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A slow start dooms the Chicago Bears again - Snap Counts, Stats and more

We'll take a deeper look at the statistics, both individual and team, and also run down the playing time breakdown for the Chicago Bears in their second consecutive narrow loss, this time to the Washington Redskins by a score of 24-21.

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL's Game Statistic and Information System.

When the Chicago Bears fell behind the Washington Redskins on Sunday, it left me with a feeling of Déjà Vu. So I went back and checked the box scores from this season. Did you realize that of the thirteen games the Bears have played this year, they fell behind early in 10 of them?

Getting into an immediate hole is tough for any team, but for a team that isn't very good it's downright soul crushing. Sure the Bears have found a way to battle back in just about every game this season, but when the margin for error is so small, any deficit seems bigger.

The Redskins dominated the Bears in the first quarter. They held the ball for over 11 minutes, they outgained the Bears 132 yards to 18, and Washington had 11 first downs to just 1 for the Bears. It was a sad display of football.

Overall the Bears did bounce back to edge Washington out in a total yards, 377 to 374, but that's about it. The Bears had fewer first downs, 20 to 24, they were worse in 3rd down efficiency, 5 of 11 for 45% to 7 of 12 for 58% for the Redskins. They were worse in time of possession 25:38 to 34:22 and although the Bears were flagged one less time than Washington (7 to 8), they were hit with more penalty yards (79 to 63).

Chicago's D had no answer for tight end Jordan Reed who caught all 9 targets for 120 yards and a TD. Washington QB Kirk Cousins had a 104.2 passer rating and an even 300 yards passing.

We seem to be talking about it quite a bit, but with each loss we're reminded just how far this team still has to go to climb back to respectability.

FYI - All the charts are Total snaps played - Percentage of snaps played

Offensive Line
Player Offense Special Teams
Matt Slauson LG 59 - 100% 4 - 15%
Hroniss Grasu C 59 - 100%
Kyle Long RT 59 - 100% 4 - 15%
Charles Leno Jr. LT 59 - 100% 4 - 15%
Patrick Omameh RG 59 - 100% 4 - 15%
Jermon Bushrod 5 - 8% 4 - 15%
Vladimir Ducasse 4 - 15%

I thought this was one of the poorer games for the Bears offensive line this year. They allowed three sacks, 3 quarterback hits and 4 tackles for loss. The Bears were at 3.6 yards per rush and the o-line was flagged 4 times. Slauson and Leno each had a hold, and Long and Grasu each had a false start.

Long and Leno are now tied with Ducasse with 8 penalties called against them this season.

Quarterback

Jay Cutler got off to a slow start, partly because of the Redskins 1st quarter dominance, but he ended the day with some solid numbers. Cutler went 19 of 31 (61.3%), for 315 yards, 2 TDs and a 117.0 passer rating. He had 1 run for 5 yards, and he also lost one fumble on a sack.

Running Backs
Player Offense Special Teams
Matt Forte 28 - 47%
Jeremy Langford 31 - 53%
Ka'Deem Carey
5 - 19%

I guess we can scrap the three-headed monster at running back talk. Then again, the Bears ran 19 fewer plays than last week. Carey did have one kick return for 22 yards.

Forte went for 45 yards on 10 carries with a TD, and he caught 1 of the 2 balls thrown his way for 8 yards.

Langford had 11 attempts for 37 yards (3.4 avg), and he was targeted 7 times, catching 3 for 27 yards. Langford also was on the field more than Forte. Was this a coincidence or is it the start of a trend?

Tight Ends
Player Offense Special Teams
Zach Miller 56 - 95% 9 - 35%
Khari Lee 5 - 8% 9 - 35%
Rob Housler
6 - 23%

With Martellus Bennett on injured reserve, Miller will have a chance to prove to the league that he deserves to be a starting tight end in 2016. If he keeps up his solid play, someone will give him a substantial raise for next year. His story is an easy one to root for and I'm hoping he can make it back to Chicago.

Miller snagged 5 of the 6 balls thrown his way for 85 yards and a TD. The rookie Lee couldn't coral the one pass Cutler threw his direction and he was called for a holding penalty. I would not be surprised to see Housler overtake Lee for offensive snaps in the next few games.

Wide Receivers
Player Offense Special Teams
Alshon Jeffery 56 - 95%
Eddie Royal 53 - 90% 1 - 4%
Marc Mariani 53 - 90% 4 - 15%
Deonte Thompson 5 - 8% 9 - 35%
Josh Bellamy 3 - 5% 14 - 54%

In case you missed it, the Bears placed Marquess Wilson on injured reserve on Saturday. but the good news is the Bears got Eddie Royal back into the lineup and so far at least, he's still healthy.

Jeffery led the team with 9 targets, 6 catches and 107 yards. He also and a TD reception.

Mariani caught 2 of 3 passes for 37 yards and he was caught on an offensive pass interference. Royal caught 1 of 2 for 15 yards and he had a punt return for 16 yards.

Thompson caught the one pass throw his way for a 36 yard gain and he had a kick return for 16 yards.

Special Teams
Player Special Teams
LaRoy Reynolds 18 - 69%
Demontre Hurst 4 - 15%
Lamin Barrow 18 - 69%
Harold Jones-Quartey 13 - 50%
Robbie Gould 8 - 31%
Jacoby Glenn 3 - 12%
Patrick Scales 9 - 35%
Patrick O'Donnell 9 - 35%

Gould missed another huge 4th quarter kick. This one was much more difficult than last week's, but it's still a kick he should make. He missed the 50 yard try, but he made all three of his extra point attempts and he had 2 touchbacks on kickoffs. Yay.

Washington had 2 kick returns with each going for 22 yards.

O'Donnell put 3 punts inside the 20 with 1 touchback, and he had a 46.5 average on 5 punts. The Redskins had 7 yards in punt return yardage.

Jones-Quartey assisted on a tackle.

UDFA Jacoby Glenn was active for the first time in his career and somehow he was credited with a tackle on defense, even though he wasn't down for any defensive snaps.

Defensive Backs
Player Defense Special Teams
Kyle Fuller CB 70 - 100% 4 - 15%
Adrian Amos S 70 - 100% 8 - 31%
Tracy Porter CB 69 - 99%
Chris Prosinski S 66 - 94% 13 - 50%
Sherrick McManis CB 43 - 61% 18 - 69%
Sherrod Martin S 1 - 1% 13 - 50%
Alan Ball CB 5 - 7% 4 - 15%

Bryce Callahan had to sit out the game with a quad injury, which meant Sherrick McMannis was back at nickle. He wasn't awful, in fact, it was probably his best game of the year. Pro Football Focus had him down for allowing 2 receptions out of 3 attempts for 32 yards. The official stat sheet had him down for 1 tackle on D and another 3 on special teams.

Amos had 7 tackles and Prosinski had 2. Fuller had a tackle, an interception and a pass defense, while Porter had 5 tackles and he was flagged for a defensive pass interference.

Ball had a tackle on D and Martin had a special teams tackle.

Linebacker
Player Defense Special Teams
Shea McClellin ILB 70 - 100% 4 - 15%
Jonathan Anderson ILB 21 - 30% 14 - 54%
Christian Jones ILB 39 - 56% 12 - 46%
Sam Acho OLB 32 - 46% 9 - 35%
Willie Young OLB 56 - 80% 4 - 15%
Lamarr Houston OLB 52 - 74%

Young received the start in place of Pernell McPhee and he had 4 tackles, a sack, 3 tackles for loss and 2 quarterback hits. Houston had a game high 9 tackles, with a sack, 2 TFL and a QBH. Acho had 3 tackles.

McClellin had 7 tackles, Jones had 6 and Anderson had 2.

You may not have noticed, but the Redskins started Mason Foster, who was in camp with the Bears this year, at one of their inside linebacker spots and he tied for the team lea din tackles with 6.

Defensive Line
Player Defense Special Teams
Jarvis Jenkins 46 - 54%
Eddie Goldman 42 - 60% 5 - 15%
Will Sutton 35 - 50% 4 - 15%
Bruce Gaston 17 - 24%
Mitch Unrein 37 - 53% 12 - 46%

Unrein picked the first sack of his 5 year career, he added 4 tackles, a TFL and a QBH.

Sutton had 2 tackles, a TFL and a pass defense, Goldman had 2 tackles and Gaston assisted on a tackle.

Thoughts on the numbers this week?