Snap counts, stats and more: Bears’ defense runs out of gas in the 2nd half

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

The Chicago Bears fought as hard as they could last night in their 26-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers, but they just don’t have the depth or the talent to play a full 60 minutes of football. The Packers only managed a 3-0 lead after one quarter of play and at the half it was 6-3 Pack. The Bears held a 10-6 lead early in the 3rd quarter, but then their depleted defense started to tire.

Green Bay scored a touchdown about 9 minutes into the 3rd to go up 13-10 and that was the score until early in the 4th when Aaron Rodgers hit Davante Adams for their 2nd TD of the night. Rodgers added another score

Injuries have hurt the Bears, that’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. It’s also the reason I think the current regime is all back again next year. Every team deals with injuries in the NFL, but the Bears are not prepared to deal with them as well as other teams that have had their “plan” in place longer than the 1+ years Chicago has under Ryan Pace.

We all figured this would be another rebuilding year, we just didn’t know it would be this bad. And bad is an understatement when you look at the lopsided team stats from last night.

The Packers held the overall time of possession lead 39:36 to 20:24, but in the 2nd half the Bears only had the ball for 7 minutes and 25 seconds, or 4:36 of the 3rd quarter and a measly 2:49 of the 4th.

Green Bay had 32 first downs to the Bears’ 13, they had more total yards (406 to 189), they had a better 3rd down percentage (9-16 for 56% to 2-8 for 25%), but Chicago did lead in one key stat... They had more penalties and penalty yards (10 for 108 yards to 9 for 56).

Now on to the snap counts and individual stats

All snap counts will be in the ‘Player - total offensive/defensive snaps (percentage) - total special teams snaps (percentage)’ format.

Quarterback

M Barkley - 28 (58%)

B Hoyer - 20 (42%)

Brian Hoyer wasn’t having a very good game before he left with a broken arm, but to imply (like some fans did on social media) that Matt Barkley is a better QB than Hoyer, is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.

Hoyer ended the night 4 of 11 for 49 yards, with a 50.9 passer rating, while Barkley finished up 6 of 15 for 81 yards, with 2 interceptions and a 18.3 passer rating.

Offensive Line

C Whitehair C - 48 (100%) - 2 (8%)

E Kush LG - 48 (100%) - 2 (8%)

C Leno LT - 48 (100%) - 2 (8%)

B Massie RT - 48 (100%) - 2 (8%)

T Larsen RG - 28 (58%) - 2 (8%)

K Long RG - 20 (42%)

Not an overall bad night of blocking for the starting five, but the offense couldn’t sustain anything at all. Chicago’s runningbacks averaged 4.1 yards per carry, the Packers had 3 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback hits and 1 sack. The only o-line penalty on the night was an ineligible man downfield by Ted Larsen.

Runningbacks

K Carey - 26 (54%) - 5 (21%)

J Howard - 22 (46%)

Jordan Howard had his 2nd consecutive slow start to a game and the Bears went with Ka’Deem Carey in his place again. I’m ok with a more RB by committee, but don’t stop going to Howard.

Carey had 10 carries for 48 yards and Howard had 7 for 22. They were each targeted once in the passing game with Carey catching his for 9 yards.

Wide Receivers

A Jeffery WR 45 94%

C Meredith WR 40 83%

J Bellamy WR 16 33% 15 62%

D Thompson WR 16 33% 7 29%

Alshon Jeffery was targeted a team high 11 times, but he was only able to get to 3 of them for 33 yards. He was also flagged for an offsides penalty.

Cameron Meredith caught 1 of 2 for 12 yards. Josh Bellamy had a tackle and a forced fumble on special teams and he caught 2 balls, out of 4 targets, for 32 yards. Deonte Thompson had a 4 yard reception, he was targeted twice. He also had 2 kick returns for a whopping 28 yards.

Tight Ends

Z Miller TE 48 100%

L Paulsen TE 19 40% 8 33%

B Braunecker TE 8 17% 16 67%

Zach Miller was the only TE to scratch the stat sheet, he was targeted 5 times and he caught 2 for 40 yards.

Special Teams

These players only appeared in the 3rd phase

S McManis - 22 (92%)

J Timu - 19 (79%)

J Bell - 8 (33%)

P Scales - 7 (29%)

P O'Donnell - 7 (29%)

D Bush - 5 (21%)

C Barth - 5 (21%)

M Adams - 2 (8%)

Sherrick McManis had 2 tackles and Deon Bush had 1. Conner Barth made his only extra point and his lone field goal try, a 39 yarder. Pat O’Donnell placed 3 of his 5 punts inside the 20 and he had a 45 yard average.

Cornerbacks

T Porter - 86 (99%)

C LeBlanc - 82 (94%) - 1 (4%)

D Bausby - 56 (64%)

J Glenn - 16 (18%) - 11 (46%)

B Callahan - 16 (18%) - 1 (4%)

I thought Chicago’s secondary was doing a fine job early, but the Packers just kept coming, and coming, and eventually the Bears’ D wore out. Aaron Rodgers threw the ball 30 times in the 1st half, completing 19 for 150 yards and a 75.7 passer rating. In the 3rd quarter his passer rating jumped to 108.5 and in the 4th quarter he was even better with a 135.0. Rodgers was the trigger man for a very fast paced offense and he ended the night with 56 pass attempts.

De'Vante Bausby led the Bears CBs with 8 tackles and three penalties. Aaron Rodgers figured out he could attack him in the 2nd half as well as nickleback Cre'Von LeBlanc, who ended up with 7 tackles, a QBH, a pass defense and an illegal contact penalty. Both of these players are young and will have to go through growing pains.

Tracy Porter had 2 tackles and Bryce Callahan had 1, while fair catching his only punt return opportunity. Jacoby Glenn had 2 tackles.

Safeties

A Amos - 87 (100%) - 9 (38%)

H Jones-Quartey - 87 (100%) - 3 (12%)

C Prosinski - 17 (20%) - 22 (92%)

Harold Jones-Quartey had 9 total tackles, Adrian Amos had 8 and Chris Prosinski had 1. Amos also had a defensive pass interference.

Linebackers

J Freeman ILB - 87 (100%)

D Trevathan ILB - 70 (80%)

W Young OLB - 63 (72%)

S Acho OLB - 51 (59%) - 11 (46%)

L Floyd OLB - 35 (40%)

P McPhee OLB - 19 (22%)

C Jones LB - 6 (7%) - 22 (92%)

N Kwiatkoski ILB - 4 (5%) - 15 (62%)

Jerrell Freeman led the team with 13 tackles, he also had a QBH. The other starting ILB, Danny Trevathan, had 6 tackles.

Rookie Leonard Floyd had himself a breakout game, with 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL, 3 QBH, 1 forced fumble , 1 fumble recovery and 1 TD.

Sam Acho had 3 tackles, 2 QBHs and a PD. Willie Young had a tackle and a PD. Rookie Nick Kwiatkoski had a tackle.

Freeman and Young each were hit with a penalty.

Defensive Line

A Hicks DE 66 76% 6 25%

M Unrein DE 34 39% 8 33%

W Sutton NT 25 29% 12 50%

J Bullard DE 25 29% 6 25%

C Washington DE 25 29%

Akiem Hicks blocked a kick and had 2 tackles. Jonathan Bullard had 2 tackles as did Mitch Unrein. Cornelius Washington had a tackle, a QBH and a facemask penalty.

The Bears’ D made the Packers work for their points, but fatigue set in. In the first half the Packers were held to 2.7 yards per carry, but in the 2nd half that jumped up to 5.3.

Hopefully reinforcements are on the way on both sides of the ball.

Anything catch your eye in the game last night?