16 October 2023
10 thoughts after the Chicago Bears failed to capitalize on a couple of impressive offensive showings in recent weeks and were thrown for a loop by the Minnesota Vikings in a 19-13 defeat on Sunday.
It was the Bears’ 10th consecutive loss at Soldier Field and 11th to an NFC North opponent.
1. The Vikings brought the blitz.
By the end of the first quarter, Jordan Hicks says the Vikings generally have a pretty good idea of how opposing offenses are going to handle the vast array of blitzes defensive coordinator Brian Flores employs.
There isn’t a team in the league that blitzes with near the frequency of Minnesota, which entered Week 6 bringing five or more rushers in 54% of opponent’s dropbacks. That’s more than double a lot of defenses.
On the first snap of the game, the Vikings showed six men right at the line of scrimmage. The Bears were in an empty formation with quarterback Justin Fields in the shotgun. Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum came off the offense’s left edge unblocked. Left tackle Larry Borom was turned inside, engaged with a blocker. That left Wonnum with a free run at Fields and a blindside sack for a 7-yard loss.
That set the tone for the Vikings immediately.
“It’s what we do,” said linebacker Hicks. “Offenses try to protect against us differently. So, week in and week out, it’s a game of how they’re gonna try to handle us and we’re kind of not sure. We don’t know until probably toward the end of the first quarter, going into the second. But, yeah, the first play was a sack. And we knew right away, we were going to be able to get after them.”
Get after them the Vikings did, sacking Fields four times and ultimately knocking him out of the game with a right hand injury on a sack by Danielle Hunter in the third quarter.
Coach Matt Eberflus announced afterward that X-rays on Fields’ hand were negative for any fractures but the team will await the results of an MRI to determine exactly what is going on and whether or not Fields will be available for this coming Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Soldier Field. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported Fields suffered a dislocated right thumb that was popped back in.
Oof.
This could be an immense blow to a team that was beginning to feel like it had discovered an offensive identity. Fields was beginning to perform better, completing 43 of 64 passes (67.2%) for 617 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception in the previous two games. Granted, those performances came against the woeful defenses of the Denver Broncos and Washington Commanders, but it was a huge step forward for Fields. The feeling was the offensive line, despite a slew of moving parts, was beginning to settle in. The skill position players were finally being able to make plays. Things were clicking.
And just like that, the Vikings wreaked havoc from the start, sacking Fields twice on the first five plays and rendering the offense ineffective once again. As aggressive as the Vikings are, they entered the game with 13 sacks through five games. They combined for only four sacks against Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers) and Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs). They’d been hit by three wide receivers going for over 100 yards — DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia Eagles) 131, Keenan Allen (Chargers) 215 and Mike Williams (Chargers) 121.
The pressure paralyzed the Bears, who targeted DJ Moore eight times and got five receptions for 51 yards, with 42 coming on 24-yard and 18-yard gains on consecutive plays with backup QB Tyson Bagent in the fourth quarter.
“I’ll have to go back and look at the tape,” Eberflus said about the problems handling pressure from the Vikings, who blitzed on 53% of dropbacks, so just below their season average.
“Definitely for sure, there (were) some protection things in there where we had to do a better job. It wasn’t clean all the time. But I certainly think we got a rhythm a little bit there going. Again we just got to do a better job with the overall execution there.”
The Bears appeared to have confusion up front at several moments through the game and Lucas Patrick replaced Cody Whitehair at center on the final snap of the third quarter. More on that switch in a little bit.
“We definitely mixed it up front,” Wonnum told me. “We kind of knew how they were gonna block coming into the game so we just used that to our advantage.”
What were the Vikings expecting?
“They were gonna be five-o, man,” Wonnum said. “So, we knew that once they got in it, we can come around or come inside and make the play. That was really our game plan coming into the week.”
I placed a call to the best expert I know when it comes to pass protection, former Bears center Olin Kreutz, a six-time Pro Bowl selection who does pre- and postgame work for WSCR-670 AM.
“When the Vikings say they were going to go five-o a lot, the Bears don’t slide their line a lot,” Kreutz said. “They just go five-on-five. You see the center put his hand on his back (before the snap) and gives the quarterback a five sign, that means they are going five-on-five. What the Vikings were saying is if they can get them to call five-on-five, they know they can stunt and twist and beat them.
“When you give a Bear look, you go five (linemen) down, it is tough, man. You could see the Bears were doing that. And then they tried not to do it. And then it’s, ‘Who are the five down we’re going to?’
Hunter had two sacks to give him eight, tied with T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in the league entering Sunday night. Safety Josh Metellus had a career day with seven tackles, one sack that resulted in a strip of Bagent and a 42-yard return touchdown for Hicks, and three quarterback hits. Metellus, in his fourth season, entered with three career QB hits, so the Bears struggled with linemen and blitzes from all levels.
It was Metellus’ hit on Fields in the first quarter that knocked the quarterback into the lower leg of right guard Nate Davis, who was helped off the field with a right ankle injury. Davis was in a walking boot after the game and will surely be headed for an MRI as well.
The Vikings felt they had an edge immediately, as soon as Fields was picking himself up off the turf following the game’s first play.
“Just protection,” Hicks said. “How they were trying to protect it. You know what they did was they started trying to run the ball a little bit. Keep Fields out of that situation and then get the ball out quick. That’s usually what we get. When Metellus was blitzing, (it was working). (Flores) does a great job dialing it up.”
2. 6.1 seconds.
That is how long Justin Fields held the ball on the play that knocked him out of the game in the third quarter. The Vikings were showing seven defenders at the line of scrimmage on third-and-7 from the Minnesota 48-yard line. It looked like they were coming. Danielle Hunter, D.J. Wonnum and Dean Lowry were the only players that rushed. The rest dropped into coverage.
Fields scrambled around. It appeared wide receiver DJ Moore had a window on the same side as the quarterback moved to the left. Tight end Cole Kmet released as a checkdown target and then Hunter draped himself on Fields’ back with the quarterback trying to throw the ball away as he went to the ground. Perhaps that effort prevented him from being able to brace the hit better as he went to the ground and his right throwing hand was injured.
Just like that, problems that plagued the Bears throughout the game (identifying how many rushers were coming) and throughout Fields’ career (injuries) popped up.
“He wanted to come back in the game,” Matt Eberflus said. “But he just couldn’t grip the ball to throw it.”
The Bears now await more medical testing to see where Fields is at after a game in which he completed 6 of 10 passes for 58 yards with one interception on a play when he was hit by Hunter, who bulled his way through running back D’Onta Foreman with the pass — intended for Moore in the end zone — fluttering to linebacker Jordan Hicks, setting up the Vikings for their only offensive touchdown drive of the game.
One of the questions for Fields and the offense — it’s an 11-man operation — is how it would perform against a better defense. It’s not that the Vikings are great by any stretch of the imagination. They’ve been torched at times this season. But they’re a far bit better than the Broncos and Commanders, who Fields lit up, creating hope that 30 starts into his career Fields was beginning to settle in.
It was a bad game for Fields and the rest of the offense. A critical failure came on third-and-goal from the Vikings’ 4-yard line at the start of the second quarter. Velus Jones, lined up in the backfield, had a nice 17-yard run around the right corner. Darrynton Evans, signed off the Miami Dolphins practice squad on Monday, had consecutive runs for 11 and 12 yards. Trailing 3-0, the Bears looked poised to take the lead.
Foreman ran for 3 yards on first-and-goal from the 7. Fields couldn’t connect with Kmet on second down and here I thought the Bears might say, “We’ve been running it well, let’s take three cracks to run it in from the 4.”
On third down, Hunter beat right tackle Darnell Wright around the edge and that forced Fields to step up in the pocket. That’s when he dropped his eyes. There was a bunch set to the right with tight end Robert Tonyan and receivers Tyler Scott and Darnell Mooney. Mooney comes loose, wide-open, coming across the back of the end zone but Fields doesn’t see him and Hunter Phillips sacked Fields. There’s a touchdown pass there but Fields didn’t see Mooney.
Poor snaps by Cody Whitehair contributed to some problems and that absolutely has to be cleaned up. Again, more on Whitehair being pulled in a little bit. But the explosive plays the Bears had the last couple of weeks were largely missing other than two Tyson Bagent throws to Moore and a 39-yard shot Fields had to Mooney.
At times, Fields struggled to see the coverage rotation. It’s hard to watch one of the most explosive offenses in the league the last two weeks shut down and the fear here is that things have to be so much closer to perfect for Fields for him to operate at a high level.
This isn’t putting it all on him because struggles were across the board.
“All the different looks, all the pressures and everything that was coming at us, it’s hard when you go out there and you think they’re going to do one thing and they do a whole bunch of things that they either put in or just had,” Moore said.
Kmet said: “Yeah, I gotta take a look at on the film, honestly. A lot of things we saw on tape, I think we saw on the field. I think it just comes down to our execution, it has to be better.”
Like what?
“Everything,” Kmet said. “Timing. Guys knowing who to go to. Depth on routes. Everything. I think we can be better up front. I was really involved today in the protection schemes. Guys coming off the edge, have to pick up there, chipping guys, whatever it is. We’ve just got to be better all around. So that’s communication on the line making sure everyone knows who we’re going to. Knowing who our hots are. Guys getting open. All that stuff. I think it was a conglomerate of things but definitely have to take a look at the film.”
Now, as the Bears work to figure out what they are going to do with Fields, who is in a critical development year, they have to wait and see when he will be medically cleared to play, when he will be able to properly grip the football. Say what you want about the direction of the team, but the organization made this offseason about building around the position and giving Fields every opportunity to succeed. Yes, injuries have forced a multitude of moves to the offensive line, but that happens. The Bears have two encouraging games and four stinkers so far and questions about when Fields will be on the field again.
He’s got to know he can’t hold the ball for six seconds on a day when confusion is a problem up front, even as elusive as he can be at times.
3. I’m not sure what I expected when Tyson Bagent, the undrafted rookie free agent from Division II Shepherd University, was forced into action.
Twenty-three seasons of covering the team’s quarterback carousel hasn’t provided previous experience in this situation.
At first glance, Bagent looked OK. Good enough to win? No, the Bears didn’t rally with an opportunity in the fourth quarter to win the game. But Bagent looked more poised than a lot of other reserves I’ve seen pressed into action, and that matches with what we saw from him in spring, training camp and preseason.
Bagent needed to protect the ball on the D.J. Wonnum sack that resulted in a fumble returned for a touchdown — the difference in the game — and he badly underthrew DJ Moore on Byron Murphy Jr.’s game-clinching interception. He had to handle a high snap from Lucas Patrick on the play. Bagent did hit Tyler Scott for 7 yards on third-and-4 the snap before the pick and the Bears had reached the Vikings’ 35-yard line with 2:05 remaining.
“DJ Moore, one of the best receivers in the world one-on-one,” Bagent said. “Any time we can get that, we like it. Underthrew it there a little bit, and you know that’s on me. I’ve got to fix it going forward.”
You’ve got to love the aggressive attitude there and if Bagent is needed this week against the Raiders, it will be interesting to see how he can perform with a week of practice and with a game plan tailored to what he handles well. Of course, the Bears want a healthy Justin Fields back in the saddle, but we’ll see where that goes.
Bagent connected with Moore for two nice gains and the Vikings continued to create issues up front.
“I think he came in and they were aggressive,” Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks said. “I like that mindset. They tried to make it easy on him, give him good timing passes. Hand the ball off. I thought he did a great job.”
Murphy said he was hoping Bagent would be baited into making a throw that he could make a play on and got his wish when the Vikings were clinging to a six-point lead.
“Man, that’s crazy,” Murphy said when I told him Bagent was undrafted from Division II. “First, I want to give my props to him. He came in and did his thing. We knew coming in they were going to try to get his rhythm going. Quick throws out to the flat right away, get the run game going. We knew what type of game it was going to turn into.
“Sometimes as a DB, you see guys come in and they’re kind of nervous and not taking the throws. He was taking his reads and doing those things. So, props to him. But I had to get a pick. That was my biggest thing, make him make a turnover.”
The Bears got the same vibe from Bagent, that the unexpected moment wasn’t too big for him. The Bears telegraphed that Bagent would soon be their No. 2 quarterback when they cut P.J. Walker, signed to a $2 million contract in the offseason, at the end of preseason. Walker, by the way, started in place of Deshaun Watson on Sunday and helped the Cleveland Browns to a 19-17 upset of the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers.
“He’s a baller, as you could see,” Moore said. “He showed he belongs. He made impressive throws and was doing well at the line. It was cool to see.”
Said Kmet: “Being around him since camp, I think he’s got a lot of self-confidence. He’s got conviction in what he does and what he says. If he’s got to take over for a little bit, we’re going to rally around him.”
Again, Bagent made mistakes that are going to get teams beat. He knows what he did wrong and there’s an avalanche of stuff he’s yet to be exposed to. It’s the Bears, it’s the quarterback position and you’re never quite certain what you’re going to get. If needed, there’s at least some hope he won’t be flustered like we’ve seen from other reserves pressed into action over the years.
“He’s cool, calm, collected,” Matt Eberflus said. “You could see that out there. He was that way the entire time. I thought he had good command when he was out there in terms of getting the plays and getting the plays out. No real snafus there with that in terms of operation. But we really like where he is. We just said to him, ‘Hey, you got this.’ He went out there, and as a backup quarterback, you always know you’re one play away from playing the entire game. So that’s what he’s there for, and that’s what he got called on to do.”
Bagent, who said he figures someone saved the ball he used on a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown, wasn’t fazed postgame by what could lie ahead.
“I think it just comes from kind of not being OK until I have the game plan down,” he said of his weekly process. “So kind of, you know, putting the pressure on myself to get everything down, understand what’s going on in the game and what my operation needs to be and then after that, it just all comes down to playing football and playing fast. I’d say that’s where it comes from.”
4. The defense deserved a better outcome. No question about that.
The Bears limited the Vikings to a season-low 220 yards of offense and Kirk Cousins, without elite wide receiver Justin Jefferson, was just 21 of 31 for 181 yards with one touchdown (more on that play shortly) and one interception.
The Vikings converted only 2 of 13 third downs with the Bears leaning on seldom-used dime personnel in a lot of those passing situations. I counted eight snaps with cornerback Jaylon Jones coming on as the dime back.
The Bears have been so bad offensively that they are 1-4 in their last five games (all at Soldier Field) when they have held the opponent to 220 yards off offense or less.
In the previous 25 instances of limiting opposition to 220 yards offense, the Bears were 22-3 dating back to a Dec. 7, 1997, victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Linebacker T.J. Edwards had a sack and DeMarcus Walker and Jaquan Brisker split one. The Vikings couldn’t get anything going on the ground as Minnesota had 52 yards rushing on 21 carries before Cousins took a 6-yard loss on a kneel to end the game.
Edwards blew up running back Alexander Mattison to hit Cousins in the second quarter with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds diving to make an interception. It was a simulated pressure. Edwards rushed with defensive end Dominique Robinson dropping off into coverage. That’s what the Bears were thinking about when they paid the linebackers in free agency.
Minnesota’s longest play went for 21 yards — two of them — and there was only one more play that went for more than 13 yards. So, the defense didn’t surrender much of anything in the way of explosive plays. The defense allowed only 12 points to be scored.
The only glaring problem was on the 10-yard touchdown pass Cousins had to Jordan Addison with 12 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Addison found a crease in the zone coverage between cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and Brisker.
“(Former offensive coordinator) Kevin Stefanski used to always say the back of the end zone is the least defended part of the field,” Cousins said. “I think that was more just in their coverage, that was just kind of a soft spot in the coverage, and the corner was sinking, the safety was moving there, they were both aware, but we were kind of trying to find that soft spot, and Jordan did a good job settling into that zone.”
Addison looked to sort of freeze Brisker with a stutter before running his corner route. It appeared to be Cover Two, that’s the hunch here anyway. And a corner route is a classic Cover Two beater. If I’m correct, Brisker has to know in the red zone, with the Vikings knowing the Bears’ tendencies, that he’s got to look for that. You would like to see him driving downhill on the ball.
“I think going into two-minute and giving up that touchdown before the half, that was big,” said cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who returned after missing the previous two games with a hamstring issue. “Trying to win that situation. Other than that, I thought we played a damn good game. I think it’s just winning the situations. We shut out the run and he was very limited in the pass. Overall, I think did a solid job. It’s not enough though.”
I don’t think the Bears have this kind of effort if Jefferson plays, but there were some positives to come out of the loss and the overall defensive performance was one.
5. Weak-side linebacker T.J. Edwards entered Week 6 second in the NFL in tackles with 62.
He trails only Zaire Franklin (69) of the Indianapolis Colts. The Bears feel like they’re getting solid play from Edwards and the other big free-agent signing, middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. A sneaky good addition has been nose tackle Andrew Billings. In a conversation I recently had with a longtime talent evaluator who had closely watched the team, he said Billings was far and away the team’s best performer on the defensive line.
Billings does not add a whole lot to the pass rush but GM Ryan Poles didn’t sign him to do that. He’s a base-down player and the sense I get is he’s been a good veteran addition to the room. After one tackle against the Vikings, he’s got only seven tackles and one quarterback hit. Nose tackles don’t fill the box score with statistics so focusing on the numbers won’t tell the story.
The Bears did a really nice job against Minnesota’s run game, holding the Vikings to 46 yards on 22 carries (2.1 average). That’s on the heels of limiting the Commanders to 29 yards rushing on 10 carries the week before. Of course, Washington didn’t hand the ball off once in the second half, but for a team that was terrible against the run a year ago, Billings is a significant part of the improvement. Since the start of the 2015 season, the Bears have held opponents to 46 yards rushing only five times and two of those occasions are the most recent games.
The talent evaluator said Billings’ effort popped when he reviewed tape. His strength and ability to shed blockers were pluses. Billings isn’t going to get a lot done when the play moves away from him but he’s been max effort and has an understanding for blocking concepts and what opponents are trying to do.
Drafted in the fourth round in 2016 by the Cincinnati Bengals out of Baylor, the 28-year-old Billings is low mileage and that had to be one of the things that appealed to Poles and his staff when the tackle was signed to a $2.75 million, one-year contract after spending last season with the Las Vegas Raiders.
A meniscus injury cost him his entire rookie season. He played 334 snaps in 2017 and then combined for 1,289 plays in 2018 and 2019 before opting out in 2020 because of COVID-19. A bad fit with the Cleveland Browns in 2021 limited him to 72 plays. He got 481 snaps with the Raiders last season. For a big body in the middle of the line, he doesn’t have the wear and tear most guys who have been in the league that long do.
Billings has been freakish in his athletic ability since high school in Waco, Texas. In 2012, he set the state’s powerlifting record, breaking a mark that stood for 22 years, by totaling 2,010 pounds (805 squat, 500 bench, 705 dead lift).
That’s one reason why when he left Baylor after the 2015 season to enter the NFL, some thought he would be selected at the back end of the first round or in the second. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.96 seconds at his pro day — moving good for a big man — and wound up lasting until Round 4, the 16th tackle to come off the board.
“I left early as a junior, which was unexpected to everybody and I was 6-foot-1,” Billings said, matter-of-factly. “It is what it is. If I was 6-3, it might have been different. But that’s really a question for teams (why I lasted until Day 3). I don’t know. I was graded first/second round. That went into the decision-making to leave early. But I’m still here today.”
Billings was able to learn from Domata Peko, one of the better true nose tackles of the last two decades, as a rookie with the Bengals. But Peko left for the Denver Broncos in free agency before 2017 and that left Billings sort of on his own.
“I think old guys were trying to help me,” Billings said. “Like Geno (Atkins, a three-technique), he was trying to spread his knowledge to me. Once Peko was gone, there was no old head like that in front of me. There’s a lot of value in that. That’s why I am trying to get with these rookies (Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens), stuff I didn’t have.
“It’s like Geno could tell me something, but it’s Geno Atkins. He did things totally different than anyone else in the league. He did stuff I can’t do. ‘Yeah, Geno, that sounds good but nah.’ I think I have just been learning. I’ve learned a lot more this year from the guys around me.”
Billings said “play style, coaches and the players around me” have made this the best start to a season he’s had.
“That’s really it,” he said. “Anybody can thrive in a good atmosphere.”
It’s probably too early to start wondering about contract extensions or anything like that. If Poles wants to be a seller at the trade deadline, maybe Billings would appeal to a team seeking some depth in the trenches. But I think it would make a lot more sense to try to keep Billings in place. He strikes me as the kind of player the team could secure for a couple of seasons with a modest investment. Might be a wise move if the coaches and front office believe he’s a good influence on younger players.
“I like it here and clearly they like me,” Billings said. “Just keep doing my job every week.”
6. One of the best stories in college football is the remarkable way Travis Hunter is making an impact in every phase for the Colorado Buffaloes.
Hunter caught the attention of NFL players immediately and the locker room was buzzing with chat about him after Colorado upset TCU in its opener on Sept. 2 when Hunter logged a mind-boggling 146 snaps playing wide receiver and cornerback.
“Oh yeah,” safety Eddie Jackson exclaimed when I broached the topic, “I love it!”
Jackson was recruited to Alabama out of Boyd H. Anderson High in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., with the word that he would have a chance to play both ways for the Crimson Tide. A wide receiver and defensive back in high school, Jackson’s first love was playing offense.
“I showed up and at first, I was told I was going to get a chance to play both,” Jackson recounted. “And real quick it was like, ‘Yeah, you’ll be playing corner.’ I forgot our offensive coordinator (Doug Nussmeier) at the time, he was like, ‘Yeah, Eddie, I tried to get you some plays at receiver. Coach (Nick) Saban shut me down and said you are strictly on defense.’ They put me at corner.”
Said rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson: “Travis Hunter is living one of my dreams out right now. I begged at Georgia. I begged at Miami. I begged to be a receiver. I started out in high school as a receiver and my junior year was when I made the transition to DB.”
Hunter is seriously playing on both sides of the ball. It’s not like he’s dabbling or moonlighting. After missing three games with a lacerated liver, Hunter returned Friday night to play against Stanford. The notion was he’d be on some sort of snap count. In an overtime loss to Stanford, he had 69 plays on offense, 88 on defense and nine more on special teams.
“I don’t know how he does it,” linebacker Noah Sewell said. “It’s like how many snaps? That’s high school stuff.”
Hunter had 13 receptions for 140 yards with two touchdowns, the first score with a nifty spin move over the middle. He had a rough go of it on defense as Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor went off for 13 catches for 294 yards and three scores. To be clear, not all of that production came against Hunter but Ayomanor did pin the ball on the back of Hunter’s helmet to haul in one score.
Hunter played for Deion Sanders last season at Jackson State after he flipped from an original commitment to Florida State. A long list of blue-blood programs were pursuing him, too, like Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Michigan. He will be an interesting evaluation for NFL scouts a year from now when he will be draft-eligible for the first time. Offense? Defense? Both?
You can find a handful of college players that have played both ways. Charles Woodson did at Michigan and it’s probably some big plays as a returner that put his case for the Heisman Trophy over the top. At Georgia, Champ Bailey was a productive wide receiver while doubling as a shutdown cornerback. Linebackers Shaq Thompson (Washington) and Myles Jack (UCLA) played a little running back in college. Ohio State utilized Chris Gamble as a two-way weapon. He played wide receiver and defensive back. But it’s hard to find a lot of examples of guys wholine up on both sides and it’s unheard of at the I-A level to see a guy logging this much time on both sides.
“Let him be a badass,” one assistant general manager said. “I love it.”
“Not off the top of my head, I can’t recall anything like this,” said a national scout who has been at it for more than 25 years. “Been going through my little Rolodex and I can’t think of any.
“But I tell you, I marvel at the fact there aren’t more guys who do it, to be honest with you. There are so many good athletes that played both ways in high school. They get to college and they’re just on one side of the ball. I think that is what actually surprises me.”
Another national scout took the opposite approach.
“The time constraints that you have in college hurts you,” he explained. “The four-hour rule a day. Where are you going to spend your time? How are you going to spend your practice time? What about your meeting time? You gotta keep it kind of basic both ways if you want to do that and college coaches don’t like to keep anything basic. It’s like, ‘OK, how can we trick the (heck) out of somebody?’ It takes a lot of time to do that.”
Said Stevenson: “To be out there and make sure you understand what is going on around you on offense and defense, like really understand, that’s incredibly difficult. You have to understand the defensive plays and the offensive plays. He’s going out there remembering two playbooks and being able to play 150 snaps. Amazing. It’s also crazy.”
There hasn’t been a bona fide two-way player in the NFL since Charlie Bednarik, aptly nicknamed “Concrete Charlie.” He played center and linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949 through 1960. Sanders played some wide receiver when he was a star cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has used a good number of players on both sides of the ball, including Julian Edelman, Troy Brown and Mike Vrabel, among others.
Could Hunter or someone else make a double-duty impact in the NFL?
“Not that many plays,” Jackson said. “You’d have to have selected plays. To go out there and play 129 snaps in the NFL or 100 however many, I don’t know what your next week is going to look like. That’s too much.”
7. The Bears have a better offensive line when Teven Jenkins is on the field.
No one will dispute that. Jenkins played well in his debut last week at Washington when the Bears handled a stacked Commanders front featuring four first-round draft picks. He played all 65 snaps in Sunday’s loss. He did a heck of a job pushing the pile on a 12-yard run by Darrynton Evans on the second series to set up first-and-goal from the 7-yard line. It looked like the shove added another 5 yards or so.
Level of play for Jenkins has not been a question. He performed at a high level for portions of last season when he settled in at right guard. The issue is Jenkins has missed a lot of time now almost 2 1/2 years into his career, so much so it appears highly unlikely he will trigger the proven performance escalator (PPE) for the fourth and final season in his rookie contract. More on the PPE and why Jenkins isn’t expected to hit it in a little bit.
Jenkins came off injured reserve before the game at Washington and basically played without a real practice under his belt, rotating in at left guard after being sidelined for the first four games (and roughly six weeks total) with a right calf injury suffered during a conditioning workout at Indianapolis in between joint practices and the start of the preseason game with the Colts.
It was a setback for the team and led to the trade with the Miami Dolphins to acquire swing interior lineman Dan Feeney. It was a blow for Jenkins, who talked about focusing on improving his durability during the offseason. It was a rerun of stuff Jenkins said in 2022 following his rookie season. He took up Pilates to improve his core strength. He was working to cut carbs from his diet and reduce alcohol intake.
“When I got hurt (at Indianapolis), it was like a wake-up call really,” Jenkins said Wednesday. “I knew I had to change something this offseason because I’ve had past injuries, so I was slowing into it. Tiptoeing back and forth about what I should do, and I’m really bought into it now.”
A wake-up call? Jenkins missed most of his rookie season with a back injury. He was sidelined a year ago with hip issues and then a recurring stinger. He’s played in 100% of the snaps in only seven games, one of them being this game. I would lean toward giving him the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe he sort of misspoke a little here because I find it a little hard to believe it took an injury in Year 3 for him to learn how important it is to establish some durability.
Jenkins has missed so much time — he’s appeared in 21 of a possible 40 games — that it’s doubtful he hits the PPE in his contract. The collective bargaining agreement has fourth-year escalators for players on their rookie contracts who were not drafted in the first round. There are three ways to trigger it. For second-round picks like Jenkins, they are:
1. A Level One PPE is earned if a player participates in 60% of the team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons. It can also be triggered if the player averages 60% playing time over the entire first three seasons. This PPE is equal to the amount of the right of first refusal tender for RFAs (restricted free agents).
Jenkins played in 14.3% of the snaps as a rookie and 55.7% last season, so he cannot hit two seasons at 60%. He’s not going to reach 60% over the first three seasons total either. Even if he is on the field for every snap the rest of this season, the best he can do is approach 50% overall.
2. A Level Two PPE is earned if a player participates in at least 55% of his team’s offensive or defensive snaps in each of his first three seasons. This is worth the RFA tender plus an additional $250,000.
Jenkins isn’t in play for this one.
3. A Level Three PPE is earned if a player is an original ballot Pro Bowl selection in any of his first three seasons. This is worth the amount of the second-round tender for restricted free agents.
So, Jenkins’ shot to trigger the PPE is to be voted to the Pro Bowl this season.
How much money is in play here? The PPE escalators for tight end Cole Kmet (who since signed an extension) and cornerback Jaylon Johnson, both second-round picks in 2020, meant raises of a little more than $1.2 million each for them this season.
It’s worth noting one member of Jenkins’ draft class has hit a PPE and another is on his way. Offensive lineman Larry Borom has already secured a Level One PPR and running back Khalil Herbert, provided he doesn’t miss too much time with his current ankle injury that will sideline him at least four games, is a good bet to also hit a Level One escalator. The threshold for Round 3-7 picks is lower. Instead of the 60% playing time figure for Level One used for second-round picks, it’s at 35%.
8. The biggest question on the offensive line is the status of right guard Nate Davis.
The injury didn’t look good and he left Soldier Field wearing a walking boot on his right foot, so it’s possible he’s going to miss some time.
The Bears also have a developing issue at center with Cody Whitehair, who was slated to play that position back in the offseason, training camp and preseason. That shifted when left guard Teven Jenkins was injured before the second preseason game as Whitehair shifted to left guard.
He had a tough time with shotgun snaps but a bigger issue was probably the communication up front. The Bears pulled Whitehair on the final play of the third quarter and replaced him with Lucas Patrick, who began the week in concussion protocol following the game at Washington.
“Lucas obviously was going through concussion protocol during the week and when Justin (Fields) went out and we had Tyson (Bagent) in there, we thought it was best for our team to have the guy that had more experience in there playing center,” Matt Eberflus said. “That’s that position that we have that Lucas has played for a long time. He has a lot of experience in there. We thought that would settle Bagent down a little bit.”
So, it wasn’t about the snaps that Whitehair was struggling with?
“No,” Eberflus said. “It was just more about settling down and putting the guy that had more experience at center. We feel good about both guys. And obviously we’ve switched guys around during the course of the year, guard, center. We are going to have to continue to do that based on where Nate is. We’ll see. But we like our flexibility in there.”
Yes, Patrick has more experience playing center this season but Whitehair started 48 games at the position for the Bears from 2016 through 2018, so he’s been in that spot a lot. The team talked about his experience playing center during the offseason when explaining the decision to move him there from guard.
Whitehair left the locker room before it was opened to reporters.
“I know in my expertise, there’s no better thing than repetitions at a position,” Patrick said. “You’re always ready. That is part of being a pro, doing whatever is called and the team needs.”
If Davis is out, the Bears could stick with Ja’Tyre Carter, who replaced him during the game, or I suppose move Whitehair over to right guard and keep Patrick at center. It’s a dilemma for a line that doesn’t seem to be able to get five on the field and keep them on the field.
9. USC quarterback Caleb Williams had /the worst game of his college career Saturday at Notre Dame.
Williams completed 23 of 37 passes for 199 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in a 48-20 loss to the Irish. It was a career-high for interceptions and Williams has thrown more than one in a game only one other time as a freshman for Oklahoma in a Nov. 13, 2021, game at Baylor when he had two.
Still, I think most evaluators believe Williams is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft with the college season near its midpoint. Yes, there is a lot to still evaluate. Let’s dive into the chase for No. 1 with a look at the six teams within one game of the top pick going into Week 7. The Monday night game with the Dallas Cowboys at the Los Angeles Chargers doesn’t involve a one-win team.
The winless
Panthers (0-6)
Next: Bye
One-win or worse teams remaining on schedule: Bears (1-5)
The path to No. 1: This is actually the path for the Bears as they own Carolina’s first-round pick. The Panthers put a brief scare into the Miami Dolphins when they took an early 14-0 on Sunday but things quickly crumbled. First-year coach Frank Reich detailed at the start of last week that owner David Tepper meets with him regularly.
“He wants to bring a winner to the Carolinas,” Reich said at his news conference Monday. “He wants it now. He pushes me, and pushes us, to that end. He wants to do whatever it takes, turn over every stone, churn it as much as he has to produce winning football.”
Sounds like pressure is mounting and the roster around rookie quarterback Bryce Young is shaky. The Panthers have also been rumored to be a potential seller at the trade deadline. I don’t envision them moving any marquee players but, if they do ship out some starters, that’s going to make things more difficult.
The one-win teams
Bears (1-5)
Next: Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday
One-win or worse teams remaining on schedule: Panthers (0-6), Cardinals (1-5)
The path to No. 1: The Bears hoped they could build momentum coming off their dismantling of the Washington Commanders but were flustered by the Vikings. They would own the No. 2 pick if the draft was based on the current standings.
Broncos (1-5)
Next: Green Bay Packers, Sunday
One-win or worse teams remaining on schedule: Patriots (1-5)
The path to No. 1: The Broncos are unloading major parts. They traded edge rusher Randy Gregory and released veteran defensive end Frank Clark, who they signed to a one-year contract with $5.45 million fully guaranteed. I have no clue if they would trade wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, but some have suggested that is possible. Quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 95 yards in a 19-8 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. It sure looks like new coach Sean Payton is eyeing a total overhaul. Denver’s lone win came against the Bears. The Broncos would be picking third based on the current standings.
Cardinals (1-5)
Next: at Seattle Seahawks, Sunday
One-win or worse teams remaining on schedule: Bears (1-5)
The path to No. 1: The Cardinals have dropped three in a row since their stunning upset of the Cowboys, losing 26-9 at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The team appears to be playing hard for coach Jonathan Gannon but as I’ve always said, if Josh Dobbs is your starting quarterback, it’s going to be a tough road.
New York Giants (1-5)
Next: Washington Commanders, Sunday
One-win or worse teams remaining on schedule: Patriots (1-5)
The path to No. 1: With a neck injury sidelining quarterback Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor stepped in and had a shot to pull off a huge road upset at Buffalo but on the game’s final play — an untimed down from the 1-yard line — his pass to tight end Darren Waller in the back of the end zone fell incomplete. The Giants are devoid of playmakers at the wide receiver position. They did show a spirited defensive effort against the high-powered Bills.
The offense under freshly minted quarterback Daniel Jones has produced six points in the first half through three games. Things are amiss.
Patriots (1-5)
Next: Buffalo Bills, Sunday
One-win or worse teams remaining on schedule: Giants (1-5), Broncos (1-5)
The path to No. 1: The Mac Jones’ saga at quarterback is killing this team as much as his play. It’s difficult to see this situation improving as the season unfolds.
10. The Bears placed RB Khalil Herbert (right ankle) and WR Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstring) on injured reserve Friday.
This means they will both be sidelined for a minimum of four games. The soonest they can return is on Nov. 9 against the Panthers at Soldier Field.
Injured reserve rules allow teams to designate a maximum of eight players to return from IR during the season. The Bears have already used designations for left guard Teven Jenkins, cornerback Kyler Gordon and center Doug Kramer. Barring something unexpected, the team will use one on left tackle Braxton Jones (neck) and you would also expect Herbert back in the mix at some point in November. That would be a total of five designations, leaving GM Ryan Poles with three more. Cornerback Josh Blackwell (hamstring) is also on IR and would need a designation to return. He’d be a sixth. Now, we wait to see the status of quarterback Justin Fields (right hand) and right guard Nate Davis (right ankle).
At some point — perhaps this week — Poles and the coaching staff will require discussions about what they want to do when they’re down to two or three designations remaining. Fields and Davis are obviously front-line players. You don’t want to leave a healthy player on the sideline who can get into action while saving a designation that goes unused, but you also don’t want to run out of them when key players are in consideration.
10a. Rasheem Green blocked Greg Joseph’s extra point in the second quarter, his second block of the season. He also blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt by Tampa Bay’s Chase McLaughlin in Week 2. Green now has five blocked kicks in his career so I sought him out for some insight into his success.
“Every time, same move,” Green said. “Swim. Swim and effort.”
Green blocked two field goals with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019 and on Nov. 29, 2021, at Washington, he blocked an extra point, scooped it up and returned it 85 yards for two points — the first player in NFL history to block an extra point and return it for a score since the league changed the rule in 2015.
Obviously, opposing teams know Green is proficient at breaking through the line and making a play, right?
“Sometimes,” he said. “They’re like, ‘He’s right there! He’s right there! Alert to swim.’
“But it’s not just my swim. It’s the guys next to me. I could swim but what makes it work is the guys on the left and right really doing their job. That kind of sets the layup up for me.”
In this instance, Dylan Cole was on Green’s left and Gervon Dexter was on his right, also providing force.
“It’s not like they’re doing it for me,” Green said. “We’ve all got opportunities. It’s just a better opportunity for where I’m at.”
The Bears might just have their best weapon to block kicks in Green (6-foot-4, 279 pounds) since Israel Idonije, who blocked eight kicks in 134 games from 2004 through 2012.
10b. Kicker Cairo Santos was 2-for-2 on field goals, hitting from 22 and 53 yards. He’s 10-for-10 this season and entering Sunday night there were only three kickers who remained perfect with more than 10 attempts.
10c. This game was a tough watch and it makes you wonder if the NFL will consider flexing the Week 12 rematch at U.S. Bank Stadium out of the ESPN “Monday Night Football” window. New this year, the league has leeway to move “MNF” games at its discretion from Weeks 12-17. If the game is moved, it would have to be announced at least 12 days before the Nov. 27 game.
There are some issues. One, Chicago is a massive television market the networks crave. But if Justin Fields is out (who knows where this injury is headed) and if Justin Jefferson is still out (who knows?), an NFC North showdown could lose a lot of luster, especially if both teams, which combined have three wins, continue to struggle.
Another big issue is the game comes on the back end of Thanksgiving weekend. With three games on Thanksgiving and another on Black Friday, there is a smaller inventory of games for the league to consider as a replacement.
10d. Free safety Eddie Jackson returned after missing the previous three games with a foot injury. The plan was for him to be on a snap count and rotate with Elijah Hicks but he lasted only 12 snaps, slightly limping off the field after an incomplete pass for tight end T.J. Hockenson.
“Eddie left the game and was questionable,” Matt Eberflus said. “Could have come back. Injured his foot a little during the game. Didn’t feel a hundred percent but he could have come back if we needed him through injury.”
So, keep an eye on Jackson, who was limited through practice last week. He could need some more time.
10e. The Las Vegas Raiders opened as a 3-point favorite over the Bears at Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas for Sunday’s game at Soldier Field.
()