W4vsLAR: Taking what is given

    Last week against the Colts they let the game slip by playing worse than they did, this time around, the Bears did just enough to take advantage of the sloppiness of the opponent to capitalize a win, but also played a sloppy game themselves but not enough to make it impossible to come back from it. So, baby steps where taken, improvement none the less, that what many expect to see as the season continues.

   The offense struggled less, but the Oline made SOOO many penalties in the first half, it was pure pain. Losing Teven Jenkins is never a good sign, he adds one more to his injury history which does not bode well for a possible extension. Shane Waldron made a positive thing by playing Roschon Johnson more, if it wasn't for D'Andre Swift doing good things on this game, I would expect Johnson and Swift to share the snap count down the middle, but it was closer to 70/30 which at the end of the day it worked, just keep feeding Johnson. I cant imagine what Khalil Herbert did to disappear from the faze of the earth or what lingering injury he could be dealing with, but even Travis Homer got snaps when healthy, I don't get it. Caleb Williams is getting better, made a pair of great throws and took care of the football, solid performance, still needs to be in sink with his wideouts to get better results.

Upside players: Cole Kmet is showing up and is making a difference in this offense.

Downside players: Keenan Allen was there but didn't do much really, would be good to see more Tyler Scott just to see what he brings to the table. Once Ryan Bates and Kiran Amegadjie get healthy, I need to see what they got and push Colman Shelton and Matt Pryor to the bench.

   The defense did a solid job to maintain the game in reach for the offense to maintain the slim lead. The turnovers where so critical and limiting the Rams offense to field goals was key, the bend but don't break mentality of this defense was in full effect in this game. 

Upside players: Gonna place Tory Taylor here because his punts made a difference by pinning the Rams inside the 10 on three occasions, huge boost for the defense. Montez Sweat made his appearance with a big turnover to place the offense on Rams territory for the first 7 points, pivotal play. Gervon Dexter and Jaquan Brisker had a pair of splash plays to turn things around. 

Downside players: None

   Next up a visit from the Panthers led by vet Andy Dalton who helped this team turn things around by playing better offense in their last two games, still its another game that should be winnable for the Bear The defense has to put pressure on Dalton and it wont be that easy against a solid Oline and Dalton´s quick read and release . The Bears offense will have to play the ground game to take advantage of an injured Panthers front seven, if they fall behind to soon, its going to be a bit hard to go through the air against Jaycee Horn who Williams will have to be very aware of were he lines up.