The Bears Took Major Steps Backward In Every Phase Yesterday and Other Bullets

Dec 17, 2017

The Chicago Bears surpassed their 2016 win total with a blowout win against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14, but a 20-10 loss to the Detroit Lions six days later clinched a third consecutive double-digit loss season for John Fox.

We had to do some real digging to find silver linings in this game, but we found two. The first is the Bears’ lone touchdown drive, an impressive 13-play, 92-yard trek that ended in a Mitch Trubisky touchdown pass to Benny Cunningham. Trubisky showed a ton of moxie in leading that scoring effort, especially since the offense had to overcome five penalties to get there. (More on the penalties in a moment.)

We also had a Markus Wheaton sighting. Wheaton was targeted four times and caught two passes for 42 yards. He played 29 snaps on Saturday, his most since Week 5. Wheaton had played on just 24 total snaps in five games leading up to Week 15. And with his performance, Wheaton now has three catches … or one more than Kevin White, who has been out since Week 1. Here is what the head coach had to say about Wheaton’s relative breakout:

John Fox on Markus Wheaton: “He’s missed a lot of time. It started at training camp w/ appendicitis and then I believe it was a finger. Anyways, it’s been a little bit. It was good to see him out there get some production. I think he had one catch on the season up until tonight."
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 17, 2017

Wheaton is under contract for 2018, and perhaps a healthy training camp could help him build a rapport with Trubisky. But we can dive into that in more detail later when it holds more significance.

The Lions did to the Bears what the Bengals probably should have done a week ago. Detroit was dominant in a victory that kept its playoff hopes alive. Matthew Stafford made big plays through the air with 237 passing yards and two touchdowns, the running game averaged 4.6 yards per carry, and the defense came away with three interceptions. The final score did not indicate how thoroughly the Lions were in command on Saturday.

JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago writes the Bears regressed to their 2017 mean in defeat. Just when you thought the team had taken steps in the right direction, a conservative game plan and uninspiring effort led to their ultimate demise. If someone asked how the Bears ended up with a 4-10 record at this point of the season, Saturday’s game is all the evidence you need for your explanation.

Trubisky threw three interceptions, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to assessing this defeat. Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen ran for 38 yards on 12 carries, several receivers had key drops, and the defense couldn’t get off the field as it allowed conversions on 46.2 percent of third-down plays. To put that number in perspective, it would rank as the second best conversion percentage in football if the Detroit could play at that pace all season. As it stands, the Lions rank 16th in the league with a 39 percent third-down conversion rate.

This might have been the biggest conversion of the day … and it was so close to being something so much more for the Bears:

Marvin Jones is a low key beast pic.twitter.com/tWWGxmKdJT

— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) December 16, 2017

Nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who missed the Week 14 win against the Bengals with an injury, committed a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the game’s first play, setting the tone for a flag fest at Ford Field. The Bears committed 13 accepted penalties for 97 yards. Both of those were season-worsts for Chicago. Four of those penalties resulted in first downs for the Lions offense. It was an undisciplined outing from a team play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico said was playing hard for a coach who was liked by his players. That’s a funny way of showing a coach how much you like him.

Pin-pointing “The Worst” penalty isn’t that hard. DeAndre Houston-Carson, who was also returning to action after sitting out with injuries, committed a holding penalty that negated an 89-yard kickoff return from Tarik Cohen in the second quarter. I don’t believe in curses … but Tarik Cohen might be cursed. He had a receiving touchdown wiped away because of a holding penalty in Week 14 and a 67-yard punt return taken off the board in Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers. And then this happened:

pic.twitter.com/jUWPdNMKRG

— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) December 16, 2017

I mean, COME ON! When coaches spout that cliche about winning and losing as a team, this is what losing like a team looks like.

To add insult to injury, guard Josh Sitton limped off the field with an ankle injury in the second half and was spotted in a walking boot after the game, according Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

Sitton was one of two offensive linemen who left the game with an injury. Tom Compton also left the game and entered the NFL’s concussion protocol. Compton, who was making his second straight start in place of Kyle Long was replaced by Bradley Sowell … who immediately allowed pressure and a sack on his first snap.

The Bears ended the game with Hroniss Grasu at center, Sowell at right guard, and center Cody Whitehair at left guard. It’s not an ideal trio, especially when your starting center has to be moved to accommodate a backup lineman who plays just one position.

written by

Luis C. Medina

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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