Week Three is in the books, and so is the film study. Let’s revisit the instant player grades from Sunday and see if there are any changes.
Offense
QB Caleb Williams | B–
Many things are wrong with the Chicago Bears, but Caleb Williams is not one of them. Williams threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday and now owns the Bears rookie single-game passing yardage record (and has thrown for more yards in a game than Justin Fields ever did) in his third game. If you’re down on Caleb Williams, you don’t know football. Sorry, not sorry.
Caleb Williams Film Study: Marked Improvement and Teachable Moments
RB D’Andre Swift | F
D’Andre Swift’s play has been a literal walking garbage can through three weeks. There’s no other way to say it. Swift managed 20 yards on 13 carries, good for 1.5 yards per carry against one of the worst run defenses in the league.
Additional Context: The good news is his usage rates have declined with each week. Perhaps Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron sees what we see and is responding appropriately. It’s not the clean break we want, but he is shrinking Swift’s role in the game plan.
Roschon Johnson | B+ (Original Grade B-)
I’ve been begging for Roschon to get an increased role for the last year. Let’s do this some more.
Additional Context: Passed the All-22 test. He was effective as a downhill runner, a pass-catcher, and a pass-blocker. He should be a big part of next week’s game plan—extra credit for his pass blocking, which is what will keep him involved.
WR DJ Moore | B (Original Grade A)
He’s still being used incorrectly, but that’s not his fault. He was excellent again, despite the play calling.
Additional Context: Maybe he’s not being misused? Today’s All-22 watch was pretty rough for DJ Moore in my book. There were a handful of times when I don’t think he ran his route well enough for the play to work as designed. He was on the opposite side of the eventual scramble drill that led to the deep throw to Rome Odunze in the first quarter, and he had outside leverage on his man, but a lazily run route surrendered that leverage. I think that Moore is one of the most dangerous receivers in the game in open space with the ball in his hands, but maybe that’s his strongest suit. It’s something to monitor moving forward, for sure.
WR Rome Odunze | A
Rememeber when Dan Orlovsky said this week that Rome Odunze couldn’t gain separation? Good times. Odunze was sensational today, even if I think there was a couple of plays I think he could have been better on. Seeing him and Caleb Williams fight for the first touchdown ball was so cool. Six catches, 112 yards, and a touchdown for the rookie today.
TE Cole Kmet | A+
So nice to see Cole Kmet used like the tight end he is. Ten catches, 97 yards, and a score for Kmet in Week 3.
Offensive Line | F-
Did you expect anything else? This group is horrendous. If GM Ryan Poles doesn’t make an addition, we’ll need to set our sights on 2025 pretty soon.
Additional Context: Center Coleman Shelton was so bad on the All-22 watch this morning. He’s just losing at the point on almost every single play. For a position that rarely has a defensive lineman lined up on top of him at the snap, you should not be losing that badly at the point. He looks awful, making running the football up the middle difficult.
Also, Shelton wasn’t alone. What the heck is Darnell Wright doing here? There were a handful of plays where Braxton Jones couldn’t be bothered to block any moves to his left. Some of the laziest pass-blocking you’ll ever see. If they could get a lower grade, they would. What a joke. Matt Ebeflus preaches the bread and butter, the hustle and accountability, and then his offensive line comes out and loafs it all afternoon. Eberflus should be embarrassed.
Defense
Defensive Line | B+
Jonathan Taylor Jonathan Taylor-ed, making the Bears front seven look human. Still, they were very good. They don’t get a perfect grade, but damn close.
Linebackers | B+
See above.
Secondary | B+
Anthony Richardson could have been benched for Joe Flacco today, and while it wasn’t perfect (a couple of deep shots that were way too open), the secondary did their job today.
Special Teams
K Cairo Santos | C+
Santos is as accurate as they come, unless he’s kicking from distance. That’s an issue in today’s game. They’re going to need to upgrade at some point.
P Tory Taylor | C+
Taylor was extremely pedestrian today. Not the end of the world, but nothing to write home about in this one.
Coaching
Matt Eberflus | F-
For every week that Matt Eberflus employs Shane Waldron on his coaching staff, he’s getting the same grade as Waldron. The fish rots from the head. Of course, his timeout usage was atrocious again. The beard is cool, but Eberflus is still an awful game manager.
Additional Context: Eberflus probably doesn’t have a third OC in him. If anyone is getting fired, it’s probably Eberflus, who came dangerously close last season. He just might not be the guy for the job.
Shane Waldron | F-
You know what I find truly incredible? The Bears just never make the right hire. Shane Waldron was so bad today, that his third straight failing grade was locked up before the half. Meanwhile, Klint Kubiak looks pretty damn good in New Orleans with less. Make him walk up I-65 back to Chicago.
Additional Context: Shane Waldron showed signs of life on the All-22 rewatch today. Not enough to move his grade, but enough to suggest that he’s at least starting to see some of the things we are. Waldron’s personnel usage is improving (Swift and Everett are trending down every week, and Kmet is up to normal levels), and some of the concepts are nice. If he can eliminate some of the weird and unnecessary cutesy stuff, there might be hope we see the guy we saw in Seattle the past three seasons.