The Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers to improve to 3-7. While the record is still poor, the win was nice, and it will have some fans ready to say that this team turned things around. They may finish strong as they are getting healthier and better in key areas, but there are some things still true about the team.
5. Justin Fields is the still the Chicago Bears best bet at quarterback this season
Justin Fields is 1-5 as the Bears starter this season. On the flip side, Tyson Bagent is 2-2. The Chicago Bears are obviously better with Bagent, right? Not so fast. Matt Eberflus declared that once he gets healthy, Justin Fields will start for the team. We saw why on Thursday.
Bagent and Fields have their differences. Bagent does a better job of avoiding sacks by throwing the ball. However, more of his passes get intercepted because he puts the ball in harm's way, and a lot of his passes come out inaccurate or lack the velocity needed to get to the target at the right time.
Justin Fields may not be the long-term answer, but he is physically capable of getting more out of the Bears offense. The Bears just so happened to play a team that had already fired their coach, and they were coming off of an emotional high game, and they had a look ahead to a Monday Night game as well. The Raiders started Brian Hoyer, and you can assume Fields would have won that game as well.
The Panthers' offense scored six points and needed a punt return for a touchdown just to make the game close. The Bears got to the soft spot of their schedule, and Fields was unable to show himself. That hurts in the bigger picture, but in the short term, he is their guy.
4. Matt Eberflus is still coaching for his job
It is easy to see the momentum towards Matt Eberflus keeping his job. Eberflus got a vote of confidence from Ryan Poles at the trade deadline. His defense has dealt with injuries, and he had to take over play-calling. Now, the defense is starting to swing up in their play.
The run defense is greatly improved from last season. Now, with Montez Sweat and the starting five in the secondary finally being healthy, the pass defense is starting to come around as well. The Bears are 2-2, and if they finish with a similar trajectory, they could get to a record like 7-10. Would that be enough for him to keep his job?
For now, he is still playing for it. The Bears still had too many mental errors in this game. Penalties, game management, and play calling in certain spots remained questionable. The vibe around this game was that the Bears won because the Panthers were that big of a mess.
If the defense finishes in the top ten and they rally around their coach to finish strong, we could see Matt Eberflus stay. A win over the Raiders and Panthers’ poor offenses does not show that he has turned it all around.
3. The Chicago Bears still need more from their pass catchers
The Chicago Bears have two trusted pass catchers. They have D.J. Moore and Cole Kmet. Then, they have a ton of question marks. We thought that Tyler Scott was starting to ascend as a rookie. In weeks six and seven, we saw the most of Scott, and he looked at his best. However, he has fallen back down in the past three weeks. He had a catch for 15 yards on Thursday.
Darnell Mooney had just two catches for 14 yards. He was averaging close to that amount in the first five weeks of the year, but in the last four weeks, he was much closer to 35 yards per game, and in week nine, he put up 82 yards. Against a banged-up secondary, there was a chance for Mooney to keep it rolling, and he did not.
Equanimous St. Brown returned and kind of put an interesting twist into everything. He eats into the snaps that Scott is playing, but there are tells when one is on the field. St. Brown is asked to block and spent a lot of snaps out there with Marcades Lewis and Robert Tonyan.
Tyler Scott is the downfield threat and was out there with Mooney in the slot a little more. Because of the presence of Lewis and Tonyan and because they have two outside options, the playing time of Mooney was down a bit this week.
None of these three have been able to step into that number two wide-out role.
2. The Chicago Bears linebackers still struggle in coverage
The Chicago Bears linebackers have serious issues in coverage. When they face any talented back who can catch the ball, they struggle. They are the worst in the NFL against passes to running backs and tight ends. It is bad.
Bryce Young did not throw for 200 yards, but this says more about him and his personnel than the Chicago Bears' coverage abilities. Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders combined for four catches for 31 yards, while Hayden Hurst and Tommy Tremble had five catches for 30 yards.
The reality is that these weapons were not dynamic enough to hurt the Bears, but they were all involved, and all of them had their moments of success.
Jack Sanborn actually looks better than Tremaine Edmunds, but neither excels in coverage. The Bears signed TJ Edwards to defend these types of passes. He actually has been really good in almost every area besides that.
Just because the hole was not glaring this week and none of them ripped off a 20-yard reception does not mean the issue is fixed. The Lions will test them in a whole new way next week when Jahmyr Gibbs takes on these linebackers.
1. The Chicago Bears still improved their chances of picking first overall
This was the ultimate win for the Chicago Bears. Sitting at 2-7, the Bears have two sets of fans. One group wants to win regardless; the other just wants the Bears to lose out the draft as high as possible to help out the future.
On Thursday, both got their wish. The Chicago Bears won and looked good on defense. Better than that, their chances of picking first overall improved. They have the Panthers pick, and they dropped the Panthers down to 1-8.
The Arizona Cardinals have not had their bye week, so if they lose this week, they will have one more loss than the Panthers. However, when they get their bye, the teams would be tied, and better than that, the Cardinals have a real chance to win soon.
The Cardinals are getting Kyler Murray back this week, and he will finish the year as their starter. They have fought in games, and with an upgrade at quarterback, they should sneak into a few. This will propel them over the Panthers, who look like they have no life at all.
The Panthers may win another game, but four wins seems too optimistic. Now, the Bears need to root for the Patriots, Cardinals, and Giants while rooting against the Panthers. This can let them keep winning games on the field and off.