Chicago Bears: Loss to Lions adds more pain to a now lost season

The Chicago Bears sunk to new lows with their sixth consecutive loss.

This was a painful weekend. Netflix released Selena: The Series, a program about slain music superstar Selena Quintanilla. One of her most popular songs was “Como La Flor”. One of the lyrics in that song is “Ay, como me duele,” which translates to “Oh, how much it hurts me.” That is what Chicago Bears fans should be yelling after the team’s sixth straight loss of the season.

After suffering an embarrassing loss on national television to the hated Green Bay Packers, the Bears found a creative way to embarrass themselves even more. They gave their fans hope that things could change when the offense clicked on all cylinders in the first half of their game against the Detroit Lions. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was hitting his passes and the rushing game was on point.

After averaging 82 rushing yards per game and scoring only two rushing touchdowns for the season, the Bears had 106 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the first half alone. The Bears scored 23 points in the first half, had a 10-point lead and Chicago Bears Nation felt like their team could win this game and make a run at the playoffs despite a tumultuous 2020 NFL season.

The bad news Chicago Bears return

The second half started and the old Chicago Bears reared their ugly heads. The third quarter has been a sore point all season and that didn’t change on Sunday. For the 11th time in 12 games this season, the Bears’ offense failed to score a point in the third quarter.

The Bears gained a total of 37 yards in the third quarter. After David Montgomery had 11 carries for 62 yards and two touchdown runs in the first half, the Bears inexplicably went away from him. He had just 10 yards on six carries in the second half.

Trubisky dropped back 20 times in the second half. Drop him back that many times and you’re just asking for something bad to eventually occur, and that’s exactly what happened. After the Bears’ second consecutive three-and-out, punter Pat O’Donnell had a great punt that pinned the Lions on their own 4-yard line.

Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano then had the defense go soft and not pressure Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford then torched the defense, taking the offense 96 yards on just seven plays, pulling the Lions to within three points. Also, it took only 2:15 off the clock, giving them plenty of time to come back.

That’s where Trubisky’s antics came in. On third-and-4, he dropped back for a pass. Romeo Okwara got to Trubisky for the sack and swiped at the ball. Trubisky lost the ball and the Lions recovered it on the Bears’ 7-yard line. They then took two plays to punch it into the end zone to take the lead.

The foibles continue for an ailing team

The Bears weren’t done causing pain to their fans. On the ensuing drive, they were moving the ball well. They marched 51 yards on five plays and got to the Lions’ 20. On third and five, Trubisky completed a pass to Allen Robinson. Robinson gained four yards but, for whatever reason, he stepped out of bounds a yard short of the first down marker.

The Bears tried to run it in on fourth down but Montgomery failed to convert the first down. The Bears’ sixth consecutive loss was sealed and now they own a 5-7 record.

With the loss, expect wholesale changes to the Chicago Bears (again). This is a loss that rips a team’s soul from its body. This will be a blood bath of an offseason. General manager Ryan Pace, who set up this roster and made the fateful move of drafting Trubisky, and Matt Nagy, the head coach who failed to develop the young quarterback, should see the door shortly after the season ends.

It shouldn’t stop there, though. Ted Phillips, the President and CEO of the Chicago Bears, should also get cut. He’s been at the helm since 1999 and has just three playoff wins (two of them in one year) to show for it. He continually chooses the wrong people to build the team so someone else needs to take over.

Don’t expect the changes to happen during the season, however. The Bears are an old-school team and they make their decisions slowly. Ownership is probably making decisions on how to make the changes but they’ll happen after the season. That makes the next four games excruciating to watch. Let’s hope these next changes are the ones to reverse the decades of futility.