2024 Week 8: Chicago Bears 15, Washington Commanders 18

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: November 2, 2024

The current location of the offensive line, the coaching staff’s job security, and the season as a whole.

Programming note

I got behind on the film reviews. I still will do the grading for the Rams, Panthers, and Jaguars games, but I wanted to do this one first because there are pressing matters to discuss.

Player Grades

The grading scale goes from -2 to +2, in half-point increments, for each play. Screens are graded as runs. Penalties are counted in whatever phase they were committed. Pre- and post-snap penalties are in the “Misc.” column. “Short” throws are 10 yards or less, “Medium” is 10-20, “Deep” is over 20. Everything else (scrambles, throwaways, reads, etc.) is under “Miscellaneous.” Parentheses in a column denote grades/snaps from the opposite side of the ball and are not included in grades/snaps from the player’s usual side. Snap counts are from Pro Football Reference. Box score and other relevant info can be found at that link as well.

Well, that sucked.

Yep.

That’s it?

No. I mean, yeah, losing like that sucks, but even if Tyrique Stevenson could have been bothered to focus on the game long enough to prevent that Hail Mary from being completed, this still wouldn’t have felt good. This team looked like garbage for three quarters coming out of a bye against the #23 DVOA defense in the league. That is a colossal failure by this coaching staff. It was like they just forgot everything they had learned the last few weeks about what has worked.

What’s the problem?

If you watch Bulls games, you’ll hear Stacey King say all the time “KYP: Know Your Personnel.” Shane Waldron does not know his personnel. He has to know by this point that the line he has can’t hold up long enough for some of these route concepts he’s trying to call to set up. Time after time after time, Caleb is under pressure and nobody’s out of their break and looking for the ball yet. This also is the answer to the question “They have all these great receivers, why isn’t anyone getting open?” This is the major difference between Caleb and Jayden Daniels’ right now; Daniels’ coach is helping him. Kliff Kingsbury is simplifying the game for Daniels and his line is giving him time to throw. Contrast with the situation here, where Waldron has no idea what he’s doing and the line is a train wreck.

What’s the solution?

Employ some quick routes. Give Caleb a chance to get the ball out before the pressure gets there. This will also make opposing defenses think twice before sending extra rushers, which is nice, since the team sucks at picking up blitzes. Also, get Cole Kmet involved. How does Waldron still not know this? Dude has become one of the best tight ends in the game and he got one target. Tight ends like Kmet are a cheat code and Waldron was just like “nah.”

What about Caleb?

I didn’t think he was that bad. I know the numbers looked awful until the 4th quarter, but he had some help there. There were a couple plays that could’ve been made that would’ve made Caleb’s stat line look better. And then the 4th was great. He’s already proficient at going through his progression and you can see him getting more comfortable out there. There were a couple plays here where he threw on his Superman cape that would have been misses earlier in the year. He is already a bona fide capital-D Dude. So, no matter what happens the rest of the year record-wise, we’ve at least got the big question taken care of.

The defense looked good. Why are you mad at Eberflus?

Because there’s still far too much sloppiness, his game management sucks, and he takes no accountability. How about don’t give Washington and their QB with the injured ribs a free 15 yards to give them a shot at a Hail Mary? How about call a timeout so everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing, especially Tyrique Stevenson? How about don’t wait three days to any any responsibility whatsoever for your horsecrap game management costing the team a win?

Monsters

Swift, Kmet, Edmunds, Walker, Tory Taylor. Martin looked good in limited snaps. Jaylon Johnson was Jaylon Johnson.

Chipmunks

Tyrique Stevenson. Offensive line persons not named Jenkins or Wright. Tyrique Stevenson.

Four Stars of the Game

Tremaine Edmunds