Chicago Bears Lose Fourth Straight, Fields Injures Shoulder

The Chicago Bears lost to the Atlanta Falcons 27-24 for their fourth straight loss. More importantly, though, Justin Fields injured his shoulder.

The Chicago Bears‘ downward spiral continues. After they fell to the Atlanta Falcons 27-24, they now have four straight losses. Additionally, they lost seven of their last eight games. They now own a 3-8 record.

Something that is of more concern, however, is the health of quarterback Justin Fields. He had a great first half in which he accounted for 144 total yards of offense and three touchdowns.

However, he wasn’t the same in the second half. He totaled just 94 total yards and had no touchdowns. In fact, the only score by the Bears in the second half was a two-yard run by David Montgomery.

It seemed that Fields was tired. He was massaging his hamstrings throughout the second half. He looked a step slower and the Falcons took advantage of that.

The game was tied at halftime and the Bears were ready to take off in the second half. With Fields down, everything fell apart. Chicago was already without Khalil Herbert, who is on injured reserve and will miss at least the next four games.

The Bears have the NFL’s best rushing attack. However, with Fields slowing down as well, Chicago was left with just Montgomery. Montgomery had a good game, accounting for 121 total yards and a touchdown. Rookie Trestan Ebner showed nothing as Montgomery’s backup, getting eight yards on six carries. Six of those yards came on one run.

Missing two-thirds of their impressive rushing game proved to be too much to overcome. The offense struggled to move the ball and get into the end zone. After averaging 386 yards per game in their last five games, they only had 288 total yards this week.

Just as has been the case in most of the Bears’ losses, it came down to their final drive. They had the ball with 1:47 left in the game with a chance to tie or win the game.

Then Luke Getsy’s play-calling came into question.

Getsy makes questionable calls

Getsy received a lot of praise for how he tweaked his offense to take advantage of Fields’ skill set. He has gotten a lot out of his players despite most of them not having the talent to play as much as they have. The Bears put up a lot of yards and a lot of points (averaging a league-high 31 points per game in their previous four games).

This was not Getsy’s finest hour, though. Throughout the game, he called a more vanilla game instead of finding innovative ways to set Fields free. Perhaps Fields’ condition was a reason for that.

However, what Getsy did on the final drive was almost malpractice. As the second half progressed, it was more evident that Fields was not right. Instead of protecting him and calling pass plays, he called two quarterback runs to start the drive.

On the first play, Fields ran to his left and looked like he was running in quicksand. The Falcons defender was quickly on him and tackled him. Fields fell awkwardly and hurt his left shoulder. As he went back into the huddle he was massaging it.

Again, though, Getsy called a run for Fields. Fields went down the middle and slid to avoid a big hit. He still received a hit and looked more uncomfortable.

On the third play, Getsy called for a pass since it was third and long. Fields ended up sailing his throw. Montgomery failed to get to it and Atlanta intercepted the pass to seal the loss.

Fields received an evaluation after the game. Head coach Matt Eberflus stated that there would be no update until Wednesday when the team is required to post the conditions of their players.

He got dinged in the left shoulder, and the doctors are taking care of it. We’ll know more Wednesday.

Bears keep falling

The loss, combined with a Detroit Lions win, have the Chicago Bears entrenched in last place in the NFC North. They are now 1.5 games behind the Lions (and the Lions own a tie-breaker after last week’s win),

Additionally, Chicago’s position continues to shoot up in the NFL Draft. With their 3-8 record they now own the number three pick in the 2023 draft. They and the Carolina Panthers have the same record so there is a chance that the Bears could move up to the second spot.

The Houston Texans own the worst record in the NFL. It seems unlikely that the Bears catch up to them. The Texans only have one win and the Bears beat them earlier this season so having them advance three games on the Bears doesn’t look good.

There are many fans who are happy with this situation. They feel the Bears’ rebuild will be quicker with the chance of picking high in the draft. Still, watching all these losses pile up hurts.

What hurts even more is watching Fields take a beating. The coaches have to do a better job of protecting him, especially when he looks tired and beaten.