After an ugly 30-16 loss against the Baltimore Ravens, the Chicago Bears fell to 4-3. This loss ends a four-game winning streak for the team. From the poor quarterback play, bad kick-off coverage, play calling,
lack of separation from receivers, inability to capitalize in the red zone, and the multitude of penalties, there’s a lot of blame to go around for why the Bears lost this one. They simply did not play complementary football today.
Many of these issues have been persisting from week to week, and it was just a matter of time before they came to a head. Here are Week 8’s Windy City Honor awards:
Worst Performance
Quarterback Caleb Williams has had two back-to-back subpar games to say the least. Williams and this offense looked good in the first quarter, but then the wheels fell off. Williams completed 25 of 38 passes (65.7%) for 285 yards and one interception. This was Williams’ second consecutive game with an interception and no passing touchdowns. Williams was also sacked twice and was flagged for intentional grounding twice.
While Williams has a 29-10 touchdown to interception ratio, his interception yesterday was especially costly as it was deep in the Bears’ territory in the fourth quarter. The Ravens capitalized on it, scoring a touchdown to extend their lead to 23-13. Williams’ interception essentially sealed the game.
Simply put, Williams has yet to have a “complete” game this season where he has been able to put all the pieces together: his decision-making, accuracy, footwork, and mechanics. His progress throughout the season won’t be linear. We can only hope the inconsistencies and mistakes he’s been making are just growing pains as he continues unlearning bad habits from his rookie season while adjusting to a complex Ben Johnson-designed offense.
Either way, he needs to play better, or this team will continue to struggle. He needs to take a big step forward and soon.
Toughest Opponent
Arguably, throughout the entire season, but especially this week, the Bears’ toughest opponent has been themselves. Against the Ravens, the Bears had 11 penalties for 79 yards, making this the third game this season where the Bears have committed over ten penalties. This is an issue that arose during training camp and has not improved even after seven games into the season.
All of these penalties have been drive-killers, especially at times where the offense starts to gain some momentum. It’s not sustainable to keep playing behind the sticks. Wide receiver Rome Odunze noted this issue in a post-game interview, explaining the Bears are shooting themselves in the foot.
Running back D’Andre Swift had similar remarks after the game, describing the offensive penalties as “self-inflicted.”
Week after week, the Bears continue making mistakes and committing these penalties. It has been frustrating and costly to an offense that has struggled. For a coach who emphasizes the fundamentals, Johnson seems fed up with it. He addressed it in his post-game presser:
“The penalties, to me, is what stands out first and foremost,” he said. “We still have some of the pre-snap issues. There’s occasional not getting lined up quite right; there’s occasional not getting the motion quite right. So that stuff does — it adds up, and it hurts us. We get away with it occasionally, but it’s just not the way you win in this league…I really put it on the leaders there in the locker room to get this ship going in the right direction in that regard. Us coaches, we’ve been pounding that drum now for a while, and we haven’t gotten the results we’ve wanted.”
At what point in the season do these penalties get addressed and corrected?
This loss was an ugly one, but there are going to be some of those throughout the season. It’s not the end of the season. It’s not time to throw in the towel for Williams. It’s how this team and coaching staff responds to this loss next week.
