Chicago Bears Suffer Another Embarrassment In Loss To Lions

The Chicago Bears suffer another collapse and blow a 12-point lead late in the game to lose 31-26 to the Detroit Lions.

Well, maybe we should at least give the Chicago Bears some credit for being consistent. While they aren’t consistent winners, they consistently find a way to lose in an increasingly frustrating fashion.

Against the Detroit Lions, they owned a 12-point lead with 4:15 left in the game, the Bears allowed 17 points to lose 31-26.

The Bears spent most of the game dominating Detroit. They got great efforts from the offense, defense, and special teams. When it came to the critical final minutes, however, the offense could not move the ball and the defense could not stop the ball from moving.

Quarterback Justin Fields finally came back after missing four games with a dislocated thumb. He looked good and had probably the grittiest performance in his career. His thumb, which was still not 100 percent, acted up a little. There were times when the camera caught him shaking his hand after making a pass.

Additionally, he got hit on the same hand and cut his middle finger, which had blood flowing out of it. He went to the sideline and had a liquid bandage put on it.

Fields has a good first game back

It looked like Fields did take notes while he was out and he looked like a different thrower. He scanned his options downfield and checked down when he had to. Additionally, he did not just hold onto the ball looking for the big play. If there wasn’t anything open, he threw the ball away.

Some say that from here until the end of the season Fields is auditioning to show he is the guy to lead the offense. If that is the case, he had a good first showing.

Fields finished the game 16/23 for 169 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, his running returned as he had 18 carries for 104 yards. The rest of the running backs had 79 rushing yards.

Fields was calm under pressure and made some big throws. On his touchdown throw to wide receiver D.J. Moore, the Lions blitzed Fields. He stepped up and threw a perfect strike for the score.

Even on the final drive before the Bears lost the lead, his final throw was another perfect throw deep downfield. However, Tyler Scott slowed down and ran off his route and was unable to make the catch. If he had, the Bears could have sealed the game.

This was a good game for Fields. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to play like this the rest of the way. If he does, the offseason decision for the Chicago Bears will be even more difficult.

Moore was happy to see Fields back

Moore was certainly happy to see Fields back on the field. The duo have been lighting things up from the moment training camp began. With Tyson Bagent replacing Fields, though, Moore was unable to create the same magic he did with Fields.

In six games with Fields as the quarterback, Moore averaged 97 receiving yards and had 5 touchdown receptions. In Bagent’s four starts, he averaged just 52.8 yards per game and had zero touchdown catches.

Moore and Fields were back to their old ways against the Lions. He had 7 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Just an average game for the Fields/Moore combo.

Hopefully, this duo continues to do big things down the stretch of the season and shows that they should be kept together.

The defense was very good until it wasn’t

The Chicago Bears’ defense came ready to play against the Lions. The unit pressured Detroit quarterback Jared Goff into making ill-conceived passes. As a result, the Bears forced him into throwing three interceptions.

The first-year players in Chicago made the big plays. Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had the first interception (later he also forced a fumble on special teams). It was his first career interception after nearly getting a few earlier in the season.

T.J. Edwards had the second interception. The Lions were marching down and Goff tried to throw the ball after getting pressured. He completely missed his receiver and Edwards was there to make the pick.

In the third quarter, Tremaine Edmunds joined the party. Goff threw a pass that defensive lineman Gervon Dexter tipped. It went to Edmunds and he made the interception.

The defense was looking good throughout the game until the two drives in 3:20. Chicago gave up 223 passing yards. The Lions got 115 of those on those two drives. Chicago gave up 115 rushing yards. The Lions got 33 of them on those two drives.

Those two drives ruined what would have been the best game for the defense this season. They weren’t able to finish the effort so that effort went to waste.

Johnson and Scott did not impress

Two players who did not have games to write home about were Tyler Scott and cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

Johnson is in the final year of his rookie deal. He is looking to be paid as an elite cornerback. This was a game he could have shown his worth. However, he failed. He got called for a big pass interference penalty.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Johnson also had a chance to make two interceptions. One of them was an easy pick-six. He grabbed the pass at the three and had no one in front of him. However, he bobbled the ball and dropped it. On the next play, the Lions scored a game-tying touchdown.

Elite cornerbacks come through in big situations. Johnson, however, failed to come through.

Scott also helped with Detroit’s scoring. He caught a pass for four yards. However, he fumbled the ball and the Lions recovered it on Chicago’s 34-yard line. It gave the Lions a short field. That ended up being the same drive in which Johnson dropped the easy pick-six.

Scott then made that head-scratching move that prevented him from making a possible game-clinching catch.

The Bears continue to find ways to lose games. It makes one wonder how much more the front office can handle. If no heads roll during the regular season, there should be some big moves made this offseason.

Next up for Chicago is a rematch with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings suffered a heartbreaking loss themselves. Ironically it was to the Denver Broncos, who also beat the Bears in heartbreaking fashion. Eberflus is still looking for his first NFC North win. He is now 0-9. Let’s see if he finally gets that win.