The final game at Soldier Field for the 2019 season was a lot like the first back in September. The offense only put up three points, penalty flags rained all over the field and the fans showered the team with boos throughout the whole game as the Chicago Bears lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-3, dropping them to 7-8 with one final game to go in arguably the most disappointing season this decade.
The Chiefs were able to stifle the Bears offense and the defense was able to slow down quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but they couldn’t stop him. Here are my takeaways from Sunday night’s embarrassing loss.
1. The entire offense was abysmal
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Chicago Bears offense didn’t exactly set the field on fire. For the third time this season, the Bears were held to single digits on the scoreboard. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky missed throws, his receivers dropped his passes when they were on target and the playcalling was suspect once again.
It’s the 10th time this season the offense has failed to score a touchdown in the first half, as well as being held to under 300 yards for the entire game. Everyone is to blame for the lack of production, but one player still looms large…
2. Mitchell Trubisky was unable to rewrite the game’s narrative
This primetime matchup, AKA the “What Could Have Been Bowl,” was centered on Mahomes and Trubisky. Mahomes did his thing, passing for 251 yards and two touchdowns with a passer rating of 112, showing Bears fans what life would be like had he donned the orange and navy. Trubisky, meanwhile, regressed from his late-season surge, only passing for 157 yards for no scores and a passer rating of 65.4, his fourth-lowest of the season.
This was an opportunity to rewrite the 2017 draft class narrative (at least for one game) regarding the Bears decision to draft Trubisky over Mahomes, but #10 reverted back to his old self from September and October after a recent surge over the last month. He made questionable decisions, such as his self-sack in the first half when he ran out of bounds on a third and long and missed yet another overthrow to wide receiver Allen Robinson later on. In the books, it’s another loss and poor performance for Trubisky. But this means more given who his opponent was.
3. Travis Kelce showed what this offense can be
Aside from the quarterback position, this Bears offense has been missing a true, difference-making tight end that can stretch the field. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce led the team with eight catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. He found the soft spots in the Bears defense and consistently bounced off tacklers.
He put on a clinic for how effective a tight end can be in this type of offense, which of course is extremely similar to what the Bears run given that Nagy stems from Reid’s coaching tree. Despite investing money and draft capital over the last three seasons in Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen, respectively, the Bears likely will be targeting the position in the draft or possibly in free agency. Finding the right player should do wonders for the offense and give them the boost like Kelce has done with the Chiefs.
4. Allen Robinson continues to be disrespected
Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson has been the true lone bright spot on this offense, posting over 1,000 receiving yards and seven scores. He’s a true WR1 and teams know they must gameplan for him. The television commentators, however, may not feel the same way.
During NBC’s broadcast of the game, commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were discussing where the receiver would rank in the Chiefs offense. Collinsworth said he would be placed with wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who coincidentally, was the other top wide receiver on the market in 2018 when both were free agents.
I’ll admit, this takeaway is from the booth and not the field, but Robinson has consistently outplayed Watkins over the last two seasons. Robinson’s numbers rank among the top 15 receivers in the league and Watkins has been relegated to the third or fourth option in the Chiefs’ passing attack. Robinson may not have the star power of a Michael Thomas or Julio Jones, but he’s much closer than people realize.
5. Nearly everyone has moved on to 2020
Whether it’s the coaching staff, management or the players, everyone seems to want to put the 2019 season behind them and move onto 2020. That would be the wise move, expect the team still had two games to go coming into Sunday’s matchup with the Chiefs.
Nearly everyone the field looked disinterested and out of sync, not wanting to be there. Multiple players called the loss “embarrassing” and seemed frustrated with the mounting questions and lack of answers. Games like these still have value, even if the team has nothing to gain in terms of postseason hopes. Players can build on successful stretches and coaches can use momentum to their advantage going into the offseason. But after Sunday’s game and with one more to go, it doesn’t look like the Bears will be one of those teams.
