The Chicago Bears lost their fourth straight game. Their downward spiral continues and now a once-promising season is likely done.
The Chicago Bears‘ downward spiral continued in front of a national audience. Despite having playcalling go from head coach Matt Nagy to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, the offense continued to struggle to move the ball. They lost to the Minnesota Vikings 19-13.
The offense failed to score a touchdown. It was the second time this season that happened, and the third time the offense scored one or fewer touchdowns in a game. The lone touchdown came on a Cordarrelle Patterson 104-yard return to start the third quarter.
The offense under Lazor looked very much similar to the one run by Nagy. To be fair, Lazor didn’t have enough time to completely change things. With the bye week, he’ll have two weeks to work on something different. It might be too late for it to work, however.
In the second half, the Bears really struggled to move the ball. It might have been the most it struggled, and it happened against a Vikings defense that ranks at or near the bottom of most categories. The offense had just 32 yards in the second half but 29 of them came late in the fourth quarter. The offense finished the game with just 149 yards.
Injury added to insult
To add to all the problems the Bears have, two key players suffered injuries. In the fourth quarter, defensive end Akiem Hicks suffered a hamstring injury chasing quarterback Kirk Cousins. He left the game and didn’t return. Up to that point, the Bears defense did a good job of holding the league’s leading rusher, Dalvin Cook. He finished the game with 96 yards on 30 carries, averaging 3.2 yards per rush.
Without Hicks, however, Cook was an integral part of the Vikings’ game-winning drive. He rushed for 27 yards on just that drive alone. He averaged 6.8 yards on the drive and Cousins did the rest, throwing a 22-yard pass to Kyle Rudolph and finishing the drive with a touchdown pass to Adam Thielen.
On the Bears’ final drive of the game, quarterback Nick Foles took a hit and suffered an injury when he went down on his side. He was taken away on a cart. When Nagy met with reporters early Tuesday, though, he said it looked worse than it really was.
It wasn’t as bad as we once thought.
Nagy went on to say that he didn’t think Foles would spend any time on injured reserve. However, he did leave open the possibility of having former starter Mitchell Trubisky get his job back. He said all options are on the table.
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With the offensive line struggling, Foles’ immobility led to him absorbing a lot of hits. The number of hits appears to have him shell-shocked. The line, for the most part, did a good job of keeping the pocket clean for Foles. He looked like he felt pressure that wasn’t really there and rushed some of his passes, especially in the first quarter. The Bears’ best drive of the game sputtered when he missed a couple of throws by throwing the ball too early.
Trubisky’s mobility could help extend some drives. He can run for first downs. The downside is that his running could cause him to get injured. He’s already been out of the last two games because he hurt his shoulder on a run against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8. Also, he suffered injuries in the last three seasons.
The season is a lost cause now
After a 5-1 start, the Bears are now 5-5 and sinking fast. Things don’t look good coming out of the bye. They face the NFC and NFC North leaders, the Green Bay Packers. A loss to them in Week 12 and the Bears own five game losing streak and a losing record. If Nagy doesn’t do something to right the ship Chicago could realistically win just one game the rest of the season. The way the offense struggles and with the injuries piling up, there’s nothing that says things change.
The problems the Bears have cannot be solved during the season. The change they need only happens with a long offseason of work. Some of the people in charge of making the tough decisions might not be there, however. It’s a long time before the end of the season and the offseason will be even longer.
