Secondary, Special Teams Picked Apart

The Bears gave up a big return and the secondary struggled to contain former Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in a

It's not often offensive linemen stand out and when they do it's usually not for something good. 

When your quarterback has his helmet completely knocked off, it's a good bet a lineman is going to be at the bottom of it.

The good news for any blocker who made mistakes in Saturday's 41-15 Bears loss is they have plenty of company from the game. 

No one really stood out and there are plenty of other players who fall under the zero classification this week following the lopsided defeat by Buffalo. As is usual when there's a lopsided loss, there just are not enough heroes.

Here are the weekly Bears heroes and zeros from Week 2 of preseason.

Heroes

Rodney Adams

An easy pick and not just because he made three receptions and a 73-yard TD catch. He's out there playing on five hours of "sleep," at the hospital on a couch after his daughter's birth. He had the baby girl sleeping nearby, too. Yet, Adams made bigger plays than many who had a full night's rest in a bed.

Jesse James

The third tight end again stood out with a team-high four receptions, including a 32-yarder from Justin Fields. James had 54 receiving yards and his production was needed with Cole Kmet not playing following a hamstring injury last week. The Bears held out Allen Robinson, Desmond Trufant, David Montgomery, Roquan Smith, James Daniels, Tyrone Wheatley Jr., J.P. Holtz and Eddie Goldman, as well.

Marqui Christian

The reserve safety was making plays, some even in the backfield, while the rest of the defense did a lot of backpedaling. He had six tackles, a pass breakup and two tackles for loss. The Bears deployed him as the backup nickel behind Duke Shelley and he could give them cause to consider him with the first team, depending on whether Shelley can up his own playing level.

Mario Edwards Jr.

With two sacks and another tackle, showing he's ready for another season as a three-technique pass rusher in the four-man line. The only problem with Edwards coming on strong is he'll be sitting out the first two weeks because of a suspension for a PED policy violation last year.

Khalil Herbert

His 13-yard TD run displayed the type of strength and speed he showed last year at Virginia Tech, as he hit into the line, then bounced outside and outraced everyone to the end zone.

Zeros

Lachavious Simmons

Their right tackle nearly got caught in a decision-making situation when the Bills blitzed and almost got his quarterback's head taken off. Simmons had a choice between the edge blitzer and the interior rusher, took the interior player and Andre Smith knocked off Justin Fields' helmet with a hit so violent he was offering up apologies later on social media.

Jaylon Johnson

Usually the starting Bears right cornerback won't find his way into the zero category, or at least he better not. However, he let undrafted Division III receiver Jake Kumerow get inside him on a route slanting inside and Mitchell Trubisky hit him for a 4-yard touchdown pass. Johnson was there a half second too late to pry out the ball.

Kindle Vildor

Struggled in coverage early in the game, giving up three receptions in the first half and also missing an open-field tackle. Making the open-field tackle has been his strength.

Jesse James

Wait, the Bears' third tight end is in the zero category? Wasn't he in the hero category? True, but besides leading them in catches he also committed two drive-killing penalties and this seemed to be a trend so far for the entire Bears offense as they commit one ill-timed penalty after another. James had a hold and a false start

Entire Punt Coverage Team

The one thing they did have going for them after the first preseason game when they gave up an atrocious 14.9-yard average for seven returns was at least they hadn't allowed a touchdown. Guess what happened in Week 2. The 79-yard Marquez Stevenson TD return was a study in how not to defend a punt return by every single member of the unit, including punter Pat O'Donnell. Caleb Johnson missed on the open-field tackle try. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will have his work cut out finding a coverage unit out of the players available before final cutdown.

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