GRADING THE BEARS
QUARTERBACKS
CBrian Hoyer ( 4- for- 11, 49 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT) at least tried to get the ball to Alshon Jeffery before he was injured, with the one connection getting the Bears off their goal line. Matt Barkley ( 6- for- 15, 81 yards, 2 INT) was in a tough spot. He avoided disaster until the end but couldn’t light a spark.
RUNNING BACKS
CTough sledding without Josh Sitton and Kyle Long. Ka’Deem Carey ( 10- 48) gained 25 yards on the first play after Hoyer was hurt to ignite a field- goal drive. Jordan Howard ( 7- 22) was ineffective again.
RECEIVERS
CThe Bears tried to get the ball to Jeffery ( 10 targets), but he only had three 11- yard catches. Josh Bellamy ( 2- 32) had a 25- yard catch. Cam Meredith was held to one catch for 12 yards. Zach Miller ( 2- 40) was targeted once when the game was in the balance.
OFFENSIVE LINE
CThe O- line was put in a tough spot, with Sitton missing the game with an injury and Long going down in the second quarter. Eric Kush and Ted Larsen weren’t liabilities, as the quarterbacks were sacked only once. But the Bears couldn’t get anything going, gaining only 152 total yards.
DEFENSIVE LINE
BWill Sutton was stout in the middle as the Bears kept Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ run game hemmed in before wilting in the second half. The Packers had seven carries for 19 yards at halftime.
LINEBACKERS
B+ After missing two games with an injury, rookie Leonard Floyd had a breakout performance with two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a TD. Jerrell Freeman ( 13 tackles) had a big hand in stopping RB Ty Montgomery at the goal line in the first quarter.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
CA good start was spoiled by a weak second half. Cre’Von LeBlanc defended a pass in the end zone and had a tackle on Montgomery at the 1 but was beaten for a TD in the second half. De’Vante Bausby was burned for a TD, and confusion reigned on Davante Adams’ second TD.
SPECIAL TEAMS
CBellamy nearly had a big play when he forced a fumble on a punt in the first quarter, but the Packers recovered. Bears had few opportunities in the return game but didn’t give up anything, either. Connor Barth made a 39- yard FG.
COACHING
BOn a short week, the Bears initially responded well after a bad home loss Sunday to the Jaguars. There’s not much you can do with a third- stringer at QB. One upshot: Playmakers such as Floyd can make them all better coaches.