Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2017 15:52:58 GMT -6
4 takeaways from Bears 23-16 loss to Packers
By: Lorin Cox | 31 minutes ago
Link: bearswire.usatoday.com/2017/11/12/4-takeaways-from-bears-23-16-loss-to-packers/
The Chicago Bears were favored over the Green Bay Packers entering their Week 10 game for the first time since 2008. Sunday was the first time in a long time that the Packers actually upset the Bears in a 23-16 victory.
Mitchell Trubisky overcame plenty of errors by the players around him, with some poor throws of his own down the stretch, but ultimately the offense was unable to consistently drive down the field and put points on the board.
Green Bay didn’t dominate in any one area, but they made fewer mistakes than Chicago, and that proved to be the main difference in the end.
Quarterback Brett Hundley didn’t light it up, but he took care of the ball and kept his team in it as the Bears gave them every chance to win.
Here are four takeaways from Chicago’s sixth loss of the season.
The Bears need Kyle Long back, badly
Guard Kyle Long was not one of the Bears’ inactives for the game, and yet, when the offense took the field, it was Cody Whitehair starting at right guard with Hroniss Grasu at center.
Long’s absence was noticeable throughout the game.
Grasu was terrible in the middle. He failed to create much of a push at all as a run-blocker, struggling with Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark for much of the game, and the third-year center was a turnstile in pass protection.
Trubisky was under pressure far too often, with a lot of that pressure coming up the middle due to Grasu and Whitehair. The rookie quarterback still played fairly well in spite of it, but the running game wasn’t able to get nearly as much production in large part because of the offensive line.
Getting Long back will shore up the right guard spot and move Whitehair back to center where he belongs. The veteran guard seems to be getting healthier, and they’ll need him even more moving forward.
Self-inflicted wounds continue to hold this team back
Nov 12, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears head coach John Fox talks with officials during the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The Bears were beating themselves for much of the game. In the first half, 11 flags were thrown on Chicago, with seven of them being called. That was one of the biggest reasons they went into halftime with just six points.
John Fox certainly didn’t help. He made the bonehead challenge of the year when he threw the red flag after running back Benny Cunningham dove for the endzone on a screen.
The Bears would have had the ball with 1st and Goal from the one, had Fox not challenged. After review, the referees gave the ball to Green Bay at their own 20-yard line, ruling a touchback on a fumble.
Throughout the game, Chicago’s offense was predictable and largely ineffective until the fourth quarter, putting their defense in difficult situations with little time to catch their breath.
The Bears still have to learn how to not beat themselves before they can beat a divisional opponent, it seems.
Connor Barth got his confidence back
Entering this game, Connor Barth was tied for the league’s least accurate kicker, just 7-for-11 on the season. He came to play against Green Bay.
Barth was 3-for-3 in the game, but more importantly, he got his confidence back on long kicks. He hit from 44, 45 and 49 yards in the game, despite being just 5-for-9 from 40-plus yards entering the game.
The Bears needed Barth’s kicks to keep them in the game down to the very end. If he had missed one or more of his attempts, it could have been even more demoralizing to a team that was already sloppy and disorganized for much of the game.
This performance was much-needed for the heavily criticized kicker.
The bye-week optimism is gone in Chicago
The Bears had two full weeks to prepare for a critical divisional matchup that they were largely expected to win, and they laid an egg against a depleted Packers team.
All eyes were on this team to turn it around in the second half of the season, starting with a critical game they were supposed to win, to kick things off on the right foot.
Instead, Chicago came out flat and sloppy, showing little to no growth from the 3-5 team that played the first eight games.
Things get even tougher for the Bears from here, as they face a hot Detroit Lions team next week at Soldier Field. The Lions smacked around this same Packers team last week that then beat the Bears, so next Sunday does not bode well for the blue and orange with the arrow pointing down.
The bye week was potentially supposed to be a turning point for this. Instead, it was more of the same from the Bad News Bears.
