The Chicago Bears were humbled by their most hated rival on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers. The Bears only managed to put 7 points on the board to the Packers 31, and decisions were made seemingly to late to salvage the loss. But the Bears rookies still stood strong, although they also made their far share of mistakes.
Dillon Thieneman
Dillon Thieneman again recorded a top-two finish on the Bears defense in terms of tackles during the game, although the season record shows Thieneman leading the team by a decisive margin. It wasn't all good, however. The Packers were able to easily pick apart the Bears' zone coverage. This was most prominent during a third quarter touchdown where the Packers started a third down with 22 yards to go. Christian Watson ran deep on a go route, and neither Jaylon Johnson nor Thieneman could stop it.
Malik Muhammad II
The rookie corner has been a standout addition to the team through 5 weeks, however his first trip to Lambeau Field didn't go so well. The Packers were able to put together big chunk plays that were detrimental to the Bears. Muhammad was guilty of one such play late in the third quarter when Tucker Kraft got the jump. The reception was completed for a 46 yard gain to bring the Packers deep out of their territory.
Obviously these are isolated examples, but when you put them together, it paints a picture of the Bears' defense failing across multiple different levels.
Sam Roush
Roush had a quiet day on the stat sheet, recording no catches on zero targets. His biggest moment of the day came on special teams, running down Matthew Golden on a late second quarter punt return that limited Golden to only 17 yards.
Zavion Thomas
Prior to the game in Green Bay, the Bears had the worst kick return average in the game. But Thomas stood out on this one, returning six balls for a grand total of 192 yards. His longest return of the day came on a fourth quarter kick following Green Bay's final touchdown of the game. Thomas returned the ball for 61 yards, his career long.
Skyler Thomas recorded a special teams tackle, but beyond that, he and Jordan van den Berg were only listed as substitutes and didn't take any meaningful snaps.
The final score was ugly, but the rookie report is not. Chicago's youngest players were its steadiest ones at Lambeau, and that is the one thing Sunday could not take away.
| More Bears on DaWindyCity |
Add us as a preferred source on Google