The Bears could stick to their strength offensively, but they don’t have one.
They are good at neither passing nor running, and that kept them from getting any traction most of the afternoon in a 21-13 loss to the Packers on Sunday.
Their passing woes are well documented — Mitch Trubisky ranks 26th in passer rating at 84.2 and all his numbers are down from last season — but the ground game is an equally significant problem that needs to be addressed heading into 2020.
The Bears have the 10th-fewest carries in the NFL, so Matt Nagy isn’t especially inclined to go that route, but their struggles in the first quarter certainly didn’t encourage him to keep trying. Despite the Packers consistently loading up in the secondary, the Bears ran six times for a net result of minus-3 yards.
The trouble began with Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark blowing by Bears left guard James Daniels to drag Tarik Cohen down for a 3-yard loss, and David Montgomery tried to go through the line a few plays later and managed 1 yard.
The Bears got 3.5 yards per carry out of Cohen and 2.8 from Montgomery, and the only real headway they made on the ground was when Trubisky took off.
“There was a couple times where there was execution,” Nagy said. “Again, it just goes back to 11 people — 12 if you include coaches — just everybody being on the same page. Get a nice first down, and then all the sudden you’re fighting on third down.”
Their trouble up front hurt them throughout the game. They faced third-and-6 and -10 on the opening drive and ran into an impossible third-and-16 when Trubisky got sacked on the second possession. They converted 5 of 15 third downs through three quarters.
The Bears went into the second half down just 7-3, but from there they threw on 38 of 50 plays. It was the fifth time in 12 full games that Trubisky threw at least 40 passes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to fire away if Patrick Mahomes is your quarterback, but the Bears aren’t getting enough production from Trubisky to think they can win that way.
Here are some other notes from film study this week:
Rodgers finds mismatch
While most of the attention on the Packers’ first-quarter touchdown centered on the penalty against Cordarrelle Patterson that gave them a short field, the Bears’ defense still had a good chance to hold them to a field goal.
Linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, who has taken over for injured starter Roquan Smith, made a big third-down stop to force the Packers into a fourth-and-4 at the 29-yard line. They bypassed a nearly 50-yard field goal to go for it.
The Packers called timeout, and it appeared that Aaron Rodgers saw something he wanted to exploit. They put star wide receiver Davante Adams in the slot, setting him up against Buster Skrine. That did not go well for the Bears.
With Skrine playing close to the line, Adams gave him a stutter-step and then outraced him to the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was manning that side of the field, but wasn’t able to get there quickly enough to cover for Skrine getting beat.
Defensive dominance
If the Bears were going to have any shot at a comeback, they needed elite defensive play in the fourth quarter. They got it.
The Packers went three-and-out on all four of their fourth-quarter possessions, and only one of those lasted longer than two minutes. The four drives totaled 6:10, including a stop in 1:06 on the final series.
The Packers were in prime position to get at least a field goal and essentially end the game after defensive end Dean Lowry intercepted Trubisky and took it to the Bears’ 33-yard line. Nose tackle Eddie Goldman made two stops to set up third-and-4, then Nick Kwiatkoski came through with a tremendous sack to drop the Packers out of field-goal range.
Kwiatkoski, an inside linebacker, has been everything defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano could ask for as a fill-in for Danny Trevathan. That includes as a blitzer, which is a staple of Pagano’s defense.
Kwiatkoski sprinted through the line, and Packers running back Aaron Jones laughably tried to pick him up. Kwiatkoski flattened him and grabbed Rodgers by the jersey on his way down for an 11-yard sack. It was one of the Bears’ most impressive individual plays of the season.
“I’ve always thought he’s been a really solid player,” Rodgers said last week. “He rocked me a couple years ago, and I know where [he’s] at most times when he’s in the game. I have a lot of respect for him, the way he’s played and his approach to the game.”
He should watch a little closer next time.
