Offense
1. Bears’ wide receiver screens are being read and not just by the Saints. Teams are picking something up. If they are going to keep calling them, they need to solve this problem.
2. On a related note, it was evident that the Bears were well scouted this game. For instance, the Saints did a nice job of defending the outside zone run that worked so well against the Commanders.
3. On the second fumbled snap in the first quarter, it didn’t look to me like Caleb Williams was expecting the ball. It was a shame to see a possession starting from such promising field position off of a recovered fumble in the first quarter result in only a field goal.
4. Mike Pereira isn’t often wrong, but my understanding is that as long as the ball touches the quarterback’s hands, it’s a snap. This was the basis of the old center sneak. So I thought the referees got the call right on the field, and the fumbled snap wasn’t illegal procedure.
5. It’s obvious the plan was to run the ball and use play action. Which is always the plan, but it seemed like it was more so today. The two-thirds of the way through the first quarter, the run:pass ratio was 20:17 at halftime. Things didn’t change in the second half. The success in the run game fueled the win.
6. I thought it was notable that despite the lack of success on the ground very early in the game, the Bears kept running the ball early in the down. Past offensive coordinators wouldn’t have continued to do this. But the Bears are confident enough in their passing game and the design of it to sacrifice the down if necessary just to keep the defense honest.
7. It was nice to see Williams finding DJ Moore more often today. Moore sat next to Williams on the bench all day.
8. This was not Williams’ best day. He was forced out of the pocket to his left an awful lot, and that affected his accuracy. He was staring down receivers and was holding the ball and playing street football way too much for my liking. He needs to get to the point where he’s dropping back and letting go of it quicker. He did look better in the second half.
9. Chase Young had a good day against Jonah Jackson. I’m starting to notice Jackson more often than I’d like.
Defense
1. My first thought here was that the Bears defensive backs did a beautiful job of covering on the back end early in the game. Even the completed passes were generally well-covered early in the game. But something happened near the end of the first half, and the Saints started moving the ball. I’m not sure if the coverage got softer or the Saints got smarter or both, but suddenly Chris Olave seemed to be open all over the field.
2. I thought the Bears got good pressure on quarterback Spencer Rattler on occasion, but I have to say that I wasn’t happy with how often they had to blitz to do it. A lot of the pressure seemed to come from defensive backs. At some point, they have to start getting more pressure from the front four.
3. Having said that, they certainly held their own up front against the run, and that was a major factor in the game.
4. It was nice to see Montez Sweat make some plays today. Obviously, we need to see more of that.
5. Tremaine Edmunds has been a considerably better player since moving to the weak side linebacker spot. He had a good day.
6. I thought the tackling was good today. Notably, the Bears’ tackling earlier in the year was not as good. It’s been better now after the bye.
Miscellaneous
- The Saints kicker missed a field goal near the end of the first quarter. I thought it was nice to see both Josh Blackwell and Travis Homer make some plays for the Bears’ special teams. Both recently just got back from injuries.
- The pre-snap penalties were back on a day when there were way too many penalties in general. Again. I hope we aren’t in for another week of the media blaming Caleb Williams for these lapses in concentration. They are inexcusable.
- The Bears won the turnover battle again. Picks by Nashon Wright, Kevin Byard, and Tremaine Edmunds were notable. As is usually the case, this was the major key to the victory. ??
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I can’t call this a step forward for Caleb Williams. There were too many times when he couldn’t let the ball go and played street ball. I’d call the performance up and down at best.
That’s OK. You can’t expect a march forward towards greatness every week. As long as it’s two steps forward, one step back, he’ll get there, and so will the Bears.