Quarterback â A-
Weâll start with the bad, being the interception that ended the Bearsâ first drive on the Cowboysâ 1-yard line. Trubisky admitted after the game that he was trying to extend the play and âdidnât make a smart decision.â Otherwise, he was efficient through the air; he threw the ball better against the Lions, but his all-around performance on Thursday night, against a better team, makes it feel like the Cowboysâ win was his best game of the year. The Bears arenât falling over themselves to tell us what, but something finally clicked during that four-game losing streak, and Trubisky looked way more comfortable in the offense than at any point prior. Mike Pettine, Mike Zimmer and Andy Reid will all have a better knowledge of how to scheme the Bears, but having Trubisky playing at his highest level of self-confidence going into the toughest stretch of the season is never a bad thing.
Running Backs â B+
Montgomeryâs stats (20 rushes, 86 yards, 1 fumble) could be seen as underwhelming, but truth be told, the Bears will take the rookie averaging almost four-and-a-half yards a carry any game of the year. The fumble came at a bad time in the game on a bad part of the field, but as Nagy even admitted afterwards, they gave him the ball on the very next play â the Bears arenât concerned. Tarik Cohen (3 rushes for 7 yards) had an all-around quiet night, but weirdly struggled with fielding punts. The offense has shown it can win featuring either, but still struggles finding room for both simultaneously.
Wide Receivers â A-
It was a strange night for pass catchers. Seven different guys had catches, and Tarik Cohen led the team in receptions (6). No one had more receiving yards than JP Holtz, who got 30 of his 56 yards on one screen pass. Two of Allen Robinsonâs five catches were touchdowns from inside the 10, and Riley Ridley had his first NFL grab. Jesper Horsted had four catches for 14 yards and Cordarrelle Patterson had one catch for twice as many yards (33). None of it made any sense, but it worked (?), and was kind of fun (!).
Tight Ends â B
Horsted is clearly earning the coaching staffâs trust, and even if the JP Holtz passing revolution ends up being a fluke, the Bears now have 60 minutes of tape to point to as evidence that yeah, the tight ends really *are* that important to this offense. It wasnât perfect: Horsted got flagged for two false starts, admitting after the game that the Cowboysâ front seven was the best heâd seen and noting that Robert Quinn had âincredible speedâ and DeMarcus Lawerence had âstrength like Iâve really never seen before.â Itâs absolutely still a work in progress, but the Bears finally have a tight end situation they can work with.
Offensive Line â B
The Bears passed for 242 yards and rushed for 151, so credit for both of those starts on the line. They allowed the Cowboysâ pass-rush to sack Trubisky twice and hit him three other times, but the quarterback stayed upright for most of the game, and the line did a great job moving the pocket for him on some of his rollouts and scrambles. Charles Leno got much of the (deserved) credit for sealing off Dallasâ edge rusher on Trubiskyâs touchdown run, but James Daniels also does a great job of keeping the gap open. They even stayed away from penalties, too.
Defensive Line â C
Zeke Elliot is still very good, but it was a generally forgettable performance from the defensive line on Thursday night. Elliot ran for 81 yards on 19 rushes, which is not entirely the D-lineâs fault but nonetheless not great. No one on the line had more than one tackle, which, again, not great. The Bears were able to sack Dak Prescott twice, but those sacks came from Khalil Mack and Eddie Jackson. Akiem Hicks, come on down!
Inside Linebackers â B+
Nick Kwiatkoski was the only Bears player to finish the game with double-digit tackles (10), and Kevin Pierre-Louis (4 tackles, 1 QBH, 1 TFL, 2 Pass Deflections) filled in admirably for Roquan Smith, who left the game after suffering a pectoral injury on the first drive of the game. Kwiatkkoski hasnât missed a beat since becoming the starter in Danny Trevathanâs absence, but âKPLâ has only started one game in his career â back in 2015 with Seattle. Matt Nagy wouldnât comment on Trevathanâs availability going forward, but reading the tea leaves over the last couple weeks would indicate that thereâs a chance heâs back before the season ends. Chuck Paganoâs going to have to get real creative if itâs KPL-Kwiatkoski for the rest of the way, but on Thursday they provided some optimism.
Edge Rushers â A
Another quiet game for Leonard Floyd, but if youâre of the He-Impacts-The-Pocket camp, Thursday was fine for you. Then, of course, there was Khalil Mack:
A!
Secondary â B-
Kyle Fuller and Kevin Tolliver tied each other for second-most tackles (7) of anyone on the Bearsâ defense Thursday night. Fuller was particularly good, and Tolliver held his own in relief of Prince Amukamara, who was out all week with a hamstring injury. Prescott ended the night 27-49 with 334 yards, and Tolliver admitted after the game that some of the garbage time yardage that Dallas piled up left a bad taste in the secondaryâs mouth. Eddie Jackson had a sack, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had six total tackles too. Teams have been able to break off big passing plays against them more often of late, but no oneâs playing exceptionally poorly.
Special Teams â B+
Eddie Pineiro had seven points (4 XPâs, 1 FG) and has continued to bounce back since his poor performance against the Rams. Pat OâDonnell only punted four times but landed all four inside the 20-yard line. Tarik Cohen fumbled two punts, but was fortunate enough not to lose any. Cordarrelle Patterson did Cordarrelle Patterson things on kick returns. It was nothing too exciting, so it gets the least exciting grade possible.
Coaching â A
The Bears ran the ball more often than they threw it, which almost definitely makes Matt Nagy scream into his hands when no oneâs watching. But to his credit, heâs adjusted to what this personnel does well, and thatâs a credit to his ability as a gameplanner that got so frequently panned earlier in the year. David Montgomery got 20 touches, Trubisky got the ball out early and often, and multiple Bears players talked after the game about how there was a better attention to detail through all four quarters. They clearly had a beat on Dallasâ defense: Trubisky even mentioned that on his option touchdown run, the offense easily recognized the Cowboysâ âsqueeze-and-scrapeâ concept. All this starts with Nagy, so he earns high grades for the week.
