Bears report card: Team grades in NFL Week 7 win over Saints

CHICAGO – The Bears won their fourth straight game on Sunday, when they secured a 26-14 victory over the New Orleans Saints. It was cause for celebration, especially with how the run game fared and how the defense continued generating takeaways at a jaw-dropping clip.

Yet all was not right at Soldier Field. The passing game did not meet its standard. Left tackle Theo Benedet said he didn’t play winning football. There were pock mocks on this game, which should’ve been a blowout yet was relatively close down the stretch.

That’s a good sign, that even in wins the Bears are still questing for better. That’s why grades in this Bears report card aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. A few of them are, as you’d expect, in a victory where the Bears didn’t always play their best.

[READ: What we learned from the Bears’ Week 7 victory over the Saints]

Rushing offense

Ben Johnson called 40 runs. The Bears earned 222 yards and two touchdowns with them. The ground game was dominant all around from the play calling to the blocking up front to the running backs. D’Andre Swift went over 100 yards for the second straight game, with 124 and a touchdown on 19 carries. Kyle Monangai had his most productive day as a pro, with 81 yards and a score on 13 carries.

This is how Johnson’s run game is supposed to look. The Bears were efficient, to the tune of 5.5 yards per carry. The run game was a closer, with steady churning in the fourth quarter that helped sustain the lead and eat lots of clock. It was a good a showing at you can have. Excellent performance all around.

Grade: A-plus

Passing offense

The ground game was awesome. It had to be, with the Bears air attack struggling to produce anything of substance. Quarterback Caleb Williams was critical of his own performance and was thankful to come out with a win. He had a 61.7 passer rating, with an interception and a sack he shouldn’t have taken. He completed 57.7% of his passes. He was late on some and inaccurate on others. Rome Odunze had a rough game, with two catches on six targets, with two passes that we tough to corral but he’d probably say he should’ve corralled. The poor showing isn’t cause for grave concern, but it’ll need to be better next week at Baltimore.

Grade: C-miuns

[READ: Five Bears players whose stock went up or down in NFL Week 7 win over Saints]

Rushing defense

The Bears run defense was widely and fairly criticized for their performance earlier in the year. If that group is chided when things don’t go right, it should be praised when it does. The run defense was really good against a Saints attack featuring Alvin Kamara. The Saints had 44 yards on 17 carries, that so much better than earlier in the year, when the Bears were giving up chunk yards before the bye.

The changes made during that time in terms of personnel, plus the return of cornerback Kyler Gordon and linebacker T.J. Edwards, has helped this unit greatly. Getting defensive tackle Grady Jarrett back next week will also be a boon for a group that’s looking far better.

Montez Sweat was excellent against the run, with a huge stop on fourth down and a forced fumble the Bears recovered, which was his second in as many weeks.

Grade: A

[WATCH: Scott Bair breaks down how the Bears run game came to life]

Passing defense

The Bears will give up yards and surely want two explosive Chris Olave touchdown plays back. Overall, they will take the ball from you. And often. The Bears had three more interceptions in this game, from safety Kevin Byard III, Nahshon Wright and Tremaine Edmunds. They play an aggressive style and relentlessly attack the ball. The pass rush had four sacks and seven quarterback hits on the day and pressured Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler all day, forcing sone errant throws that were picked or fell incomplete.

Grade: A

Special teams

Too often the Bears aren’t turning takeaways into touchdowns, which is why having Jake Moody be consistently accurate is huge. The practice-squad elevation hit all four of his field-goal attempts, from 27, 39, 24 and 33 yards, respectively. Tory Taylor put two of his three punts inside the New Orleans 20-yard line. We haven’t seen explosive returns from Devin Duvernay, but the potential is there.

Grade: B-plus

Coaching

Johnson has the run game going right, and a lot of that is from his play calls and play designs. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was at his very best in this one, with well-timed blitzes from defensive backs and linebackers, especially. They got three sacks from those, and Allen put forth tons of simulated pressures to confuse and, well, rattle Rattler. This was an emotional one for Allen, who was fired as Saints head during the 2024 season. While he downplayed going up against his old team during the practice week, you could tell this game meant something to Allen, who got the game ball from Johnson after the game.

Grade: A

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