of the situation. The Bears were in a go-to situation, and they should have had their best out there. If that meant giving Jones one less series early to ensure he was around in a close game, then you have to account for that.
The plan makes sense pre-game, but when the game unfolds, you have to adapt. The Chicago Bears struggle the most in this area. Now, on Thursday, it will be a short turnaround for Braxton Jones. Do they continue to ease him in with a split time? Do they think about easing his workload in the second quarter to make sure he plays all of the fourth quarter? The team cannot stick with Borom much longer.
1. How did the Chicago Bears cornerbacks look?
The Chicago Bears had to sit Tyrique Stevenson later in the game, and Jaylon Jones came in. Matt Eberflus did not think Stevenson would miss time with his injury, but he has been wrong before. First, Jones stepping in is notable because it kept Kyler Gordon in the slot full-time. He has done so much better this year by sticking in the slot, and that will not change due to injury.
On the other side, Jaylon Johnson continues his campaign for a big payday. He has a career year, and teams do not go after him often. It is easier when it is a rookie or Jaylon Jones, who is not as well-known as his teammate Jaylon. Will Jones get to start across from Johnson on Thursday? If so, you know the Panthers will be targeting one Jaylon and not the other.