The Chicago Bears lost their fifth straight game with a 16-13 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens, where backup Tyler Huntley orchestrated a late rally in his first NFL start. After a 3-2 start, the Bears have dropped to 3-7 heading into a Thanksgiving matchup against the winless Detroit Lions.
It was an ugly game all around — one that the Bears actually almost won — but it wasn’t a good look for Matt Nagy, who’s all but sealed his fate in Chicago.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Bears in this loss.
Offense: D-
AP Photo/David Banks
The last thing any Bears fan wanted was for Justin Fields to exit the game with an injury. A loss? Sure, whatever, this season is a wash anyway. But losing your rookie quarterback to an injury because he’s taken an absolute beating all season, there couldn’t have been a worse scenario. Thankfully, it appears Fields suffered only bruised ribs, but it’ll likely sideline him for a bit.
Andy Dalton was great — coming in off the bench and throwing two touchdowns, including a 49-yarder to Marquise Goodwin, which should’ve been the game winner — and you love that, after the way his season started, that he got a chance to be the hero, even for a half. But at this point in the season, it’s meaningless without Fields in the game. This Bears team aren’t contenders, they’re not going anywhere but down, and the only thing that matters is building for the future.
Sure, the Bears had two 100-yard receivers in the same game — as Darnell Mooney logged five receptions for 121 yards and Goodwin had four catches for 104 yards — but it felt like a hollow victory given most of those yards came on two big plays and the offense looked unimpressive for most of the afternoon…again.
This game also felt like the throwback Matt Nagy days, where his offense abandoned the run fairly early on despite early success and a nice opening drive stalled due to questionable play calling. The one saving grace is that it should be the last season we have to deal with this mess before a new coaching staff is in place.
Defense: D+
Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports
If the Bears defense held the Ravens to 16 points with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, this would’ve been considered a small victory. Instead, Chicago let a second-year quarterback making his first NFL start march all over them, including on the game-winning touchdown. It was a complete disaster.
But it’s hard to grade the Bears too low considering the massive impact that Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith had in this game. Because, man, those two were on a mission. Quinn had 3.5 sacks on the day — a career high — and that was without the benefit of Khalil Mack on the opposite side. Smith had 17 tackles, also a career high, and he was all over the field. Their performances should’ve been enough for the win.
All in all, the Bears defense probably had their best outing in the last four games. Unfortunately, it had the same ending as the defense once again blew a lead at the end of the game to send Chicago to their fifth straight loss. Not to say the loss was all on the defense. But when the Bears needed them to step up and get a stop, they folded. That bend-don’t-break defense has become a broken defense when the game is on the line.
Special Teams: C-
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
You know things are bad when even Chicago’s special teams, which has been the strength of the team this season, starts fumbling the bag. Cairo Santos has missed a third kick in as many games, missing a 40-yard field goal on the Bears’ opening possession, which wound up being the difference in the 16-13 loss.
Heck, even Pat O’Donnell, who’s had plenty of opportunities to punt the ball this season, had one of his punts partially blocked. Although, he did kick have two punts downed inside Baltimore’s 20-yard line.
Coaching: D
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
The Bears have lost five straight games for the second straight season, let that sink in. If this game wasn’t a microcosm of the Matt Nagy era, I don’t what is. Chicago was gifted an opportunity to steal a win, keep themselves “in the hunt” in the NFC playoff race and give Nagy some breathing room as his coaching tenure with the Bears nears its end. Even then, Chicago couldn’t pull it off…even with the lead in the final moments.
Even when the Bears trailed by 3 points with 22 seconds left, they should’ve stood a chance had Nagy not wasted the team’s timeouts early in the second half, including on a questionable 4th-and-1 sequence that was an absolute joke and need with the Ravens in Chicago territory.
Nagy is now 0-4 in games coming out of the bye week and his team has lost four straight games for the third straight season and five straight for the second consecutive season. The Bears’ offense has gotten worse with each passing season and he’s putting his rookie quarterback in harm’s way. The jury’s out — it’s been out — on Nagy.
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