Redskins 41, Bears 21

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: December 31, 2016

Grading Primer (I wrote this about Michigan, but the grading procedures are still relevant.)

The Bears got off to a lousy start and never recovered. A big factor in not recovering was Matt Barkley‘s five interceptions. More on that later. The secondary couldn’t stop anyone; Tracy Porter had the worst game anyone on this team has had all year. How bad were things? Well, let’s look at the

Player Grades

Takeaways

+11.5 isn’t a great score for a QB, but it’s not a terrible one, either. Barkley made some nice throws. The deep ball to Alshon Jeffery was beautiful, as was the touchdown pass to Cameron Meredith. The turnovers have got to stop, though. Let’s take a look at those:

(For the purposes of this chart, “Short” is anything ten yards and in, “Medium” is 10-25 yards, and “Deep” is anythi 25 and beyond. These are all approximate.)

Time	Score	Down	Distance	Spot	Intended Receiver	Pass type
15:00 2Q	14-0 WAS	1	10	WAS 49	Bellamy	Deep
Barkley (-2) heaves one up to a triple-covered Josh Bellamy, because reasons.
9:50 3Q	24-14 WAS	2	16	CHI 44	Jeffery	Medium
Barkley (-2) attempts to pass the ball while being taken down. It, of course, comes up well short of its intended target.
2:59 3Q	31-14 WAS	1	10	CHI 28	Meredith	Short
Barkley (-1) throws just behind a well-covered Cameron Meredith. The pass is tipped and intercepted.
14:52 4Q	31-14 WAS	2	10	WAS 41	Jeffery	Deep
Jeffery takes off downfield, Washington is playing zone. Barkley, seeing that he’s going to have Jeffery one-on-one with a safety, puts one up for Jeffery to go get. Jeffery (-1.5) cuts the route inside, because reasons, and the pass sails right to the waiting safety.
10:21 4Q	34-14 WAS	1	10	WAS 24	Jeffery	Deep
Barkley (-2) doesn’t step up and set his feet and his throw comes up a good bit short of his target. Josh Norman gets away with a push-off, but that doesn’t change the fact that this was poor play on Barkley’s part.

There’s a pattern there: none of those are terrible throws. There are three terrible ideas, a not great throw that got tipped, and a receiver going the wrong way. The terrible ideas were all Barkley trying to do too much. He said as much after the game. I’m certainly not thrilled about the game Barkley had and I’m a lot less high on the idea of him being the starter going into next season after this, but to write him off completely would be a mistake.

Jordan Howard had another very good showing, running for 119 yards on 18 carries. Alshon Jeffery played well, other than running the wrong route on of the interceptions. Cameron Meredith is really looking like he’ll be a major contributor next year. Hopefully, the Bears are able to bring Alshon back; he, Meredith, and Kevin White would be a rather formidable trio. Ben Braunecker had an encouraging showing. He’s looking like a solid depth guy.

Bobby Massie graded out positively. It’s a Festivus miracle. +2 for a lineman isn’t a good score for a lineman – for the position, it’s effectively zero if not slightly negative. But based on the raw data, he was positive. Given some of the games he’s had this year, I’ll take it. Charles Leno had a very meh outing. It’s getting to be “prove it” time for him. As it is, I think the Bears need to find a tackle this off-season. Next season, we’ll see if they need another one.

Jonathan Bullard had his best game of the year. He was very active and made his way into the backfield a few times. Akiem Hicks was solid at the other end spot. C.J. Wilson had a bit of a rough day in the middle.

Leonard Floyd didn’t see many snaps and is dealing with a concussion. He may not play in the season finale Sunday. The other OLBs were all good, but not great. Part of that was Kirk Cousins being able to get the ball out quickly because someone was usually open. In the middle, Jerrell Freeman had a very good showing in his return to the lineup. Nick Kwiatkowski was not particularly good. I think he’s shown enough to be a decent reserve, but I wouldn’t bank on much more than that.

Tracy Porter’s score is not a typo. It is the worst score ever recorded in any of the pro or college games I’ve graded, even if you were to factor in differences in how positions are graded and what counts as a good score at each spot. Worth noting, the Bears have set that record three times this year; twice by a cornerback (Devante Bausby was the other), once by backup tackle Mike Adams. Not good. Porter’s lone positive came on a tackle. Nobody else in the secondary was terrible, but they weren’t particularly good, either. Jonathan Banks was okay in his Bears debut. Harold Jones-Quartey was fine.

#FireJohnFox Status: There’s nobody on the staff that isn’t named Vic Fangio I wouldn’t at least consider replacing.

Vic Fangio has mostly done a good job, and he’s right – when he took over, the unit wasn’t built for anything. And many of the shortcomings this year were a result of just not having good football players, mainly in the secondary. I wouldn’t replace him and if you were to, you’d better be replacing him with a fantastic coach.

Dowell Loggains has been solid in his role as OC, but I’d be lying if I said I was totally sure he was the right guy for the job, and if you’re going to make a change, what better time than when you’re figuring out the long-term picture of the QB position.

Yet To Be Named Gimmicky Award Meant To Show Who The Best Overall Performers Were

If you have an idea of what I should call this, let me know. Twitter handle and e-mail address are at the end of the blog.

Anyway, up to 3 may be awarded per player. Not necessarily the highest-graded players since different grades mean different things to different players (refer to the primer).

Offense

3: Cody Whitehair, Cameron Meredith, Jordan Howard

2: Josh Sitton

1: Alshon Jeffery, Ben Braunecker

Defense

3: Jonathan Bullard, Jerrell Freeman

2: Akiem Hicks

1: Harold Jones-Quartey, Sam Acho, Pernell McPhee

Yet To Be Named Gimmicky Award Meant To Show Who The Best Overall Performers Were Count