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All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL's Game Statistic and Information System.
The Chicago Bears put up a season high 27 points, but the defense accounted for one of those touchdowns. And speaking of the defense, those guys were the stars of the game. They held the Baltimore Ravens to 291 yards of total offense. They sacked Raven QB Joe Flacco three times, they intercepted him twice, and kept him to a passer rating of 48.8. They did give up 125 yards on the ground (4.8 avg), but they made the stop when they had to.
Baltimore was 0-2 in the red zone, they were only 3 for 18 on third downs (17%), and their offense only managed three field goals. This may have been the best defensive performance of the John Fox/Vic Fangio era.
The offensive play calling was questioned all afternoon, including by me, but the Bears executed the game plan to a T. They wanted to run the ball, then they ran it some more, before finally settling in for some more runs. All in all, the Bears were credited with 54 rushing attempts on the stat sheet, and that was the most the Bears have had since September 4, 1988.
Now on to the snap counts and some other stats for the Bears
All snap counts will be in the following format:
Player - Total O or D snaps (%) - Total ST snaps (%)
QB
M Trubisky - 80 (100%)
Mitchell Trubisky didn’t have a very pretty game, but he was smart with the football.
The rookie played efficiently in his first career NFL win pic.twitter.com/RGM8TAvmwb
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) October 16, 2017
In his first start he struggled under pressure, and he had that one forced throw that was intercepted. Yesterday he threw the ball away when that was the smart play to make, and he had real growth from start one to start two.
Pro Football Focus had this to say about his day.
Six of his 16 pass attempts were intentionally thrown away, meaning only two of his incompletions came on throws actually targeting receivers. He is the only QB in the PFF era (last 12 years) to throw away more than 30 percent of his pass attempts in game (minimum six attempts).
OL
J Sitton - 80 (100%) - 5 (14%)
C Leno - 80 (100%) - 5 (14%)
B Massie - 80 (100%) - 5 (14%)
C Whitehair - 80 (100%)
K Long - 77 (96%)
T Compton - 3 (4%) - 5 (14%)
The ground and pound game plan has now helped the Bears to both of their wins this year.
In the #Bears 2 wins this season, they have rushed the ball 92 times for 453 yards & thrown the ball 39 times (24 completions) for 235 yards
— Lester A Wiltfong Jr (@wiltfongjr) October 16, 2017
While the running game was clicking, the offensive line struggled in pass protection.
Per PFF:
The Bears’ offensive line wasn’t able to provide Mitchell Trubisky consistent pass protection. The rookie quarterback was under pressure on 12 of his 23 drop backs (52.2 percent), the highest percentage of any quarterback in Sunday’s afternoon games. In his debut last week, Trubisky was under pressure on 34.5 percent of his drop backs, and the team’s season high with Mike Glennon was 44.0 percent in Week 3.
Kyle Long had 2 tackles on the day.
RB
J Howard - 54 (68%)
T Cohen - 26 (32%) - 11 (30%)
M Burton - 15 (19%) - 16 (43%)
B Cunningham - 1 (1%) - 18 (49%)
Jordan Howard had 36 runs for 167 yards, including this beautiful 53 yard scamper in overtime.
Tarik Cohen had 32 yards on the ground, but it was this 21 yard touchdown pass that made all the highlight reels.
RB Tarik Cohen 21-yard TD pass to TE Zach Miller!
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) October 15, 2017
You read that right. pic.twitter.com/1f0lui4jSC
Per the NFL, before Tarik Cohen's TD pass today, the last #Bears rookie RB to throw a TD pass was Gale Sayers.
— Windy City Gridiron (@WCGridiron) October 16, 2017
WR
T Gentry - 76 (95%) - 1 (3%)
T McBride - 58 (72%)
K Wright - 25 (31%)
J Bellamy - 2 (2%) - 19 (51%)
Tanner Gentry and Tre McBride received the start at receiver.
Kendall Wright was the only Bears’ wide out that caught a ball (2 for 36 yards), but his 18 yard reception in overtime helped set up the game wining field goal.
TE
D Sims - 69 (86%) - 6 (16%)
Z Miller - 55 (69%) - 1 (3%)
A Shaheen - 19 (24%) - 28 (76%)
Dion Sims led the team in receiving yards with 42 on 2 catches. He and Zach Miller had both of the Bears’ offensive TDs.
From our friends at PFF:
This was the first game all season where the Bears used more two tight end formations (45 percent of plays) than three wide receiver formations (26 percent).
ST
These players only appeared in the 3rd phase
J Anderson - 32 (86%)
C LeBlanc - 26 (70%)
D Bush - 18 (49%)
D Brown - 17 (46%)
P O'Donnell - 14 (38%)
A DePaola - 14 (38%)
C Barth - 10 (27%)
M Cooper - 6 (16%)
B Sowell - 5 (14%)
S McManis - 3 (8%)
The Bears special teams were anything but special for most of the game, but the game winning 40 yard field goal was money from Connor Barth. He was 2-2 on the day.
Pat O’Donnell had 9 punts for a 46.7 average, with 3 punts inside the 20.
The Bears gave up a punt return and a kick return for touchdowns.
I wonder if the Bears struggles in the 3rd phase had anything to do with Sherrick McManis being injured early?
CB
K Fuller - 73 (100%) - 9 (24%)
P Amukamara - 73 (100%) - 2 (5%)
B Callahan - 46 (63%)
Interesting to note that Marcus Cooper played only on special teams. I wonder if that was to ease him back into the lineup after his back spasms, or if he lost his job.
Bryce Callahan had an interception, and he had 4 tackles.
Kyle Fuller has been balling. He had 6 tackles and 3 passes defended.
From PFF:
A lot of passes were thrown Kyle Fuller’s way, but the cornerback held his own, earning the second-highest single-game grade of his career at 88.9 overall. He was targeted 15 times in the game, allowing five catches for 43 yards for just a 42.4 passer rating. Fuller was credited with two passes defensed along with four other plays where his coverage directly forced an incompletion.
S
A Amos - 73 (100%) - 14 (38%)
E Jackson - 73 (100%) - 13 (35%)
D Houston-Carson - 7 (10%) - 19 (51%)
Adrian Amos has 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 2 passes defendes and a 90 yard interception return for a TD. Eddie Jackson had 6 tackles and a PD.
LB
D Trevathan - 72 (99%) - 1 (3%)
L Floyd - 72 (99%)
C Jones - 56 (77%) - 14 (38%)
P McPhee - 37 (51%)
S Acho - 36 (49%) - 25 (68%)
I Irving - 1 (1%) - 7 (19%)
Christian Jones had 8 tackles and a forced fumble. Danny Trevathan (it is pronounced \trev-AY-than\ by the way) had 6 tackles, a sack, a TFL, 1 QBH and a fumble recovery.
Pernell McPhee had his third sack in his last four games.
DL
A Hicks - 64 (88%)
E Goldman - 47 (64%) - 4 (11%)
M Unrein - 40 (55%) - 9 (24%)
J Bullard - 25 (34%) - 4 (11%)
R Robertson-Harris - 7 (10%) - 21 (57%)
Akiem Hicks had another sack.
Akiem Hicks has been so freaking dominant, he's one of the greatest Bears free agent signings of all time.
— Robert Zeglinski (@RobertZeglinski) October 15, 2017
Here’s a little nugget from PFF:
The Bears’ pass rush had issues generating consistent pressure on Joe Flacco. He was under pressure on just eight of his 45 drop backs (17.8 percent), the lowest percentage of pressure the Bears have gotten on a quarterback this season. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio sent a blitz on 14 of the passing plays, and Flacco completed just three passes facing extra rushers.
For more numbers, the ESPN box score and team stats are both pretty good ones to check out for all of the game’s statistics.
Did any of these numbers stand out to you guys?