The win-lo s ledger in NFL standings shows no leeway for nice efforts or breakthrough games.It's clear cut. The Bears are 3-6, but they couldn't help feeling optimism after the 29-27 lo s to Pittsburgh on a Monday night when Justin Fields proved he could see downfield and deliver pa ses like a franchise quarterback. "We're real Jaylon Ferguson Women Jersey close, real close, but you get tired of close," running back David Montgomery said.Close is all they have for now, until they return from a bye week and heal a hamstring injury to Allen Robinson, ankle injury to Akiem Hicks, as well as the hamstring Eddie Jackson and foot injury Khalil Mack has.Their defense tries holding it together with backups at key positions, while committing silly penalties like lining up offsides twice on Pittsburgh's final drive. Here's how the Bears graded out in a breakthrough lo s. They'll need breakthrough wins going forward because, as Montgomery said, getting close can be tiring.Pa sing Game: B+After 17 completions and an excellent 10 yards per attempt by Fields, the one play they wish they had back was the throw with no timeouts on the next-to-last play when T.J. Watt batted down the ball for an incompletion. An out-of-bounds completion there could have given Cairo Santos a fighting chance instead of a prayer 65-yard field goal. Matt Nagy said he considered a Hail Mary pa s as well. Fields' pa sing was anything but a prayer, as the Bears looked like an Kemoko Turay Youth Jersey NFL offense with 414 yards, and did much of the damage through the air in the second half when needed. Fields hadn't been able to get the ball downfield with any consistency until Monday but then found five receivers for gains of 20 yards or more. The connection with Cole Kmet (6 catches, 87 yards) looked better than at any point and in the end he even found Allen Robinson for a 39-yard gain to set up the go-ahead TD. Only a slow start, Cameron Heyward's batted interception and three sacks given up marred this pa sing effort.Running Game: BFields blended in the zone read well to take advantage of the Steelers overplaying David Montgomery in his return from injury. Montgomery averaged 4.8 yards and the Bears had some rushing succe s but struggled with consistency early, as they did with the pa sing game as well. The end around by Darnell Mooney for a TD is something they need to try more now with teams zeroing in more on Fields running or Montgomery. Another side to it was the use of the wildcat offense effectively, even with three running backs on the field. Run Defense: B+They gave up ground grudgingly after the first two Steelers scoring drives, while limiting Najee Harris to 2.8 yards per carry without a run longer than 13 yards on the night. Pittsburgh had to go to the wide running game to find succe s and did initially, but linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith Malik Jackson Men Jersey and the second eventually shut down that aspect of the running game, as well. When you allow 3.3 yards a carry on 32 attempts, you've done your job as a run defense despite starting slow.Pa s Defense: DThey managed four sacks and Duke Shelley played as effectively as he ever has in coverage and with open-field tackles on underneath routes. Dumb offsides penalties negated their pa s rush, and there were too many times beyond the sacks when Ben Roethlisberger could stand and survey the situation in the secondary to get off pa ses against a secondary struggling to keep up. Still, they limited Pittsburgh 7.4 yards per pa s attempt and could have expected to win when they were getting over 10 yards a pa s attempt themselves.Special Teams: C+A colo sal game-changing play on a punt, when Joel Iyiegbuniwe stripped Ray-Ray McCloud on the return and DeAndre Houston-Carson took it in for the critical TD, couldn't quite offset the deep hole the Bears got in early with poor Jakeem Grant kick returns and return blocking. Grant also lost the Matt Ryan Youth Jersey ball on a kick return in the fourth quarter to set the Steelers up at the Bears 42 before their defense forced a punt. When the opposing kicker makes two field goals longer than 50 yards in that stadium during the fourth quarter, they deserve credit but the rush on those field goals could have been more of a distraction. Kicks that long have to come off lower and a better push might have made it tougher.Scroll to ContinueCoaching: BIt was as if everything the coaches had been trying offensively for weeks suddenly burst through in the second half and began clicking with throws to almost any receiver. However, their first-half play calls didn't show enough patience with a running game that was actually working. When the pa sing game did work later, it was only out of desperation. Matt Nagy's decision to try the 65-yard field goal rather than a Hail Mary was a flip of the coin, or rather, more like putting all your chips on one number in roulette. Either way, it was most likely not going to work. However, with three tight ends 6-foot-6 or taller and with Allen Robinson in the lineup, it seems like a Hail Mary of 58 yards with Fields' arm would have had a little better chance of finding friendly hands than the kick had of getting through in a stadium known for Mecole Hardman Youth Jersey poor kicking conditions. Overall: B-If the Bears make an effort like this against most other opponents the rest of the season minus the stupid penalties and without Tony Corrente's ridiculous officiating, they win the majority of their remaining eight games. It won't get them in the playoffs but they might convince someone at Halas Hall they're making progre s.