Chicago Bears preseason Week 1 report card: When a tie means a win

It's third-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens. Whether he had a huge impact with big plays isn't the reason.

In that heat and humidity, with a shortage of available players because Ben Johnson held out almost all starters, Pickens played 87% of the snaps on defense. No one else on the defensive line went over 69%, and even that was high. It was by 340-pound Jonathan Ford.

No other Bears defensive lineman even got to 50% of the plays.

It almost makes one think they're showcasing the 2023 third-round pick for a trade, except there's usually not a big market out there for defensive tackles who wound up as a healthy game day inactive at the end of the previous season.

Pickens not only was in the trench fighting for 59 plays, he also made three tackles and a sack. Pickens needs to show something with so much defensive competition going on at tackle. Chris Williams and Ford are competing second-round rookie Shemar Turner is currently healing from an injury.

"A number of guys, knowing there were no reserves behind them, they fought through a lot, whether getting dinged up and having to come out for a few plays and coming back out and looking to finish that game," Johnson said later. "Guys that come to mind, Jonathan Ford, Zacch Pickens, Tre Flowers, Blackwell, it goes on and on and on.

"That's what stood out to me. It makes you proud as a coach when you see the guys go out there and give it everything they've got."

Here's how they graded out for a 24-24 tie.

Run defense: B+

Holding Dolphins starters at the goal line on three downs from the 2-yard line and in earned extra credit. Of Miami's 101 rushing yards, 32 came on two rushes by backs and 16 on scrambles by Zach Wilson. So the Dolphins running game had 22 other carries that gained only 53 yards. That's consistent run stuffing. Limiting yardage around end was a problem at practice last week against Miami and it showed up again on a few runs. Besides Pickens, a big amount of credit must go to Noah Sewell, who was in a good amount of plays (31) for a player listed as first string, and also made the tackle of the day on fourth-and-goal from the 1 for a 3-yard loss. His seven tackles shows some of the skill the Bears saw from him in college but wasn't apparent in Matt Eberflus' scheme.

Pass defense: B

Normally a 67.0 passer rating against might result in an "A" grade but two big plays allowed on throws by Wilson prevented this. His 35-yard and 34-yard completions were on plays when he had the ball too long and then someone came open, and on one of those safety Major Burns completely fanned on an attempt at a tackle in the open field. Blackwell, who has a shoulder injury, had some problems in the first drive staying with receivers working inside for short passes to let the Dolphins extend drives. The edge rush was as good as it gets in preseason from backups and Austin Booker created hope he is the much-promised drafted edge rusher who finally amounts to something in Chicago after so many years without success. The six sacks only included one via blitz, and that was perfectly executed by safety Alex Cook.

Running game: C

The Bears had their own struggles near the goal line. Kyle Monangai got stopped inside the 1 on a play that looked like the line initially had enough push to get him in for six. Possibly their best-blocked running play was Ian Wheeler's fourth-quarter 9-yard TD outside the left end and it didn't count because Maurice Alexander was detected with an illegal shift. By and large, their running attack lacked necessary consistency and didn't exist on the first two possessions. The backs ran hard and Wheeler had a 10-yard run, Deion Hankins a 12-yarder and Monangai a 13-yarder, but aside from those three and two QB scrambles for 11 yards, the Bears averaged 44 yards on 19 carries by backs and it's nowhere near sufficient.

Passing game: B+

The touch shown and hands on all three TD passes by the Bears were phenomenal for early in preseason. Jahdae Walker and Maurice Alexander flagging down those well-thrown passes where only receivers could get them was how coaches teach plays in the red zone. Even Case Keenum's throw running forward and bullet pass to Deion Hankins was a tough completion. For one, Hankins was never much of a receiver in college and he was being asked to catch a hard throw in the middle of the defense. The 96.5 overall passer rating is high for a first preseason game and it included a drive against a first string defense by the second-team offense. The 80% completions by Keenum was particularly impressive.

Special teams: D+

Only the 56-yard Cairo Santos field goal rescued this group from failure. Allowing three kick returns for 38.7 yards a pop was giving half a field to the Dolphins. Uncharacteristic low punts by Tory Taylor allowed Miami to return two punts for 19 and 16 yards and resulted in Taylor's 34.0-yard net. Meanwhile, the return teams for the Bears put up mediocre numbers, with JP Richardson and Devin Duvernay at 9.0 for punt returns each and three kick returns netting an average of 21.7 with none over 22 yards.

Coaching: B

The best thing about the coaching was Ben Johnson letting it ride, in many instances. They were pushing the ball to end the half and not wasting possible reps. The reward was Santos' 56-yard field goal and a good contribution from receiver Luther Burden. Johnson went for it on fourth down four times in a tied preseason game. Many coaches the Bears have had would have ended those drives with some form of kick even in a preseason game. The Bears need answers and experience on offense, and they're not going to get it by putting special teams on the field, especially in a meaningless game.

Overall: B-

It's tough to give higher when they had sporadic breakdowns in tackling or blocking, and also seven penalties, but for a first time under a new coaching staff much worse could have bene expected.