Stock Up, Stock Down After Bears’ loss to Ravens |
Ariana Pensy
· · 3 hours ago
CHICAGO - Chicago’s 30-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was not pretty. The offense struggled, penalties were an issue once again, and the defense failed to get any takeaways for the first time since their week two loss to the Detroit Lions.
Defense - Stock Down The defense gave up over 300 yards in five of their seven games this season. However, the turnovers compensated for that in Chicago’s four wins. When they could not get the turnovers, the Bears did not. The Bears cannot be that turnover-dependent going forward or this is going to be a long season. Also, the defense needs to get off the field on third downs. While Baltimore only converted 40 percent of their third downs, one of those conversions came on the Ravens’ touchdown drive at the end of the game to make it a 14-point game. The referees missed a call on that play. However, the defense still needs to find a way to get off the field on that drive. Their stock is definitely down after that performance. Caleb Williams - Stock Down Quarterback Caleb Williams finished the game, completing 25 of 38 for 285 yards. However, it was his second game in a row without a passing touchdown and his second game in a row with an interception. He made mistakes against the Ravens that were reminiscent of his rookie year. The intentional grounding call right before the end of the first half definitely hurt the Bears. Head coach Ben Johnson will correct these mistakes, but Williams should be further along after playing 24 games in the NFL. Rome Odunze - Stock Up Wide receiver Rome Odunze was not very involved in the offense in the first two weeks after the bye week. However, he reemerged against the Ravens with seven receptions for 114 yards. While he still has not scored a touchdown since before the bye week, it was good to see the ball going Odunze’s way more. He currently leads the team in targets (56), receptions (31), receiving yards (473), and receiving touchdowns (five). Therefore, the ball needs to keep coming to Odunze as the season progresses. Colston Loveland - Stock Up For the first time in tight end Cole Kmet’s NFL career, he was unable to play due to injury against the Baltimore Ravens, meaning that rookie tight end Colston Loveland had to step up. Loveland did not make a lot of plays. In fact, he only had three receptions for 38 yards. However, he did not make any costly mistakes either. For a rookie, that is a win in itself. Chicago has a lot of mouths to feed with talented playmakers like Odunze, wide receivers DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus and Kmet when he is healthy. However, Loveland could be someone who gets more opportunities as the season goes on. Run Offense -Stock Down It seemed like things were finally clicking for the run game against the Washington Commanders and New Orleans Saints. Running back D’Andre Swift went off in both games, while rookie Kyle Monangai had an outstanding performance and his first NFL touchdown against the Saints. However, Chicago finished their game against the Ravens with only 96 rushing yards. It marked the third game this year that the Bears have completed a game with under 100 rushing yards. This cannot continue, as any winning team needs a solid run game.
