Chicago Bears: What we learned from devastating loss to Packers in Week 11

The Chicago Bears suffered another devastating loss at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. Here is what we learned from the game.

Well, it happened again. The Chicago Bears have had a variety of ways to lose to the Green Bay Packers. Cairo Santos had his attempted game-winning field goal blocked and the Bears lost 20-19. It was their 11th consecutive loss and 26th in their last 29 games against their hated rivals.

The Bears came into this game reeling. They had a three-game losing streak and the offense struggled. Chicago failed to score a touchdown in two straight games. As a result, the team fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Passing game coordinator Thomas Brown took over and had a difficult task in his first game.

Not very many people expected the Chicago Bears to be competitive, let alone beat the Packers. For most of the game, however, they were outplaying Green Bay. The Bears held an advantage in time of possession by almost 13 minutes. The defense made repeated stops in the red zone, including intercepting a Jordan Love pass.

The Packers kept fighting, though. Despite failing to score on a number of occasions, they still found themselves with a lead late. Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams brought his team downfield, however, and put his team in position to win the game. With three seconds remaining Santos attempted the most important kick in the 2024 season but the Packers came out on top once again.

Yes, this was a devastating loss. It comes weeks after a devastating loss on a last-second Hail Mary to the Washington Commanders. This season is turning out to be hurtful in more ways than one.

There were some bright spots, though. There were things the Chicago Bears could build on, especially considering the job Brown did. The rest of the season is very difficult, still. The Bears have the toughest schedule of any team in the NFL the rest of the season. However, there are things that give hope that all is not lost in 2024.

Here are some things we learned from the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11.

The defense misses Billings

In the loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Chicago Bears defense suffered a huge blow. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings suffered a pectoral injury that required season-ending surgery.

The 6-foot-1, 311-pound Billings did not get a lot of attention. He was a force though. He took up double teams that freed up defensive tackle Gervon Dexter and defensive end Montez Sweat. The Chicago Bears pass rush did a good job of pressuring the quarterback and were on their way to have the most sacks in the past several seasons.

That has now changed, though. Without Billings, opponents have been able to put attention on Dexter or Sweat. Because of that, the defense has not been able to pressure or sack the quarterback. In the two games without Billings, the Bears have just two sacks.

Love was able to complete 13 of his 17 passes (76.4 percent) for 261 yards and a touchdown. When he was pressured he threw that red zone interception. Had the defense pressured him more there could have been more turnovers. Love has shown that he will make bad mistakes when under pressure.

The Chicago Bears defensive line has to find a way to make up for the loss of Billings. If they don’t the good quarterbacks they face will have a lot of success.

The offense looked a lot better

Despite scoring just 19 points, the Chicago Bears offense still looked better than it had under Waldron. Remember, the Bears scored 27 points in their last three games heading into the Packers game. Scoring 19 points in one game is a step in the right direction.

One of the signs of improvement is how much more efficient the Bears were coming out of the huddle. There were too many times when the play took too long to be relayed and/or for Williams to call the play in the huddle. They got out of the huddle with plenty of time and that gave Williams time to audible if he needed.

Additionally, Brown called more tight formations. One of those formations resulted in a D’Andre Swift 39-yard touchdown run. Left tackle Braxton Jones was able to take a great angle on a block outside and just obliterated the Green Bay safety. That opened space for Swift and he outran everyone to the end zone.

The offense was more balanced as well. The Bears had 34 runs and 31 passes (with three sacks). It is important for the offense to be balanced so Williams is not throwing too much. A balanced offense helps in his development.

Tight end Cole Kmet seemed to speak for the players when talking about Brown and the new offense.

It felt like a turning point during the week for us. I felt really good about the plan coming in. Credit to (Brown) getting things together, asking a little bit more of everybody this week, and I thought that showed out on the field today.

Sure, there are a lot of things we can still get better at. I thought his commitment to the run game was awesome to see and his using Caleb and his legs and then be able to do some play-action stuff downfield, all really good stuff.

An important number to pay attention to, though, is 30 passes. When Williams has 30 or more pass attempts the Chicago Bears are 0-5. Brown still has time to work that and find a happy medium.

Brown also had Williams get rid of the ball quickly. He called quick passes that helped Williams avoid getting sacked so much like the nine the New England Patriots put on him in Week 10. The Packers had three sacks but two of them came on the final drive.

Finally, Brown involved Roschon Johnson more. Johnson is a great blocker so he was able to keep Williams upright Furthermore, Johnson can run inside better than Swift. Swift is the quick back who uses speed, not power. Johnson can make those tough runs and try to wear down defenses and succeed in short-yardage situations.

This was just Brown’s first game. He will refine his play-calling. However, he had a very good first game and we should see the offense get better.

The more effective offense was able to succeed on third down

The more effective offense was able to convert a lot of third downs. The Chicago Bears ranked 31st in third down conversions. Against the Packers they were an excellent 9/16. Of the seven failed conversions the Bears went for it on fourth down three times and converted on all of them (interesting note: the Chicago Bears lead the league in fourth-down conversions, making 15 of 23 for 65.2 percent).

A big reason for the success was because the Bears found themselves in a lot of third and short situations. It becomes a lot easier to convert when you don’t find yourself in third and longs. That is what had been happening a lot to the Bears under Waldron this season.

The high percentage third down conversions extend drives and helps the defense get some rest. There were times the defense looked gassed late in games. Hopefully, this third down trend continues for the offense.

Williams did a better job of running the offense

While Waldron was the big story of the week, there was another bombshell of a story. Some of the veterans asked the powers that be to perhaps bench Williams. Williams has struggled during the losing streak. However, something clicked with what Brown did.

Williams has been criticized for trying to play hero ball throughout his college and professional career. He tries to hit the big play downfield and ignores easy completions underneath. That did not happen against Green Bay on Sunday, however. Williams constantly checked down and took what the Packers defense gave him.

Also, Williams was able to include wide receiver D.J. Moore in the offense. Moore and Williams have not been able to mesh very well this season. Against the Packers, however, Moore had seven tackles. He caught all seven for 62 yards.

As mentioned earlier, Williams did a good job of moving the ball downfield on that final drive. He got the offense in a possible game-winning situation. One thing that was disappointing was how the offense just stopped being aggressive when it got into field goal range.

It would have been nice to see the offense still be aggressive. Once they got into Santos’ range, the runs were made just to position the ball. That ended up hurting Santos’ opportunity. While Brown is the play-caller, it is possible that head coach Matt Eberflus had the offense play for position instead of gaining more yards.

This was not the best game for Williams. However, it was a good one for him when considering how much he struggled in the three previous games. Now let’s see if Brown can get the best out of him for the rest of the season.

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