Chicago Bears 2022 season in review: Grading the special teams

We continue our review of the Chicago Bears in 2022 by looking at the special teams. Like many of the other units, the special teams had its inconsistencies.

We continue our look into the Chicago Bears‘ 2022 season. We first graded the offense, then the defense. Now, we take a look at the special teams.

Like the other units we covered, the Bears’ special teams had more than its share of ups and downs. The inconsistencies led to some difficulties in games. A number of games turned on Chicago’s miscues on special teams.

Chicago Bears roster needed change, and the special teams unit was no different

There were some successes as well, though. General manager Ryan Poles felt there needed to be a change so he went out and did it. Some of those changes worked while some are still a work in progress.

As mentioned in our earlier reviews, Poles set the 2022 season to be a good foundation for the rebuild. He wanted to rebuild the roster, unlike any other general manager who preceded him. Those general managers decided that a couple of big-name signings would pacify the fans.

While the fans celebrated star signings, the rest of the roster was neglected. Sure, there would be a good season here or there, but they were too few and far between.

In the past 30 seasons, the Chicago Bears have only had nine winning seasons (seasons above .500). In that same period, they’ve had back-to-back winning seasons only twice.

Poles wants to change that. He wants to build a complete team. He doesn’t want to neglect any unit. That means he’ll concentrate on offense, defense, and, yes, special teams. We already saw Poles tinker with the unit this offseason. He brought in not just new players but new coaches. He hired Richard Hightower to be the special teams coordinator.

Look for more tweaking this upcoming offseason. Being able to score even though a drive bogs down is important.

Likewise, being able to turn field position when the offense doesn’t score is just as important. Pinning teams deep in their territory could help the offense. Giving the offense a short field helps in scoring touchdowns.

Let’s take a look at the Chicago Bears’ 2022 special teams unit and grade them.