CHICAGO — Followers booed and chanted to fireplace the top coach. They headed for the exits in droves.
The locker room had an all-too-familiar silence to it. The gamers who spoke had been shocked and lacked solutions to the apparent.
How did the Chicago Bears get right here?
“Can’t put it into phrases,” huge receiver DJ Moore mentioned. “Tough loss. Return to the drawing boards and simply be actual with ourselves.”
Nobody within the locker room will play the blame recreation, however to lose 19-3 at residence to the New England Patriots is an institutional failure. Each determination that led so far deserves scrutiny, whether or not it was one thing as micro as quarterback Caleb Williams throwing a swing go to Moore as a substitute of handing it off or one thing as franchise-altering because the entrance workplace deciding to maintain head coach Matt Eberflus.
That’s how unhealthy a loss on this scenario was. As Eberflus mentioned when requested in regards to the offensive coordinator place, “Every thing goes to be checked out.”
“It was fairly unhealthy,” tight finish Cole Kmet mentioned. “We’ve bought quite a bit that we’ve bought to get corrected.”
Solely 14 days in the past, the 4-2 Bears performed a flexed late-afternoon recreation in opposition to the Washington Commanders. Every thing gave the impression to be stepping into the appropriate course coming off a three-game profitable streak and a bye to repair what wasn’t working: the first-quarter offense and run protection.
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Now the Bears are 4-5. They’ve been shut out within the first quarter in 5 consecutive video games. That they had certainly one of their worst offensive performances in years in opposition to a 2-7 Patriots crew that ranked twenty sixth in yards per play allowed, twenty seventh in yards per go allowed, twenty eighth in sacks per go and twenty seventh on third down.
The Bears responded by placing up 142 yards of offense and 4.0 yards per go. They allowed 9 sacks for the seventh time in franchise historical past and went 1-for-14 on third down.
If that juxtaposition sounds acquainted, it was an analogous chorus final week after a 29-9 drubbing on the Arizona Cardinals.
When given a possibility to reply to dropping in an unimaginable style in opposition to the Commanders, the Bears had been crushed in all three phases by the Cardinals. When given a possibility to bounce again and get a wanted win earlier than division play in opposition to a last-place crew, they couldn’t transfer the soccer.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye and a two-win Patriots crew embarrassed the Bears at Soldier Discipline on Sunday. (Michael Reaves / Getty Photos)
One of many themes after the sport from Eberflus and Williams was that the Bears have the gamers. For those who go up and down the roster, they do. The offensive line was in tatters Sunday and even when wholesome has struggled, however this is likely one of the higher Bears rosters within the post-Lovie Smith period.
Williams accepted the blame for his function within the dropping. He has accomplished 50.5 % of his passes up to now three video games. His accuracy has been off. He’s not getting the ball out shortly sufficient. Lots of that’s to be anticipated, although, from a rookie, even one as heralded as Williams.
If the Bears have the quarterback and the gamers round him, how did the group screw this up?
• Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron merely has not put the offense ready to succeed. Working again D’Andre Swift had his moments Sunday, however then we’d see the run deserted. An excessive amount of was placed on a banged-up offensive line and, due to this fact, Williams. The rookie quarterback acknowledged his errors on third down, however just like the previous two weeks, this scheme isn’t giving him layups. We noticed Patriots quarterback Drake Maye get some good, straightforward chunk performs to open receivers. That didn’t occur for Williams, and he has higher receivers.
• On Feb. 22, Eberflus stood on the lectern at Halas Corridor to introduce Waldron. He lauded the crew’s two-week course of that landed its coordinators. He thanked his bosses for the assets that allowed him to journey the West Coast and interview play callers. The stakes had been excessive with the No. 1 choose and the truth that Eberflus’ first alternative as offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, didn’t work. He selected Waldron. He selected to advertise Chris Morgan to run recreation coordinator and pair him with Waldron. Nonetheless the Bears bought to Waldron, and nevertheless they constructed this offensive employees, is rightly beneath heavy criticism.
For the second week in a row, Eberflus took full accountability after the sport, saying, “I’ll take accountability for it.”
“The entire thing,” he mentioned. “The operation of it: offense, protection, kicking. That’s the job of the top coach. So, to me, that’s accountability for the whole lot.”
Eberflus is aware of that the whole lot that goes on displays on him, however the coordinator determination goes above him too, as does blame for Sunday’s dismal efficiency. The Bears put themselves on this place. Their efficiency on offense means a severe examination of the whole lot that led to it.
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• Normal supervisor Ryan Poles and his employees constructed a roster that appears nothing just like the one he inherited in 2022, however a three-game dropping streak that has put warmth on the teaching employees raises the last word query: Ought to Eberflus have been retained after final season? Although Poles improved the offensive line depth, as he sees what number of instances Williams has been sacked, ought to extra have been finished to fortify the starters?
• This goes above Poles, too, to president/CEO Kevin Warren, who had a possibility in his first offseason to make a significant change to assist the infrastructure that might get its greatest likelihood to proper the quarterback ship. Warren, whose downtown stadium plans are stalled whereas the crew sits on land in Arlington Heights, might nonetheless be the wild card that might permit this iteration of the Bears to make in-season strikes.
• After which it goes to chairman George McCaskey, whose hiring committee recognized Poles and Eberflus almost three years in the past. Beneath McCaskey’s tenure, the Bears have received zero playoff video games, are on their fifth head coach and third GM and could possibly be shifting on to their tenth offensive coordinator.
With Williams, Moore, Swift, Kmet, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze on offense, the Bears scored 3 factors in opposition to the Patriots at Soldier Discipline.
For the offense to combust in such spectacular style after back-to-back weeks of chatter about crew conferences and accountability, that’s the kind of loss that falls on everybody within the group.
Sunday was purported to be a return to .500, a possibility to make the most of a rebuilding Patriots crew earlier than the Inexperienced Bay Packers come to city. As a substitute, it was one of many Bears’ worst losses in years.
And that’s saying one thing.
(High picture of Caleb Williams getting sacked by Jahlani Tavai: Michael Reaves / Getty Photos)