Fields slid for just a 1-yard gain, and rookie linebacker Jack Campbell put his full body weight on the Bears’ quarterback. Fields immediately looked at the ref and put his hands up. Cole Kmet and DJ Moore, who were to Fields’ left, clearly wanted a flag thrown on the play.

There wasn’t one, and that’s something Fields has grown used to since he was drafted in 2021. Fields has only received eight roughing the passer calls in 36 games played and none have been called in 2023.

• 2022 (5): two vs. the 49ers in Week 1, one vs. the Texans in Week 3, one vs. the Giants in Week 4, one vs. the Cowboys in Week 8
• 2021 (3): two vs. the Raiders in Week 5, one vs. the 49ers in Week 8

Fields has also only received three unnecessary roughness calls: one against the Giants in 2022, one against the Packers in 2021(which was offset by a Bears penalty) and one more against the Vikings in 2021.

The lack of late-hit penalties don’t go unnoticed, though.

Jaquan Brisker, who has never been shy to voice his opinions, was asked for his reaction on Monday when he sees Fields get hit and there is no penalty flag thrown.

“If it was us, they would be throwing it,” Brisker said. “It wouldn’t even be a reaction, they would just throw it. So I just think they should treat him fair. He’s a quarterback. I know he is 230 (pounds) and he run a 4.3, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s still a quarterback and we have to protect him. It’s disappointing.

“Obviously, the other team is being told to do dirty stuff after the play hit him like this certain way. It’s obviously being told by the way they have been treating him these last couple of weeks.

“A lot of shots to the head and it’s very disappointing seeing a guy like that get hit and take hits like that, and one of those hits, you know God forbid, could be something very bad. I think the league needs to get on that and notice that. It’s bad.”

Brisker accused opposing teams of being “told to do dirty stuff after the play.” The second-year safety was asked a follow up question about if he thinks it’s systematic that other teams are being coached to hit Fields hard or late.

“Yeah, you can just tell,” Brisker said. “Like Coach Flus he doesn’t tell us to do anything like that, but you can just tell the way they just hit him after the play .. you can just tell how they’re just trying to tug and try to do whatever they can to get him out of the game. It’s obvious. It’s obvious. All them head shots yesterday, all them late hits, trying to mess with his hand and things like that. It’s obvious, so the league just has to, you know, protect the quarterback and we’re going to protect ours at all times, so.”

Bears coach Matt Eberflus mentioned on Monday that he is “very active” and always in the ref’s ears when it comes to petitioning to protect the quarterback. Eberflus said he wasn’t happy about the play with Campbell and that he let the official know about it.

There were also some questionable hits on Fields in the first matchup against the Lions at Ford Field.

Like most of the other instances, Fields did not get a flag on the hits.

“That’s just what the Lions do — they play hard,” Fields said following the Week 11 loss to Detroit. “We knew that coming in that week the kind of effort and toughness and grit they play with. Their head coach preaches that. We kinda knew it was gonna be that type of game. I was talking to the ref and just asked, like telling him like, ‘yo, just watch out. Heads up for a late hit’ or something like that. I guess I didn’t get any. Keep playing ball and control what I can control.”

With four games still remaining in the regular season, that means there are still chances Fields will be susceptible to taking late hits. So, it will be up to everyone on the Bears to make sure the officials are well aware of how the 24-year-old quarterback is being treated.

And welcome to Victory Monday!

Two-game winning streaks aren’t noteworthy for many NFL towns, but when Chicago goes 707 days without one, well, we’re going to bask in it.

Let’s get to the thoughts …

1. I don’t know if it will be a December to remember for our Bears, but Sunday’s 28-13 triumph over the Lions certainly showed the ingredients are there. The defense was dominant, forcing another three turnovers and holding Detroit scoreless in the second half. That, in turn, allowed our coaching and quarterback to be better than their coaching and quarterback. You couldn’t draw up a better script for a NFC North win at home late in the season.
   
   
2. Does that mean the Bears are officially in the hunt? At 5-8, they’re holding up the bottom of those network graphics, but the New York Times still projects the Bears with just a seven percent chance to make the playoffs.
   
   
3. That said, we’re two weeks out from Christmas and already looking forward to next Sunday’s game in Cleveland. If the Bears win that, we’re set for two must-see home games against Arizona and Atlanta on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. That’s a big win for a team that started 0-4 and fell to 3-8 just 22 days ago when they coughed up that late lead to the Lions in Detroit.
   
   
4. Credit Matt Eberflus for his team staying relevant this late in the season. He might’ve been shaky at the end of early losses and at the podium, but it’s clear he never lost the locker room. I still think any decision for 2024 should be made on the Bears options — if there’s a clear upgrade, Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren must take it — but the rise of the defense have erased some of our early doubts about Flus.
   
   
5. Ryan Poles deserves a lot of credit, too, for going out and getting Montez Sweat. There’s so much parity in the NFL that one difference-maker can swing the fortunes of a unit. We’re seeing that with Sweat, who has single-handedly turned the defensive line into a problem for opposing quarterbacks. And while the rush defense was already solid to Sweat’s arrival, it’s now rating second-best in the NFL, just behind the Super Bowl contender 49ers.
   
   
6. Justin Fields makes it look so damn easy sometimes. He was 22 yards out when he took off on his touchdown run and he was still able to beat three Lions defenders to the front corner of the end zone while looking like he was on cruise control. I’ll miss plays like those if the Bears do make the offseason decision to move on.
   
   
7. Anyone starting to get the feeling the Lions are the new Vikings while Jared Goff is the new Kirk Cousins? Both franchises built up solidly with blue-chippers on both sides of the ball, only to get complacent with a better-than-average quarterback with a clearly defined ceiling. It’ll be interesting to see how Detroit proceeds at that position going forward.
   
   
8. What a damn shame all those Lions fans at Soldier Field left disappointed.
   
   
9. I wouldn’t hate if Poles’ offseason shopping list in free agency includes an upgrade at running back, particularly if the Bears can take care of WR at the top of the draft.
   
   
10. I still can’t believe 38-year-old Joe Flacco will be quarterbacking the Browns on Sunday. Here’s a fun fact for the road: Justin Fields was nine years old when JF15 made his NFL debut in 2008.
    

Kevin Kaduk

More coverage from CHGO Bears:

• The CHGO Bears crew gave us their initial reactions on the win
• Nicholas Moreano dives deep on 4th-and-13
• Greg Braggs Jr. says that was the best play of QB1’s career
• Mark Carman issues his grades for Diehard members

But the Chicago Bears found themselves in that situation with 1:36 left remaining in the third quarter. After Justin Fields was able to avoid a sack on third down, the offense lined up on fourth-and-13 at the Detroit 38-yard line.

Fields lined up the shotgun with Khalil Herbert to his left. Cole Kmet, Darnell Mooney and Tyler Scott lined up in trips to the right and DJ Moore was isolated on the opposite side. Fields used a hard count, and Aidan Hutchinson went offside. Fields and the offense recognized that critical mistake by the Lions and capitalized with a 38-yard strike to Moore for a touchdown.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus credited Fields with his throw and Moore with his catch on the play, and also acknowledged the quick reaction to exploit the slower reaction from the Lions’ defensive line.

But there was one key detail that made the play work.

“It’s Justin. It’s the hard count,” Eberflus said. “He did a really good job of hard counting and just a really good job there, and they got them to jump. His use of cadence. That’s what it was.”

The Bears went on to score on the next two offensive drives with a touchdown and field goal, and kept the Lions scoreless in the second half to help Chicago secure a 28-13 victory at Soldier Field.

Kmet said Fields had a “hell of a cadence” on that play. He was lined up to the left of Mooney in the slot, and Kmet even signaled to Mooney like he was going to switch routes, while the offensive line did a good of selling like they were adjusting the protection. Still, Kmet was surprised with what happened.

“I was shocked, shocked, shocked,” Kmet said in the locker room after the game. “Yeah, we all know like okay if they do jump, we all know what we’re getting to. But, yeah, fourth-and-13, we’re at around the 50, yeah it’s kinda like prime take a delay.”

Fields said during his postgame press conference that to sell that type of play is to “treat it like a normal play,” but it also helps that this wasn’t the first time the Bears have been in that situation.

“I mean, it’s not a challenge because we practice it multiple times a week,” Fields said. “We’re used to it. Might have happened like three times this week during practice and walk-throughs. Like I said, we practice it. It happens every week, and the guys are ready for it, and we executed it. It ended up being a big play.”

Lucas Patrick described the fourth-down play as “a master of situational ball.” After Moore caught the ball, he ran through the end zone and into the tunnel, and his teammates were there to celebrate with him.

“It feels good,” Patrick said. “This game is all about one guy doing their job out of 11. If everybody does their job, that’s what happens. The way we practice, the way this locker room has come together, the way we believe in everything no matter what is happening outside, everybody does their job, we see what happens. It’s a good feeling. It’s trust and this locker room trusts each other.”

Execution, trust and communication all showed up on Fields’ touchdown pass to Moore, and it took all 11 members of the offense to make it happen.

The Bears have now won back-to-back games for the first time since Eberflus took over as head coach. There is not just trust in the Bears’ locker room, but also momentum and that is something new for the team as Chicago prepares for its final four games of the regular season.

Sunday’s 28-13 win over the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field was the team’s second straight win and marks the first back-to-back wins in Matt Eberflus’ era.

Down three points at halftime, the Bears held the Lions offense scoreless in the second half while Justin Fields found DJ Moore for a 38-yard touchdown on 4th-and-13 to take the lead for good in the third quarter.

Here are our initial impressions on the win …

Adam Hoge

What a ride that was. We got the full Justin Fields experience today. All the fun, all the frustration. But the quarterback certainly delivered on Matt Eberflus’ biggest call since he became head coach. I still can’t believe Flus went for it in 4th and 13, but he did and it turned into a 38-yard touchdown to DJ Moore. Will that be the play that launches this team on a big run? Two in a row is at least a start.

Nicholas Moreano

The Bears had 21 days to think about how their first matchup with Detroit ended. 21 days to feel the pain and disappointment from giving up a 12-point lead late the fourth quarter. In this rematch at Soldier Field, the Bears did what they couldn’t at Ford Field and finished the game. In the second half, Justin Fields connected with DJ Moore for a 38-yard touchdown and then on the following offensive drive, Fields scored on an 11-yard touchdown run. The Bears’ defense in the second half forced three three-and-outs, two turnover on downs, one fumble and intercepted Jared Goff. That’s two straight victories and two victories over NFC North opponents.

Will DeWitt

Respect has been earned! That’s the type of performance everyone was hoping the Bears could have. It proved that they really did fail to finish in Detroit and that they can really hang in there with the best in the division. Talk about a strong game from Justin Fields who made some throws and plays to lead his team to this win, the Bears’ first back-to-back victory since 2021. This team looks to be growing right in front of our eyes. It’s okay to feel excited, I am too.

Mark Carman

4th and 13 and Matt Eberflus decides to go for it? Did you think the Flus was going to go down without a fight? Admittedly, I did. Fields found a wide open DJ Moore streaking down the sideline for a 38 yard TD season saving pass. The Bears are officially “in the hunt.”

Greg Braggs Jr.

We saw some bests by the Bears today. Best win of Matt Eberflus’ career. Best play of Justin Fields career (on 4th and 13). Best this defense has looked in five years. Things all of a sudden are looking up for the Chicago Bears? First back-to-back wins in the Eberflus Era. Four winnable games the rest of the year. Dare I say, in the hunt? Why not? The Lions did it last year. Why can’t the Bears do it this year? Why not. Let’s get nuts.

Kevin Kaduk

Could this be the start of a December to remember for the Bears? Their last four games are all winnable and the ingredients the Bears own are really starting to come together. Sunday’s second half was a showcase for an ever-improving defense and the Montez Sweat fan club continues to grow. You’d like to see more consistency from the offense, but let’s enjoy this winning streak while we can.

Can the Bears get their revenge just three short weeks later? That remains to be seen, though Justin Field and Co. have the advantage of an extended rest as they’re coming off a bye week. They’ll enter this game with a 4-8 record while the Lions sit atop the NFC North with a 9-3 mark.

Here’s how we see this one shaking out …

Adam Hoge (6-6) — Bears 23, Lions 17

These two teams are trending in opposite directions right now and the Bears will have revenge on their mind Sunday at Soldier Field. Have the Lions already peaked this season? I think it’s a fair question. Regardless, this should be another close game and I don’t expect the Bears to give it away again. The Lions haven’t played a true outdoor game since Oct. 22 at Baltimore (I’m not counting Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles). That also happens to be the coldest game they’ve played this season — at 62 degrees. It’s going to be in the 30s and windy at Soldier Field Sunday. Yes, I’m a believer that “Bear Weather” is mostly a myth, but I’ve also acknowledged a couple times when it has helped the Bears win. One of those times was against Jared Goff when he was with the Rams in 2018. 

Nicholas Moreano (5-7) — Bears 24, Lions 20

For my last prediction against the Vikings, I wrote that I wouldn’t pick the Bears until “they prove they can finish a game.” Well, the Bears finished against the Vikings, and now I’m taking Chicago in this second matchup with Detroit. The Lions love attacking the middle of the field, and the Bears did a relatively good job of defending the Lions’ passing attack in the first game. That needs to happen again for the Bears to be successful and be more technically sound during two-minute drives. Also, this game should be an opportunity for Fields to show his dual-threat capabilities. The Bears don’t just start a two-game win streak, but a two-game win streak against NFC North opponents.

Will DeWitt (6-6) — Lions 23, Bears 21

I swear it feels like there’s a devil on one shoulder and an angel. One is saying to choose the Bears. The other says the Lions. Now, which is which is up to you. Even though Detroit has been in one-score games every single week since their bye, and the Bears let them off the hook a few weeks ago, I’m personally going to remain in “wait and see” mode when it comes to the Bears’ ability to beat a team like Detroit. Winning two games in a row, let alone back-to-back wins in the division feels like a tall order. If the Bears Defense can pressure Jared Goff and force him into mistakes like last time, and the offense does a better job of making the most of those, then perhaps the Bears will win. I suspect this one will be close and come down to the wire, too. It’ll depend on which team makes the better adjustments between meetings, and during the game itself, which is why I’ll lean towards the Lions this week.

Greg Braggs Jr. (8-4) — Lions 24, Bears 20

My biggest problem with the Bears this season has been adjustments. Or lack thereof. I’m confident the Lions will make the proper adjustments after the Bears took them by surprise for 58 minutes in Detroit. But will Chicago be ready for the counter punch? I’m not so confident with that. Should be cold, which plays a factor in the Bears favor and the defense has been playing well but it feels like the Bears haven’t played in forever since the bye week and the Lions are battle tested. Flus falls short of back to back wins once again. 

Corey Wootton (6-6) — Bears 21, Lions 17

Grind em out game. Bears have historically had Jared Goff’s number even back to his Rams days. Defense is hitting its stride. Offensively have the same game plan as last time, but finish the game and control the clock!

Mark Carman (7-5) — Lions 23, Bears 20

Detroit makes more adjustments than the Bears do and hold the Luke Getsy game plan down. Bears keep it interesting but come up short down the stretch.

Kevin Kaduk (7-5) — Bears 20, Lions 19

The Bears have already proven they can hang with the Lions. To win this one, they’ll also need to prove they can put together a good gameplan off an extended break and win two straight games, something they’ve never done under Matt Eberflus. I think they finally get it done, though, kicking off one of the most interesting months we’ll ever see in Bears football.

Jake Flannigan (4-8) — Bears 31, Lions 28

The winning ways continue for a team of destiny?

That mindset is consistent with the 24-year-old quarterback as he prepares for the final five games of the 2023 regular season. But there is a lot on the line for Fields and his play could determine what ultimately happens once the season concludes.

The Bears currently hold the No. 1 overall pick thanks to Carolina and Chicago only has four wins through 13 weeks. Fields has had his ups and downs this season, which creates uncertainty as to what general manager Ryan Poles will do moving forward.

Given the Bears’ current position in the draft, selecting a rookie quarterback could be a realistic option. That’s been a heavily discussed topic outside of Halas Hall, and Fields was asked on Wednesday if he thinks it’s fair that people are factoring the team’s draft position, the quarterbacks in the class and how his performance in these last five games could play into his future with the team.

“Yeah, I mean, life isn’t fair,” Fields said. “So me personally, I’m just focused on what I can control, and the rest is in God’s hands. Really you just put everything in God’s hands and you know it’s going to turn out good for you. Wherever, if I’m here next year, if I’m not, football doesn’t define who I am as a person. My happiness will still be in the same place, will still be in God. And really just football wise, life stuff in general, I think my faith in God, my hope in God is just so much more than anything that can be thrown at me on this earth.

Yeah, I mean, that’s why I don’t really stress over stuff like that, over stuff that I can’t control. I know that God’s got me and I’m going to be good. I’m very blessed in the position I am in, and I think a million people would love to be in the position I am right now. So really just, I’m not taking that for granted and just taking each and every moment I have every day up here to the fullest.”

This isn’t the first time Fields has mentioned his faith in God. One of the other many examples was in a interview with GQ Sports that was released in April. Fields highlighted the top 10 things he can’t live without and mentioned his first essential is the Bible app. Fields said he uses it to get his day started, and he also has 1 John 1:9 tattooed on his chest: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Even though there is outside noise surrounding Fields, he has his faith to guide him and puts his focus on what he can control. Right now he can control how he plays in these final five games, starting with the rematch against the Detroit Lions. Fields wants to personally work on his overall consistency and also how the team finishes after the defense creates a turnover.

In the last two games, the Bears have created eight turnovers, but only have 13 points to show for the impact plays.

“I mean, the mindset is just score,” Fields said. “Of course, the better we play complementary football, the better we give our team a chance to win. Of course, we want to capitalize on those moments when the defense does give us a short field or we do have a sudden-change moment where they get a turnover or something like that. We definitely want to start turning those into touchdowns and at least three points. Yeah, definitely, we’ve got to do a better job with that, for sure.”

With five games left, Fields will focus on scoring touchdowns and doing whatever he can to add to the Bears overall win total. The rest he will leave to a higher power.

It all comes down to execution — something that Bears head coach Matt Eberflus constantly brings up in his weekly press conferences.

In the 12-10 victory against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football, the Bears defense had its best overall execution of the season. They limited the Vikings to 242 yards of total offense, Joshua Dobbs threw four interceptions and Minnesota went just 2 of 9 on third down.

It was a defensive clinic that had plenty of highlight caliber plays throughout the night.

There was a key play, though, that easily went overlooked.

After Justin Fields’ second fumble in the fourth quarter, the Vikings took over on the Bears’ 43-yard line, holding a 10-9 lead with 3:37 left in the game. The first play was a run to Alexander Mattison up the middle for no gain.

The second down play is the one that got away from Minnesota.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell highlighted the Mattison run that only gained one yard in his postgame press conference.

“They were in base defense, they loaded up the box pretty good,” O’Connell said. “Thought we had a chance on the second down play to maybe try to see if we could attack the edge. It looked a little weak over there, but they were able to turn the ball back up inside. We weren’t able to at least get it into that range where you start thinking about giving Greg (Joseph) an opportunity. …”

Film Breakdown

To help provide analysis with the second-and-10 run, I reached out to former Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long and he provided an in-depth explanation on why the Vikings were unsuccessful on this play.

The Vikings are lined up in 13 personnel (one running back and three tight ends), and the Bears are in their base 4-3 defense. Justin Jones ends up making the play and tackling Mattison for just a 1-yard gain.

In this run zone scheme concept, left guard Dalton Risner originally has a 3-tech to his left, which is Jones.

Jones then reduces down to a 2i once wide receiver Jordan Addison motions down, making the Bears’ defensive lineman Risner’s responsibility.

Once Risner takes too big of an angle on Jones, the Bears’ defensive lineman falls back and returns to his 3-tech alignment.

This is where the left tackle Christain Darrisaw (No. 71) comes into play, accoding to Long. Darrisaw was originally on a B block, which is a two-man zone on the original 3-tech to the linebacker, and that is Tremaine Edmunds.

After Addison’s motion, Jones went to a 2i, so the combo for the guard and tackle is off. Long mentioned now it’s up to Darrisaw to go flat down the line as fast as he can to Jones on his way to Edmunds.

Since Jones after the snap went from his 2i alignment back to a 3-tech, Risner continues on his zone. The No. 1 rule according to Long is don’t turn back. So Darrisaw has to see that on his flat path and takeover the returning 3-tech.

Darrisaw didn’t take a good enough angle and his collision with Jones ricocheted the Bears’ defensive tackle into making a play on the running back.

The Bears then made a tackle for loss on third down and forced the Vikings to punt. Then Fields took the Bears offense down the field for the game-winning field goal.

Football is the ultimate team game, and this one rep highlights how just one player not executing their assignment can create a negative impact. Although it gets repetitive hearing Eberflus always mention the word “execution” during his press conferences, he does so because he understands the difference it can make on any given play.

Although the 12-10 win over the Vikings on Monday Night Football left a good feeling entering the Week 13 Bye, these final five games hold some serious implications for many members of the Bears organization.

At just four total wins this season and seven since Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus took over in 2022, jobs are on the line. It’s the business of the NFL and the Bears’ coach is well aware of how the league works. And with decades of experience in the NFL, pressure is something Eberflus has felt while coaching.

“Certainly you feel that during the course of my 32 years you feel it over the time,” Eberflus said. “And you just gotta put your best foot forward and just keep working and grinding and keep executing and getting the guys to focus and wire in. Being positive, also being real with the players, so they can improve. And the same way with your staff. Where we need to improve at and what we need to get better at. So that’s no different this year than any other year.”

Last season, Eberflus and Poles were actively rebuilding a roster from the last regime and only won three games, so it would’ve taken something disastrous to fire the coaching staff. Now another season into this current regime with a new president in Kevin Warren, there is no reason to assume the Bears will run things back.

Poles has backed up Eberflus openly during press conferences, but is that a reason why the second-year coach should feel safe about his job? Here is what Ebeflus had to say when he was about that on Monday.

“What you can focus on is leadership, and the first the rule of leadership is leading yourself,” Eberflus said. “Come to work every day, put the plans together — offense, defense, special teams — lead the football team, help the leadership council, lead the football team as well, because true leadership comes from within. I think that’s really what you focus on, and that’s put your best foot forward every single day.”

T.J. Edwards on rematch with Lions

Just 16 days ago, the Bears lost in a heartbreaker to the Lions at Ford Field after having a 12-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

T.J. Edwards and the rest of the Bears defense outplayed the Lions for a majority of the game. Jared Goff threw three interceptions, including one that was picked off by Edwards, but the game was won and lost at the end of the first half and the final four minutes of the game.

The Lions scored at the end of the first half on a 10-play, 75-yard drive in just 1:36. With 4:15 left in the fourth quarter, the Lions went on a 6-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in 1:16. Then on the next possession, Goff led the offense on an 11-play, 73-yard touchdown scoring drive in 2:04.

Detroit scored touchdowns quickly with its two-minute offense and Chicago didn’t have any answers. Here is what Edwards said can be done in practice to simulate those two-minute game-like situations.

“A lot of it is being comfortable with the calls,” Edwards said. “It’s hard to emulate, again, that type of environment when it’s must get a stop, things like that. But I think our coaches have done a great job of trying to put us in those situations and trying to give us at least a little sneak peak of what we could see. Our coaches work hard in game planning those things. They try to give us the toughest looks, but again, they got good coaches, too, so there are gonna be some things that you haven’t seen on the film and things like that. But that’s where our rules and what we’re doing is big time. Just making sure we’re all on the same page with those things is our biggest takeaway, honestly.”

Although Edwards wishes that first 31-26 loss to the Lions ended differently, he and his teammates will get another opportunity to take down their NFC North foe at Solider Field.

“As you know, these are very important games,” Edwards said. “December football is where it’s decided. You got to go in you got to play your best ball, which I think that’s where we feel we are at right now. We got to keep getting better in every facet of the game. So we’re excited to see em but we’re excited because it’s the next game, and we know these are important games for sure.” 

Cole Kmet already in “playoff mode”

There are just five games remaining in the regular season.

The Bears currently sit at 4-8 and depending on which television broadcast you watch, Chicago may even be seen under the “In The Hunt” column.

With a hand full of games remaining on the schedule, Kmet is treating this final stretch like he is already in the postseason.

“Look, we finish these five out here,” Kmet said. “Obviously I’m treating it like we’re in playoff mode now. I think five very winnable games here to end the season. Who knows what can happen at 9-8? I’m not looking too big picture — you take it one week at a time. Look, there’s a lot of flux at the bottom of the NFC here, especially for that seven, six spot. You never know what can happen. You gotta take it one week at a time and we’ll see where it goes.”

If the Bears were able to close out their first matchup with the Lions and finish against the Denver Broncos, Chicago would in a better situation to be in the mix of playoff contention.

“I was talking about the margins being so thin,” Kmet said. “You look back at a couple games in the season. I can think of two that we really should have won. You win those, you’re just out of the playoffs — I think we’d be just out of the playoff mark at this point. We are where we’re at right now. That’s this league. But at the end of the day we’re still, you’re still kinda in it even though it’s been not a great start to start the season out here. You got five games to finish this thing off. And we’ll see where it lays, if we can get to 9-8 here.”

Justin Fields and Cairo Santos both had a moment or two against the Vikings that didn’t go their way, but how the two finished the game helped the Chicago Bears secure a 12-10 victory on Monday Night Football against their NFC North rival.

Going into the primetime game at U.S. Bank Stadium, Santos had only missed one field goal on the season. On the Bears first offensive drive of the game, Fields helped get the offense well within Santos’ field-goal range. The veteran lined up for a 48-yard kick, but missed it to the right.

After the game, Fields admitted he was surprised that Santos missed the field goal because of how well he had been kicking the football.

“You have to really trust your work that you do, the operation, the line, which I do,” Santos said after the game. “Just kind of kept doing what we do. We didn’t have to change anything. The miss is on me. Just not finishing the kick, so I was disappointed for sure. It was eating me alive for a little while, but I knew I had to stay with it and do what we do and getting opportunities was awesome to get an opportunity to bounce back.”

Santos would get four more opportunities after his first missed attempt. He made a 25, 39, 55 and the game-sealing 30-yard field goal. The 55-yard attempt was significant for a few reasons. It was tied for Santos’ longest field goal of his career and to attempt that kick from that distance at the beginning of the fourth quarter showed the trust the coaching staff had in their kicker.

“Pregame we already have the line set,” Santos said. “I really know what the strategy is each drive, so I get ready with the net to whatever kicked I can be asked to do and just wait for coach to make a decision. So we can go for it, we could kick a long field goal, so him letting me kick a 55, especially after I didn’t execute a long one. I remember that thought going through my head just like, ‘Man, I love this coach for allowing me to do that.’ That confidence kinda passes on to me and on the kick I said, ‘Let’s go.’ Right before that it was almost like I knew the kick was going in just because of the confidence that he showed in me.”

On the following drive after Santos’ made 55-yard field goal, the Bears defense intercepted Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs for the fourth time. The Bears took over on the Minnesota 38-yard line up 9-3 with 12:32 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bears defense up to that point of the game had been dominant, and all the offense needed to do was make it a two-possession game and that may have sealed the victory. But five plays after Kyler Gordon’s interception, Fields fumbled the ball on second-and-10 — which ignited a spark for the Vikings.

Minnesota capitalized on the turnover and went on an 8-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. Just like that the Bears were down 10-9 with 5:54 left in the fourth quarter. Still, the Bears had another opportunity and time on the clock. But on third-and-10, Fields nearly gave the game away with his second lost fumble of the quarter.

“First off can’t fumble,” Fields said after the game. “Need better ball security on that and it’s crazy cause Roschon (Johnson) I think he fumbled a play or two before I fumbled on the first one, and I’m telling him ball security is the most important things right now. Then two plays later, I fumble. Then the second was like a back breaker.”

The Vikings took over on Chicago’s 43-yard line, but the Bears defense forced a quick three-and-out to give Fields and the offense one last opportunity to change the outcome of the game.

Fields led the offense on a 10-play, 66-yard drive, which included a 36-yard completion to DJ Moore in the middle of the field to put Santos well within his field goal range.

That play was one that Fields and Moore had been connecting on since the dog days of training camp. Moore saw the middle of the field open up and Fields delivered a strike.

“Guys never wavered,” Fields said. “I told the guys in the locker room, ‘I appreciate them for sticking beside me and believing in me.’ You know defense did a great job getting us the ball back for that last drive and the offense did a great job executing those plays. So it felt great and really just felt good fighting through the adversity. Ups and downs of the game. Guys never got too high or too low and we fought and finished in the end.”

Just a week prior, the Bears lost to the Lions at Ford Field despite being up 12 points with just 4:15 left in the game. The Bears weren’t going to let that same result happen again. At halftime, Fields said the message in the locker room was to simply finish and that clearly stuck with the team.

Even though Fields and Santos had their own individual errors, the team still had the belief those two could get the job done when they needed to most. That’s the mindset T.J. Edwards had in his teammates.

“Man, that’s our guy,” Edwards said about Santos. There’s no waiver in confidence from us when it comes to eight. He’s been automatic all year. I just kind of had a feeling that he was going to hit a big-time kick after that. I know how he rolls. He’s a competitor. He’s our guy. It was awesome seeing him make that at the end of the game. The celebration was nuts, so it’s good to see.”

Edwards made the final tackle on third-and-9 that forced the Vikings to punt. Then the Bears linebacker watched Fields as he led the offense to win the game.

“I mean I think everyone on our sideline knew when that time was going to come that he was going to make a play,” Edwards said. “O-line did a great job of holding up all drive, and obviously having those weapons, having two out there helps a lot. That’s our guy. He’s a playmaker for a reason. He’s a captain for a reason, and he makes some big-time plays, so it was awesome to see.”

The Bears will enter their Bye Week with a 4-8 record, and Fields believes this win was significant because of the impact it can create on the final five games of the regular season.

“As a team, we haven’t let our record define who we are,” Fields said. “We know who we are as a team. We know what we are capable of and it’s really just going out there and doing it. Going out there and executing and finishing the way we know how, the way we did tonight. Really just cleaning up the mistakes cause if you clean up my two fumbles, we’re probably not even in that situation. So just again, props to all the guys, coaches, teammates and sticking their head down and finishing.”

Patrick Kane is a Detroit Red Wing, so if you were planning on extracting some joy out of this Victory Tuesday, the 2023 Chicago sports scene has other plans.

Because of course it does.

And no, last night’s Bears triumph over the Vikings wasn’t suitable for framing either. Far from it, in fact, as all 12 points came from Cairo Santos field goals and not a single touchdown from Justin Fields and the rest of the offense.

But the fact is that the Bears can’t be choosy with the first NFC North win in their last 13 tries. Almost two years after Ryan Poles’ vow to take the north and never give it back, both Poles and Matt Eberflus finally have a division victory to call their own.

As always, we’ll take what we can get. The Bears are now 4-8 as they head into their bye weekend with five games left in the season and Detroit coming into Soldier Field on December 10.

Let’s get to the thoughts …

1. I went out on a limb during yesterday’s predictions and picked a 20-point blowout by the Bears, who I thought were due for a primetime bounceback surprise like the one in Washington. And I might have gotten away with it, too, had the Bears offense managed to turn those four Josh Dobbs interceptions into more than just three points.
   
   
2. Was that an NFL game plan we saw from Luke Getsy or a demented version of the Cha Cha Slide? To the left … to the right … take it back now … freeze!
   
   
3. It’s so hard not to fall into the trap of running a referendum on Justin Fields’ play each week, but these 12 days before the next game really gives Bears fans a lot of time to stake out their respective positions on QB1 and wage the usual war. It feels like the “he’s not the guy” camp would’ve hit max capacity had Fields not managed the game-winning drive after those two big fourth-quarter fumbles but credit to him for coming through when it mattered most.
   
   
4. I still don’t know where I’m at with Fields. I felt pretty good about his future after the Detroit loss and even said so on last Tuesday’s The Chicago Sports Podcast. Then those two fumbles happened — the first when the Bears were on the verge of icing the game — and my angry Bears fan side came out. In the end, it’s important to remember there are still five games left of evaluation … as well as an evaluation of this year’s quarterback prospects.
   
   
5. Credit to Cairo Santos for doing the impossible … putting an end to Bears fans mentioning Robbie Gould every other sentence.
   
   
6. Playing Josh Dobbs this week and last week’s collapse aside, can we be excited about this defense? Montez Sweat has been the gamechanger he was advertised to be and his paycheck demands. Gervon Dexter Sr. is standing out. The secondary has been a UNIT these past two weeks. T.J. Edwards is playing like he grew up wanting to be the next great Bears linebacker. The possible departure of Jaylon Johnson this offseason could complicate things, but the Bears defense seems to be on the right track.
   
   
7. Speaking of an as-advertised gamechanger, DJ Moore had 11 catches for 114 yards and the biggest play of the game-winning drive. He’s now at 1,003 receiving yards for the season, trailing just Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen, CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown. Eclipsing Brandon Marshall’s club record of 1,508 yards in a season is in play.
   
   
8. I didn’t know Kyler Gordon’s helmet could do that.
   
   
9. The Bears went into Monday night’s game owning the fourth pick in the draft and left Minnesota … with the fourth pick in the draft. There are, however, six additional teams at either 4-8 or 4-7 so the Bears could find their pick at the bottom half of the top 10 or farther with a couple of wins in a soft December schedule.
   
   
10. Don’t look now, but the Green Bay Packers are now just a half-game out of a playoff spot. My nightmare of beating the Packers in Week 18 to give them a shot at Caleb Williams has now changed to a fantasy of beating them in Week 18 to keep them out of the playoffs.
    
    
    As I said before, we’ll take what we can get.
    
    Enjoy your Tuesday and thanks for your support of CHGO!

Kevin Kaduk

The Chicago Bears snapped a 12-game NFC North losing streak on Monday night despite not scoring a single touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. Cairo Santos made four field goals in the 12-10 win, including the 30-yard gamewinner with just 10 seconds remaining.

It was the first time in 30 years that the Bears won a game without scoring a touchdown and moved their overall record to 4-8 heading into the bye week.

Justin Fields had two big fumbles in the fourth quarter, but made the big throw when he needed to, connecting with DJ Moore for a 36-yard gain on third-and-10. Moore had a huge game, catching the ball 10 times for 114 yards.

The Bears also let several opportunities slip by in the first half. Cairo Santos missed his first field goal attempt of the night, the offense could not turn two Joshua Dobbs interceptions into a single point and Jaylon Johnson dropped his second pick-six chance in as many weeks. Combine that with six penalties for 71 yards in the first half and the Bears headed to the locker room tied at 3.

Here are our initial impressions about the loss …

Adam Hoge

Who needs touchdowns?!? The Bears won their first game since 1993 without scoring touchdowns. Coincidentally, they looked like the 90s Bears Monday night. I’m not sure we learned anything from this one, as Matt Eberflus and Justin Fields will face the same uncertainty about their futures.

Nicholas Moreano

Justin Fields had the ball in his hands with just 2:29 left in the fourth quarter and his team down 10-9. Fields, who on the previous two drives fumbled, had one more opportunity to keep his team alive. The Bears’ quarterback led his offense down the field and the biggest play was a strike to DJ Moore over the middle of the field for a gain of 36 yards on third-and-10. That put Cairo Santos well within his range. Santos lined up for the 30-field goal and put it through the uprights to give the Bears their first divisional victory in two years.

Will DeWitt

Ummm. Well, the Bears found a way to finish a game! Congratulations to Matt Eberflus for finally beating a divisional rival after a year and a half. If you want to nitpick the gameplan, decision making, Fields’ fumbles, inability to score off turnovers — feel free. I would not blame you. It’s warranted. But we have all week for that.

I’m going to take a moment and relish this win. They’ve been hard to come by over the past few years. The Vikings had everything to play for, but the Bears Defense held its own all game long. I haven’t seen a defense in Chicago like that in some time.

When it mattered most, Fields made the biggest throw of the game and led his team to a victory. And for that, I’m thankful.

Mark Carman

A win is a … win. This one though feels more like a loss. The play calling was conservative at best. The QB held the ball for a long time and fumbled twice in key spots. But Justin Fields made the throw to DJ Moore on 3rd down to pull victory out of the jaws of disaster. Bears win and they have one more win than last season. The future, remains as murky as ever.

Greg Braggs Jr.

Well, it wasn’t pretty but the Bears under Matt Eberflus have FINALLY won a division game! Last week it was 95 percent fun, percent bad. This week is was 95 percent bad, 5 percent fun. Wins are fun, right? I don’t even know anymore. Seems like today creates more questions than answers about both the coaches and the quarterback. Yes, Justin Fields won the game but those fumbles were bad. Bad, bad. Eberflus seems to have the defense turning the corner with 9 forced turnovers over the last 2 games. Getsy threw about 15 screens on the day. So we’ll call this game a wash in terms of evaluation for anyone earning their jobs for next season.

Kevin Kaduk

Why did they have to be so hard? Josh Dobbs giftwrapped the game time and time again with four interceptions yet Justin Fields and the offense couldn’t even come close to a knockout blow. Then Fields tried to give the game to the Vikings with two fumbles in the fourth quarter. In the end, it was the accuracy of Cairo Santos that sends the Bears into their bye week with a win to pair with plenty of questions about Fields and the coaching staff.

You know what happened next.

Can the Bears put that deflating defeat behind them and rebound against the Minnesota Vikings in front of a hostile crowd on Monday Night Football?

Here’s how we see this wone shaking out …

Adam Hoge (6-5) — Vikings 24, Bears 20

Here’s the thing: I actually think the Bears should win this football game. My gut is even telling me they will. Unfortunately, with the way Brian Flores’ defense is playing, I don’t think the Bears will be able to run away with it, which means we’re likely talking about another close game in the fourth quarter. And until they prove otherwise, it’s foolish to predict them to come out on top. 

Nicholas Moreano (5-6) — Vikings 23, Bears 20

After the Bears’ fourth-quarter debacle against the Lions, I made a vow to not pick the Bears again until they prove they can finish a game. This Vikings defense will be a good measuring stick for Justin Fields to see how much he has learned from the first matchup that resulted in him dislocating his right thumb. Bears keep it close but lose another divisional game.

Will DeWitt (6-5) — Vikings 24, Bears 23

It all comes down to our least favorite f-word: finishing. The Bears should be right in this game, especially if they continue to tailor the offense to Justin Fields’ strengths. Even though Joshua Dobbs has been playing well since joining the Vikings, he’s still prone to giving defenses chances. So, the Bears will have chances at creating a few takeaways on Monday night. I expect the Bears to make this game close, but until they prove they can finish games, I’m going to have to take their opponents.

Greg Braggs Jr. (7-4) — Bears 24, Vikings 18

The last time the Bears had a complete meltdown vs Denver, they followed that up with a road win over the Commanders in prime time. I’m going with the same recipe this time. After a complete meltdown vs Detroit, I’ve got the Bears winning a road game on prime time in Minnesota. The Bears should be more prepared for the Vikings blitz and the Bears offensive line is better than it was for their first matchup. And the Vikings don’t have Kirk Cousins this time around but instead Josh Dobbs who’s looked shaky last couple of starts. Add it all together and that equals a Bears win!

Mark Carman (7-4) — Vikings 20, Bears 16

Feels like a Thanksgiving / Lions hangover waiting to happen. Matt Eberflus may have lost at least some of the team after the Lions debacle. Throw in Brian Flores and the Vikings defense presenting the Bears’ continued problems, and you get Minnesota sneaking out with a win. 

Kevin Kaduk (6-5) — Bears 34, Vikings 14

The trust level in the Bears are low and for good reason. But despite the late collapse, we saw a lot of good things in the first 56 minutes of the Detroit game and I think they can carry over to Minnesota. The key will be the offense quieting the Vikings fans early … and the defense making sure they stay that way late.

Jake Flannigan (3-8) — Bears 24, Vikings 17

In Justin Fields we trust.

That’s typically how most of Santos’ teammates know him. But the Bears’ kicker has an alternate personality come out of him after he makes a field goal.

In the 16-13 victory against the Panthers on Thursday Night Football in Week 10, Santos made all three of his field goals.

His first attempt was a 49-yard field goal to give the Bears their first points of the game. Santos kicked the ball through the uprights and began to quickly celebrate with his teammates.

But there was a flag on the play — a false start on veteran offensive lineman Cody Whitehair. The penalty moved the special teams unit back five yards and now Santos had a 54-yard field goal attempt.

The 5-foot-8, 175-pound kicker lined up and, again, kicked the ball through the uprights. That 54-yarder was Santos’ second-longest made field goal of his career, and he was pumped up about it.

“Yeah, he just kind of has that like, ‘Fuck yeah. I’m like that type attitude,'” Bears long snapper Patrick Scales said.

Punter Trenton Gill said that Santos made a stank face after the kick.

“He’s like an assassin you know,” Gill said. “You know when like a sniper takes a good shot? He like knows he is going to make it. Like he knows it’s going to be a good shot every time, so it’s like he’s pretty confident, proud you know.”

Santos said it’s great to express those emotions after a made kick because of how hard the special teams unit works to get those opportunities and execute them, but it doesn’t last long. At times only 20 seconds.

“It’s give or take, you know, just like a little moment,” Santos said. “I heard Tiger Woods say that in an interview that he allows himself to get angry but only for that. Just get it and then it’s over. You have to move on. I think it’s something that he might have been talking about teaching Charlie, his son, as it’s coming up to say, ‘It’s okay to be made to feel like that.’ In golf and kicking, I think there’s a lot of correlation and that you have to be even-keeled because the next shot’s gonna come up and you can’t let the good or bad in the past affect the next one.”

Although the emotions after a made or missed field goal come and go, Santos does realize the impact he can create when his teammates do see the other side of him.

“I think they kind of feed off a little bit because they see that we want that moment,” Santos said. “We can’t go out and hit guys. I can’t, you know, ‘Let’s go, J. Jones (Justin Jones), let’s get this sack together.’ He’s doing that and I’m just watching. You know, I can’t go, DJ Moore and, ‘Let’s go, man. Catch this 50-yard bomb.’ I can’t do that with them on the field, but when I get my opportunities and I capitalize on it and get pumped up, I hope they know that I’m with them in this war that is a football game. So, they’re counting on us and we want to give that energy. Put points on the board that you guys can trust us and we’re in this together.”

And when Santos goes onto the field, his teammates can feel his energy and it resonates throughout the entire team.

“It doesn’t matter where we are at,” Scales said. “We know as soon as we get in field goal range, that he’s locked in and we know he can make that shit. He’s got it in him. On top of that it feeds into the offense cause all the offense has to do is just get us there, man, and we’ll help it out. It’s complimentary football.”

Oct. 6, 2019: Bills @ Titans

In Week 5 of the 2019 NFL season, the Titans hosted the Bills at home. Santos was Tennessee’s kicker at the time.

Heading into that game, Santos had been 11 of 11 on extra points and made 4 of his 5 field goals. But against the Bills, he would go on to experience something completely career changing in the Titans 14-7 loss.

Santos went 0 for 4 on his field goal attempts. He missed a 50, 35 and 53-yard attempt, and also had a 33-yarder blocked. The Titans cut Santos one day after the loss, and he didn’t get a call from another team for the rest of the season. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit the following season and he didn’t get a single workout until the Bears signed him in late August.

“Basically I went a long time just kind of waiting for the next opportunity,” Santos said. “So I think it allowed me just to like just be so hungry for one. And I knew that the next opportunity I got would be my last. Like I just felt that way because of the injuries and the bad game. So I just attacked months of like, I made changes to my kicks. I got healthier because I wasn’t taking a toll of an NFL season on my body. But I got hungry. I just got like, you know, every opportunity I had to bring it and I still feel lke to this day, kicking in Chicago I have to bring my A player, and I think that’s what’s brought the best of me in that moment to save my career.”

Since Santos joined the Bears in 2020, he has made 96 of his 105 field goal attempts. During his 2020 season, Santos made 27 straight field goals and finished with a 93.8 field goal percentage. Both of those achievements broke records that were previously held by Robbie Gould. Before the 2021 season, the Bears and Santos agreed to a three-year, $9 million contract extension.

Through the first 11 games of this season, Santos has made 19 of his 20 field goals and is 21 of 22 on extra point attempts. Outside of the 2017 season when he finished with a 100% field goal percentage on his three made kicks, his 95% field-goal success rate this season is the highest of his career.

“I knew that game never was going to define me like, you know, it was just such an off game for the kind of standards that I do,” Santos said. “That I knew it wasn’t going to define like I’m that inconsistent of a kicker.”

Even though that four field goal missed game led to some tough times for Santos afterward, the 32-year-old kicker now loves talking about that infamous performance.

“I do believe that I am here today because of what I learned,” Santos said. “I’ve had some bad games in these four years that I’ve had here. Everyone has. That game changed my life for the better to be honest. That’s how I viewed it.”

Something Santos has learned in his 10-year NFL career is how to stay mentally locked in during games. He will make sure he is loose and even has a ball teed up on each tripod in front of the two nets on opposite ends of the Bears’ sideline in case there is a big play.

Santos will even try to look ahead during a drive and predict what could happen. And with a teammate like Justin Fields, Santos said he always has to be ready because an explosive play can happen at any moment.

“So I feel like a lot of the game I spend in my own world,” Santos said. “Like just preparing for when I have a situation come up. I want to be in control of everything. When a field goal is called, I feel like I step into a routine that I try to simulate that routine every time I practice.”

The usually soft-spoken Santos doesn’t typically have much to say after he makes a field goal. He will let out an occasional, “Let’s go,” “Yeah” or simply just yell. He isn’t big into cussing either, but even that slight and brief celebration brings out the emotions from his teammates.

Scales said: “But then he makes those big kicks and you feel that energy come from him and you’re like, ‘Fuck yeah. He’s got that dog in him.'”

Tracy Walker III was the boundary safety in two-high coverage, and he came down once he saw DJ Moore crossing from the right to the left portion of the field on a drag route. Once Fields recognized Walker come down, he knew where to go with the football.

To rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott, who beat the corner with a nice release off the line of scrimmage and got behind the Lions’ defensive back. As Scott was running and trying to gage the football’s flight pattern, the young receiver misjudged the ball and the pass fell incomplete.

A completed pass would’ve put the Bears at least inside the Lions’ 30-yard line with just under three minutes left on the clock. The Lions only had one timeout to stop the clock.

Instead, the Lions went on to take the lead with an 11-play, 73-yard touchdown drive and ultimately won the game, 31-26.

That misconnection could’ve easily left a permanent scar on Fields to not trust Scott in crucial moments going forward.

But that’s not how Fields is looking at his fellow teammate at all.

“One game is not going to define if I go back to him,” Fields said. “To be honest, with you, I don’t care if you keep dropping the ball because everybody, we have our own individual responsibility to help this team be successful. If the receiver’s open, I’m going to throw him the ball and if he drops it, it’s his responsibility to catch the ball. That’s his job. He gets paid to do that. I’m not losing faith in him one game, two games, however many games, I’m going to keep going back to him.

“He’s going to be a great receiver, he has a lot of room to grow and he’s talented even now. He’s made a lot of plays for us this year on offense, special teams. He’s a speedster. Not many DBs can keep up with him. That one game, whatever it was. He had a tough game but we’ve all had tough games. As a football player, you have tough games. I’ve had a lot of tough games. It does nothing but make me better, make him better. At the end of the day, he’s a hard worker. He’s not going to let one, two, three games define who he is as a player. I have full faith in Tyler. Everybody else does, too.”

Fields couldn’t have provided a better answer. Clearly, regardless of the result of one play, Fields won’t have any hesitation on going back to a teammate, which is exactly how a quarterback should operate.

This answer is just one of the many instances of Fields displaying exceptional leadership and how to answer a question during a press conference properly.

Fields being willing to go back to Scott on a potential deep ball during a crucial portion of the game is also important because it’s what Fields excels at.

“To be honest, I feel like deep balls, just in general, I feel like it’s what I do best, to be honest with you,” Fields said. “I think I throw the ball down the field exceptionally. It’s one of my strengths. I’ve been doing it since high school, college. I think it’s one thing that I do best and one thing that I think we’re going to keep doing and get to more.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Fields has the sixth-highest grade (94.7) on deep passes of 20 or more yards. He has completed 14 of 29 attempts for 371 yards and has thrown seven touchdowns and zero interceptions.

With six games remaining in the regular season, expect Fields to continue taking shots downfield and to do so while targeting Scott when the opportunity presents itself.

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But as quickly as Detroit scored its first touchdown in the closing minutes — which only took 1:16 off the clock — the Lions erased the lead and came back to deliver the Bears their eighth loss of the season.

Unsurprisingly after the game, Bears fans echoed their frustration on social media and called for coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordiantor Luke Getsy to be fired.

It’s hard to blame the fans considering the Bears had a 98.2 percent of winning the game when they were up by 12 with 4:15 on the clock, according to ESPN.

People outside of Halas Hall may want one thing, but the ones inside it have a different feeling about the leaders of this football team.

T.J. Edwards — who led the team with nine tackles and also had one of Jared Goff’s three interceptions — knows what’s like to be a part of a team that hasn’t achieved much success. While he was with the Eagles during the 2020 season, Philadelphia finished last in the NFC East with a 4-11-1 record.

“I mean, I have only been to one Super Bowl,” Edwards said. “So I’ve had some times where we have lost some games at the end of the year. Things like that. I understand what it feels like to lose a game that you feel like you should’ve won, but at the end of the day, the only thing you can do in this league is grow. As soon as you start to feel sorry for yourself and start to point fingers and things like that, that’s when stuff gets really bad. And we don’t have the guys in here that are doing that.

“We don’t have the coaches that are doing that. We got the right guys in here to build this thing and keep growing. It’s a tough pill to swallow, no doubt. No doubt about it we’re hurt by it cause we put a lot into it. You know just like you guys and your job. You know you put a lot into it. So do we, and we expect good results and unfortunately we didn’t get it.”

Following that last-place finish in the NFC East, Edwards’ Eagles went on to make the playoffs in the last two seasons he was in Philadelphia. In 2021, the Eagles finished 9-6 and lost in the Wild Card round. Then last season, the Eagles fell short in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.

This is Edwards’ first year in Chicago, but the Bears since the beginning of the 2022 season only have six wins to date. So losing has become a part of this Bears’ identity under Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles.

Sunday in Detroit just became the latest and most devasting loss. But Edwards won’t put the debacle at the end of the game against the Lions on his coaches.

“Yeah, no doubt,” Edwards said when asked if his coaches put the defense in a position to make plays. “I mean, at the end of the day no matter what is called, the coaches can only do so much, right? It’s down to us executing our job at a high level. That’s what the league is. You know what I’m saying. So there’s never going to be a perfect call. That’s kind of how it goes. They’ve got good coaches over there too so.

When we get those opportunities no matter what we’re in, and I think we were in the right position, we’ve just got to find a way to make a play. We had two drives kind of there at the end of the game where we couldn’t get them off the field and that’s what it came down to.”

Edwards also said that a way to stop an offense’s two-minute drill is to create “big plays” on defense, and that is what this current Bears unit will be striving to accomplish with six games remaining in the 2023 regular season.

Well, I didn’t think these 2023 Chicago Bears were capable of making me feel strong emotions any longer. I thought they beat it out of me the first month of the season.

But there I was for the first 56 minutes of Sunday’s game, enjoying the rare experience of watching the Bears in control against a good team on the road.

I felt good … even giddy.

But then the last few minutes happened and I was left doing something I didn’t expect the rest of this season — fuming over a Bears loss well into the evening.

With that, let’s get into the 10 quick thoughts …

1. Today’s narrative is totally different if the Bears just hang on for four more minutes. A dominating win over an 8-2 Lions team would’ve gone a long way in repairing much of the damage Matt Eberflus and staff did to their reputation early in the season. It might’ve even gotten the meatier meatballs among us to start dreaming up some playoff hopes with three wins in the last four and six soft games remaining in a putrid NFC race.
   
   
2. We were instead left weighing which loss was worse — this 31-26 downing in Detroit or the 21-point collapse against Denver on October 1. Considering the overall health of the Bears and the relative quality of the opponent, it was Sunday’s defeat by a wide margin.
   
   
3. I knew the instant that Justin Fields fumbled on the Bears’ final drive that we’d be getting the usual “see?” from the anti-Fields crowd and it immediately made me see red. Dude racks up 273 all-purpose yards, posts a QB rating in the triple digits and outplays his counterpart all afternoon, only to be put in an impossible situation by a cautious coaching staff that turtled on both sides of the ball in the final minutes. And you want to go back to whatever digital forum you favor to trumpet that as evidence you don’t think Fields is the guy? Foh.
   
   
4. I still haven’t made up my mind on Fields, though Sunday swung me back to hopeful he can play well enough so the Bears can spend their first two picks on positions other than quarterback. The physical skills he brings under center are too special and I remain impressed with the off-field poise he brings with all the adversity he and his team have faced. His inability to stay healthy for a full season remains the biggest knock and is the strongest argument for resetting the quarterback clock and rolling the dice on another rookie QB.
   
   
5. Caleb Williams’ refusal to talk with the media after a loss bothers me and maybe more than it should.
   
   
6. One of the things that made me so happy about Sunday’s pre-collapse effort was that the list of standout efforts was maybe the longest it’s been since 2018. There was Fields’ performance and a three-headed attack in the backfield. Tyrique Stevenson had one of the team’s three picks and a forced fumble. Jack Sanborn did Jack Sanborn things. Montez Sweat was a monster. Cairo Santos was automatic. DJ Moore was the guy they traded the No. 1 pick for. It was the type of collaborative effort that usually ends up with a notch in the win column, which made the end result so hard to take.
   
   
7. One person not on that list: Jaylon Johnson. I imagine Ryan Poles (and any other NFL GM) will just come to the contract table with film of Johnson dropping a pick six queued up and ready to go.
   
   
8. Another not on the list: Tyler Scott. Why’d you slow down, man?
   
   
9. Marty Bennett won’t like the old-school view, but Roschon Johnson’s stiff-arm on Jack Campbell might be my favorite highlight of the year. Unless it was RoJo flattening Cam Sutton for a first down later in the game.
   
   
10. Given the draft order implications, we’re rooting for Green Bay over Detroit on Thanksgiving, yes?
    

Kevin Kaduk

More coverage from CHGO Bears:

• The CHGO Bears Crew weighed in with instant reactions
• Nicholas Moreano reported from the postgame locker room in Detroit
• Adam Hoge wondered if Fields was handcuffed by the coaching staff

Instead, Sunday’s game ended in just the latest heart-breaking loss for the Bears. The Lions came back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and won 31-26.

The word that kept coming up in the postgame locker room and in Matt Eberflus’ and Justin Fields’ press conferences was “finish.”

And the Bears couldn’t do that on Sunday against the Lions.

“The main thing is that, you know obviously, the disappointment was the finish,” Eberflus said. “We didn’t finish it as a football team, didn’t finish it as coaches, as players the right way, and there are a lot of plays to be had out there and good calls we could’ve made in those situations to get us that victory.”

Things began to turn after the Bears’ third interception on Jared Goff, which gave Chicago great field position on Detroit’s 43-yard line. The Bears turned that Tremaine Edmunds turnover into a field goal, but there was an opportunity for more.

On third-and-1, Justin Fields went under center to try and pick up the first down on a quarterback sneak. The Lions stopped Fields for no gain, and Eberflus elected to have Cairo Santos kick a 40-yard field goal to give the Bears a 23-14 lead.

The Bears’ defense then forced a quick three-and-out, and Jaylon Johnson missed a chance to intercept Goff on third-and-13. He also had an opportunity at a potential pick earlier in the game, but couldn’t make the play and the Lions were able to score a touchdown on the following play.

“I definitely had a shot at both,” Johnson said. “I should have capitalized and honestly the game, I had two opportunities to put 14 points on the board. So I mean, just for me, I got to finish those, but not easy, easy catches, but I’m a player and I can make those plays and I gotta do it.”

Johnson couldn’t come up with those game-changing plays, though, and on the following drive after the three-and-out, the Bears again had to settle for a field goal on their 14-play, 70-yard drive.

The Bears at that point had a 26-14 lead with 4:15 left in the game. Then, the Lions made their comeback.

In six plays, the Lions marched down the field for a 75-yard touchdown drive that only took 1:16 off the clock. Goff connected with Jameson Williams for a 32-yard score to make it a 26-21 game.

The Bears’ offense responded with a 3-and-out, but — again — a big-time opportunity was missed. On third-and-9, Fields identified the safety come down in his robber coverage and threw a deep ball to Tyler Scott. The rookie wide receiver misplayed the ball and Chicago was forced to punt.

“It was just one-on-one, he had him beat, and he just misjudged the ball,” Fields said after the game. “He was running straight and tried to run it like (Fields looked over his shoulder), and got off balance, and that’s what caused him to kind of lose his speed. You know, he’s a young player with a bright future in this league, and he’ll bounce back.”

Scott also fumbled in the second quarter, and the Lions capitalized with a touchdown to Jahmyr Gibbs after starting on Chicago’s 34-yard line.

After the misconnection to Scott, the Bears punted and the Lions took over on their own 27-yard line with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter. Goff then led his team on an 11-play, 73-yard drive that ended fittingly with a David Montgomery 1-yard touchdown run. The Lions also were successful on the two-point conversion.

Fields and the offense got the ball back down 29-26 with :29 seconds remaining. On the first play, Aidan Hutchinson beat Darnell Wright around the edge and got his first sack of the game and also caused a fumble, which rolled in the back of the endzone — resulting in a safety.

Lions recovered the punt and ended the game with a victory formation kneel down.

“We just got to find a way to finish,” Khalil Herbert said after the loss.

Fields ended the game 16 of 23 for 169 passing yards and had one passing touchdown and no turnovers. He also added 104 yards rushing on 18 attempts.

Despite Fields’ performance and Chicago winning the turnover battle 4-1, the Bears found another devasting way to lose.

“I mean, yeah, it hurts a lot,” Fields said. “But, you know, I think you just got to take the positives out of it and learn from the loss. Like I said before, we did a lot of good things this game and we just got to build on it.”

The defense had other plans.

Despite throwing three interceptions earlier in the game, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff led his offense on two scoring drives to cap off a 31-26 Lions’ victory in Sunday’s Week 11 game at Ford Field.

The defeat dropped the Bears to 8-3 while the NFC North-leaded Lions are now 8-2. The Bears will return to action next Monday in a road game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Justin Fields looked good in his first game since October 15, posting 273 all-purpose yards.

Here are our initial impressions about the loss …

Adam Hoge

Until they prove otherwise, the Bears are just a team that doesn’t know how to win. They dominated the Lions for 56 minutes, but couldn’t make the plays (or the tackles) to win the game. Tremaine Edmunds’ missed tackle on the second-to-last drive was brutal, especially considering the money the Bears are paying him. Tyler Scott slowing down on Justin Fields’ deep ball is a little more understandable considering he’s a rookie, but it was a missed opportunity nonetheless. Just a brutal loss in a game that could have changed the entire momentum of Poles/Eberflus era.

Nicholas Moreano

Epic collapse.

The Bears were up 26-14 with 4:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, and somehow lost to the Lions 31-26. Despite the defense creating four turnovers, Matt Eberflus’ unit absolutely crumbled in the final minutes in the fourth quarter. If Eberflus is fired tomorrow, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Will DeWitt

Initial reaction? Damn, it stung to watch David Montgomery pound it in for the go-ahead score. And then the safety right after made me want to rip my hair out.

* Sigh *

Justin Fields provided a good spark with his legs and made some good throws including that deep touchdown pass to DJ Moore, but the fumble at the end is fitting considering how the season has gone.

If the Bears can play like they did for the majority of this game the rest of the way, they’ll find some wins, but it wasn’t enough against the division-leading Lions.

Mark Carman

There are on painful losses and there are nauseating, disgusting, putrid ones. The Bears won the turnover battle. They won the time of possession battle. Justin Fields played well. The Bears gave up 14 points in the final 5 minutes to lose a game they should have won. The Flus remains winless against the division.

Greg Braggs Jr.

How embarrassing.

Today was supposed to be a statement game for everyone. Justin Fields certainly made a great statement. The coaches? Just made the statement that they definitely should be replaced when the season is over. No excuse to lose this game. Zero. Ryan Poles asked for consistency from his quarterback and I’m asking him to say the same of his coaches.

Kevin Kaduk

That one hurts. For all but the final five minutes of the game, the Chicago Bears played the game we’ve been waiting for all season long. In the final five, they’ve done what they’ve been doing all year. Justin Fields was stellar for most of his return and there were standout performances all over the field. None of it matters, though, because the defense couldn’t hold a 12-point lead with just minutes to play.

That was also the last time the Bears have beaten a NFC North opponent, so can the return of Justin Fields help end both losing streaks?

We’ll find out as the Bears return to action after beating the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football. The game has a few different interesting storylines, including the first game against former Bears running back David Montgomery.

Here’s how we see this one shaking out …

Adam Hoge (5-5) — Lions 27, Bears 24

I expect Fields to play pretty well in his return and the Bears to surprise some people. But until they prove they can win in the fourth quarter — Fields included — it would be foolish to pick them to beat the top team in the division on the road.

Nicholas Moreano (5-5) — Bears 27, Lions 24

I’m doing it. The stats and overall directions of both these teams say I shouldn’t, but I’m taking the Bears. These last seven games are so important for Justin Fields and his future with the Bears’ organization — and it starts with this NFC North matchup in Detroit. The Bears’ offense unlocks their deep passing game, and the defense continues its dominance in stopping the run. Bears win their first divisional game since November 25, 2021, which was against the Lions at Ford Field. 

Will DeWitt (5-5) — Lions 28, Bears 21

Finally – a game that means something! It’s been awhile since we’ve had one of those around here. If there was a game between now and the rest of the season that the Bears should be motivated to win, it’s this one. Big draft implications on the line. It would be pathetic to lose to the Panthers and hurt the chances of that draft pick becoming the first overall. The Bears need to spread the wealth through the air and stick to their rushing attack this week. Oh, and taking care of the football will help, too! Put some pressure on Bryce Young and force him into a key mistake or two, and the Bears should win this Thursday night matchup.

Corey Wootton (5-5) — Bears 28, Lions 21

The Lions last three games have been inconsistent. The Lions defense has given up a bunch of points while the Bears defense has been stopping the run lately. When you put the pressure on Jared Goff he’s been prone to struggle. This stretch of games is essential for Justin Fields’ career as a Bear. They mix and match the run with play action to take advantage of this subpar defense. Bears UPSET ALERT!

Greg Braggs Jr. (6-4) — Lions 27, Bears 16

A lot for Justin Fields to overcome in his first game back. It’s his first game back in 35 days (5 weeks). He’s still presumably dealing with some amount of pain in his thumb. He’s on the road. It’s in Detroit. I’ll be surprised if Fields can push past all that and lead the Bears to their first back to back wins in the Matt Eberflus Era. But it sure would be nice.

Mark Carman (6-4) — Lions 34, Bears 17

Detroit able to run the ball. Fields has moments of brilliance and moments of rust. 

Kevin Kaduk (5-5) — Lions 31, Bears 20

Justin Fields is back, but we’re not sure how that thumb is really feeling. I can’t feel confident picking the Bears when you combine that with the team’s inability to take advantage of byes and minibyes as well as the fact that Matt Eberflus has never won consecutive games while in Chicago. Maybe that will happen in December, but not this weekend.

Jake Flannigan (3-7) — Bears 41, Lions 28

Justin Fields came. Justin Fields saw. Justin Fields conquered. Win No. 4 is the sweetest of the season.

That statement may sound like an exaggeration to some, but it’s definitely a possibility on how the Bears will be monitoring the end of the 2023 regular season.

Why is that the case?

Because, as it stands today, the Bears hold the No. 1 overall pick thanks to the trade with the Panthers and the fifth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Chicago secured the first pick in the draft after their 3-14 record last season, but general manager Ryan Poles elected to run with Fields in 2023.

Through nine games, the Bears are 2-7 and last in the NFC North. If the Bears end this season with two top 5 picks, including the first overall, then either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye are definitely options for Chicago.

Fields is now just returning after missing four weeks with a right dislocated thumb, and he will have to show a lot to persuade the Bears’ organization he can still be the team’s quarterback beyond this season.

In the six games Fields has played, he has completed 100 of his 162 pass attempts for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also has added 237 yards rushing on 47 attempts.

Inconsistent would be a good way to describe his 2023 season so far.

Now, that’s not all on him. Injuries to the offensive line and overall coaching have also led to inconsistencies on offense, but when there were opportunities for Fields to show growth in his all-important Year 3 in the league, at times, he showed the opposite.

For Bears coach Matt Eberflus, these final seven regular season games can be telling.

“I think seven weeks is enough time to show consistency, you know, and be the high performer that we expect him to be,” Eberflus said. “I know he’s had some good performances along this year, certainly the last few have been solid. We expect consistency out of all our positions.”

It’s important not to confuse consistency with production. Hate to break it to people but Fields will not lead this offense to points or even move the ball enough to secure a first down on every drive. It’s not going to happen.

Also, the third-year quarterback will most likely make some unexplainable mistakes. Nearly every quarterback in the league does, regardless of their experience in the league.

And if the coaching staff doesn’t show some consistency themselves, then it’s going to be a lot more difficult for Fields. Looking at offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and his play calling.

But Fields can still show consistency by demonstrating that he understands each play design, can diagnose what coverages defenses are in, know where the ball should go in the limited seconds after the ball is snapped and, most importantly, take care of the football.

“Yeah, it always starts with taking care of the football, right?,” Getsy said. “I think that’s the starting point for anybody on offense, specifically the quarterback and then just like what I was mentioning before. It’s about getting better and progressing each and every week, right? And so, I think there were really cool parts of this season when we saw that from him, right? And unfortunately, the injury comes. So lets get back on track with that and continue to grow together.”

A quarterback in command of an offense shows consistency.

With Fields back and projected to start this Sunday against the Lions, he isn’t making this NFC North matchup bigger than what it is — the first of seven games left this season.

“Just go out there and win games,” Fields said. “I’m not here to prove anything to anybody. I’m playing for my teammates, I’m playing for the coaches, and that’s it. Everything else will take care of itself. So I’m not necessarily trying to prove anything to anybody. Just go out there with my brothers. And go out there and perform. So yeah.”

For Fields to play to the best of his ability, Getsy will have to design and call plays that accentuate the quarterback’s strengths. Right now that includes throwing the ball deep down field, playing outside the pocket and capitalizing on broken plays and hurting a defense with his legs. Those are all areas of his game that should not only just be present but more frequent in this final stretch of the season.

Fields is a dynamic playmaker. He needs to remind people of that.

According to Pro Football Focus, Fields has the seventh-highest grade (96.3) on passes of 20 yards or more among quarterbacks with a minimum of 20 attempts. He is 13 of 26 for 332 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Fields should get more chances to throw downfield since he will be playing behind, finally, a healthy offensive line. Nate Davis is back at right guard, which moved Teven Jenkins to left guard to take over for Cody Whitehair. And Braxton Jones will be playing in his third consecutive game on Sunday since his neck injury.

In these last seven games, Fields will get an opportunity to play four games against NFC North opponents and play four games on the road. Even though it’s not the most ideal metric, Fields has a 6-25 record as a starting quarterback with the Bears. He’s also 1-10 against the NFC North since 2021 — with Fields’ only win coming in Week 4 against the Lions of the 2021 season.

If Fields can lead his team to some much-needed victories and do so by highlighting his strengths while limiting his flaws, then Poles and the rest of this Bears organization will have some compelling conversations this offseason.

Fields, though, will focus on the now. That starts this Sunday at Ford Field against the NFC North-leading Lions.

“I mean it just starts with Sunday and just taking this day by day,” Fields said. “So yeah that’s my focus right now. I am just focusing on Sunday and getting prepared for that, going out, playing hard and playing to the best of my ability.”

Sources told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport early Wednesday morning. Fields is expected to start, “assuming today’s practice goes well.” Rapoport also mentioned that regaining “grip strength” was key for Fields.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus also announced during his Wednesday morning press conference that the plan is to start Fields on Sunday against the Lions. Eberflus said that Wednesday’s practice will be a big part of the evaluation, but Fields “is progressing well.”

Fields’ last regular season snap was on Oct. 15 against the Minnesota Vikings in the third quarter. The Bears’ quarterback dislocated his right thumb after he moved outside of the pocket on a third-and-7 play and was sacked by Danielle Hunter.

Before the injury, Fields completed 100 of his 162 pass attempts for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also had 47 rush attempts for 237 yards and a touchdown.

With Fields out the last month, undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent went 2-2 as a starter — securing victories over the Raiders and Panthers.

Only seven games remain in the 2023 regular season, and four of those matchups will be against NFC North opponents.

• Week 11 @ Detroit
• Week 12 @ Minnesota
• BYE WEEK
• Week 14 vs. Detroit
• Week 15 @ Cleveland
• Week 16 vs. Arizona
• Week 17 vs. Atlanta
• Week 18 @ Green Bay

So, this will be an important stretch for Fields to make a case to general manager Ryan Poles and the rest of this Bears organization that he should still be the franchise quarterback moving forward. The Bears currently hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft (from the trade with the Carolina Panthers).

And it starts this Sunday against the Lions at Ford Field.

The last time the Bears traveled to Detroit, Chicago was blown out 41-10 in the Week 17 matchup in 2022. That ended up being Fields’ last game of the season, and he finished 7 of 21 for 75 yards and threw a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 132 yards on 10 attempts.

There has been some good and also a lot of bad. This felt like the right time to take a step back and size up how we got here.

So let’s get to the midterm grades — which of course can be improved with a strong finish to the semester, err season.

QB1 Justin Fields: C

The season started out slow for Fields and the Bears. Some of that had to do with game planning, some with Fields holding onto the ball too long. Three touchdown passes and four interceptions after three games led to the Bears starting 0-3.

Then came eight touchdowns and only one interception in back-to-back games against less than stellar Denver and Washington.

But hope that Fields had arrived once and for all was quickly dashed in a home loss to Minnesota on October 15. He was hurt — holding onto the ball too long will do that — when he was sacked by Danielle Hunter.

We eagerly await his dynamic closing act to 2023.

QB2 Tyson Bagent: B

Backup quarterback fans everywhere grew excited when Bagent completed 13 of 14 passes in the preseason. He built on the hype by winning his first start against the dysfunctional Raiders, executing a conservative game plan.

Bagent showed he could get rid of the ball quickly and operate the offense smoother than his more talented QB room partner.

But Bagent also put the ball in harm’s way, throwing six interceptions and losing two fumbles. Five of those six interceptions came on the road when Bagent was asked to do too much for an undrafted rookie free agent from Division II Shepherd University.

Bagent’s arm strength will continue to be a question mark until he can consistently and safely place the ball down the field. It seems like the Bears have at least found their backup QB can be considered a relative win in this dysfunctional season.

Running Back: A-

The new Bears motto is “whoever runs the ball for us will dominate.” Khalil Herbert started out well then D’Onta Foreman did not miss a beat when Herbert went down with an ankle injury.

The Herbert / Foreman RB1 combo has combined for 639 yards so far. That is more than any one running back with the exception of Christian McCaffrey. Foreman is averaging 4.3 yards per carry, Herbert 5.3.

Whoever is playing quarterback should benefit from the Bears’ stout ground attack.

Wide receiver: C

DJ Moore is ninth in the NFL in receiving yards with 793. He is 14th at 79.3 per game. This is exactly where you thought WR1 would be, somewhere in the middle of the top receivers.

The problem with Moore is that he has leveled out the last five games. Moore has not had less than 44 yards receiving, but has not had more than the 58 he racked up last week versus Carolina.

Darnell Mooney is 112th in the league with only 22 receptions and 82nd in receiving yards.

Chase Claypool is hanging out on South Beach. He has one catch with the Dolphins, three less than with the Bears.

Tight End: A

Cole Kmet not only joined CHGO, but he’s also on his way to career-high numbers in every category. Kmet is fifth among NFL tight ends with 46 catches on only 57 targets. Kmet already has five touchdown catches and numerous eye-catching blocks. His contract extension looks like a steal for Ryan Poles and the Bears.

Offensive Line: B

This has been a roller coaster ride but it feels like the Bears are getting to a better place minus the center position. The Bears are fifth in rushing, 135.1 yards per game but have also given up the fifth most sacks.

Darnell Wright has lived up the 10th overall pick hype. Teven Jenkins got healthy and he’s now seemingly capable of playing both guard spots well.

Larry Borom held his own filling in for Braxton Jones proving he is a capable backup. Nate Davis found his footing after personal issues kept him out to start the season before injuring his ankle.

Center remains the problem. Lucas Patrick is holding the spot down for the rest of 2023. Cody Whitehair should be forever banned from the position. Doug Kramer got cut and is now an Arizona Cardinal.

Defensive Line: D-

There are only five teams allowing more points than the Bears: Broncos, Commanders, Panthers, Giants, Cardinals.

The main reason is the Bears do not get to the quarterback, worst in the NFL with only 13 sacks. That falls on this group. Yannick Ngakoue leads the Bears with 3 sacks. Help us Montez Sweat, you are our only hope.

Linebacker: B

T.J. Edwards is second in the NFL with 112 tackles. He has not been great in coverage, but Edwards has been around the ball consistently. Jack Sanborn stepped in beautifully for Tremaine Edmunds playing the middle. Sanborn has the same amount of solo tackles, 36, as Edmunds in less playing time.

Edmunds has been a disappointment. He is 41st in tackles and has only 3 TFLs. Ask yourself if you can think of one memorable Edmunds play other than a tipped ball that fell into his hands.

Secondary: B

This group has been the Bears strength, but has simply missed too much time due to various injuries. Eddie Jackson has missed half of the season to lead the injured mob. Josh Blackwell has played only 3 games.

Jaylon Johnson, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Terell Smith have all missed multiple games as well.

Only rookie Tyrique Stevenson, Elijah Hicks and Jaylon Jones have been able to stay on the field. Four of the 6 Bears interceptions have come from this group. Good, but defensive coordinator Flus would like more.

Special Teams: A

Cairo Santos has missed one field goal attempt and is 4-4 from 50+. Trenton Gill has done everything right except use a better angle to tackle Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Trent Taylor hasn’t dropped a punt. Patrick Scales deserves credit for his long snapping perfect operation.

How about a fake at some point Richard Hightower?

Coaching: D

The Bears should have at least four wins if not five. The Denver loss is at the top of the list. I am still not sure what the H.I.T.S. principle is since the Bears are dead last in the NFL at -9 taking the ball away.

Getting turnovers would fall under the talent window. Penalties would fall under discipline. The Bears have the third most penalities, 67, and the third most yards due to penalites, 554.

Matt Eberflus does the Bears no favors as the front man for the organization each week with the media. Flus could use some coaching on how to communicate.

A bigger concern is why it took Luke Getsy four games to figure out how best to use Justin Fields. How is this possible?

Getsy recently said the gameplan for Fields and Bagent are basically the same. Again, how is this possible? Fields is one of the most dynamic runners in the history of the NFL. Bagent, a decent athlete, is not.

The Bears continue to play hard, a low bar, but the reason why the staff still gets a passing grade.

The team returned to Halas Hall on Monday for a light practice in helmets. Coach Matt Eberflus said the team worked on individuals, some special teams and did a walk-through towards the end of practice.

Here are some takeaways from Monday at Halas Hall.

Justin Fields health update

Eberflus started the press conference by saying he didn’t have any updates on injuries and will wait until Wednesday to release the first injury report of the week leading up to the Week 11 matchup with the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.

Justin Fields participated in Monday’s practice and was seen throwing into the target net while working on his dropback. His right thumb was wrapped with what appeared to be athletic tape, but Eberflus didn’t confirm what it was when asked what was on Fields’ right hand.

Eberflus was asked about Fields and how he looked throwing the football.

“We’re evaluating that as we go,” Eberflus said. “I think they look good. I think he’s in a good spot. Again, we’ll know exactly where we’re gonna be probably more on Wednesday. I don’t really have any more updates other than that, but in terms of him throwing the ball, it looks to be good.”

Eberflus also mentioned the team needs more time and for Fields to be involved in team practice activities to better assess where the quarterback is at with his injured right thumb.

“Just functioning in the game of football,” Eberflus said. “That’s the big part of it and that’s really the only update I have. Once we see him in the game of football in terms of going against the scout team and all that stuff and taking snaps and playing full speed, then we’ll make a determination, but it’s not there today.”

Shuffling offensive line?

Teven Jenkins has been a stable force at the right guard position for the Bears since he took over for an injured Nate Davis in Week 7. According to Pro Football Focus, Jenkins hasn’t allowed a sack in six games and has only given up two quarterback hits.

With Jenkins playing so well at right guard, the team may have an interesting decision to make whenever Nate Davis is set to return from his injury. Eberflus was asked if there would be an O-line shuffle.

“The combinations there are gonna be a discussion that we have to have, for sure,” Eberflus said. “Nate’s a good player. Cody’s a good player. Teven’s a good player. So it’s a good problem to have. We’ll look at it and put our best five out there that we’re gonna put out there for the Lions.”

According to Eberflus, Davis along with Jenkins and Cody Whitehair are all “able to flip and play” along the interior offensive line.

What Eberflus sees in Lions

This Week 11 matchup at Ford Field will be the first time the Bears will face Lions this season. In 2022, the Lions won both games, including a 41-10 blowout of the Bears in Detroit.

The Lions are currently 7-2 and first in the NFC North. A big reason the Lions are in their current position is because of the offense. The Lions are second in yards per game (406.4), sixth in points per game (26.8) and Jared Goff is fourth in the league in passing yards (2,507).

Here is what Eberflus had to say about the Lions’ offense.

“I would say balance, the ability to distribute the ball, and if you look at their production, where it comes from, obviously the backs are a big part of what they do, the addition of the new back that they have, an explosive player, with (David) Montgomery, that’s really a ying and a yang type of situation that’s really good for them,” Eberflus said. “Obviously the rising of their tight end, (Sam) LaPorta, I think he does a really good job in that offense. And then their receiving corps. You’ve got (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, who’s a big part of their production as well. Being able to distribute the ball to those guys equally. That’s what makes it so hard to defend.”

The Bears won a 16-13 decision over the Panthers last night at Soldier Field in a game I promise to never speak of again after these 10 quick thoughts …

1. Everyone is saying this was an ugly win — and everyone is right. But please consider the alternative. As bad as the Bears are, the Panthers are still a tier below and there’s no way the Bears could have lost it considering the draft implications.
   
   
2. Credit also goes to the Bears for the things they did right. The defense sacked Bryce Young three times. It didn’t allow a touchdown. The offense didn’t commit a single turnover just a few days after five giveaways to the Saints. This game was always about that Panthers draft pick, but if you’re looking for anything to take for posterity, there you have it.
   
   
3. That said, I’m really glad to have this Sunday off from Bears football. It’s been a long 10 weeks so far …
   
   
4. Tyson Bagent was 20-of-33 for 162 yards and no touchdowns. A serviceable effort that did the trick against a bad team, but nothing that would’ve worked against 3/4ths of the league and nothing an NFL fanbase should have to watch weekly in 2023.
   
   
5. The Bears will never regret not selecting Bryce Young with last year’s No. 1 pick.
   
   
6. Eight pressures for Montez Sweat according to Next Gen Stats, the most for a Bear since Robert Quinn in 2020. But the real way you know he was effective was that we heard names of defensive linemen we haven’t heard all season. Yannick Ngakoue, come on down!
   
   
7. Kyler Gordon’s Spidey senses were tingling on Thursday night. By far the best game of his still young career and the type you want to see from the Bears young players these last two months of the season.
   
   
8. Worse decision: Matt Eberflus not going for two when up five after D’Onta Foreman’s touchdown or Frank Reich sending Eddy Pineiro for a 59-yard field goal? (Hint: The answer rhymes with goose.)
   
   
9. From DJ Moore to Andy Dalton to D’Onta Foreman to Pineiro, there were a number of players who could’ve had a big moment against their former team. So of course it was the Bears old friend Ihmir Smith-Marsette recording the biggest one with a 76-yard punt touchdown return.
   
   
10. This is not a Bears thought, but it went through my mind all night as we watched the game at Joe’s On Weed Street.
    
    
    Connor Bedard.

Kevin Kaduk

More coverage from CHGO Bears:

• The CHGO Bears Crew did the postgame pod live at Joe’s
• Brian Urlacher joined us for an entertaining pregame
• Nicholas Moreano reported from a happy Bears locker room
• Adam Hoge and Co. weighed in with their instant reactions

“It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but we found a way to win, and that’s all that matters in this league,” wide receiver DJ Moore said. “We gotta figure it out this next game.”

The final reception perfectly represents how this prime-time matchup played out. With the Bears facing a third-and-7 from the Panthers’ 48-yard line with just 1:26 left in the game, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy put the game-sealing play in Tyson Bagent’s hands.

Getsy called a pass with the Bears up by three, and Bagent delivered a ball to Darnell Mooney in between two Panthers defenders. Mooney caught the ball right on the 39-yard line and then braced himself for a hit by linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill. Mooney somehow secured the catch for an 8-yard gain to move the chains.

Lucas Patrick and Equanimeous St. Brown went to help Mooney off the ground, and then Patrick lifted Mooney in the air, knowing that his reception sealed the Bears the victory.

“Hell of a job by Mooney, man,” Moore said. “That hit was crazy and he found a way to catch the ball and end the game, so I’m glad.”

The play was actually a similar concept the Bears ran earlier in the game. Late in the third quarter, Tyson Bagent completed a pass to Trent Taylor, but it was taken away by Moore’s offensive pass interference call.

Bagent said after the game that they “knew the play was effective, so we went back to it.”

“We liked the play call,” Matt Eberflus said. “We liked the play call. We discussed it, and we went for it. We thought that executed well, and Mooney made a beautiful catch. He is one yard past the stick and sealed the game. Really good play call by Luke. Excellent execution by the O-line, the entire offense and Mooney on the catch and Bagent on the throw.”

Bagent ended the night 20 of 32 for 162 passing yards, no touchdowns, but also no interceptions. Moore led the team in receiving with his five receptions for 58 yards.

Mooney’s catch helped the Bears secure their third victory of the season, but D’Onta Foreman’s 21 carriers for 80 yards and touchdown combined with a stingy, bend-but-don’t break defense and Cario Santos’ three made field goals put Chicago in a position to win the game in the first place.

The Bears’ defense set up Foreman to score the only offensive touchdown of the game. The Panthers went three-and-out on their second offensive possession of the third quarter. Kyler Gordon tackled running back Miles Sanders for a six-yard loss on first down. Then Bryce Young completed a pass for a six-yard gain, but Yannick Ngakoue sacked Young on third-and-10.

Jaylon Johnson was asked if the thought that defensive drive was a turning point in the game.

“I feel like, honestly, defense, we dominated the whole game,” Jaylon Johnson said. “So I feel like it wasn’t too much of a turning point for us. It was just going out there and keep getting the ball back to the offense.”

After the Panthers’ punt, the Bears started their offensive drive on the Carolina 38-yard line. Bagent completed two passes on the 9-play, 38-yard drive, and Foreman punched the ball in on his 4-yard touchdown run.

The Bears defense held Young to 185 passing yards and sacked him three times. Justin Jones, Rasheem Green and Ngakoue were able to bring down Young.

Montez Sweat led the team in pressures with seven, according to Pro Football Focus. On the Bears’ second defensive snap in the game, Sweat easily got by the tight end Tommy Tremble and forced Young to throw an incomplete pass.

“That’s what we wanted to do, rattle Bryce Young a little bit,” Sweat said. “I think we did a great job of that. …”

The Bears held the Panthers to 3 of 15 on third down and only allowed one red zone trip. Chicago’s run defense continued has been good all season and continued on Thursday night by only allowing 43 yards on the ground.

“With the game, I really thought that we played some good complementary football,” Eberflus said. “I really thought that the defense did a really good job of creating some short fields for our offense most of the day, and that was good. We capitalized on some of them. It was that kind of game. Both defenses played well today. We knew it was going to be some field goals there as the game went on, and I thought that overall we handled it well and put ourselves in position to win the game.”

D’Onta Foreman scored the game’s only offensive touchdown midway through the third on a four-yard run that gave the Bears a 16-10 lead. The running back carried the ball 19 times for 77 yards.

The Panthers, meanwhile, scored their only touchdown of the night when former Bears receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored on a 79-yard punt return in the first quarter. Carolina quarterback Bryce Young was limited to 185 passing yards on 21 of 38 passing. He was sacked three times.

The win runs the Bears record to 3-7 and 2-0 on Thursday nights. The team will be back in action November 19 when it travels to Detroit to face the Lions for the first time this season.

Here are our initial impressions about the win …

Adam Hoge

So what were the tricks up Matt Eberflus’ sleeve? Not going for two with a five-point lead? I’ll hang up and listen for my answer. At least that wasn’t as bad as Frank Reich calling for a 59-yard field goal that never had a prayer. Man, the Panthers are bad.

Nicholas Moreano

It wasn’t pretty, but the Bears held on to secure their third victory of the season. D’Onta Foreman scored the only offensive touchdown in the game. The Bears’ defense sacked Bryce Young three times and held the No. 1 overall pick to 185 passing yards. Chicago went from having five turnovers a week ago to zero against Carolina. The Bears will take the win however they can take, and now they have 10 days to prepare for the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions.

Will DeWitt

There weren’t many fireworks, but the Bears played a clean and solid game, which was good enough to secure their third win. They finally found some pass rush  on defense and look what happened – they held the Panthers’ offense out of the end zone. Shoutout to Kyler Gordon who made plays all over the field. He was very effective against the run, in coverage and even as a pass rusher. Beating the Panthers to help the draft pick they received must feel pretty sweet, too!

Greg Braggs Jr.

Thank you Football Gods! Last year the only glimmer of hope with this team was the fact that they got the N0. 1 pick in the draft. With Thursday’s win, the Bears look to have lightning strike twice. The Carolina Panthers could very well give the Bears a gift they desperately need. Long way to go but the Bears did what they had to do tonight …win. As far as what happened on the field? I’m choosing to focus on the draft stock and I’ll leave it at that.

Kevin Kaduk

We won’t remember this game for anything other than what impact it had on the Bears’ final draft position next spring. The good news is that it was a good result for the Bears as they kept the Panthers’ season win total at one and increased their chances at landing the No. 1 pick (though the Cardinals still currently own that spot). Shoutout to Tyson Bagent and the offense for recording a zero turnover game just four days after committing five giveaways in New Orleans.

With Justin Fields listed as “doubtful,” it’s looking like Tyson Bagent will be making his fourth straight start for the Bears. Can he even his record at 2-2 or will the Bears give up a valuable win to the Panthers, who currently own the second pick in the draft?

Here’s how we see this one shaking out …

Adam Hoge (4-5) — Bears 20, Panthers 13

Despite all the Bears’ issues, they are a better team than the Panthers, who will be missing Brian Burns and D.J. Chark tonight.

Nicholas Moreano (4-5) — Bears 24, Panthers 17

The Bears’ 24-17 loss to the Saints was disappointing. There is no denying that, but Chicago did turn the ball over five times and commit eight penalties and only lost by one score on the road. The Bears play a cleaner game against a beatable Panthers team, who will be missing their top defensive player in Brian Burns. Tyson Bagent does enough to help the Bears get their third win and second victory on Thursday Night Football this season. 

Will DeWitt (4-5) — Bears 24, Panthers 21

Finally – a game that means something! It’s been awhile since we’ve had one of those around here. If there was a game between now and the rest of the season that the Bears should be motivated to win, it’s this one. Big draft implications on the line. It would be pathetic to lose to the Panthers and hurt the chances of that draft pick becoming the first overall. The Bears need to spread the wealth through the air and stick to their rushing attack this week. Oh, and taking care of the football will help, too! Put some pressure on Bryce Young and force him into a key mistake or two, and the Bears should win this Thursday night matchup.

Greg Braggs Jr. (5-4) — Bears 24, Panthers 13

I don’t care who plays quarterback. I’m picking the Bears to win this week. Why? Because they absolutely HAVE to! This game is arguably the biggest game on their schedule the rest of the year with the draft implications attached to them. Must win! The Panthers and Cardinals are neck and neck as the worst teams in football and the Bears own the Panthers first round pick. I don’t care what you want to do with that pick but Chicago needs it to be #1 for a bevy of reasons. Tyson Bagent looks to get another start on the lakefront. Last time they were at Soldier Field he looked crisp along with a solid run game and they won over a bad Raiders team. Now enters a bad Panthers team. Gotta do the same vs them.

Mark Carman (5-4) — Bears 27, Panthers 10

Party on the lakefront and at Joe’s on Weed Street.

Kevin Kaduk (4-5) — Bears 21, Panthers 13

A must-win game if the Bears want to maximize the value of the pick they’re gettting from Caroina and I think it’ll play out similar to Tyson Bagent’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, which somehow already seems like a lifetime ago. Will anyone outside of Chicago be searching out Prime for this game?

Jake Flannigan (2-7) — Bears 9, Panthers 3

What I if I told you sometimes you don’t need to score touchdowns to win football games? Bear Down, Chicago Bears.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that Fields has been “progressing everyday but is not medically cleared yet, and Bagent will be our starter” on Thursday night.

Nathan Peterman will be the backup.

Fields was listed as doutbtful after Wednesday’s practice, but he did throw passes.

Eberflus was asked about Fields’ limitations, but the Bears’ coach didn’t identify any specifics.

“He’s getting better,” Eberflus said. “Accuracy is improving. He’s throwing it better. He’s starting to do more and more, so we’ll see where it goes. Right now we are listing him as doubtful, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Eberflus was asked specifically about grip strength being a problem, but he said “it’s everything.”

Despite Eberflus naming Bagent the starter, Fields hasn’t officially been ruled out of the Thursday night game against Carolina.

“We’ll see where it goes,” Eberflus said. “The chances are doubtful, 51% that’s he’s in or out, and it’s gonna be, we’ll see where it is. We got a little time left. Again, we’ll declare him out when he is out. Right now we’re still listing him as doubtful.”

There is also a possibility that Fields may go through some pregame work tomorrow night, but it all depends what happens in the next 24 hours, according to Eberflus.

If this matchup was on Sunday as opposed to Thursday night, Eberflus said that it “was a good possibility” that Fields could’ve played.

“Short weeks are hard,” Eberflus said. “They are hard.”

Fields was limited in Monday and Tuesday for the walk-through practices. So Wednesday’s first actual practice of the week will be a big day to determine if Fields can come back from his right dislocated thumb injury that he sustained on Oct. 15 against the Vikings.

For offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, he will let the higher ups in the Bears’ organization figure out what happens with Fields.

“That will come down to Justin and the training staff, coach (Matt Eberflus) and Ryan (Poles) figuring out where they want to be in all that stuff,” Getsy said. “I think when you’re in this moment, you’re kind of out of that conversation from my perspective.”

Getsy may not have any input on whether Fields or Tyson Bagent plays on Thursday against the Panthers, but he will have his fingerprints all over the offensive gameplan.

And regardless if it’s Fields or Bagent on Thursday Night Football, the overall gameplan will be similar for both quarterbacks.

“We talked about this last week,” Getsy said. “I think that’s the cool part of how we put this thing together at the very beginning where we felt like we kind of put it all out there for our guys and being able to take this thing in a few different directions and the guys feel really comfortable in doing that. So, I don’t think from everybody else’s perspective in that room other than the two quarterbacks, it’s not going to feel like it’s a different gameplan by any means if we go one direction or the other.”

Play action has been a winning game plan for Bears

Fields and Bagent both have done well this season with play-action passes.

According to Pro Football Focus, for quarterbacks with a minimum of 50 dropbacks, Bagent is ranked No. 2 in the league in yards per attempt off play action passes with (4.4). Fields is No. 7 in the league with 3.4 yards per attempt. Bagent is No. 1 in the league with his 89.5 completion rate off play action, while Fields is tied for seventh with 72.7%.

But Fields and Bagent are different regarding arm talent and getting the ball out quickly. Bagent threw three interceptions in the 24-17 loss to the Saints, and two of those turnovers appeared to be thrown late and not with the velocity needed to make the throws.

Throwing with velocity isn’t a problem for Fields, but his decision-making and quick release issues have shown up this season. Just think back to the first offensive play against the Vikings.

The passing charts from the last two Bears’ victories also illustrate how Fields and Bagent are different.

In the 30-12 victory over the Raiders, Bagent only threw one pass over 15 yards. In the 40-20 win against the Commanders, Fields had nine passes travel over 15 yards, including two passes that went over 30 yards downfield.

Of course Getsy and the offensive staff will game plan to specific opponents, but it’s clear that the two quarterbacks have different strengths. Quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko was also asked how the gameplans would remain similar regardless of who is under center.

“A lot of it is, when we’re designed a pass game we’re designing to get our playmakers the ball,” Janocko said. “Whether it be, we’re gonna try to get the ball to DJ and Cole and Darnell and get the ball to the backs. I don’t think that changes much. Are there some nuances, plays we’d rather call with Justin? Yeah. Are there some plays we’d rather call with Tyson? Yeah. I don’t think you design a gameplan completely different. Again, at the end of the day when you’re designing a pass play, you’re trying to get your guys the ball.”

If Fields is able to play with some type of limitations on his right throwing hand, Getsy will have to find ways to scheme around the injury.

“With anybody that’s in a situation that they’re not able to do something, that happens in the middle of games, that happens in your preparation,” Getsy said. “You’re obviously going to take those things into consideration no matter whether that happens during the game or in your week leading up to it. I guess the answer to you is yes, whatever that is. We don’t have KB (Khari Blasingame) this week, so we have to have a plan of how we’re going to attack somebody without KB. So you’re always going to have those battles that you’re going to have to work through, whether it’s during the week of or…”

Getsy feels confident that Fields would be able to naviate the limitations since there have been plenty of moments before that have shown Fields’ toughness and willingness to battle through adversity.

There isn’t a set time for Getsy, Fields and the rest of the offensive staff to decide what will or won’t be in the gameplan. It will be a process, much like it’s deciding who will actually play against the Panthers.

“That would be a continuous conversation,” Getsy said. “In your week of prep, that’s a pre-game, that’s a during-the-game conversation in this instance, and really every instance. We go into a game, we’re on the sideline and we’re talking and if he’s feeling something during the game, or anybody’s feeling that same way during the game, then we’ll lean toward those areas as well. That’s just a constant conversation that we would continue to have.”

The Bears still have not defeated the Saints in the Superdome since 1991. They will have to wait for their next opportunity to end the 32-year drought. Also, the Bears havent beat the Saints since 2008, and are currently on a 8-game losing streak to New Orleans.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus, Andrew Billings and Darnell Mooney addressed the media on Monday after the team’s seventh loss of the season.

Here are some of the top takeaways from the press conferences.

Justin Fields day to day

Eberflus announced on Monday that Justin Fields was limited in Monday’s walk-through practice. The Bears’ coach also described Fields as day to day, which is a step in the right direction from his week-to-week status a week ago.

“So we’re literally see where it is today and then see where it goes from there and we’ll know more on Wednesday in terms of how that progresses,” Eberflus said.

With the shortened timeframe for this Thursday night matchup with the Panthers, Eberflus will be monitoring Fields’ “functionality,” and three keys components.

“Injuries guys coming off of injury, it always comes down to the medical staff clearing them, how the play feels he can function in the game, and then the coaches looking at it and say, ‘Hey, yes, he could function at a high level and get the job done,'” Eberflus said. “So it’s always those three factors.”

Fields isn’t the only player on the Bears dealing with an injury. Eberflus also shared that Jaquan Brisker is back to a full go after being cleared of his concussion. Tremaine Edmunds is also day to day with his knee injury.

The Bears also announced on Monday afternoon that Equanimeous St. Brown, Khalil Herbert and Josh Blackwell have been designated to return from injured reserve.

Andrew Billings on pass rush

The Bears’ defensive line is in two completely different places when it comes to stopping the run and rushing the quarterback.

After nine games this season, Chicago’s defense is ranked No. 4 in the league with only allowing 79.7 rushing yards per game. The Bears’ 2022 defense finished 31st in the league in that category.

The pass rush, however, has struggled this season. The Bears are ranked dead last in the league with 10 sacks in nine games. Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Saints marked the fourth time the defense was unable to register a sack.

Andrew Billings has played a big part in the defense’s success at stopping the run and has done his part in trying to provide some much-needed pass rush. With the run defense and pass rush being so distinctly different, Billings was asked if that is frustrating to see as a player.

“Yeah, guys get frustrated and stuff,” Billings said. “As a player you go out there and play your hardest. So you know, you want to perform your best at all times. Yeah, guys get frustrated but we’ve all got to focus up and just keep working together because eventually it’s going to come.”

Montez Sweat is someone that can definitely help the pass rush become more productive. In his Bears’ debut, Sweat generated four pressures, which was a team-high, on 25 pass rushes.

Billings said it was great playing alongside Sweat. He also mentioned the two communicated throughout the game and “got everything settled before the snap and I think he fits right in.”

“I think he made it available for everybody to get one on ones,” Billings said. “I think now we have a full threat on this line and it’s really going to help out as far as offensive linemen just not focusing on one player each snap, that they have to spread out the work.”

Darnell Mooney on a contract extension

In the loss to the Saints, Darnell Mooney had his most productive game of the season. The fourth-year wide receiver was targeted a season-high six times and finished with five receptions for 82 yards.

“I mean I’ve just been doing what I’ve been doing the whole season and the ball found me,” Mooney said. “Just got to make the most out of every opportunity you can get. I mean, I did what I could with what I got.”

This season hasn’t been the easiest for Mooney. Through nine games this season, Mooney has 20 receptions, 304 yards and one touchdown, which he caught in the Week 1 loss to the Packers.

For Mooney, who is in the last year of his rookie contract, this 2023 season is important to showcase to the Bears or the other 31 NFL teams how he can be an asset to offense.

Like his fellow teammate Jaylon Johnson, Mooney is also looking for a new contact and the former fifth-round draft pick out of Tulane would welcome another opportunity in Chicago.

“I mean, eventually somebody is going to pay,” Mooney said. “Whether it’s here or wherever you go somebody is going to take care of you. So you’ve just got to go out there and play ball. It doesn’t matter what you’re going to do. You can’t look for something tomorrow. Whenever it comes it comes and you just have to take care of your job. Extensions is a good thing. Obviously I would love to be here. I love Chicago. I love the fans. I love just being here. I mean, we’ve got everything in here. Facility-wise we have one of the nicest facilities ever so I would definitely love to be here but like I said you just can’t worry about it. Somebody is going to pay eventually.”

Well, I guess we can erase “Ohio State has never produced a good quarterback” off the list of reasons Justin Fields will never blossom here.

Thanks, CJ Stroud!

With that said, let’s get to this week’s 10 Quick Thoughts …

1. I think even Cris Collinsworth and Boomer Esiason can admit it’ll be nice to get Justin Fields back under center for Thursday night’s visit from the Carolina Panthers. Thumb permitting, of course. Look, Tyson Bagent may go on to have a successful career in the NFL in whatever capacity and his rise to the NFL from Division II is still a great story. Sunday’s second half was proof positive he needs more time with a clipboard. He’s flashed nicely in some spots, but not enough to prove he deserves a full-time gig in the NFL at this point. He’s thrown six interceptions in 3 1/2 games so far.
   
   
2. Also, make no mistake: This Tankathon staring contest against the 1-7 Panthers is as close of a “must-win” as there is for a 2-7 team. There are so many bad teams bunched up together at the bottom of the NFL the Bears can’t afford to allow Carolina an extra win on the total considering they’re currently a win ahead of them in the standings.
   
   
3. That said, if the Bears want to gift the Cardinals a win at Soldier Field on Christmas Eve, by all means. It’s looking like the stiffest competition in the Tankathon standings will likely come from Arizona, New England and the New York Giants.
   
   
4. A quiet debut effort from Montez Sweat, who had just two tackles a day after signing a four-year, $98 million extension with his new team. That’s no cause for alarm considering he was a Washington Commander at this time last week, but seeing Sweat getting to the quarterback while elevating his teammates will be a prime concern over these last eight games. He’s now one of the few Bears who are guaranteed to be here past 2024.
   
   
5. I loved Herb Howard’s description of Sweat’s freakish physique during Sunday’s pregame show: “He can scratch his knees while standing up.”
   
   
6. Matt Eberflus mentioned last week that the organization has standards to meet both on and off the field. If that were 100 percent true, there’s no way Velus Jones Jr. would still be receiving opportunities to drop footballs.
   
   
7. That’s 14 career touchdowns for Cole Kmet, which places him fourth on the all-time list of Bears tight ends. It seems likely he’ll pass both Desmond Clark (18) and Greg Olsen (20). But only scoring twice in his first two seasons means that topping Mike Ditka (34) is still firmly in dream territory for the time being.
   
   
8. Watching two NFC teams on AFC-centric CBS will never not be weird.
   
   
9. The Saints are favorites to win the NFC South, but probably still aren’t going anywhere. How do you win the turnover battle 5-0 and only get flagged once, yet still only beat the league’s reigning worst team by a single touchdown?
   
   
10. Bringing it back to CJ Stround and the Texans, is it possible the football gods rewarded Houston for playing hard in Week 18 last year? Similar to how the Blackhawks still won the Connor Bedard lottery despite a few late victories last spring? Had Houston laid down against the Colts, they’d likely be led right now by Bryce Young instead of Stroud, who just posted a 470-yard, five-touchdown effort in a win over Tampa Bay on Sunday.
    
    It’s all just more proof the more we think we know about the NFL draft, the less we actually we do. Something to keep in mind as we get closer to an offseason full of Caleb Williams and Drake Maye talk …

Kevin Kaduk

PS — Thursday night will be a lot of fun at Joe’s On Weed! CHGO and Circa Sports are teaming up for a watch party that will be attended by Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher! Get a shuttle and priority access to the event when you attend our last CHGO Bears Tailgate earlier in the day!

More coverage from CHGO Bears:

• Adam Hoge and the CHGO Bears crew broke it all down in postgame
• Mark Carman and Greg Braggs had an emergency pod for the Sweat extension
• Nicholas Moreano talked to Tyson Bagent, who called the loss “embarrassing”
• Carm issued his Bears grades for CHGO Diehards

This was a game the Bears knew they had plenty of opportunities in, but critical mistakes kept the team from pulling off with a potential road upset.

Tyson Bagent didn’t hold back on how he felt about this game.

“I thought our team played extremely well,” Bagent said after the loss. “Which is why it’s so embarrassing because one-score game, lose the turnover battle by that amount. It’s embarrassing, but it’s a part of the game. I’m just looking forward to building, learning from this experience.”

Not only did the Bears lose the turnover battle 5-0, but the Saints also only committed one penalty for five yards while the Bears were flagged eight times for 71 total yards.

Cole Kmet finished the game with six receptions for 55 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bears’ tight end felt like some opportunities were missed due to the numerous mistakes.

“Well, it’s frustrating because I really think we could’ve, there were some opportunities there to kind of extend the lead there, particularly in the first half,” Kmet said. “Then the second-half defense was doing a really good job stopping those guys. Yeah, we just got to be better in execution, so when it’s second-and-20, first-and-20, it’s hard to overcome that in the NFL, especially a defense like that.”

After Kmet scored off an 18-yard touchdown reception on the opening drive of the game, the Bears’ defense forced a punt. Complementary football.

However, on the Bears’ second offensive possession, Bagent was intercepted trying to force a ball to Kmet on second-and-15 with 5:59 left in the first quarter.

Bagent was critical of himself after the game for his three interceptions, but Kmet thought the team could’ve done more to help out the rookie quarterback.

“I can do a better job of coming back to the football once I see it’s out of his arms,” Kmet said. “I got to a little scramble mode there because my initial window was closed, so I worked back to another window, and I just got to stay on that line and maybe come back to the football. At the very least, break up the pass. So we had a couple of those scenarios you know in the man coverages and stuff. We got to be better in terms of working back down hill to the football. Those were some good throws he made that they ended up getting the football instead of us and we can’t let that happen.”

Bagent returned from that first mistake by leading the offense on a six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Kmet’s second touchdown of the day.

The Bears and Saints were tied at 14 going into halftime. Chicago’s defense forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter, but the offense committed its second error of the game.

Bagent found DJ Moore over the middle of the field for a 13-yard reception on second-and-4. Tyrann Mathieu grabbed Moore’s legs and Paulson Adebo punched the football out of Moore’s hands for the forced fumble.

Before the play, it appeared Moore had an issue with one of his gloves, but he said that had nothing to do with why he fumbled.

“I was just trying to make a play,” Moore said. “I was trying to push him off, but he had a good Peanut Punch on it. I think Mathieu had my legs, so it was hard for me to try and go get it. He just made a great play on it.”

The Saints scored a field goal off of Moore’s turnover, but the Bears answered back with a field goal of their own to tie the game at 17. It wasn’t until early on in the fourth quarter that the Saints scored what ended up being the final touchdown in the game.

Taysom Hill found a wide open Juwan Johnson in the end zone to make it a 24-17 game with 11:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.

There was still plenty of time on the clock for the Bears to tie the game, but the following two Bears’ possessions ended in Bagent interceptions. Bagent tried to hit Darnell Mooney over the middle of the field, but Marcus Maye jumped the route and secured the pick. Bagent said after the game that he thought he was late on the throw.

Adebo intercepted Bagent again on the next drive on a pass intended for Tyler Scott over the middle of the field. The ball was behind Scott, but Bagent felt that pass was on time. He credited the coverage and at the same time took the blame for the mistake.

The Bears and Saints then traded three-and-outs on their next offensive drives. Then the Saints gave the Bears another opportuntity after kicker Blake Grupe hit the left upright on his 47-yard field goal attempt. Cairo Santos also missed a 40-yard field at the end of the first half.

With one last opportunity down 24-17, the Bears started on their own 37-yard line. Darnell Wright was flagged for holding to start the drive. Then two plays later, Bagent was sacked by Demario Davis and fumbled the ball for the Bears’ fifth and final turnover.

The chances were there, but the Bears’ constant mistakes caused the team to drop to 2-7 on the season.

“Protect the ball,” Moore said. “As long as we hold the ball, they don’t have the ball and they can’t score points. So, we just got to protect the ball.”

The Bears will have to learn how to properly protect the fooball quickly since they will host the Carolina Panthers in four days at Soldier Field for a matchup on Thursday Night Football.

The Bears are now 2-7, heading into Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field.

Here are our thoughts from Sunday’s game …

Adam Hoge

The Bears lost the turnover battle 5-0 and the penalty battle 8-1. You can’t win football games that way. This absolutely felt like one the Bears could have won, but they keep proving that they don’t know how to win football games. Bad teams find ways to lose, and that’s what the Bears are until they prove otherwise.

Nicholas Moreano

Usually the team that wins the turnover battle is the one that wins the game. The Bears turned the ball over five times – two fumbles and three Tyson Bagent interceptionss. The Saints finished with no turnovers and also committed just one penalty for five yards compared to the Bears’ eight penalties for 71 yards. The Bears needed to play clean and disciplined to win this matchup, but did the exact opposite. Now the team will have to quickly turn things around for their Week 10 matchup against the Panthers on Thursday Night Football. Hopefully, Justin Fields can make a much-needed return.

Will DeWitt

That game went just about as expected. Turnovers on the road will cost you and the Bears learned the price here today. You can’t expect to turn the ball over that much and still win. They had multiple chances, but just couldn’t find a way to get it done. 

Mark Carman

The Tyson Bagent roller coaster is real. A great throw to Kmet for the first touchdown followed by an interception followed by another touchdown to Kmet. Bagent’s two interceptions in the fourth quarter were killer along with the fumble as was the DJ Moore fumble. Moore also dropped a TD pass albeit not an easy play on a high point ball in double coverage. Another nauseating defeat.

Greg Braggs Jr.

Admirable effort from the Bears. They made it a game. But still, a D2 undrafted free agent rookie quarterback exposing himself of exactly that with three interceptions. NFL windows aren’t easy to throw in and Bagent throwing behind Tyler Scott sealed the game. Even if he had some really nice moments, a tough ask for Tyson to win a shootout. More importantly, I’m still questioning some coaching decisions. Why is the Bears defense playing so far off their receivers on the goal line? And why is Luke Getsy still leaning on WR screens on third and long? And why not run behind Darnell Wright to the right side instead of consistently running to the left the whole fourth quarter? Still not seeing the necessary adjustments from the coaching staff to help a flawed team win another very winnable game.

Kevin Kaduk

Cole Kmet had a game. Tyson Bagent had a good first half. A few defensive players flashed. Everything else mostly sucked. Thursday night’s matchup against the Carolina Panthers is going to be something.

QB1 returned to practice on Friday afternoon, but is still listed as doubtful so it seems unlikely. That means rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent should get his second straight start on the road, one week after suffering a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The New Orleans Saints are currently 4-4 and tied for the top spot in the NFC South. They’re coming off a 38-27 win over Indianapolis that snapped a two-game losing streak.

Here’s how we see this one playing out …

Adam Hoge (3-5) — Saints 21, Bears 13

The Saints defense is good and the Bears are beat up. Perhaps the Bears’ defense will get Eddie Jackson back this week, but they might lose Tremaine Edmunds because of a knee injury. Jaquan Brisker is also still in the concussion protocol. The Bears can’t afford to be playing from behind, especially with Tyson Bagent making another start at quarterback.

Nicholas Moreano (3-5) — Saints 27, Bears 17

The Bears haven’t won in the Superdome since 1991. A 20-17 victory over the Saints. It’s been a while, and that streak will continue after this Bears-Saints matchup on Sunday. Tyson Bagent will be making his third-consecutive start, and I see the Saints’ defense taking advantage of a young quarterback and this Bears offensive line. I think Alvin Kamara makes a big impact in this game with his catching ability, and Derek Carr completes some explosive plays with the deep ball. 

Corey Wootton (3-5) — Saints 28, Bears 17

Bears struggle to get things going offensively. Sweat will make his presence known, but Bears will still struggle opposite him generating pressure. Same story different game .

Will DeWitt (3-5) — Saints 27, Bears 21

Honestly, it’s one of those games where on paper it’s hard to see the Bears coming away with the win, and they’ll probably end up surprising people and make this game much closer than those on the outside expect. If the Bears can break out on the ground, take care of the football and prevent big plays — they definitely have a shot at winning. I just don’t have faith they’ll put together the complete game needed in order to get it done. But who knows? Perhaps Montez Sweat’s arrival will prove to be a difference-maker right out of the gate?

Greg Braggs Jr. (4-4) — Saints 28, Bears 16

Tyson Bagent had a terrific first start of his career. But it coincided with some good fortune including playing at home and against a backup quarterback in Brian Hoyer. Also having a sizeable early lead will always help as well. Last week, he didn’t have the same circumstances and it showed. Playing on the road is not easy for any quarterback but especially for a rookie undrafted free agent out of Division II. Playing from behind is also the worst case scenario for a team that can’t get into a shootout. And this week it gets even more difficult. A much more hostile environment in New Orleans where communicating at the line of scrimmage is never easy and a much tougher defense with the Saints which will make those windows even tighter for Bagent. I’m definitely curious to see how he bounces back but not confident this is the best environment to do so.

Mark Carman (4-4) — Saints 31, Bears 20

Too banged up against too good of a defense. Bagent magic is kept on ice, 

Kevin Kaduk (3-5) — Saints 24, Bears 15

The Saints are right in the middle of the NFC playoff hunt while the Bears’ early lapses have them playing for something less right now. Between their rash of injuries and playing with a rookie QB on the road, it’s hard to see them springing a big upset over that tough Saints’ defense. The best news for the Bears? Drew Brees retired a few years back.

Jake Flannigan (2-6) — Bears 20, Saints 13

Darnell Mooney caught 19 touchdowns during his time at Tulane. Plan on one more Sunday, as he returns to New Orleans. The arrival of defensive end Montez Sweat takes the unit to another level for the road victory.

The Bears’ quarterback was limited and is currently listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

“We’ll see,” Fields said when asked if he could play against the Saints. “So, I’ve been mentally preparing like, you know, I have been like I’m going to play. But we’ll see just how it feels Sunday.”

Fields practiced for the first time since he dislocated his right thumb against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6 on October 15.

“It felt good, but first day back throwing today,” Fields said. “I have to use a glove right now, but it’s progressing.”

Fields told reporters on Friday that he isn’t wearing anything under the glove to help with protection. The glove, according to Fields, helps make it easier to throw the football right now, since his grip strength is still recovering.

“It’s not fully back,” Fields said on his grip strength. “And there’s, of course, still a little bit of pain. But, you know, like I said, I’ve been, you know, preparing like I’m, you know, going to play, and meetings, walkthroughs and just been locked in.”

Fields did acknowledge that it’s “been tough” going so long without being able to throw a football, but he’s been focused on helping Tyson Bagent and his fellow teammates prepare in any way that he can.

Fields also revealed there was never a concern that he would need surgery for his dislocated right thumb with the MRI coming back negative.

In the next 48 hours, Fields plans to get more rehab, treatment, and overall keeping his same routine that he normally would do if he was playing. He’ll just wait to see how his thumb feels on Saturday since this Friday throwing session was the most he has thrown.

If Fields cannot play against the Saints, it’s a quick turnaround for the Week 10 matchup with the Panthers, who come to Chicago to play on Thursday Night Football.

Fields was asked about his confidence to play against Carolina.

“Like I said, I mean, I don’t know,” Fields said. “It’s just going to be day by day to be honest with you. I’ve been progressing each and every day, but we’ll see.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the extension is worth $8.5 million with $6 million in guaranteed money.

“We’re extremely excited to be able to keep Andrew in Chicago,” general manager Ryan Poles told ChicagoBears.com. “The professionalism, dependability and toughness he brings exhibit the type of player we want in our organization.”

Through the first eight games, the 28-year-old defensive lineman has 15 total tackles on 247 total snaps played, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). Billings has had an immediate impact on helping this Bears defense to stop the run effectively.

The Bears’ defense is currently ranked No. 3 in the league with only allowing 78.8 rushing yards per game. Last season, Chicago allowed 157.3 rushing yards per game, which ranked 31st in the NFL.

Although Billings was primarily known for his ability to stop the run and to clog running lanes with his 6-foot-1, 311-pound frame, he has also been a productive pass rusher.

PFF has Billings rated with a pass rush grade of 68.5 — the highest among all defensive linemen on the Bears. The interior defensive lineman has also registered 14 total pressures on the season.

“It feels good that somebody appreciates you and that you’re doing a good enough job that they want you around a little longer,” Billings told ChicagoBears.com on Thursday. “That always feels good.”

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The news was confirmed by Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, who said the decision was made with support from ownership, team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles.

“As the head coach, we are building a program and have standards to uphold to as a staff and organization both on and off the field, and those standards were not met,” Eberflus said at a Wednesday morning press conference. “I’m not going to get into details other than he’s no longer on the staff.”

The news was first reported by Adam Jahns and Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic.

Walker was fired due to his behavior in the workplace, and the human resources department was involved in the decision, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

Eberflus declined to comment when asked directly if Walker’s dismissal was due to behavioral issues.

Omar Young, who was the assistant quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach, will take over as the running backs coach for the Bears.

Walker is the second Bears’ assistant coach to be let go this season. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned from his position on September 20. Williams wrote in a statement that he took a step back from the organization so that he could take care of his health and family.

Eberflus also mentioned that he addressed the changes with his staff, the team’s leadership council and the entire football team on Wednesday morning.

The Bears’ coach was asked about his level of accountability he has in this situation.

“It’s disappointing from my vantage point,” Eberflus said. “But we have a standard to uphold to, and when that standard is not met, we act and we act accordingly. That’s what we did today.”

Despite two assistant coaches being no longer a part of the organization, Eberflus said “absolutely not” to the idea of there being a culture problem with the Bears.

“The culture in our building is outstanding,” Eberflus said. “The guys work hard every single day. The relationship piece is there. We care about each other. We’re working diligently to get this thing turned. We’re 2-2 in the last two games. One game was real close, had a chance at that one. And we really feel we’re turning the corner there, and we feel excited about this week. But to answer your question, the culture is awesome.”

Walker has had 27 years of coaching experience and was in his ninth season coaching in the NFL. Prior to joining the Bears in 2022, Walker was Lions’ running backs coach from 2016-2018. He also had a four-year stint in the same position in Indianapolis.

Eberflus and Walker did not overlap at any point in their respective coaching careers before the two joining the Bears.

Wednesday’s news becomes the latest in what has featured plenty of off the field problems for the Bears’ organization.

“Our guys are resilient,” Eberflus said. “They really are. They are tough-minded. They’ve been through adversity. The culture is great here. Our guys work their tails off and you guys see the locker room, you know what it’s like. It is where it is and guys move forward.”

Washington Commanders defensive end Montez Sweat is headed to the Bears for a 2024 second-round pick. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport on Tuesday morning.

Sweat is 27 years old and on the final year of his contract. He has 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits through eight games in 2024.

By comparison, the Bears defensive ends have combined for five sacks, 11 TFLs and 13 QB hits so far.

Against the Bears on Thursday Night Football in Week 5, Sweat had six total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Sweat was selected by the Commanders with the No. 26 pick out of Mississippi State in the 2019 NFL draft and has collected 35.5 sacks in the 4 1/2 seasons since.

It’s the second straight NFL trade deadline that Ryan Poles has made a big move. Last fall, the Bears GM shook up the roster in a big way, sending star linebacker Roquan Smith to Baltimore and then acquiring wide receiver Chase Claypool from Pittsburgh.

Nicholas Moreano’s reaction to the Montez Sweat trade

The next logical step for the Bears would be to work on a possible contract extension for their new defensive lineman. The latest pass rusher to get an extension was the Packers’ Rashan Gary, who agreed to a 4-year, $107 million extension on Monday.

Sweat becomes the newest lineman the Bears have added to their current roster. On Aug 4, the Bears signed Yannick Ngakoue to a 1-year, $10.5 million deal with 10 million guaranteed.

Going into the 2023 season, the Bears already made several moves to upgrade their defensive line. General manager Ryan Poles signed DeMarcus Walker to a 3-year, $21 million deal and added Andrew Billings to a 1-year, $2,750,000 contract. The Bears also selected Gervon Dexter Sr. with the No. 53 overall pick, Zacch Pickens with the 64th pick in the third round and took Travis Bell with the 218th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

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Dating back to Matt Eberflus’ first year as coach, the Bears have been outscored 145-77 after coming off a victory the week before. Since the 2022 season, Eberflus has only won five games and has failed to secure back-to-back victories.

Here is what the second-year coach had to say during his Monday afternoon press conference.

Justin Fields ruled out

Justin Fields has been ruled out for the Week 9 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. This will be the third-straight game Fields has missed due to the right dislocated thumb injury he suffered in the loss to the Vikings. Eberflus said that Fields is still “week to week, but he is improving.” Until Fields can return from his injury, Tyson Bagent will be the starter.

Eberflus was asked if Fields has begun throwing the football in any way.

“He’s progressing. I can just say that,” Eberflus said. “I’m not going to get into particulars but he is progressing and he is improving. I can say that. So we like where it is right now.”

The Bears chose not to place Fields on IR, and the team is still hopeful that the quarterback can return within the four-week time frame.

Jaquan Brisker concussion situtation

Eberflus made it clear that Jaquan Brisker’s current situation is unique and one that he hasn’t been a part of before.

Brisker is back in concusion protocol, according to Eberflus. Early in the week on Sunday and Monday, the second-year safety was examined by an independent neuorologist and was cleared of a concussion. Then on Tuesday, Brisker started feeling ill, showing symptoms such as a fever, and that persisted until Friday. Brisker was then brought to Halas Hall and ruled out on Saturday. His illness then was cleared on Saturday, but the next day he still felt a “bit off.”

Eberflus mentioned that Brisker has done a “very good job of communicating” with the team throughout this situation, and the coach said, “The most important thing is our players’ safety and health.”

What happened on Tyson Bagent’s first interception?

The Bears’ offense struggled at finding any rhythm in the first half. The first two drives resulted in punts, and then the third offensive possession ended in a Tyson Bagent interception.

On third-and-8 from the Chargers’ 45-yard line, Bagent lined up in the shotgun and had time to throw. The rookie quarterback had Darnell Mooney in the slot and DJ Moore lined up outside the numbers. Bagent threw inbetween Moore and Mooney and was easily intercepted by Ja’Sir Taylor.

Eberflus provided an exaplanation on what went wrong on that particular play.

“Just gotta get the ball in the flatw, that’s all,” Eberflus said. “I think it was Mooney in the flat, right?”