Bears-Vikings grades: Why Mitchell Trubisky passed his first test in the NFL

QUARTERBACKS: B-

Mitchell Trubisky’s final stat line wasn’t particularly good: 12/25, 128 yards, one touchdown, one interception — with that pick coming deep in Bears territory late in the fourth quarter of a tie game. Trubisky’s accuracy escaped him at times, too. But Trubisky went through his progressions well and played aggressively, and more importantly, the intangibles he brought to the Bears’ game plan up his grade here. There was a different energy on the field and genuine excitement in the Bears’ locker room about Trubisky’s debut and where he can go from Monday night. 

Running backs: C+

Jordan Howard attacked the edge well and finished with 76 yards on 19 carries, which are solid numbers given he faced eight or more defenders in the box on 52.6 percent of his runs, according to NFL Next Gen stats. But Tarik Cohen was rendered ineffective (six carries, 13 yards, one catch, minus-six yards) and danced too much instead of planting and cutting up field, which drags this grade down. 

WIDE RECEIVERS: D+

Kendall Wright was effective when targeted (five targets, four receptions, 46 yards) but the rest of this group struggled to make an impact (five targets, two receptions, 27 yards). Questionable penalties on Markus Wheaton (holding) and Tre McBride (offensive pass interference) put the Bears in some tough positions. 

TIGHT ENDS: D+

Dion Sims dropped a pass and was inconsistent as blocker — he whiffed on blocking Harrison Smith and Anthony Barr on a pair of plays that led to lost yardage, but did well blocking for Howard on the edge on a couple of runs. Zach Miller caught three passes for 39 yards and was the recipient of Trubisky’s first career touchdown (that deflected off the hand of Vikings safety Anthony Sender). Adam Shaheen only played 11 snaps, 18 percent of the Bears’ offensive total.

OFFENSIVE LINE: D+

Charles Leno and Bobby Massie were flagged for false starts while Cody Whitehair’s holding penalty erased what could've been Trubisky’s first red zone possession in the first half (McBride’s spectacular catch might’ve been reviewed had flag not been thrown). Leno was beat by speedy Vikings edge rusher Everson Griffen for a sack-strip of Trubisky that led to Minnesota’s first points of the game, and Whitehair had two high snaps to Trubisky out of the shotgun. This group did relatively well in the run game, though, given how frequently the Vikings loaded the box. 

DEFENSIVE LINE: B

Akiem Hicks was once again a menace, notching two sacks while consistently finding a way to be disruptive in the run game. Eddie Goldman had some issues in the run game early — he was on his back for an eight-yard run by Jerrick McKinnon in the first quarter — while Mitch Unrein showed up late to help keep the score tied for a stretch.

LINEBACKERS: C+

This was a tough grade. Leonard Floyd was outstanding, recording a safety and two sacks, while Pernell McPhee made a few disruptive plays. John Timu played well before suffering an injury, and Christian Jones had a nice pass break-up. But after Timu’s injury, the Vikings were able to attack Jones (who took over defensive play-calling duties for Timu) and Jonathan Anderson (who hadn’t played a defensive snap since Week 2). Most notably: The Vikings went up-tempo on McKinnon’s 58-yard touchdown, with Jones and Anderson not getting the front seven in the right look, allowing the Minnesota running back to blast through the defense for a critical score. 

SECONDARY: D+

The Bears’ turnover margin was minus-two on Monday night, and while the offense deserves blame for a fumble and an interception, this defense still hasn’t picked off a pass this year. Their best chance on Monday came when Sam Bradford threw into double coverage, but neither Kyle Fuller nor Adrian Amos could come up with a play on a poor decision by the banged-up Vikings quarterback. Minnesota gained just 38 yards with Bradford at quarterback; Case Keenum came off the bench and led the Vikings to 272 yards in just over two quarters. A couple positives, though: Good coverage downfield allowed Floyd to chase down Bradford for a safety, and Eddie Jackson made a solid play to break up a pass in the fourth quarter. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

A number of people deserve kudos for the Bears’ touchdown on a fake punt: Special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers for noticing on film that the play could be possible; punter Pat O’Donnell and running back Benny Cunningham for putting in extra practice work on the play; safety Adrian Amos for making the check to the fake pass; the entire front for blocking on the play; O’Donnell for cooly lofting the ball to an open Cunningham; and Cunningham for making two Vikings miss to get in the end zone. That play changed momentum in the game and, had the Bears won, would've rightly been viewed as the turning point in the game. Some other notes: While Cohen struggled on most of his punt returns, he did have a 14-yarder (when he immediately accelerated upfield) that set up a short field for the offense. DeAndre Houston-Carson forced a fumble on a kick return that bounced out of bounds too. 

COACHING: C-

Credit offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains for that unique game-tying two-point conversion that ended with Miller optioning a pitch to Trubisky — and for having the guts to call it and trust his players to execute it in such a critical situation. But the whole delay of game mishap on fourth and two in the first half, which came after a timeout, didn’t reflect well on John Fox. While Fox argued that the officials didn’t have the ball in place, he sent the offense on the field with about 12 seconds left on the play clock. Whatever went wrong there wasn’t on Trubisky. Fox also burned a timeout at the start of the fourth quarter — after the Vikings called a timeout — that wound up hurting late in the game after Minnesota took the lead on a field goal.