After watching tape of Sunday's 19-10 season-opening win over the 49ers, Bears coach Matt Eberflus discussed three things that stood out to him.
(1) Eberflus was impressed with how several rookies stepped up to contribute.
Four members of this year's draft class played key roles in the victory. Fifth-round defensive end Dominique Robinson registered seven tackles and 1.5 sacks; second-round safety Jaquan Brisker recorded four tackles, one tackle-for-loss and a fumble recovery; second-round cornerback Kyler Gordon compiled six tackles and one tackle-for-loss; and fifth-round left tackle Braxton Jones had a solid game protecting quarterback Justin Fields' blindside.
On special teams, sixth-rounder Trestan Ebner had a 30-yard kickoff return and seventh-rounder Trenton Gill averaged 46.2 yards on six punts.
"It was good by really all the rookies," Eberflus said Monday. "You look at the way the rookies performed, from the punter to our nickel (Gordon) to Dominique to all the guys that played, Braxton, they all played well.
"And I think that's really a tribute to [general manager] Ryan Poles and his staff bringing the guys in here that have the maturity to be able to handle an NFL game, the coaches getting them ready, and then the guys going out there and doing it. I was happy with all the rookies."
(2) Eberflus was pleased that the Bears continued to avoid penalties.
After averaging just 4.3 penalties in three preseason games, the Bears were even more disciplined Sunday, drawing only three flags for 24 yards.
"We've been doing that," Eberflus said. "We had the officials in for training camp, NFL officials. We use those guys to educate us, and they do a great job when they come in. And then we had Big Ten officials here as well in the off weeks.
"I think any time you can have an education of the rules so we can play smart and clean, like we have done, that's always beneficial. And I think that's probably our cleanest game, even through the preseason. That's a tribute to the players who have been paying attention to it, and also the help of the officials."
The Bears offense did not commit a penalty in Sunday's game, while the defense was flagged just once for four yards. The 49ers, on the other hand, drew 12 penalties for 99 yards, including two unnecessary roughness fouls for late hits on a sliding Fields.
Bring your umbrella and check out the best photos from Sunday's rain-soaked victory over the 49ers at Soldier Field.
(3) Eberflus lauded the offense for rebounding from a sluggish first half.
The Bears failed to advance beyond their own 35-yard line on their first five possessions as part of a scoreless first half. But the unit opened the second half by scoring touchdowns on each of its first three possessions, turning a 10-0 deficit into a 19-0 lead.
Asked specifically about offensive coordinator Luke Getsy's performance in his first game calling plays, Eberflus said: "It was outstanding. I thought it was good. Sometimes you have a half like that where it goes that way on either side of the ball, and then your ability to adjust, adapt and overcome, that's the big thing we say to our football team, and that's true as a coordinator, too, and he did that.
"It's not only him. It's this offensive staff. It's the whole staff getting together, making in-game adjustments as they go, and what's going to work for us. So they did a nice job of working Justin out of the pocket a little bit—he did some of that on his own when he flushed himself—and it worked out nice."
