In the biggest game of their season, the Chicago Bears (7-7) came out flat against their rivals the Green Bay Packers (11-3), who marched one game closer to the playoffs while the Bears were officially eliminated.
No matter how you look at it, Sunday’s 21-13 loss was an ugly one. Offense, defense — well, maybe not special teams, even if the refs would have you believe it.
But there were plenty of reasons for the Bears’ devastating loss. Here are the biggest three reasons:
1. Nonsense “kick catch interference” call on Cordarrelle Patterson in first quarter
Contrary to the “kick catch interference” call made by referees early in the first quarter of Sunday’s game, Cordarrelle Patterson’s hit on Tramon Williams was perfectly-timed and perfectly-executed. Patterson is having an All-Pro season as a special teamer for plays just like that.
While this wasn’t the only reason the Bears lost, it was a big reason why considering how it altered the game moving forward.
If the right call is made — which is a no call — Patterson’s hit jarred the ball loose, and the Bears offense would’ve gotten the ball on the Green Bay 35-yard line rather than the Packers getting the ball on the Chicago 35-yard line, which is exactly what happened.
The Bears would’ve had an opportunity to jump ahead to a fast start, which is something that has happened over the last two games that has been a big indicator in their success. If Chicago is playing with the lead, you have to believe it changes their gameplan moving forward. That, and the Packers weren’t gifted an early touchdown.
2. Offense reverts back to early-season struggles
Just when the Bears offense appeared to be trending in the right direction, they were brought back to the reality of what’s been a horrendous season for this unit.
There was plenty of blame to go around for the offense’s struggles — quarterback, offensive line play, lack of a running game, dropped passes, absence of tight ends — but there’s one that stands out above the others: Play calling.
After back-to-back games where Chicago’s offense had found its stride, Bears head coach and play caller Matt Nagy seemed to revert away from the very things that had worked for his offense over the last couple of games and back to the things that resulted in losses.
Whether it wasn’t rolling Trubisky out — to help out him and the offensive line — or failing to establish the run, Nagy’s gameplan seemed like a carbon copy of the exact one that lost the Bears their season opener — and doomed the offense from the start.
3. Defense’s poor third quarter
Coming out of halftime, this game was well within reach. The Bears trailed the Packers 7-3, just as they did in Week 1. But it was a disastrous third quarter by the Bears defense that seemed to put the game well out of reach — even with a quarter-plus remaining.
The defense deserves their share of the blame in this loss — surrendering two third-quarter scoring drives, missed tackles, big plays — but they’re not the reason the Bears lost this game.
But their poor third quarter showing, where they allowed back-to-back touchdown drives of 5 plays for 73 yards and then 5 plays for 66 yards, was certainly a blow that Chicago couldn’t recover from.
