CHICAGO — Fanatics booed and chanted to fireplace the pinnacle trainer. They headed for the exits in droves.
The storage room had an all-too-familiar quiet to it. The avid gamers who spoke have been shocked and lacked solutions to the distinguishable.
How did the Chicago Bears get right here?
“Can’t put it into words,” large receiver DJ Moore mentioned. “Difficult loss. Go back to the drawing boards and just be real with ourselves.”
Nobody within the storage room will play games the blame duel, however to lose 19-3 at house to the Brandnew England Patriots is an institutional failure. Each and every resolution that led so far merits scrutiny, whether or not it was once one thing as micro as quarterback Caleb Williams throwing a swing go to Moore in lieu of handing it off or one thing as franchise-altering because the entrance administrative center deciding to hold head trainer Matt Eberflus.
That’s how unholy a loss on this condition was once. As Eberflus mentioned when requested in regards to the offensive coordinator place, “Everything is going to be looked at.”
“It was pretty bad,” tight finish Cole Kmet mentioned. “We’ve got a lot that we’ve got to get corrected.”
Handiest 14 days in the past, the 4-2 Bears performed a flexed late-afternoon duel in opposition to the Washington Commanders. The whole lot looked to be going within the accurate direction coming off a three-game profitable streak and a bye to medication what wasn’t running: the first-quarter offense and run protection.
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Now the Bears are 4-5. They’ve been close out within the first quarter in 5 consecutive video games. They’d one among their worst offensive performances in years in opposition to a 2-7 Patriots staff that ranked twenty sixth in yards in keeping with play games allowed, twenty seventh in yards in keeping with go allowed, twenty eighth in sacks in keeping with go and twenty seventh on 3rd ill.
The Bears spoke back via striking up 142 yards of offense and four.0 yards in keeping with go. They allowed 9 sacks for the 7th life in franchise historical past and went 1-for-14 on 3rd ill.
If that juxtaposition sounds acquainted, it was once a related chorus final generation later a 29-9 drubbing on the Arizona Cardinals.
When given a chance to answer dropping in an not possible model in opposition to the Commanders, the Bears have been overwhelmed in all 3 levels via the Cardinals. When given a chance to dance again and get a wanted win prior to category play games in opposition to a last-place staff, they couldn’t exit the soccer.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye and a two-win Patriots staff abashment the Bears at Soldier Garden on Sunday. (Michael Reaves / Getty Photographs)
One of the vital issues later the sport from Eberflus and Williams was once that the Bears have the avid gamers. If you happen to proceed up and ill the roster, they do. The offensive form was once in tatters Sunday and even if wholesome has struggled, however this is among the higher Bears rosters within the post-Lovie Smith hour.
Williams permitted the blame for his function within the dropping. He has finished 50.5 % of his passes within the future 3 video games. His accuracy has been off. He’s no longer getting the ball out briefly plenty. A bundle of this is to be anticipated, although, from a rookie, even one as heralded as Williams.
If the Bears have the quarterback and the avid gamers round him, how did the group screw this up?
• Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron merely has no longer put the offense able to be successful. Working again D’Andre Fast had his moments Sunday, however next we’d see the run isolated. Difference was once placed on a banged-up offensive form and, subsequently, Williams. The rookie quarterback stated his mistakes on 3rd ill, however just like the future two weeks, this scheme isn’t giving him layups. We noticed Patriots quarterback Drake Maye get some great, simple chew performs to observable receivers. That didn’t occur for Williams, and he has higher receivers.
• On Feb. 22, Eberflus stood on the lectern at Halas Corridor to introduce Waldron. He lauded the staff’s two-week procedure that landed its coordinators. He thanked his bosses for the sources that allowed him to journey the West Coast and interview play games callers. The stakes have been prime with the Refuse. 1 select and the truth that Eberflus’ first selection as offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, didn’t paintings. He selected Waldron. He selected to advertise Chris Morgan to run duel coordinator and pair him with Waldron. Then again the Bears were given to Waldron, and on the other hand they constructed this offensive body of workers, is rightly beneath big grievance.
For the second one generation in a row, Eberflus took complete responsibility later the sport, pronouncing, “I’ll take responsibility for it.”
“The whole thing,” he mentioned. “The operation of it: offense, defense, kicking. That’s the job of the head coach. So, to me, that’s accountability for everything.”
Eberflus is aware of that the entirety that is going on displays on him, however the coordinator resolution is going above him too, as does blame for Sunday’s dismal efficiency. The Bears put themselves on this place. Their efficiency on offense manner a major exam of the entirety that resulted in it.
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• Normal supervisor Ryan Poles and his body of workers constructed a roster that appears not anything like the only he inherited in 2022, however a three-game dropping streak that has put warmth at the training body of workers raises the terminating query: Must Eberflus had been retained later final season? Even though Poles advanced the offensive form intensity, as he sees how time and again Williams has been sacked, must extra had been achieved to make stronger the starters?
• This is going above Poles, too, to president/CEO Kevin Warren, who had a chance in his first offseason to form a significant trade to assistance the infrastructure that might get its very best probability to proper the quarterback send. Warren, whose downtown stadium plans are stalled generation the staff sits on land in Arlington Heights, may just nonetheless be the wild card that might permit this iteration of the Bears to form in-season strikes.
• And next it is going to chairman George McCaskey, whose hiring committee known Poles and Eberflus just about 3 years in the past. Beneath McCaskey’s tenure, the Bears have received 0 playoff video games, are on their 5th head trainer and 3rd GM and might be shifting directly to their tenth offensive coordinator.
With Williams, Moore, Fast, Kmet, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze on offense, the Bears scored 3 issues in opposition to the Patriots at Soldier Garden.
For the offense to combust in such impressive model later back-to-back weeks of chatter about staff conferences and responsibility, that’s the kind of loss that falls on everybody within the group.
Sunday was once intended to be a go back to .500, a chance to make the most of a rebuilding Patriots staff prior to the Inexperienced Bay Packers come to the city. Rather, it was once one of the crucial Bears’ worst losses in years.
And that’s pronouncing one thing.
(Govern picture of Caleb Williams getting sacked via Jahlani Tavai: Michael Reaves / Getty Photographs)
