Bears not quite as bad at Miami as we thought
LAKE FOREST - Go back and watch the Bears 31-28 overtime loss to the Dolphins a few times, rewind critical plays as many times as you need to and you'll probably be surprised at how different you feel.
The defense actually played well in the first half allowing the Dolphins just seven points, and there was no complete collapse in the second half even though they allowed 21 points and three more in OT.
None was perfect, but Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith, Kyle Fuller and Bryce Callahan played well all day and were probably B+.
Khalil Mack was hampered enough by a sprained ankle that he couldn't find that extra gear, and Eddie Jackson made some big plays in the second half but failed to cover Nick O'Leary on the Dolphins first half touchdown and missed Albert Wilson on both of his long TD scores.
The rest of the defense appeared to just wear down in the 100-degree heat index of the second half and missed on multiple tackles, but it was really just the two long Wilson runs after the catch on his scores that cost the Bears the game.
If the Bears make the tackles they needed to on those two plays, there's no OT, Miami has 311 yards of offense instead of 541 and the Bears win 28-13.
As groups they were probably D-Line C+, linebackers B- and secondary C+.
Then there were Leonard Floyd's two roughing calls.
On the first Danny Amendola has caught a pass 1 yard short of the first down marker at the Bears 14-yard line, Floyd has him tied up but Amendola is fighting furiously for the first down, refusing to give up.
He did not spike Amendola or drive him to the turf, he threw him backwards and let go before he hit the ground.
What was Floyd supposed to do?
The second call came immediately after the Bears had scored their third third-period TD and looked to be putting the game away at 21-10.
Floyd is trying to rush Osweiler in the pocket and as Osweiler unloads the ball, Floyd runs by him with his hands in the air and his left elbow either just misses Osweiler's facemask or ever so slightly grazes it.
The play clearly was not hands to the face or roughing the passer.
Don't get me wrong, the Bears absolutely deserved to lose the football game, but it wasn't because of Floyd's penalties, neither of which were anything but football plays.
The offense was flat in the first half, explosive in the second, and the backs and receivers were all in the B range, although clearly Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen can't put the ball on the ground.
The offensive line was a C in the first half, B to B+ in the second.
Then there was the QB and the coach.
Again, I'm a Trubisky fan and he had an excellent second half, but it's time for him to read the defense and the secondary much better than he did in the first half when he missed four different plays on which he had either Anthony Miller or Allen Robinson wide open more than 15 yards down the field and didn't see them, and two more plays where he saw them, once each and badly overthrew them.
His numbers say B+ or A- but when you factor in the first half he was a B or B- at best.
As for Nagy I give him an A- or B+ on the job he's done these first ten months, but in the first half Sunday he called at least half a dozen plays that took so long to develop with all of the pre snap movement, misdirection, fakes and reverse spins only to have the ball start coming forward from four, five or eight yards behind the line of scrimmage that his players never had a chance.
The decision to intentionally set up a 53-yard game-winning field goal knowing that's nowhere near a sweet spot for Cody Parkey was eventually the difference in the game.
Everybody's entitled to a bad day and unfortunately Nagy had himself one in Miami, a C or a C- at best.
@Hub_Arkush