CLEVELAND — Wow. That was bad.
Where do we even start? Here are my first things after the Bears’ 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns:
1. The Bears managed 47 yards of total offense and one passing yard. One.
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“You almost can’t make it up. It was that bad,” Matt Nagy said.
At least Nagy put most of the blame on himself after the game, because that’s exactly where it should go.
2. With Nagy’s hand-picked quarterback getting his first career start after a full week of practice with the starters, this was our first opportunity to see what Nagy’s offense might look like in the Justin Fields’ era. It better be the worst we ever see.
3. The plan was to put Fields in the pocket with five-man protections? Really? What about boots, screens, half-field reads? Anything? Hello? Is this thing on?
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4. Every free agent offensive tackle should be getting a call from the Bears this week — starting with Russell Okung. Larry Borom can’t get healthy soon enough, but he has to stay on IR for at least one more week.
5. It’s amazing that Fields came out of that game with only a “dinged up” throwing hand. It could have been so much worse.
6. It’s hard to put any blame on the defense when they were on the field for 78 plays. It’s no wonder the tackling started to break down in the second half against that Browns’ rushing attack.
7. That said, Eddie Jackson’s missed tackles are really starting to pile up. Tashaun Gipson (out with a hamstring) probably makes that touchdown-saving tackle… oh, and the one in the backfield that Deon Bush missed at the start of the play.
8. The offensive line was bad and the game plan was worse, but were any of the wide receivers really open? Fields could have been more accurate, but it seemed like all of his throws were into tight windows.
9. Jaylon Johnson followed Odell Beckham Jr. around during the game, which is something the Bears didn’t have with Kyle Fuller, who stayed on the same side. Beckham caught five passes for 87 yards, but Johnson’s ability to shadow the opponent’s No. 1 wide receiver is a very good development for Sean Desai’s defense.
10. The Browns are a better team than I gave them credit for. I knew they were better than the Bears, but they don’t have many weaknesses. If they can play ball-control offense with a lead, they’re extremely tough to come back against. Unless you have Patrick Mahomes, of course.