The Chicago Bears notched a 20-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on the road, which was easily Chicago’s most impressive win of the season. It was a team win in every sense of the word with defense, offense and special teams all contributing as the Bears improved to 3-2 on the season.
Pro Football Focus handed out player grades for those who took a snap in the Bears’ win, and we broke them down by offense and defense, analyzing the three highest- and lowest-graded players on each side.
There were a few surprises in terms of the highest- and lowest-graded players, both on offense and defense.
Top 3 offense
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With Jesse James and J.P. Holtz sidelined with injuries, Jesper Horsted got his chance to shine — and he certainly made the most of it in his limited snaps. Holtz caught Justin Fields’ first career touchdown pass, a 3-yard score in the red zone that gave Chicago a 7-3 lead that they didn’t relinquish.
When Germain Ifedi went down with a knee injury, Elijah Wilkinson stepped in at right tackle, and he didn’t miss a beat on an offensive line that impressed against a dominant Raiders front.
Andy Dalton saw brief action in place of an injured Justin Fields, who hyperextended his knee and was on the sideline for a few plays. It’s hard to fairly evaluate Dalton given he was in the game for three plays. But it says a lot that when he came in the game to relieve an injured Fields that there wasn’t a lot of panic. We’ve certainly come a long way with this Bears quarterback group.
Bottom 3 offense
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OL Alex Bars – 33.6
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RT Germain Ifedi – 48.9
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QB Justin Fields – 51.3
Alex Bars saw his first action of the season reporting as an eligible play 13 times on offense against the Raiders. The Bears ran it nine times and passed four times, where they found some success. So it’s surprising to see Bars graded as the worst player on offense. Germain Ifedi, who left Sunday’s game with a knee injury blocking for Justin Fields, was Chicago’s second-worst graded player on offense. Elijah Wilkinson replaced Ifedi, where he went on to do a solid job in run blocking and pass protection.
While Fields didn’t have a flashy game, it’s still a surprise to find him graded among the worst offensive players in Sunday’s win. Fields completed 12-of-20 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Fields battled through a shot to the ribs and a hyperextended knee and made some clutch plays to extend drives and help Chicago secure a win.
Top 3 defense
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The Bears have plenty of depth at safety, and with a lot of 3-safety looks from Sean Desai, Deon Bush and DeAndre Houston-Carson got some snaps. Luckily for the Bears, Houston-Carson always seems to make plays in October, and he came away with Chicago’s lone takeaway of the game — an interception of Derek Carr.
Khalil Mack got revenge against his former team with an impressive outing that included a sack, 8 total tackles, a tackle for loss, and he added what should’ve been a second sack when he took down Carr on a failed two-point conversion. Mack showed the Raiders exactly why they made a mistake in trading him to Chicago three years ago.
Khyiris Tonga received his highest grade of the season from PFF despite not getting in the box score.
Bottom 3 defense
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Danny Trevathan played in his first game action this season, coming off injured reserve to play 10 snaps. Alec Ogletree played a season-low 52% of snaps. While Ogletree has been solid in relief of Trevathan and continued to see more reps than Trevathan, Ogletree continues to be a liability in coverage, as he struggled against Henry Ruggs.
The Bears secondary has been the weakness of this defense this season, but they didn’t look too terrible against a talented Raiders offense. While Duke Shelley has proven to be a good tackler, he continues to get beat. Luckily for him, one of the times he was beat DeAndre Houston-Carson came down with an interception.
Other notables
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CB Jaylon Johnson – 49.9
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S Deon Bush – 82.0
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RBs Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert – 66.0
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RG James Daniels – 75.0
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C Sam Mustipher – 69.7
Jaylon Johnson has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this season, and he was solid against the Raiders. Which is why it’s a surprise that he managed a 49.9 grade on Sunday. Granted, Johnson did catch a huge break when Bryan Edwards dropped a deep ball from Derek Carr that could’ve resulted in a touchdown, at the very least a big play. Safety Deon Bush found success against the Raiders, where he showed himself to be a good tackler and made plays when the defense needed it.
Even in David Montgomery’s absence, the Bears run game thrived with Damien Williams and rookie Khalil Herbert, who combined for 139 rushing yards on 34 carries and a touchdown. Both averaged more than 4 yards per carry, and they were a big reason for the success on offense.
The Bears offensive line had another solid performance against a talented Raiders defensive front, especially in the run game. Right guard James Daniels and center Sam Mustipher played a big part in the success on the ground, and their PFF grades reflect that.
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