Bears outcoached, outplayed and crash back to earth in ugly loss to Rams
Bears #Bears
The Chicago Bears traveled to Los Angeles in search of national respect.
Chicago instead subjected the nation to kind of hideous offensive football that prevented people from buying in. At 5-2, the Bears are very much NFC playoff contenders, but Monday night’s 24-10 loss in Los Angeles once again exposed the team’s fatal flaw — the offense stinks.
In what has become a broken record, the Bears offense established zero rhythm, zero continuity, inspired zero confidence and scored close to zero points -– safety Eddie Jackson’s fumble return accounted for Chicago’s lone touchdown.
Nick Foles struggled against an aggressive Los Angeles Rams defense and could not convert in the red zone. Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
The offensive line needs a massive offseason overhaul. It all starts up front where the Bears accomplished next to nothing against the Rams. Run the football. Nope. Protect Nick Foles. Nope. Commit costly penalties (Germain Ifedi, Rashaad Coward). Yep.
The Bears have scored a touchdown on just 48% of their red zone possessions –- tied for fourth worst in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Everything you need this week:• Full schedule » | Standings »• Depth charts for every team »• Transactions » | Injuries »• Football Power Index rankings »More NFL coverage »
Not helping matters were some of the play selections. The football world probably has seen enough of 4th and 1 pitches to Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson is a Pro Bowl kickoff return man. He is a maximum-effort guy. Yet the fascination with calling Patterson’s number on plays out of the backfield is baffling. The Bears drafted David Montgomery to be a three-down back. Where is Montgomery when the Bears need a couple tough yards on the ground?
“This is hard, I’ve never really been a part of this before. It’s a situation that’s frustrating for all of us…when you care so much and are trying so hard, that’s the part that stings,” head coach Matt Nagy said. “Just trying to get that thing right, and it hasn’t happened…we have to look across the board at everything. We gotta start fast. When you come out and get a penalty it kills the drive. Penalties hurt, you cannot have them early on in the game. You cannot have penalties in 4th and 1 trying to move the sticks. That’s the part when we have to figure out when this is going to stop.”
The frustration for Bears fans also has been palpable and building. The Bears spent the past week defending their record while choosing not to focus too much publicly on the faults. Fair enough.
After that display on Monday night football, there is nowhere to hide those faults and the criticism will continue.
QB breakdown: Not good enough. Foles’ best play occurred in garbage time when he connected with Allen Robinson for 42-yards — Chicago’s first 40-plus yard reception of the season. Foles missed a wide open Darnell Mooney on a deep ball down the sidelines as he faced pressure from Los Angeles’ defense. Foles later had a third quarter pass tipped and intercepted in the end zone that effectively ended the game. Foles finished the night 28-of-40 for 261 yards and two interceptions (66.8 passer rating). Not good enough, indeed.
Foles was harassed by Rams defenders Aaron Donald and Co. all night through a porous offensive line. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
(Sorta) Promising trend: Chicago spent a second-round pick on tight end Cole Kmet. Finally, the Bears have begun to utilize the rookie. After a mini-breakout performance — first career touchdown — against Carolina in Week 6, Kmet caught two passes for 45 yards on Monday night. Kmet needs more targets, but at least Foles is looking his way. Veteran tight end Demetrius Harris dropped another pass against the Rams and is best suited to block. More Kmet, please.
Troubling trend: The Bears might want to re-examine their punt return. Veteran Ted Ginn Jr. has struggled to make any sort of impact on either offense or special teams, but Ginn’s issues on punt return were magnified at SoFi Stadium. On four occasions, Ginn let a punt bounce that Los Angeles downed inside the 10 in Chicago territory. Ginn took over punt return after Tarik Cohen suffered a season-ending torn ACL. Might be time for Plan C.
• What separates Donald and Mack?• Ramsey steps up for Nashville school• QB Murray: Beating Seahawks a ‘big step’• Bucs add Brown to maximize Brady’s window• Week 7 takeaways: Big day for Baker, Rodgers
Silver lining: Chicago’s defense played another reasonably strong game until it ran out of gas. As advertised, Khalil Mack applied pressure on Rams quarterback Jared Goff. Mack recorded his 17th career strip-sack in the third quarter — the second most in the NFL since the start of 2014. Mack’s sack happened in the span of just 2.64 seconds. That’s the second-fastest time Mack has had as a Bear. The defense (despite a bunch of penalties, most notably by dominant defensive lineman Akiem Hicks) kept the Bears in it for a good chunk of the night. At some point, Chicago’s offense has to join the party. Otherwise, the defense is going to wear down over the final nine weeks.
Bold prediction: The Bears’ never-ending kicker controversy is over. Veteran Cairo Santos — the reigning NFC special teams player of the week — made another field goal and is 11-of-13 on the year. Last year’s starter, Eddy Pineiro, is stuck on injured reserve with a groin problem, but even when Pineiro is cleared to return, the Bears have to stick with Santos. Nagy is big on trust — hence the decision to bench Mitchell Trubisky in favor of Foles — and the head coach’s history with Santos, dating back to their time together in Kansas City, weighs heavily in the decision-making process.
Eye-popping NextGen Stat: Foles’ 37-yard completion to Kmet had an air distance of 44.1 yards and Kmet had 0.67 yards of separation when he caught it. The downfield reception marked Foles’ longest tight-window completion of the season.