Chicago Bears on the rise and fall after losing to the Cleveland Browns
By Todd Welter
Here is who is on the fall for the Chicago Bears…
Lucas Patrick and Nate Davis
The concern was Myles Garrett was going to wreck the Bears offense. Cleveland’s edge rusher was disruptive, but it was the Browns defensive interior that was chasing quarterback Justin Fields around.
Patrick and Davis were getting pushed around regularly. It did not help that guard Teven Jenkins left the game with a concussion. The line blocks better especially in the run game when he is in the game.
The Browns shutdown the Chicago Bears running attack. The Bears had 88 yards on the ground, but Fields accounted for 30 and Velus Jones Jr. had 23 on jet sweeps.
Davis had the lowest grade according to Pro Football Focus.
Bears top five graded players in loss vs Browns, per @PFF
— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) December 18, 2023
1. Montez Sweat 89.3
2. Jaylon Johnson 85.3
3. TJ Edwards 82.5
4. Andrew Billings 77.5
5. Tremaine Edmunds 75.8
Other notables
Justin Fields 48.8
Nate Davis 38.1
Darnell Wright 63.3
Jaquan Brisker 66.9
Tyrique…
Justin Fields
Fields was not the reason the Chicago Bears lost. Protection breakdowns and drops plagued him. Still, he only completed 48% of his passes. Maybe he should be listed in a neutral category.
He made an amazing throw for the offense’s only touchdown.
What a dime from @justnfields to @ColeKmet for 6 😮💨
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 17, 2023
📺: #CHIvsCLE on FOX | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/SFdgKcJ9gu
He did a better job of realizing a play was over and just throw the ball away.
Why he is on the fallers list is the Bears needed him to produce like Flacco did in the fourth quarter and he just did not come through. This was a performance that probably wraps up any chance of him being the long-term franchise quarterback.
Robert Tonyan
The McHenry, IL native has not made an impact since signing with the Bears this offseason. He had a chance to make a big play in the first quarter when Fields found him wide open down the field.
Tonyan dropped the ball. In a game decided by a field goal, that drop is a big reason the team was defeated.
Darnell Mooney
Mooney’s drop was even worse than Tonyan. Fields had one last chance to win the game when he heaved a Hail Mary.
The ball was tipped into Mooney’s lap. He literally had the ball in his stomach and allowed it to pop out.
This is how close the Bears came to beating the Browns: pic.twitter.com/SFy71D3DC0
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2023
Mooney made things even worse with his postgame comments.
Darnell Mooney saw the replay of the Hail Mary that he had a chance to catch
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) December 17, 2023
"Everybody [on social media] is killing me right now. It’s a difficult catch, hard catch. I tried to.”
It his job to catch the ball!
If Tonyan and Mooney do not drop those balls, Justin Fields has a much better game. So maybe it is fair to put Justin in a neutral status.
Mooney had a plenty of targets this game, but played like he wanted to be anywhere else. Also, Mooney was asked to make a key block on much needed play conversion and failed miserably. Maybe he can drop potential game-winning touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs next season.