A one‑point win over a 1–3 Raiders team should not require a blocked field goal to avoid a home meltdown. Yet here we are. The box score screams chaos: four takeaways by the secondary, a run defense that got bulldozed, and an offense that lurched forward in fits because too many veterans forgot how to do the basics. That’s why, even in victory, five Bears stood out for all the wrong reasons.
This isn’t a “name and shame” to feel clever. It’s a film-and-numbers check against expectations. The bar in Chicago has shifted from “please be watchable” to “stop wasting a rookie QB’s cheap window.” These five guys (and one full unit) nearly torpedoed a winnable game. Let’s talk about it like adults who watch the trenches and not just the highlights.
1) Cole Kmet
Cole Kmet was supposed to be the next man up with Colston Loveland sidelined by a hip injury. It was his chance to remind everyone why the Bears gave him a four‑year, $50 million extension and quiet the trade rumors. Instead, he put together the worst game of his career at the worst possible moment.
The stat line says it all: three catches on nine targets for just 46 yards, the lowest offensive PFF grade on the roster (46.9), and two costly penalties. One of those was a brutal false start on 4th‑and‑inches that forced a punt. That’s how you kill momentum.
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The drive‑by‑drive story is even uglier. Early in the second quarter, Caleb Williams hit him in stride with a ball that should’ve set up first‑and‑goal. Kmet flat‑out dropped it. Later, that false start turned a potential knockout drive into nothing. These weren’t minor slip‑ups — they flipped the game script.
On tape, the issue was focus more than talent. He was late with his hands on contested throws, letting the ball get into his body and losing battles he should win. His routes were fine, but the finishing details weren’t there.
Why is he here? Because with Loveland out, Ben Johnson schemed him opportunities. Instead of seizing them, Kmet dragged drives under. When you’re a highly‑paid veteran, that margin for error doesn’t exist.
2) Braxton Jones
Braxton Jones’ benching almost felt inevitable. He only lasted 17 pass-blocking snaps before Ben Johnson had seen enough and made the switch. This wasn’t about protecting him from injury — it was about protecting Caleb Williams from Jones’ struggles.
The numbers underline why: two pressures, two hurries, and a 41.3 PFF grade, with an 11.8% pressure rate on his snaps. The low point came on a 3rd-and-19 draw where he blew the assignment, leaving Malcolm Koonce free to blow up the play. That wasn’t just a mistake, it was a drive-killer.
And this isn’t a one-off. Since his 2024 ankle fracture, Jones hasn’t looked the same. Four games into 2025, he’s allowed 13 pressures and two sacks, and his run-blocking grade has cratered from a preseason 66.1 to 47.2. On film, he’s catching contact instead of striking, his hands get beaten by bull rushes, and his vertical set footwork collapses the pocket right back into Caleb.
The damning stat: once Jones was benched, the Bears’ run game immediately improved to 5.27 yards per carry. That tells you everything.
3) Theo Benedet
Theo Benedet’s first NFL start was a baptism by fire, and Maxx Crosby was the one holding him under. Crosby didn’t even need a sack to make the rookie’s night miserable — he simply dictated the flow of Chicago’s offense by living in the backfield.
Over 68 snaps, Benedet earned a 38.7 overall PFF grade with a 39.8 mark in run blocking. The raw stat sheet credited him with two pressures and two hurries, but anyone watching knew it was worse. His hands were late, his pad level was high, and he consistently lost leverage.
Crosby, meanwhile, was everywhere — three tackles for loss, three pass deflections, and even his first career interception. Benedet’s outside hand kept missing its mark, giving Crosby the edge over and over again. It wasn’t just pass pro either; the run game suffered with Benedet whiffing at the point of attack.
The Bears put him in a no‑win spot by leaving him isolated against one of the NFL’s top rushers, but sympathy isn’t a strategy. His run‑blocking being just as bad as his pass sets makes it clear he has a lot of work to do before he can be trusted week to week.
If Chicago wants him to survive, they’ll need to help him out: more inside‑out protection slides, more chip blocks from tight ends and backs, and a simplified run menu that lets him fire off without overthinking. Until then, the growing pains will be hard to miss.
4) D’Andre Swift
If you caught my article yesterday, you know I had Swift on the winners list because of how excellent he was on that final drive that sealed the game. But let’s be real: those first three quarters? He was awful.
The box score tells the story: 14 carries for just 38 yards (2.7 YPC) and four catches for 22 yards. It was his second straight game under 3.0 YPC, and through four games he’s on pace for under 800 rushing yards this season. That’s not the return you expect from a back making $24 million.
Worse, the Bears had only two rushing yards in the first half. Two. Some of that is on the line, but Swift didn’t help matters. Too many east-west runs, not enough decisive cuts, and no rhythm early put Caleb Williams behind the chains all night.
Yes, he punched in the game-winner, and that matters. But needing one heroic drive doesn’t erase three quarters of ineffective play. If this is what Chicago gets most weeks, the offense will stay lopsided and predictable.
5) Run Defense
The Bears’ front seven delivered one of the worst defensive efforts in recent franchise memory, allowing 240 rushing yards on 31 carries — a staggering 7.7 yards per attempt. That’s not just bad, that’s historically embarrassing.
Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty gashed them for 138 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first Raiders rookie since Bo Jackson in 1987 to hit that mark. When your defense is giving up stat lines that invite Bo Jackson comparisons, you’ve hit rock bottom.
Missing Grady Jarrett and T.J. Edwards mattered, but it doesn’t excuse the complete collapse in gap integrity and tackling. Kevin Byard, despite two interceptions, whiffed on Jeanty’s 64-yard house call — a play that summed up the entire night.
Dennis Allen’s defense got an ‘F’ from analysts for good reason. Four takeaways saved them from disaster, but that’s not sustainable. If they don’t tighten up the fits and fundamentals, better offenses will bulldoze them.
The Final Verdict
Yes, the Bears won. But this was a win that felt like a loss in disguise. Kmet’s drops, Jones’ benching, Benedet’s struggles, Swift’s inefficiency, and a run defense that gave up nearly eight yards a carry — that’s not a formula you can roll into Green Bay or Washington with.
The bye week gives Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen a chance to fix what’s broken. If they don’t, Week 4 will be remembered less for the blocked field goal and more as the flashing warning light that this team wasn’t ready for prime time.
