Snap counts, stats and more: Chicago Bears beat an even crappier team

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

The Chicago Bears won a meaningless game against a bad San Francisco 49ers team and that really irked some Bears’ fans. Some fans were more worried about draft positioning than they were in seeing their favorite team win a game. My feelings about that subject mirror those from WCG’s very own Jack Silverstein, when he wrote that he’s rooting for a top 4 draft pick, but he’s always “pulling for a win on game day.”

I’m glad the Bears finally gave us fans something to cheer for, a dominant 26 to 6 win, but had they lost, I would have been OK with that too.

It looked like the Bears wouldn’t do much of anything early in the game, when the 49ers controlled the clock for most of the opening half, but the Bears had a nice 2 minute drill to close the 2nd quarter and that seemed to propel them into a different game plan after halftime.

Chicago ended up winning the time of possession battle 31:18 to 28:42, this after the Niners dominated the 1st half 20:12 to 9:48. The Bears held the edge on 3rd down conversions 6 for 14 (43%) to 4 for 14 (29%), on 1st downs 19 to 10 and also in total yards, 326 to 147.

The 49ers did have one statistical advantage in the game, they were hit with 11 penalties for 106 yards, to 5 for 40 from the Bears.

Now on to the snap counts and individual stats for the Bears

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

Quarterback

M Barkley - 63 (100%)

Matt Barkley didn’t complete his first pass until 1:43 remained in the 1st half, and he ended up a respectable 11 of 18 for 192 yards, with a 97.5 passer rating. He also had 4 runs for 3 yards. That bobbled pitch actually went down as a fumble for Barkley.

I’ll say this about Barkley, before the injury his senior season at USC, some scouts had him pegged for the 1st round. Then he slipped to the 4th and was picked into a system that was an awful fit, the fast break Chip Kelly spread offense. Now on his 3rd team since 2013, maybe Barkley is ready to live up to some of the promise he showed at USC.

Offensive Line

T Larsen RG/C - 63 (100%) - 4 (14%)

B Massie RT - 63 (100%) - 4 (14%)

E Kush LG - 63 (100%) - 4 (14%)

C Leno LT - 63 (100%) - 4 (14%)

C Whitehair C - 61 (97%)

J Sitton RG - 2 (3%) - 4 (14%)

Chicago’s o-line helped the Bears roll up 142 rushing yards on the day on 40 attempts (3.6 average).

San Francisco’s D picked up 1 sack, although the Bears’ o-line didn’t allow it, and the Niners were credited with 4 tackles for loss and 2 quarterback hits.

Eric Kush was hit with a false start and Charles Leno was flagged as an ineligible man downfield.

Running backs

J Howard - 53 (84%)

P Lasike - 12 (19%) - 11 (38%)

K Carey - 6 (10%) - 17 (59%)

J Langford - 4 (6%)

Jordan Howard had 32 rushes for an historic 117 yards (3.7ypc) and 3 TDs. Barkley also threw his way one time.

Jeremy Langford had 1 run for 2 yards, Ka’Deem Carey had 2 runs for 8 yards and he was targeted once in the passing game.

Paul Laskie had a kickoff return for 5 yards.

Wide Receivers

C Meredith - 49 (78%) - 1 (3%)

D Thompson - 45 (71%) - 4 (14%)

J Bellamy - 39 (62%) - 20 (69%)

D Braverman - 6 (10%)

M Wilson - 4 (6%)

Josh Bellamy led the Bears with 4 catches (6 targets) for 93 yards. Cameron Meredith was targeted 4 times, he caught 3 for 67 yards. Marquess Wilson left the game with a groin injury after he had one pass thrown his way.

Deonte Thompson caught 2 (on 3 targets) for 19 yards, he had 1 kick return for 28 yards, he was credited with a special teams tackle and he was flagged for offensive pass interference.

Rookie Daniel Braverman wasn’t thrown to at all.

Tight Ends

L Paulsen - 38 (60%) - 9 (31%)

D Brown - 30 (48%) - 1 (3%)

B Braunecker - 29 (46%) - 15 (52%)

Daniel Brown caught 2 passes for 13 yards, he was targeted twice.

Ben Braunecker had 2 tackles on special teams.

Special Teams

These players only appeared in the 3rd phase

S McManis - 25 (86%)

C Prosinski - 25 (86%)

C Jones - 24 (83%)

J Anderson - 23 (79%)

D Houston-Carson - 13 (45%)

P O'Donnell - 10 (34%)

P Scales - 10 (34%)

C Barth - 9 (31%)

M Adams - 4 (14%)

Sherrick McManis and Chris Prosinski each had a special teams tackle.

Patrick O’Donnell punted 6 times for a 38.8 average (28.0 net average) with 2 punts placed inside the 20 yard line. The 49ers had a 25 yard punt return that hurt his net. O’Donnell was also hit with a delay of game penalty.

Conner Barth made three extra points and a 45 yard field goal. The Bears kick coverage held San Francisco to a 19.0 return average.

Cornerbacks

C LeBlanc - 56 (97%) - 6 (21%)

T Porter - 52 (90%)

B Callahan - 48 (83%) - 9 (31%)

D Hurst - 7 (12%) - 16 (55%)

Cre'Von LeBlanc had 3 tackles and Tracy Porter had 2 tackles.

Safety

D Bush - 58 (100%) - 10 (34%)

H Jones-Quartey - 58 (100%) - 5 (17%)

Harold Jones-Quartey had 9 tackles and a tackle for loss. Deon Bush had 2 tackles,

Linebackers

N Kwiatkoski ILB - 58 (100%) - 6 (21%)

L Floyd OLB - 52 (90%)

J Timu ILB - 42 (72%) - 3 (10%)

W Young OLB - 34 (59%)

P McPhee OLB - 24 (41%) - 1 (3%)

S Acho OLB - 6 (10%) - 12 (41%)

Nick Kwiatkoski had 9 tackles, 2 TFL and 2 passes defended. John Timu had 3 tackles and a PD.

Willie Young was credited with a tackle, a sack, a TFL and a QBH.

Leonard Floyd had 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 QBH and a safety.

Defensive Line

A Hicks - 58 (100%) - 2 (7%)

E Goldman - 39 (67%) - 2 (7%)

C Washington - 23 (40%)

M Unrein - 19 (33%)

C Wilson - 4 (7%) - 6 (21%)

Akiem Hicks led the Bears with 10 tackles. The stat sheet was also packed with 2 Hicks’ sacks, 2 TFL, 2 QBH and 1 forced fumble. Eddie Goldman had 2 tackles, a sack, a QBH and a TFL. Plus there was that one roughing the passer penalty from Hicks.

Cornelius Washington had 2 tackles and Mitch Unrein had a tackle.

Defensively the Bears held 49er QBs to a 42.4 passer rating.

Rookie DE Jonathan Bullard was a healthy scratch.

What are your thoughts on the numbers this week?