Three Takeaways from Bears blowout loss to Cardinals |
To say week nine was a disappointment for the Bears would be an understatement, as the team suffered another ugly loss. That makes two straight losses for this team after winning three straight, and they have now settled back into the basement of the NFC North. Not only that, but they are losing ground in the standings as both the Vikings and Lions hold a multiple-game lead over the Bears, with the Packers having a two-game advantage over them in the win column.
When you look at how this team played when they were 4-2, they were showing signs of life and starting to look like the team everyone hoped they would. The problem with that was those wins came against some of the worst teams in the league, so it took a lot of work to gauge just how good or bad this team was at that point. With their loss yesterday, you can see the Bears aren't ready to be a playoff team, as they still have a tough time beating good teams, which is something you need to be able to do to make the playoffs.
Although a 4-4 record at the midway point of the season isn't the worst thing in the world, it's a far cry from where this team wanted to be and realistically should be. They let an early-season game get away from them against the Colts, and you throw in the Jayden Daniels Hail Mary last week, and you could make the case that this is a 6-2 team instead of 4-4. However, you are what your record says you are, and the Bears are nothing more than a .500 team. Granted, that is better than where this team has been the past few seasons, but it's still not where they wanted and expected to be, and the frustrations are starting to build once again. The biggest reason this team continues to hover around .500 is their inability to beat good/playoff teams. Looking at the Bears' four wins, Chicago has knocked off Jacksonville, Carolina, Tennessee, and the Rams. Three of those teams are battling for the No. 1 overall pick, while the Rams were decimated with injuries when they played the Bears. Flip it over to the Bears' losses, and the Bears lost to the Texans, Cardinals, Commanders, and Colts. Three of those teams are division leads, with the Colts being the lone exception. If this team wants to be a playoff team at any point this season, it needs to figure out how to beat playoff-caliber teams. This is especially true when you consider they have six division games left against teams all expected to make the playoffs at this point, and the schedule isn't going to get any easier for this team.
Throughout the Bears struggles over the past few seasons, counting on the defense is something the Bears have always been able to count on. Given how that Commanders game ended and then seeing what happened against the Cardinals this week, there are a lot of concerns growing with this defense. Keep in mind that Montez Sweat, Kyler Gordan, and Jaquon Brisker were all inactive last week, so you could give the Bears a bit of a mulligan against the Cardinals, but that isn't why this team lost. They lost because they allowed the Cardinals to run for more than 200 yards against their defense, which is unheard of when discussing the Bears. No matter how bad this team is, the Bears' defense has been the one thing they have been able to count on, and if that goes, this team has no chance to win games. They have been one of the most challenging teams to run the ball against and rarely allow 100 yards, let alone 200 yards, on the ground. They were beaten at their own strength, which isn't good and has to be a concern the rest of the way.
Getting back to the Hail Mary for one last time, perhaps the bigger story was what Stevenson did as the play happened. He was not only caught out of position but also taunted Washington fans in the middle of the play, which is a bad look all around. Then came this week, when Stevenson tried to do his best to apologize to the fans before learning he would be benched for this week's game as part of a punishment for that play. It gets worse from there. Stevenson learned about his benching on Thursday, and instead of taking the demotion like a man, he removed himself from practice and didn't return. That just adds another wrinkle to his situation right now. The young defensive back has proven to be a solid player when on the field but has also proven to be an immature player. This team has enough distractions right now on the field that they don't need distractions off the field. With the Trade Deadline approaching on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see if the Bears hang on to Stevenson or try to send him packing for another asset.Bears continue to struggle with potential playoff teams
Concern for the Bears defense
What to do with Tyrique Stevenson
