The Chicago Bears had their chances to beat the New York Giants. They couldn’t do it; a big reason for that was too many weaknesses on their roster. GM Ryan Poles indicated that 2022 would be about winning but also about evaluation. He wants to see which guys can be part of the long-term plans for this organization. He got an eyeful on Sunday, and not the kind he likes. Too many players looked inadequate to the task at hand.
It was never a question whether Poles would slice up more of the roster next off-season as the rebuild continues. It was about discovering who he’d keep around from those that survived the first purge. Right now, several names should feel nervous about their future prospects. Here are the ones to keep an eye on, with 13 games to go.
Ryan Poles will likely purge more Ryan Pace guys soon.
Sam Mustipher
The Bears’ fascination with Mustipher continues to bring confusion. It looked like they were ready to finally insert Lucas Patrick as the starting center. Then they kept him at right guard, starting him over Teven Jenkins. Mustipher was once again bullied in pass protection by the Giants’ defensive front. His inadequacies have been well-known for some time. It doesn’t matter who their quarterback is until they upgrade at center. Nothing will function properly on offense.
Larry Borom
Braxton Jones has the excuse of being a rookie. Nobody expects him to play at a high level every week. Borom is in his second year. He should be better. Yet he is one of the primary reasons the Bears offensive line has now surrendered 16 sacks in four games. The guy once said he could pass protect with the best of them. Thus far, he’s yet to back that up. He is one of the biggest when talking about weak points on the offensive line. Finding a replacement must be a priority come next spring.
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Cole Kmet
The experiment is over. Kmet is in his third season now, and it’s apparent he isn’t going to morph into the player many people hoped. He made three catches for 16 yards, yet veteran Trevon Wesco still managed to surpass him on one catch for 23 yards. His lack of explosiveness continues to hamper the Bears in anything they try to do. While his run blocking is fine, that isn’t what he was drafted in the 2nd round for. Remember, Ryan Poles came from a team that employs Travis Kelce. He likely isn’t impressed with Kmet.
Giants go over 100 rushing yards on this Saquon Barkley 29 yard run pic.twitter.com/CqTnIaXyAz
— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) October 2, 2022
Angelo Blackson
The Bears have the worst run defense in the NFL by a wide margin. They allowed over 260 yards against the Giants. A big part of their problem starts up front. Their defensive tackles can’t control the line of scrimmage, making it easy to create running lanes. Blackson was signed to play in a different scheme last year. It’s obvious he doesn’t mess as well with this one. Defensive tackle is a vital component to a 4-3 defense, and it’s by far the Bears’ biggest weakness.
Here is #Bears QB Justin Fields' pass chart from Sunday's game: pic.twitter.com/ZSzYLe7764
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) October 2, 2022
Justin Fields (?)
This is not a conversation anybody wants to have. Yet it’s becoming unavoidable. Justin Fields barely has a 50% completion rate for 371 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions in four games. That is really bad in today’s NFL. He can’t read fast enough to handle complex coverage, which is why he chooses to scramble when his first option isn’t there. He’s still unwilling to take more checkdowns, and now he’s been sacked 51 times in 16 career games. Poles may have wanted to be patient with his young quarterback, but it might be hard to do that if this keeps up.
Fields was pressured 51.4 percent of the time against the giants the most of any quarterback last week. They didn’t do anything to fix the line Patrick sucks at right guard Jenkins needs to start there. They didn’t give fields a number one receiver either this writer is an idiot
Not worried about the Fields question. If he improves during the season, Bears will be able to fill in around him in the next draft. If he doesn’t, Bears will have a high selection in a QB-heavy draft.
Leery of passing judgment on Fields when supporting cast around him is so bad. Fix the o-line, then see. But bad o-line, bad receiving corps, equals bad QB. Drafting QBs, even in the 1st round, has proven to be a lottery. Bears need to put those picks into other positions for this year and next year. To me, Fields is QB through end of his contract next year.
I agree with this assessment. Players’ weaknesses are becoming more apparent as the season moves forward. However, Poles let some of the Bears best run stoppers go before the season began and now we miss them.
So the article is complaining about the O-line not being good enough and then Fields. I’m still not ready to give up on Fields and I originally believed he came out of college a year too early. We have all new coaches. Let’s see if they figure it out as best they can with the inadequate players they have now and learn from it. I still believe Poles is going about this the correct way with the hand he was dealt. While my head told me the Bears would be brutal this year with an almost entirely new organization from… Read more »