Here are the top takeaways and highest-graded players from Sunday’s Bears-Seahawks game:
Chicago Bears
– Despite the Bears not putting up much of a fight in Seattle, we saw another standout performance from offseason addition LB Pernell McPhee (+4.2). He had a particularly dominant stretch early in the third quarter, where he single-handedly stifled the Seahawks offense with two sacks and a QB hit on three consecutive plays.
– It was a very conservative, risk-averse game from the Bears' offense. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen (-2.2) took an NFL-low 22 dropbacks on Sunday, and completed just one pass that traveled more than 10 yards in the air (three total attempts). He faced a moderate amount of pressure (36.4 percent of dropbacks), some of it due to poor pocket presence, but couldn’t connect with his receivers on any of those plays.
– We highlighted the play of RT Kyle Long (-4.2) last week, but he reverted back to his Week 1 form against the Seahawks, playing with a cast on his hand. After picking up an early false start penalty, it was mostly downhill as he struggled blocking Cliff Avril (+3.5) and Michael Bennett (+4.3).
Top Performers
LB Pernell McPhee (+4.2)
CB Alan Ball (+2.7)
LG Matt Slauson (+1.8)
CB Sherrick McManis (+1.5)
TE Zach Miller (+1.4)
Seattle Seahawks
– This is the kind of display that the Seahawks likely envisioned when they traded for Jimmy Graham (+0.1), who compiled a +2.0 receiving grade after he picked up several first downs along with a touchdown. As a blocker, he wasn’t nearly as good, with a couple of rough plays against Pernell McPhee; though, that’s not entirely unexpected from what we saw of Graham with the Saints.
– Nothing unexpected from Cliff Avril (+3.5) and Michael Bennett (+4.3), who both rank in the top three of our 4-3 DE grades, but the play of DE/LB Bruce Irvin (+2.6) has gone somewhat under the radar. He added another positive overall grade to his hot start with a third quarter pressure and a pair of stops in run defense, including at 10:15 in the third quarter when he bulled TE Martellus Bennett (-1.8) and shed inside to drop the rusher for no gain.
– Safety Kam Chancellor (+1.0) returned to the lineup this week, but had a fairly quiet game. Martellus Bennett sealed him inside in the run game at 9:24 of the first, but Chancellor was in the mix on a 2-yard stop on the next play. In the second quarter (5:07), he tossed WR Eddie Royal (-1.3) on a screen to help stop the receiver for no gain.
Top Performers
DE Michael Bennett (+4.3)
LB K.J. Wright (+3.9)
DE Cliff Avril (+3.5)
LB Bobby Wagner (+2.8)
DE Bruce Irvin (+2.6)
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