There’s a lot to dissect from the Bears’ season-opening thud, a 10-3 loss to the Packers on Thursday in which their defense was superb and the offense was the definition of discombobulated.
Here are a few notes based on playing time allotment:
Curious decisions with running backs
David Montgomery was the Bears’ highest draft selection this year (No. 73 overall) and they want him to become an all-purpose, every-down back. Matt Nagy has spent the past month saying he’s ready. Then he played 38 percent of the offensive snaps and got seven touches.
Surely Montgomery expected to be more involved, right?
“I wasn’t really expecting anything,” Montgomery said. Whatever happened for me or whenever my name was called, I wanted to be sure I was ready for the task and opportunity at hand.”
He finished with six rushes for 18 yards, and the only pass that came his way was a 27-yard completion midway through the third quarter.
The Bears leaned on Mike Davis — a solid veteran with good blocking ability, but not as much of a playmaking threat as Montgomery. Davis played 56 percent of the snaps and got 12 total chances (five carries, seven targets) for 36 yards from scrimmage.
Tarik Cohen was in the game for 70 percent of the snaps, but obviously he’s not a full-time running back in the traditional sense.
Pass-rushing depth just talk?
The Bears like to say they have a lot of dangerous pass rushers, but they rode Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd hard. Mack played 91 percent of the defensive snaps, and Floyd was at 86 percent. The team would probably prefer to bring those numbers down a bit to keep those two as fresh as possible for a potential playoff run.
Defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris played 41 percent of the time, and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch got eight snaps (12 percent). They each had a sack.
Patchwork at tight end
The Bears’ offense is heavily reliant on Trey Burton at the “U” tight end, a hybrid of tight end and slot receiver, and they played him 80 percent of their snaps last season. With Burton out against the Packers, Adam Shaheen got 34 snaps, Ben Braunecker played 10 and Bradley Sowell took seven.
Unstoppable Smith
If this is what the Bears are getting from Roquan Smith at inside linebacker this season, their defense will be even better than originally anticipated. He was all over the field and showed no lapse in energy while playing 63 of 64 defensive snaps. He had five tackles, one for loss.
Wide receivers of interest
Allen Robinson played 96 percent of the snaps, the most of anyone outside the quarterback and offensive line. He was Mitch Trubisky’s top target with 13 balls thrown his way and finished with 102 yards on seven catches.
Wide receiver Anthony Miller, coming off a preseason ankle injury, played 22 percent of the snaps. He was at 54 percent last season. Javon Wims, meanwhile, was out there for 29 percent of the snaps.
Perfect attendance
Four Bears defensive players were out there for every play: cornerback Kyle Fuller, inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, cornerback Prince Amukamara and safety Eddie Jackson.
