Chicago Bears: Cleveland was bad, but Tampa Bay was by far worse
The loss to the Cleveland Browns was bad enough, but losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers like this is beyond dreadful for the Chicago Bears.
Where have we seen this before? The movie where Tom Brady and his buddies gang up on the Chicago Bears and beat them soundly? Oh yes, we go back to 2014 when Marc Trestman’s troops visited Foxborough.
That day, with the Patriots, Brady tossed for five touchdowns and over 350 yards in a 51-23 victory. The following week, it was Green Bay in primetime that hung 55 on the Bears.
That was bad, as was the game against Cleveland in Week 3 this year when Chicago essentially had Justin Fields laying on turf in frustration during a 26-6 loss. This was worse. A 38-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which mistakes were committed left and right.
Oh, and Fields was essentially running for his life because the protection or lack thereof by the offensive line was non-existent. Seem familiar? It’s been a recurring theme for much of this season, even when Fields was on the bench and Andy Dalton was calling the shots.
Bilal Nichols was ejected for throwing a punch; what was that for? The run defense was abysmal, and the coverage had no chance. It’s still a miracle just how the Bears beat Tampa Bay just a year ago, even when Brady forgot the downs.
This time, he tossed for 211 yards and four touchdowns on this defense, one of them resulting in his 600th regular-season touchdown pass. Another NFL record for his illustrious career, and this one came at the expense of the Bears.
The Chicago Bears hit rock bottom, and there’s nowhere to go but up, but when?
A 3-4 record isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but given what’s been displayed this season, it’s a wonder how this team was able to win three games. Yes, this was one loss, but that doesn’t change anything.
Also, like the Browns loss, no blame should be directed at Fields for this game. He has struggled quite a bit since becoming the starter, no doubt. But against Tampa Bay, like against Cleveland, he had no help, even with Khalil Herbert running the ball effectively against one of the league’s better run defenses, finishing with 100 yards.
Just over 180 yards passing with three picks and being sacked four times is abysmal, but if you saw the game from start to finish, it was evident that this man was giving his all and could not get help from anyone outside of Herbert.
So now what? Back to the drawing board? A team meeting? What’s it gonna take to fix the Bears at this point? There’s really no answer. Next up for Chicago, a date with San Francisco and their formidable defensive line. Yeesh. It isn’t getting any easier.