First game grade for HC Thomas Brown? Grading the Chicago Bears against the San Francisco 49ers
Thomas Brown's first game as interim coach came against arguably one of the best-coached teams in the league: Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers.
The Niners left little doubt, winning 38-13 behind an efficient offense and a defense that took care of business.
Here's how we graded the Chicago Bears in their blowout loss to San Francisco on Sunday:
Caleb Williams
Caleb Williams' post-game grade is given a curve as it's been the case for most of the season. He was sacked seven times and played behind an offensive line that struggled for the entire first half.
Williams still threw for 134 yards and two more touchdowns. He connected with Rome Odunze on both scores.
When the Bears offense found rhythm, so did Williams. He still had a high completion percentage, completing 17 of his 23 passes. It didn't help the Bears
This grade would've been a B- at the best, but his fumble in the second half was an avoidable moment and unlike Williams. It can be corrected, but the mistake still stands.
Grade: C+
Chicago Bears offensive line
This unit was inconsistent all day Sunday.
There was a spurt of cohesion in the second half when the Bears' offense began moving the football. The line blocked, but it was a testament to the quick-fire plays that moved the ball increments at a time.
Once the game was out of hand, and the Bears needed to begin throwing the ball down the field, the line couldn't hold.
That led to seven more sacks on Caleb Williams, which further enforced the offensive line as the one area the Bears needed to address first, second and last this offseason if they want to ensure their rookie star quarterback develops further and doesn't risk an injury.
Three of those sacks came in the first half, as Williams was sacked on three straight third-down plays which mired the Bears' offense in a rut.
It's another game where it becomes clear the offensive line will see massive changes this offseason.
Grade: D
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 08: Interim head coach Thomas Brown of the Chicago Bears looks on second half against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on December 08, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears defense
It was another week where an offense had its way with the Bears' defense.
It's easy to point to how the Bears are down multiple starters, have nagging injuries on other starters and how they lost their primary defensive play caller when Matt Eberflus was fired. But, starters preached all week about how the Bears' defense wanted to play with a violent mentality. That was non-existent on Sunday.
There was no edge, no urgency and no adjustments from the defensive side of the ball during a game where the Bears' opponent was missing most of their key offensive stars and had the rest of their offensive stars banged up.
Brock Purdy missed the 49ers' game against the Green Bay Packers two weeks ago. He still completed 20 of his 25 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns.
George Kittle caught all six of his targets for 151 yards, which averages out to 25.2 yards per reception.
Grade: F
Chicago Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown
There was plenty of discussion in Halas Hall over the past week about how energized the Bears looked with Thomas Brown. Those sentiments went out the window pretty quickly on Sunday.
The Bears were flat in the first half on both sides of the ball. They were down 24-0 at halftime. The offense gained just four total yards at the break. There was nothing positive.
Brown gets credit for helping usher some momentum into the second half. But, it was clear coaching opposite Kyle Shanahan was a monumental task for Brown, who was the Bears' passing game coordinator just less than a month ago.
That's to be expected. He had about a week to prepare for his first game as an NFL head coach. The problems that plague the Bears aren't going to be fixed in a single week. Brown gets four more weeks to show he can make progress, though.
Grade: C