Takeaways from Bears’ Embarrassing Loss to Patriots
After the Chicago Bears’ embarrassing performance on Sunday against the New England Patriots, it is time for the organization as a whole to take a long look in the mirror and consider what needs to change. There was plenty to take away from Sunday’s game, and not many were positive. So many questions are being asked at Halas Hall right now that do not have answers, so let's try to answer some of them. Here are the three main takeaways from the Bears’ 19-3 loss to the Patriots.
There needs to be a change on offense
The Bears reached their 20th consecutive drive without scoring a touchdown on Sunday, meaning they have not scored an offensive touchdown since Roschon Johnson’s one-yard score in the final minute to put the Bears ahead against Washington. We all know how that one ended. The Bears rank nearly dead last in total yards, passing yards, and 3rd down percentage, and this was an offense with so much promise coming into the year, given the talent on paper at the skill positions. However, the play of the offensive line and play-calling from Shane Waldron have let this unit down. Williams has been sacked 37 times through nine games, including six or more times in three separate games. The most concerning thing about this is that the large sack numbers are not even coming against teams with dominating defensive fronts. The Cardinals accounted for 25% of their team's sack total for the whole season in one game against the Bears. The offensive line has not been healthy as of late, but it is impossible to run an offense and develop a rookie quarterback with poor offensive line play. There also needs to be a change at offensive play caller. It is clear at this point that Shane Waldron’s scheme does not fit this offense with the players that are in it. There is no reason that an offense with this much talent should be going multiple games without an offensive touchdown. There is obviously blame to be given out to Caleb Williams and the receiving core as well, but the two sore spots with this offense remain the offensive line and the play-calling.
Matt Eberflus has lost the locker room
It is common in the NFL to hear that the head coach of the team represents the culture and attitude that the group plays with on Sundays. This is not the case right now in Chicago. Nothing that Matt Eberflus talks about during the week, whether it is accountability, intensity, attitude, etc, this team does not reflect the culture that the head coach puts out publicly. That can really only mean one thing: Matt Eberflus has lost this locker room. This team does not want to play for him right now, and it showed in a big way against New England. It seems that players began to lose respect for Eberflus as a coach and decision-maker after the Hail Mary against the Washington Commanders. The way they bounced back in the next two games after that has further proven that point as they put up embarrassing performances against the Cardinals and Patriots back-to-back. It is well known that the Bears do not fire head coaches during the season, but if Ryan Poles has any desire to win in 2024, it might be time to break that trend.
Caleb Williams is not developing
One of the main goals of this season for the Bears was to see their young and talented quarterback develop his skills and improve against NFL defenses. Unfortunately, the past month has felt like a step backward in that direction, if anything. He was sacked nine times on Sunday, but not all of those were on the offensive line. We saw a lot of holding on to the ball from Caleb Williams for far too long, and that is the same knock that many people around the Bears’ organization had about Justin Fields last year. Now, everyone is to blame for Williams’ lack of development so far this year, including himself. The frustrating part is this is a recurring organizational failure that the Bears can not seem to ever get right. Ryan Poles is to blame for not investing enough in the offensive line, Shane Waldron is to blame for ineffective play-calling, and the receivers are to blame for many dropped passes. It seemed like Caleb was coming into one of the best situations that a top draft pick ever had the opportunity to, but the organization is failing once again to develop a top quarterback talent.
Overall, this was a pretty negative piece, but as mentioned in the opening paragraph, there were not many positives to take away from Sunday’s game. It is tough to ever say a team’s season is over prior to Thanksgiving, but the road ahead for the Bears is only going to get tougher. They have the hardest remaining schedule in the NFL, as every team on their schedule is currently above .500. So if some of the same problems continue to occur, this season could fall off the rails quickly for the Chicago Bears.
