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I don't really have a whole lot to review here, it was an absolute blowout from the opening kickoff. The Bears looked disinterested, slow and lethargic all game.
The Bears' defense absolutely imploded, allowing Nick Foles to go 21/25 for 230 yards, two touchdowns and a 131.7 rating. LeSean McCoy had as good a day running the ball as many feared he would, racking up 133 yards and two touchdowns with Bryce Brown gaining 115 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Jay Cutler did not lose this game though. That said, he did little to win it. Cutler started the game slow, missing early on some throws that killed drives.
Compounded with the Devin Hester fumble, and once the Bears were down 21-0 it was about over. From that point on the Bears seemed like they had packed it in. The biggest credit I can give him is that he didn't throw a pick until the fourth quarter.
Let's just get this over with.
Quarterback: C-
Like I said, this game was not on Jay. He started slow and threw some off-target passes, and had a couple that were iffy but catchable fall through the hands of receivers. Once they were down 21-0 I expected bad Jay to be out in force, looking downfield and chucking it all over the place, but it never really happened. He did hold the ball too long at times and took a couple of bad sacks but, in the end, he threw only one pick, on a throw that wasn't the best but wasn't horrible. He completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 222 yards, one touchdown and the aforementioned pick for a 73.8 rating. Josh McCown saw action but did little of substance in garbage time.
Running backs: D
Matt Forte did all he could but it wasn't enough. The Bears offensive line didn't play well at all but Forte was horrible when staying in to pass block, giving up at least two of Cutler's five sacks. His inability to get going in the run game just fed into the poor team effort overall. Forte and Michael Bush combined for 49 yards.
Wide receivers: C+
I don't know what these guys could do but they let the Eagles defensive backs get the best of them, pushing them around and being physical enough to not get the pass interference calls. They had some drops and Brandon Marshall could not get in a rhythm early, which held him back in my opinion. That said though, all was not lost and with the huge deficit and the shaky line play there wasn't much that could be expected of them. Marshall had four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown and Alshon Jeffery added six catches for 76 yards. Earl Bennett had a two-point conversion and two catches for 12 yards.
Tight ends: B
I think this is about the only position I can give an above-average grade to. Martellus Bennett had five catches for 85 yards to lead the team. He had a couple of drops but for the most part was the only offensive player who seemed to get into a comfort zone and the Eagles left him open underneath but, unfortunately, the Bears were already behind too much to make them pay for that.
Offensive line: F
This was by far the worst game the offensive line has had all year. They gave up five QB hits, and by my count at least two of the five sacks were on them. They did not open up running lanes, were missing assignments on blitzes, and just looked overmatched overall. Jordan Mills struggled and gave up the strip/sack and was lucky he fell on the ball. Jermon Bushrod struggled at times, and Roberto Garza had a bad snap and gave up a sack. Bad, bad game for them.
Overall offensive grade: D
An awful, awful game but most of the problems started up front. Cutler played admirably given the circumstances and the defense put the offense in a pretty tough position on the road early. Hopefully, somehow the offense has a better showing next week.
Defensive line: F
The Bears got two sacks, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. One came on a broken play when Foles fell down rather than risk a throw into coverage. Shea McClellin and Jeremiah Ratliff got the easiest half-sacks of the year on that one. Other than that the line played about as bad as they have all year, getting little to no push and abused in the run game. Julius Peppers got run through by McCoy on one of his touchdown runs and it was just a poor effort.
LInebackers: F
So much for the return of Lance Briggs. Briggs was credited with one tackle and spent parts of the night on the sideline. Jon Bostic played all right at times, getting off blocks and bringing down McCoy but he still struggles in pass coverage and bites on fakes and misdirections. The linebackers and the linemen did horribly detecting screen passes and got burned several times in the first half.
Cornerbacks: C
The secondary struggled, especially Isaiah Frey, but Zach Bowman and Tim Jennings played all right. Riley Cooper got open but most of the damage done by the Eagles came from Brent Celek. Jennings held DeSean Jackson in check and needs to be recognized for that. Jackson is having a career year but was held to just four catches for 29 yards. However, containing Jackson allowed Celek, Riley and Jason Avant to get open and make plays.
Safeties: F
Another week and more bad safety play. Terrible tackling, bad angles and questionable downfield play leads to another weak showing from the safety crew. They didn't get burned in the pass game but does it matter? The team surrendered 289 rushing yards, including a 65 yard run. The safeties were bad.
Overall defensive grade: F
The defense failed. They got bullied and pushed around and gave up a lot of point early, putting the defense in a tough position to bail them out. It was ugly early and often.
Special teams: D
The lowlights here are the Devin Hester fumble and the weird, desperate Hester toss kickoff return gadget play. The call for the trick play was understandable, but it looked like Hester would have been better off keeping it and it ended up being negligible. Adam Podlesh wasn't terrible but averaged only 37.8 yards per punt. Robbie Gould was a non-factor because of the score.
Coaching: F
How on earth does Marc Trestman and staff not have the team ready to play? They had absolutely everything to play for and yet there was no urgency, no energy and the team was flat throughout the game. There seemed to be little rhythm, and I know the score somewhat dictated that, but it was a lost cause. When the second half started and the sideline reporter said Trestman said the team would treat the second half as a whole new game, it didn't come to fruition at all. The defense played better for a couple drives but they still abandoned the run and gave it all up.
I'm exhausted, I've been awake for 17 hours and spent most of the day traveling. I waited anxiously for the Bears game and was rewarded with that. Maybe my grades are more harsh than I should be but I just did not see any silver linings in that game.
How would you grade the team's performance last night?
