We were so wrong. Going into Sunday’s game at Soldier Field, optimism oozed that the Chicago Bears would easily defeat the New Orleans Saints. Instead, the Bears (3-3) and their offense played like garbage. It was as if they were hoping to earn space at a landfill. If so, they succeeded in that quest. The Saints (6-1) won 36-25 in a game that New Orleans dominated much more than the final score indicates. They are the real deal, one of the best teams in the NFL. The Bears… are scuffling.
Chicago Bears Offense Horrible in Loss
It was such a disappointing performance that we can only be honest. This Bears offense failed in just about every aspect of the game. There’s no sugarcoating it. They played lousy in all three phases. After the opening drive ended in a punt, the special teams joined the poor offense by getting their punt blocked. At least Punter Pat O’Donnell smartly batted the ball out of bounds to prevent the Saints from landing on it for a touchdown. Instead, it was only a two-point safety.
From there, the day didn’t get much better. The only real positive was Cordarrelle Patterson returning a kickoff all the way for a touchdown that brought up memories of the great Devin Hester.
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Changes to the Bears Offense are Necessary
The casual fan can easily see that the Bears offense is putrid. Most of these fans think it’s all the quarterback’s fault. There is no doubt that Mitchell Trubisky has regressed. He’s playing lousy football this season. However, there are more problems than just Trubisky.
The biggest problem at this time is the play-caller. Head coach Matt Nagy must relinquish his role as play-caller. He always ‘forgets’ about running the ball. Did anyone look at the statistics? The Bears ran the ball seven times. They passed it 54 times. Let that sink in. In 100 years of Bears football, this was the fewest rushing attempts in a game in Bears history. I bet you didn’t think that was a part of the ‘Bears 100’ celebration but yeah, it happened. 54-7! That’s an 89% passing percentage. In fact, the Bears have the sixth-highest passing percentage on the season (65.3%), and the third-highest pass/run ratio over the last three weeks (68.5%) per Team Rankings.
Tarik Cohen had three carries for 10 yards. David Montgomery had two carries for six yards (with one fumble). Patterson had one carry for 2 yards. Anthony Miller had one carry for negative one yard (he fumbled). That’s it. Meanwhile, Mitch Trubisky dropped back and threw the ball 54 times. He didn’t scramble or rush one time. That’s an 11% rushing percentage.
What was Nagy thinking? It would be one thing if he had Patrick Mahomes or Drew Brees throwing the ball to a large group of skilled receivers. Even then that would be a stretch. Instead, Nagy had an injured quarterback throwing to an underwhelming set of weapons. It makes you shake your head.
Changes Upcoming
Nagy hinted that changes might need to occur. In Sunday night’s postgame press conference, he acknowledged “Something’s got to change. And I’ll say this, something will change. I don’t know what it is. And you guys might not know. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. But something will change. Because it’s not good enough right now.”
He’s finally right about that call. Changes need to be made for a struggling 3-3 team and a change in play calling seems obvious. Nagy’s plays haven’t been working for a while now. It is too pass-oriented with all short throws. It’s a controlled passing game but the defenses have picked up on what Chicago has been doing. The Bears need to run the ball! The Bears need to throw a bomb once in a while. What happened to rollouts for Trubisky? What happened to the trick plays? Why don’t they throw it to Trey Burton anymore? Why is Tarik Cohen constantly running lateral routes that go for three yards, at best?
Is it me or does it feel like every single play is a shotgun snap? Why not try putting the quarterback under center? This offense is stagnant and Trubisky is thinking too much. Ever heard of “paralysis from analysis”? It’s a disease and my DSM IV helped me diagnose Trubisky with a severe case.
Also, why doesn’t anybody ever talk about Bears offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich? I’m not sure, but we’re going to nominate him for a new play-caller. Helfrich used to be the head coach at Oregon (2013-’16) where he led the Ducks to the National Championship Game in 2014. Prior to that he was the Offensive Coordinator (2009-’12) under Oregon’s then head coach Chip Kelly. These last two seasons he’s been with Chicago. Why not make Helfrich the play-caller to see what happens? If nothing else, it likely wouldn’t get worse.
The Defense was Awful Too
And that’s just the offense. For the second game in a row, the Bears defense was lousy too. This might be more concerning to Bears loyalists. Even when the offense has played poorly, at least the defense could be counted on to keep the team in the game. Now the defense is falling apart too. Let’s not overreact to that side of the ball. Both the Raiders under Coach Jon Gruden and the Saints under Coach Sean Payton are offensive ‘geniuses’. They played solid games against a Bears team that never held onto the ball due to this lack of a run game.
Moving forward, the Bears defense should return to it’s more dominant self. However, it gets late early out here and at 3-3, there’s no time to waste. The Monsters of the Midway need to get back on track soon or else it could be “Enter Sandman” for the 2019 season.
Game Balls
Allen Robinson played well despite the offense’s incapability to move down the field. Robinson was targeted 16 times and he caught 10 passes for 87 yards and one late touchdown. On the season, Robinson has been the one bright spot on the offensive side of the ball.
Rashaad Coward started at Right Guard for the injured Kyle Long. Now that Long is on Injured Reserve and unlikely to ever suit up for the Bears again, the team needs a new lineman to step up. So far, so good for Coward. He played decently as he wasn’t recognized for any penalties or missteps. The Bears only allowed two sacks despite dropping back to pass 54 times. I guess we’ll look on the bright side with this one.
Player of the Game
Cordarrelle Patterson will receive our Player of the Game Award for his work as the kickoff returner. Patterson returned four kicks for 163 yards and the one touchdown which was 102 yards. His 40.8 average was tremendous. His other three attempts besides the TD were for 63 yards which is a 21.0-yard average. Patterson also had three touches on offense as he ran once for two yards and caught two passes for 21 yards.
Next Week
Chicago hosts the Los Angeles Chargers (2-5) on Sunday. The Bears are favored by 5 points. Is it too early to proclaim it a ‘must-win’ game? Even though it feels like the sky is falling, the Bears could easily turn this season around. Don’t forget that last year they started 3-3 before finishing 12-4 and winning the NFC North. Could that situation play out again? As we often say, “Possible but not probable”, especially if the Bears play like trash again. They can’t afford any more “Stunk like a Skunk” outings.
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