NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Saints really wanted to give up Sunday’s game to the Bears. Derek Carr and the Saints’ pedestrian offense gave Tyson Bagent and the Bears multiple chances to leave the Caesars Superdome with a much-needed win.
But as is typical this season, the Bears couldn’t escape 2023 on their own.
Bagent threw three interceptions and fumbled once as the Bears lost the turnover battle five to zero and committed eight penalties in a 24-17 loss.
“I thought our team played extremely, that’s why it’s so embarrassing,” Bagent said after the defeat. “A game with a score but losing the turnover battle by that amount is embarrassing. It’s part of the game and I’m just looking forward to building and learning from this experience.”
After five turnovers and eight penalties on Sunday, the Bears are now either at the top of the league or tied at the top of the table in both categories.
That’s where we start this report – with the coaching staff failing because they were unable to fix fundamental problems that cost them a game they should have won on Sunday.
Coaching
I usually start the report card with the passing attack and quarterback, but that can wait.
When Matt Eberflus was hired as head coach, he placed great emphasis on ensuring that his team played fundamentally healthy and intelligent football, regardless of the talent level in the squad.
That was the case for much of 2022.
That was not the case in 2023.
After Sunday’s loss, the Bears have now committed 18 turnovers and 60 penalties in nine games. Both are hideous numbers that highlight the lack of execution that has plagued this team all season.
The good games against the Washington Commanders and Las Vegas Raiders are outliers considering the mountain of evidence presented in the other seven games.
The “T” and “S” from Eberflus’ famous “HITS” principle have been missing all season, and the Bears came no closer to finding them in an inexcusably sloppy performance against a beatable Saints team.
Grade: F
Passing offense
Bagent played well for most of Sunday’s loss in New Orleans.
At halftime, Bagent was 10 of 13 for 149 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a rating of 121.5. He showed good pocket presence, creating plays out of nowhere, getting the ball into the hands of the Bears’ skilled players and letting them do the rest.
But things quickly unraveled in the fourth quarter when Bagent threw two interceptions and fumbled in the decisive final stanza.
Bagent continues to show promise, but at the moment he is a backup quarterback with a low level of development. There’s nothing wrong with that, but Sunday’s fourth-quarter wilting job should make the already obvious decision to go back to Justin Fields when he’s healthy even easier.
As for other aspects of the passing game, the offensive line did a good job in pass protection. They only allowed two sacks, but also had three holding penalties on pass plays that put Bagent behind the posts.
Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet both had outstanding games. Mooney caught five passes for 82 yards and showed excellent run-after-the-catch skills. He was the best he’s seen all season. Kmet, meanwhile, caught six passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns.
DJ Moore caught three passes for 44 yards but also had a critical fumble in the second half.
Bagent grade: D
Team grade: D+
Rushing offense
D’Onta Foreman impressed as he consistently put in work in the Bears’ backfield. On the Bears Sunday, Foreman rushed 20 times for 83 yards and was once again just shy of a couple of big scoring runs.
Even if Khalil Herbert returns, it will be difficult for the Bears to endure Foreman’s touches.
Bagent continued to show off his skills on Sunday, rushing eight times for 70 yards, including several impressive scrambles, to extend drives.
The Bears’ running game wasn’t as physical and overpowering as it would be at peak running condition, but it was a good day for the ground attack, with Teven Jenkins and Darnell Wright again performing well as road graders on the right side.
Grade: B+
Pass defense
The Bears defense did everything in its power to pull out a win on Sunday in New Orleans.
The Saints threw for just 214 yards on 6.1 yards per attempt. New Orleans’ best passing play was a 17-yard pass to running back Alvin Kamara and the game-winning touchdown pass from Taysom Hill to Juwan Johnson, which came on a failed coverage.
But the Bears didn’t pressure Carr (zero sacks, two runs) or force any turnovers.
Given the ample offense on offense, the Bears had to come up with a momentum-building play or two for their defense.
That didn’t happen.
not b
Run the defense
The Bears’ run defense continues to be the surprise of the season. They entered Sunday ranked No. 3 in the NFL in run defense and added defensive tackle Andrew Billings as a result.
That unit played great again on Sunday, holding the Saints to 87 rushing yards on 27 carries (3.2 yards per carry).
Middle linebacker Jack Sanborn, weakside linebacker TJ Edwards and nickel corner Kyler Gordon made several good run support plays to support a good front four performance.
There are no complaints here.
Grade: A
Click here to follow the Under Center Podcast.