The Chicago Bears have made it through the first quarter of the 2019 season at 3-1, and things are looking bright for the Bears as they enter the second quarter.
The Bears boast arguably — no, not arguably, just the best defense in the NFL. Look no further than Sunday’s performance against the run-heavy Minnesota Vikings, where Chicago’s defense shut them down with three starters missing on defense. What regression? This defense might be better than last year’s.
Chicago’s offense definitely is far away from where it needs to be if the Bears are to make a playoff run, but when you stand at 3-1 after the first four games, things are looking up.
Here are my first quarter grades for the Bears:
DEFENSE
Grade: A+
For all that talk of regression, the Bears defense is absolutely dominating this season with 10 returning starters, some new additions and defensive depth that has already proven to be invaluable.
Is it possible that the Bears’ defense is even better than last season? Because after just four games, this defense is clearly the class of the league, and it hasn’t even peaked yet.
In four games, the Bears’ defense has allowed 45 points, an average of 11.3 points per game, second only to the New England Patriots. They have logged 17 sacks and eight turnovers — four interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
OLB Khalil Mack continues to destroy defenses and leads the league in forced fumbles with four, along with Whitney Mercilus, and he continues to be worth every penny.
But the real mark of Chicago’s defense comes after Sunday’s victory over the Minnesota Vikings, where the Bears were tasked with stopping the league’s leading rusher in Dalvin Cook — with three missing starters. And they completely shutdown Minnesota’s offense. The depth on this defense is insane.
OFFENSE
Grade: D+
Aside from one great quarter against a bad Redskins defense, this offense looks like it has regressed in its second season in Matt Nagy’s scheme. And while a bulk of the blame will fall on QB Mitch Trubisky, as it should, it’s shared blame that goes all around.
Statistically, it’s ugly. The Bears rank 29th in the league in yards per game (273.5), passing yards per game (183.3), as well as 25th in rushing yards per game (90.3) and rank 28th in the league in points per game (16.5). Not exactly stats that many were expecting from this offense in its second year.
But statistics aside, it hasn’t been a pretty start for the offense, who has had to rely on the defense to keep them or win them games. The Bears run game continues to be infuriating in its inability to get going, as is Chicago’s passing game, which aside from Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel has been almost a non-factor.
Trubisky has yet to reassure many that he’s Chicago’s franchise quarterback moving forward. Aside from that final drive against Denver and that second quarter against the Redskins, Trubisky hasn’t looked good. Now that he’s nursing a left shoulder injury, don’t expect him to make a drastic turnaround in his return.
Penalties have also been a big factor in this unit’s ability to get a rhythm going, as they’ve racked up 14 penalties in just four games. Not exactly going to help you find a tempo.
Even against the Vikings on Sunday, where the offense was able to move the ball efficiently with QB Chase Daniel, the Bears only managed 16 points when put in great positions to score touchdowns.
There’s plenty of work to be done for the offense heading into the second quarter of their season, although that’ll be challenging given the injury to Trubisky.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Grade: A
If you’d have told me that the Bears’ special teams would be one of the strengths of this team after four weeks, I’d have thought your were insane. Especially considering the madness that was finding Cody Parkey’s replacement.
But K Eddy Pineiro has proven to be a valuable asset to Chicago — even when injured. Pineiro has connected on 8-of-9 field goals and has hit on all six of his extra points. Not to mention Pineiro saved the Bears from a 0-2 start when he kicked a game-winning 53-yard field goal as time expired against the Broncos.
Pineiro’s lone miss of the season came in Week 3 against the Redskins, where he was nursing a pinched nerve in his right kicking knee. Acceptable, not concerning.
But it’s not just Pineiro who’s thriving, it’s also P Pat O’Donnell, who may be having his best season yet. In four games, O’Donnell has 21 punts for 1,009 yards, including a long of 75 yards.
He’s averaging 48 yards per punt, and he’s pinned six inside the 20-yard line. O’Donnell has also handled kickoff duties the past two games as Pineiro continues to nurse that pinched nerve in his right leg.
On the returner side, Cordarrelle Patterson and Tarik Cohen have done a solid job. In four games, Patterson has returned two kickoffs for 52 yards, averaging 26 yards per return. Cohen has seven punt returns for 62 yards, averaging 8.9 yards per return.
COACHING
Grade: B-
The reigning Coach of the Year has had a rough go of it in his sophomore season. Although it’s certainly a win when your team is 3-1 after the first quarter of the season, especially after such a grim start.
The season didn’t start of well for Nagy, who was outcoached and whose offense was on life support in a game that the Bears could’ve/should’ve won Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.
Nagy struggled particularly as a playcaller in the first two weeks, where Week 1 was pass-heavy, Week 2 run-heavy but Weeks 3 and 4 have felt just right. The offense is still searching for its identity — and they’re far from where they want to be — but Nagy can get them there.
But the good news is that things have gotten progressively better for Nagy as the season wore on as a head coach.
Nagy’s best game was by far Week 4’s win over the Minnesota Vikings, where he had his team ready and prepared missing six starters, including starting QB Mitch Trubisky, ILB Roquan Smith, DL Akiem Hicks, DL Bilal Nichols, WR Taylor Gabriel and RG Kyle Long.
Nagy was determined to control the time of possession, which he did adamantly in the first three quarters especially. While Nagy got off on a shaky start to the season, the arrow’s definitely pointed up.
