10 thoughts on the Bears' 41-21 loss to the Redskins

Brad Biggs Contact ReporterChicago Tribune

10 thoughts after the Washington Redskins trounced the Chicago Bears 41-21 on Saturday at Soldier Field, sending them to their 12th defeat of the season.

1. It was after the fourth interception of the game for Matt Barkley that Greg Gabriel, the Bears’ former college scouting director, took to Twitter and wrote, “I rest my case!”

Gabriel has been emphatic that Barkley is not a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL and he hasn’t minced words on the issue in appearances on WSCR-AM 670 as well as in articles he’s written. Barkley had a brutal game, completing 24 of 40 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns but he threw five interceptions, something turnover-prone Jay Cutler accomplished only once all the way back in 2009 in a Thursday night loss at San Francisco.

Barkley’s first interception was a head scratcher. He had just hit Cam Meredith for a 21-yard gain to move into Redskins’ territory at the 49-yard line. The Bears had two tight ends in the game and ran a play fake to Jeremy Langford before Barkley let it rip deep to Josh Bellamy. The problem is Bellamy was surrounded by cornerbacks Bashaud Breeland and Josh Norman and safety Donte Whitner. It was a throw into triple coverage for Bellamy, the guy with a case of the dropsies ever since Barkley became the starter back on Nov. 27 against the Titans. Shame on offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains for the play call, but Barkley is the one that uncorked the pass that was easily intercepted by Breeland at the 1. Despite being backed up, the Redskins turned the interception into three points and a 17-0 lead. It was that kind of day for the Bears’ D and Barkley.

Later, Barkley was under duress and made a desperate late fling over the middle to avoid a sack. Problem was Norman was the only player in the area and he intercepted. He was intercepted again by Norman and by Will Blackmon throwing in the direction of Jeffery. It was lousy all the way around.

“You can just see the excitement on the sideline,”Breeland said. “It was like every time he threw a pass past 15 yards, it was like, ‘Oh, who’s got this one?’”

It was the first time the Redskins intercepted five passes in a game since 1992. Norman and Breeland had two each and according to the Washington Post it’s the first time the team has had two players with two picks in a game since at least 1960.

“Matt Barkley kept throwing the ball,” said Norman, who claimed he was disrespected by the Bears. “I ain’t had that many opportunities all year, and when he did, I was like, shoot, I was not going to make a mistake and let him just keep doing what he wanted to do.”

This isn’t meant to knock Barkley’s game because I wrote in a mailbag after each of his previous four starts that he didn’t look like a starting-caliber option to me. Plenty of folks out there argued against me, clinging to this idea that the franchise that was founded in 1920 and has seldom got the quarterback position right had suddenly stumbled on to a player that could solve the club’s biggest problem. Barkley kept the Bears in losses to the Titans, Lions and Packers and led them to a victory over the wretched 49ers. Heck, it would have been two wins had the aforementioned Bellamy not dropped an easy touchdown in the end zone against Tennessee.

But five starts in Barkley has a completion percentage of 58.9 percent (would be higher if there weren’t a lot of drops) and 12 interceptions in 202 attempts. Brian Hoyer had zero interceptions in 200 attempts. Barkley’s arm strength is a tick below average and he’s not particularly mobile. He’s probably got a chance to carve out a role for himself in the NFL for seasons to come. He’s got a little moxie and is sharp. But to think that he can solve the Bears’ issues at the quarterback position and they can therefore devote resources (draft picks and money) to the many other positions in need of upgrades, well, that was foolish thinking.

After the fifth pick, Gabriel tweeted, “Put in Fales.”

Coach John Fox made it clear after the game backup David Fales was not an option on Saturday and will not be an option this coming week as the Bears prepare for the Vikings. Barkley shouldn’t be an option for 2017 unless the Bears are sorting through options for a No. 2 or No. 3.

2. I don’t think Cameron Meredith is ever going to be in the discussion as a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver and reality is he might be a No. 3 or No. 4 in a really good passing attack. But he’s done something impressive this year and he just might lead the Bears in some key categories with only one game remaining. Meredith played in 11 games as an undrafted rookie free agent from Illinois State last season and managed to catch 11 passes for 120 yards. It’s one thing for UDFAs to make a splash. It’s another thing for them to break through that low ceiling and really begin to produce. You will see UDFAs make plays on occasion. You start to get excited about them and then they just tend to disappear. That’s what happens with the majority of them really. They’re undrafted for a reason. But Meredith has gone far above and beyond that, turning in nine receptions for 135 yards and a touchdown. He leads the team with 62 receptions (11 ahead of Alshon Jeffery) and is also tops in yardage with 827 (16 ahead of Jeffery). Meredith and injured tight end Zach Miller lead the team with four receiving touchdowns. Meredith also has a team-high four 100-yard games.

In a season that has gone awry, Meredith certainly fits into the depth chart for 2017 at a position which will have plenty of questions moving toward free agency and the draft.

“Definitely feel like I have made strides,” Meredith said. “Every day I am working to get better and stuff like that. You want the team success as a whole, for sure. But at the same time if you are making plays and getting better, it’s still good.

“You have to keep getting better every day, you never know what you can do in this league until you do it. I just go out there every day and try to make plays. When you start making plays and stuff you start to feel yourself a little bit. So, last year I didn’t have that many plays I made but I definitely knew I could play in the league so it was all about getting out there and doing it.”

The touchdown, a 21-yard strike from Matt Barkley, was really pretty as Meredith accelerated past free safety Will Blackmon to the corner of the end zone for a wide open grab. Good route. Good throw.

3. The Redskins landed Josh Norman after the Panthers made the surprise move to rescind the franchise tag in April, a move that immediately made the cornerback a free agent. After intercepting Matt Barkley twice, Norman said the Bears were in play for him when he hit the street.

“At one point they were in the running,” Norman told me. “They weren’t talking what I was talking about though. I evaluate the team as well but if you’re not in the same (area when it comes to pay), you’re disqualified.”

The Redskins wound up signing Norman to a five-year contract that is worth $75 million and includes $36.5 million guaranteed. If he’s on their roster when the league year begins in 2018, the guarantee will kick up to $50 million. We’ll have to see what the Bears can do about addressing their pressing need for cornerbacks in the coming offseason. There probably will not be a player like Norman, who is 29, on the open market. It was a fluke really that he came loose in April.

4. You have to hand it to rookie Jordan Howard, who rushed for 119 yards on 18 carries, reaching the 100-yard plateau for the sixth time this season, a record for a Bears’ rookie. Howard has 1,178 yards on the season meaning he needs only 22 next Sunday at Minnesota to reach 1,200. I’ve always considered that the benchmark for a really fine season for a running back. A guy only has to average 62.5 yards per game to reach 1,000 after all. Howard is now within 50 yards of Matt Forte for the franchise rookie record for a back at 1,238. That seems reachable against the Vikings.

But when you watched the game unfold, you had to think there were more chances for the Bears to use Howard. How about handing him the ball when facing second-and-goal from the 4-yard line trailing 7-0 in the first quarter? Run it twice there and see if you can get in the end zone. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains chose to throw twice and then Connor Barth’s 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked and the game quickly got out of hand.

Howard is fifth in the NFL in yards rushing, although he could slip a notch with the Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell playing on Sunday. However, Howard is 11th in carries with 229. Maybe there’s a silver lining in this. The Bears didn’t run Howard into the ground as a rookie (he’s gotten more than 18 carries only once in the last seven games) so he will have more shelf life moving forward.
All of the Bears' touchdowns scored during 2016 season

Photos of all the touchdowns the Bears have scored this season.

5. If you are interested in a highly entertaining podcast, former Bears center Will Montgomery has teamed up with Tyler Polumbus, a former offensive tackle for the Broncos and Redskins, among other teams, to produce the NFL Journeymen. What’s fascinating is Montgomery was as boring of an interview as you can possibly imagine during his playing career. While always accommodating and polite, Montgomery took pride in saying next to nothing when you approached him with questions. He’s the polar opposite on the podcast a year after having his career ended when he suffered a fractured left tibia and dislocated left ankle when he was rolled up from behind by Charles Leno in the Week 4 game with the Raiders last season.

Montgomery is engaging, humorous and insightful on the podcast and the episode he and Polumbus did with retired quarterback Rex Grossman is hilarious. I recommend checking it out.

The Grossman interview picks up at the 19:30 mark. Grossman recounts witnessing high-stakes card games on team charter flights during his career where guys would drop $75,000 in a hand and one instance where a player lost a Porsche playing cards. He talks about not being able to sign with the Falcons for Week 17 one season after breaking his foot playing dunk “H-o-r-s-e” in his swimming pool. It’s good stuff.

Here are highlights of my conversation with Montgomery:

You live in the D.C. area where you grew up and have been doing radio work there talking about the Redskins but have you been able to follow the Bears much?

I’ve seen them a little bit. I have mostly seen all my buddies go down on IR like Kyle (Long), Zach Miller and Eddie Royal and Jay Cutler. So I haven’t seen them as much out here because I have primarily been watching the Redskins games. But I keep seeing all of these guys going on IR and I am wondering, ‘How are you even fielding a team if you have (18) guys on IR?’

What was the transition like going from saying next to nothing in the locker room to being an engaging podcast host and radio analyst?

As a player first off, I didn’t believe in the whole make buddies with the media and try to get your story out. To me that just kind of causes a cancer. I know guys in the media they always want a couple guys they can go to. As of last year, I didn’t have a Twitter, an Instagram, any of that stuff. But now since my ankle injury, I had a dislocation and a fractured fibula, and it’s kind of hindered my flexibility, strength and explosiveness and all that and I wanted to play again but I had recommendations from doctors that I should hang it up and I was really laboring to do some stuff with my ankle. My competitive advantage was my quickness and I kind of felt like I didn’t have that anymore and as I was sitting around, I was like well, I really wanted to stay involved with football. That’s what I know and it’s not like I want to go sell insurance or something. And my buddy Tyler Polumbus, he played eight years and just won a Super Bowl in Denver, and he had some injury problems as well and he was transitioning out of the league and he said, ‘Hey, do you want to do a podcast?’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything else and there could be worse things than just talking about football.’ We’ve had a bunch of good guys on our show. Jermon (Bushrod), Rex, Logan (Paulsen), Lorenzo Alexander, Richie Incognito, Ryan Kerrigan.

Grossman is hilarious. I really wish he lived closer. I would hang out with him. He was very open in his interview. I think we get little nuggets that normal news media couldn’t get. I feel like Tyler and I have better questions to ask as well because we have first-hand experience doing some of this stuff. We don’t always just ask the common, obvious questions.

What’s the goal with your budding media career?

I think with the podcast, it’s been something we’re doing that’s kind of fun and it’s a hobby. And we’ll do it as long as it’s fun. Our numbers are growing a little bit but we’re not to the point that we can really monetize it yet. So right now it’s just a hobby and if it catches on, that’s fine. If it doesn’t, that’s fine as well. Tyler is doing some radio stuff in Denver and I am doing a couple days a week of radio out here in Washington. So all of that is just kind of paying gas money and it’s not like I am doing this stuff for the money right now anyway. I am doing it more to keep my mind occupied and keep busy because there is nothing worse than sitting around and watching Netflix all day. I want to do something and have a goal and all of that stuff. I feel like I have a PhD in football. The coaching route is a tough route to go because those guys essentially don’t even see their families and before they know it they’re in their 60’s and they wonder what happened to their kids and they’re all grown up. As much as I think I would like to be a coach, I think that is a tough way to make a living. So if there is some other aspect whether it is in the media or I am here locally in the D.C. area and I know the NFLPA is out here or some of those scouting services. Who knows if I could randomly do something like that? I am just keeping my options open at this point.

There aren’t a lot of former offensive linemen doing the media thing. Does that give you a unique perspective that perhaps some ex-players don’t have?

The one thing I have noticed, especially in the media, is you can look at baseball and basketball and everybody does fantasy sports and you can look at the stats, but there really aren’t a lot of stats for O and D-line play. There are sacks and penalties but if a run doesn’t work, a lot of times they don’t know why the run didn’t work. Was it the guard? Was it the center? Was it the tackle? Was it the fullback? Was it this or that? And even when the quarterback takes a sack, everyone is usually so quick to blame the O-line. Well if that quarterback is standing back there at 10 yards, that’s not on the O-line. The quarterback has to step up to 7 yards. I like to try to defend the O-line through the media because I have been through 10 years of getting our asses chewed. If the O-line is not at fault, I want to try to be the first one to point that out.

You played under Adam Gase in Denver and Chicago. Does the success he’s had with the Dolphins surprise you at all this season?

I’m not surprised. I think he did do a really good job in Denver and I think at times people thought it was all Peyton Manning. Really, it wasn’t Peyton making those checks it was Adam Gase giving him the option between one or two plays, Very rarely would Peyton check outside of that type of that stuff. I think Adam puts the offense and the quarterback in a really good position to do well and obviously the system when I was with the Bears last year was one of Jay Cutler’s best years.

Got to relent to Gabriel after the last 2 weeks about Barkley.
Said the same thing about Meredith on Sunday. Great 3, but need a legit #2.
Gonna have to check out that podcast

+1
That is exactly how I see it too, Soul.  Your point about his route running is right-on too.  While all of the WR attributes are important, I find it amazing how many WR's have poor route-running skills.  A 6'3" kid with good hands and route-running skills will carve out a nice NFL career.  Some of my favorite WR's of all time have not been speedsters, but rather guys who were brilliant at just getting open - and catching the ball.

Meredith's emergence makes Marquis 'glass' Wilson totally expendable.

Now if we could just get our #1 and #2 WRs to stay on the field we might actually have something here...