The story changes every year, but the ending stays the same. The Bears didn’t have nearly enough offensive firepower Sunday against the Packers and lost 17-9. Their archrivals marched to a playoff berth, and the Bears trudged back to Halas Hall with a losing record.
Rinse, repeat, another defeat.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
Warren’s reckoning
Amid revolving general managers, coaches and quarterbacks, the Bears have had one winning season in the last 11. They finished last in the NFC North for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons. President Kevin Warren was hired to do more than build a stadium. Fixing the football team must be his top priority.
Stroud looms large
Imagine this Bears team with the same defense but with quarterback C.J. Stroud, who could’ve been theirs in the draft last year. Stroud landed with the Texans, who were probably behind the Bears in their rebuild going into this season, and racked up 273.9 yards passing per game, threw 23 touchdown passes against five interceptions and had a 100.8 passer rating.
Much improvement needed
The Bears are very much still under construction. While some parts look finished, such as the secondary, this game and others showed they still need help at receiver, defensive line and offensive line. They’ve got plenty of draft capital and salary-cap space, but they also have plenty to fix.
