Another year, another loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Bears fell to the Packers once again on Sunday 24-14 and are now 3-3.
The Bears looked pretty good on the first drive, and after that, the offense did a whole lot of nothing. After the game, many were pointing to a play in which the Packers were clearly offsides, the call wasn’t made, and the tide was turned for the rest of the game. As bad of a missed call that was, I’m not blaming that call for the Bears’ struggles. Are we forgetting that the Bears routinely cannot score points and look terrible on offense? For perspective…
This was the 27th time the Bears have scored 20 or fewer points in Matt Nagy's 56 games as head coach (counting playoffs).
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) October 17, 2021
One play on October 17th in Week 6 is not to blame for the Bears not being good on offense. It’s a trend.
Time for the good and bad…
Good Bears
The running game. The Bears continue to prove that running the ball is their strength. Filling in for David Montgomery (Injury) and Damien Williams (COVID), Khalil Herbert looked great for the second straight week in which he got significant carries. He finished with 19 carries for 97 yards and 1 TD, plus 2 catches for 15 yards this week. He should have had another TD late in the game if not for a questionable holding call that brought the TD back. It seems like even though Monty is out, the running game will not have a significant drop off.
The defensive front. Overall it was another good game for the guys up front. They had Rodgers scrambling for a good portion of the game and ultimately got to him for 3 sacks.
There was a Cole Kmet sighting. He had 4 catches for 49 yards on the day and actually had a pretty nice snag on a pass from Fields that was a little high on that final scoring drive from the Bears. I would say Kmet has been a bit of a disappointment. Now, whether that’s a product of this offense/bad QB play is another question, but it was nice to see him involved and making some plays.
Bad Bears
The offense. Once again, the offense looked bad. Green Bay was missing key pieces of their secondary and this was supposed to be a good opportunity for the Bears’ offense. It’s just the same old story week after week. No one is open, the Bears can’t score over 20 points, players are dropping the ball, it’s just never ending. You know how many teams are worse at scoring? Two. The Houston Texans and the New York Jets. Think about that. The Bears are worse than teams like the Jaguars, Giants, and Lions. And speaking of Houston, they’re only 6 points behind the Bears. It’s a joke. Players have come and gone, but one thing has stayed the same. Nagy. I guess the good thing was that this week the play calling wasn’t absolutely baffling. They ran the ball and they didn’t run 13 screen plays. They did attempt to push the the field a little bit, but same old result.
Allen Robinson isn’t the same Allen Robinson. Robinson has had to deal with some pretty bad QB play since he’s been in the league, but many thought it might be different with Fields. Through 6 games it’s like he’s gotten worse. It doesn’t even seem like he’s really getting open. Every catch he does have is some miraculous catch or he’s fighting with the DB to even get some hands on it. Then on two somewhat broken plays when Fields launched the ball, it’s like him and A-Rob weren’t on the same page. It looked like A-Rob stopped running. It’s a contract year for A-Rob and he’s not making a good case for the Bears to keep him. Not sure what’s going on here. He’s proven he can be a big time receiver, but maybe he’s more injured that we know?
The secondary. This continues to be a problem. Blown coverage. Missed tackles. Another familiar story. I think the box score is a bit deceiving if you see that Rodgers only had 195 yards. That’s more a product of the guys up front getting pressure. He was still 17/23, but the sacks combined with him having to run outside of the pocket and escape the rush contributed to that. He ran the ball 7 times for 19 yards and 6 of those yards came on the dagger rushing TD he had to seal the game. He was just trying to keep plays alive and didn’t have time to throw. Another reoccurring issue (see a trend with reoccurring issues and nothing getting better?) was Eddie Jackson. More blown coverage and more half ass effort on tackling. Davante Adams’ biggest play was a result of Jaylon Johnson getting burned and Eddie Jackson not wrapping up. Luckily Adams stepped out of bounds, but it was a 41 yard play and the damage was done. The Bears need to make a decision soon, and maybe should have already. Eddie Jackson has got the big contract, but he’s hurting this team. Maybe it’s time to bench him and go from there. There’s gotta be someone else on this team that wants the opportunity and isn’t afraid to tackle.
Aaron Rodgers owns the Bears. He does and he let everyone know it on Sunday. The mics picked him up yelling “I still own you!” to Bears fans after his scramble TD to ice the game. I mean the dude is 21-5 against the Bears (22-5 if you count the playoffs), spot the lie…
“I STILL OWN YOU!”
Aaron Rodgers to Bears fans 🍿
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/PacXCtnqaC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 17, 2021
I cannot wait till this guy is no longer on the Packers…
The Bears are now 3-3, and the schedule is not getting any easier. Their next 7 games are against the Bucs, 49ers, Steelers, Ravens, Lions, Cardinals, and Packers. I think if they’re lucky they beat the Lions and maybe somehow pull off a win against one of those other teams under some flukey circumstances? 49ers at home somehow? I’m not even sure they’ll walk into Detroit and pull that one off though. Bears could really be in a situation where they lose 8 straight games including this one against the Packers.
Speaking of the Bucs, that’s who the Bears have in Week 7 as they travel down to Tampa Bay. The Bucs open at a 12.5/13.0 point favorite depending on where you’re looking. So, uhhh not great. Maybe the Bears cover, but just covering doesn’t get you a W in real life.