Bears 31, Stillers 28 ...... Nov 23, 2025 …………Game # 11
Stillers-Bears Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 6-4 Stillers went out to Chico to face the 7-3 Bears. 52 and sunny at KO. PIT won the toss and deferred. The Stillers were up by 4 at the half, but the vaunted defense allowed 2 Chico TDs and Chico came back to win by 3.
Grades:
QB: Rodgers was inactive with the wrist injury, so Mason R got the start. His first pass o’ the game, on 2d &1, was a lollipop lob that was too soft and too underthrown, and was picked off. Very poor.
Got stripped of the ball on a sack, late 3Q. Poor deep ball, 2:18 4Q…landed 9 feet OOB. Big scramble on 3d & 4 deep into the 4Q, which gained 20-some yards, but an illegal formation penalty wiped it out. In all, Mason had adequate success in little babyfied 4-yard passes, but rarely hit a receiver who was more than 10 yards past the LoS. 24 of 31 looks good on paper, but it produced only 171 yards. Wasn’t nowhere near good enough. C-
RB:
Warren – walked in on a 1-yard TD run, late 1H. Had 18 rushed for 68 yards, but oddly didn’t have a single catch, which is unacceptable for a RAC runner with his hands. A
Kaleb J. – rotted the bench all game.
Gainwell – good 9 yard run, first play o’ game. Ran a wildcat keeper, 5 yards, 1Q. Took a handoff from Connor H. via a tush push that gained 55 yards or so. Had 10 rushed for 92, plus 6 grabs for 30. A
FB: rarely used.
WR:
Metcalf – Got out-jousted, once again, on the early INT. Grabbed a flare for a 5-yard TD run (it was ruled a run, not a pass), late1Q. Hobbled off field, 10:30 2Q. Returned the next series. Flagged for a hold on Gainwell’s 4-yard TD run, 7:36 4Q. Had 5 grabs for 22, which ain’t nowhere near enough for a WR1 making $31M per season. C-
Austin – grabbed an 9 yard slant, late 2Q. Drew a PI flag on a deep ball, 4:39 3Q, gaining 27 yards. Gained 19 on a 3d & 5, 12:00 4Q. Had 4 grabs for 36, which ain’t enough from a WR2. C
Rom Wilson – The Twerp failed to out-joust a DB on a deep ball, early 3Q, for an Inc pass. Had 0 catches. Remember all the fawning over this guy at camp, with the local media proclaiming he was the next Jerry Rice, except 3 times better….? C
Skowronek – grabbed a 21 yard pass, 5:24 1Q.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – grabbed 2-yard pass off a 0-step hitch, 2Q. Grabbed a 3-yard TD, 6:30 4Q. Had 3 grabs for 19, which ain’t enough for a TE making some $14M per season. C-
Jonnu Smith – flagged for a false start, late 2Q. Ran an end around, 5:00 3Q, for 4 yards. Ran another end around for 3 yards, 7:30 4Q. Had 3 grabs for 21. He’s probably the most needless player on the roster.
Darnell – got abused by Sweat for a strip sack, 3:52 3Q. Had 2 grabs for 22. Run blocking was solid. B-
Con Heyward – ran the rush push on 4th and inches, and got rocked and stopped short of the sticks.
Spence Anderson – good block for Gainwell on a 3d & 1 flare pass, late 1Q.
OL: Overall, the line (Jones, Seumalo, Frazier McCormick, Fautanu) had a decent game. The run blocking was pretty solid, and the pass pro was mostly adequate, with some harassment coming from Sweat or off jailhouse blitzes.
Jones got nicked up with a stinger while pass blocking, 9:42 4Q. Calvin Anderson came in for him. Overall, a B.
DL:
Heyward – Scam had ONE solo all game long:
6:48 - 2nd
L.Burden right end to PIT 35 for 15 yards (Ca.Heyward). This was a reverse that gained 15 yards, with Scam getting a little arm tackle as the WR was going down anyway.
Scam got a slop assist on an EIGHT yard run in which Duggar clearly made the solo tackle.
3:10 - 3rd Qtr.
K.Monangai right tackle to PIT 26 for 8 yards (K.Dugger; Ca.Heyward).
On the huge 3d & goal plunge from the 2-yard line, early 4Q, Scam got MAULED and bullied, and Monongai literally WALKED up the gut for a cake-easy TD run. Applied ZERO pass pressure all game long, and didn’t have any of his infamous tipped passes, either. Pure manure. F+
Benton – good chasedown on a screen play, 8:55 3Q. Solid tackle on a 2d & goal plunge, first play of 4Q, stopping the RB for a 1 yard gain. Was active and effective. B+
Harmon – chipped in abit. Was hoping he’d make more noise this deep into the season. C
YaYa Black – forced & recovered a fumble, early 2Q. That’s pretty much the only thing he did all day.
LB:
Queen – stuffed a run for no gain, 14:20 2Q. That’s about it. Finished the game with ONE solo, which is unacceptable for a starting ILB. D-
Pey Wilson – Flagged for PI, 2d series. Did little. C
Watt – drew a holding flag on a ground play, late 1Q. Strip sack in EZ, early 2Q, which led to the Herbig fumble recovery for a TD. Solid game. B
Highsmith – again sat out due to a peck(er) injury.
Herbig – jumped on the loose ball for a TD, early 2Q. Fought off a block and blew up a ground play, 2Q, for a FIVE yard loss. Great play. Flagged for offsides, late 1H. Harassed Caleb into an inc pass, 2 plays later. Had a solid game. B
Malik Harrison – got the start at ILB. Got abused in coverage on the TE for 17 yards, early 2Q. Chipped in here and there.
Sawyer – played a little bit, did little.
DB
Joey Porter Jr. - injured his leg, 2Q. Came back late in the 1H. INT’d a pass on a free play (def offsides), then ran around like a fool with the ball held like a loaf of bread. Of course, he fumbled; luckily we recovered. Got torched on a crosser, 10:12 3Q.
Slay – Sat the bench, but came in when Porter got hurt.
Duggar – Busted up a 3D pass, first series. Got tooled on a 17 yard slant, 2d series. Got tooled for a TD pass, 3d & 5, 4:00 2Q, which enabled Chico to tie the game. Dropped a fairly easy INT, late 1H. C-
Echols – saw a bit of PT.
Jalen Ramsey - got abused for a 1Q 5-yard TD pass. Got sucked over on a crosser, allowing an ACRE of open room for a Chico 25-yard TD pass, 8:30 3Q. Very poor, and hideous. C-
Pierre – got plenty of PT. Got torched on the 25-yard TD pass, mid 3Q. Punched out the ball on a near 12-yard grab along the sideline, late 2Q. C+
Spec teams:
Waitman – good 54-yard boot, 3Q. But it was nullified by Ben Skow penalty, and the ensuring re-punt went OOB for a poor 34-yard punt. Mediocre 39-yard boot, later in 3Q. Sorry 33-yard punt at 2:00 4Q. Pure vomit. He looked like Percy Barfkin all over again. D-
Boswell – didn’t try an FGs, although he could have tied the game in the waning seconds with a 64-yard FG try, but Stoogelin refused to use him.
Gainwell muffed a knuckleball KO, 1Q, setting up the O at the 5 yd line. Chicago amassed 134 yards in kickoff returns. Overall, a shoddy day for the STs. D
OC: Art Smith had the outrageous luxury of facing a Bears D missing ALL 3 of its starting LBs, plus a few other injuries. Undaunted, King Arthur was content to throw rocks at Chico in the form of 3 yard passes and refusing to throw to the middle of the field. Sure, there was a good scheme on the “fake tush push”, late 1H….big gain by Gainwell down to the 1-foot line. That was about it. The late drive for the tying FG enraged me. Ya have no timeouts, and need to move roughly 32 yards or so ….and King Arthur and his offense are completing TWO yard passes, in bounds ! Brilliant ! And as good as Gainwell has played, he ain’t Warren, and Warren ain’t getting enough work. D+
DC: Austin started the day nicely with a strip-sack TD in the EZ, and then spent the next 50-plus minutes doing nothing. Softee coverage, blown coverage, meek pass pressure, soft n’ cheezy run defense with over 100 yards rushing allowed….Austin provided all of it, in spades. They got gashed for 31 points, which is unacceptable for the NFL’s highest paid defense. D
HC: Mike Asslin talks all sorts pf bravado, but rarely delivers on it. This was yet another meek, squalid performance in which the intensity was minimal, as was the scheme and tactics. The decision making was also subpar, as usual. I despised the decision to punt at 2:01 4Q, knowing it would burn at least 2 Tos, and with such a timid, 3-yard passing offense, there wouldn’t be enough time to get into FG range. I wasn’t fond of eschewing a last second 64-yard FG attempt by THE best PK in the NFL. WHY ?? Why not try the FG there? Bos has shown more than enough leg AND accuracy. I’d trust Boswell on a 64 yarder more than a middling backup QB to complete a pass on 4th & 6. F
Synopsis: Another perplexing loss, making this team 6-5 and foundering. Not god, esp with the Bill and then the Ravens coming up in the next 2 weeks.
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