8 takeaways from the Bears’ troubling loss vs. the Buccaneers
For the first time since 2017, the Chicago Bears have started a season 0-2, dropping a frustrating game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-17. Coincidentally, that 2017 team also lost to Tampa in the blazing September heat in Week 2. But unlike that year, there is no allure or hope of a promising rookie quarterback waiting in the wings while a veteran struggles under center.
This group was supposed to be set at the quarterback position with Justin Fields, featuring an upgraded supporting cast, ready to build on last year and begin competing. But after mustering just 17 points with many of the same issues on display, this team is stuck in the mud with no rope to pull them out.
The Bears were too inconsistent on offense, unable to build on their early momentum and sustain a lead. Even when things got back on track late in the game, catastrophe struck with a pick-six late in the game.
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, were able to capitalize on third downs all day, which kept the defense on the field for far too long. Baker Mayfield had one of his best performances in recent memory, and Mike Evans abused the Bears secondary on multiple occasions.
It was another frustrating showing from a team that doesn’t have many excuses left. Here are our takeaways from the game:
1. Justin Fields and Luke Getsy are both at fault for this loss
If you read my takeaways from last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, you already knew my concerns regarding the working relationship between Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Even with a few flashes here and there, those concerns have been amplified, and it’s time to say these two are oil and water. In other words, they don’t mix well.
For a year and a half, Getsy and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko have worked with Fields to refine his footwork, shorten his drops in the pocket, and adjust his arm angle. The result is a player who is afraid to throw deep, lacks urgency in the pocket, and won’t get rid of the ball. They did a bang-up job with him. Through two games, Fields has completed 40-of-66 passes for 427 yards, two passing touchdowns, and three interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 69.6. The last time the Bears went 0-2, Mike Glennon was their quarterback, and even he had a better output.
Fields looked rough, but he had to work another lousy game plan from Getsy. The offensive coordinator called suspect plays at the worst possible time, leading to another ineffective day. Whether it was having two receivers run the same route or calling screens on back-to-back plays that the defense snuffed out, he deserves just as much blame, if not more.
Either Fields needs yet another new offensive system to succeed, or Getsy must find a new quarterback who can run his scheme effectively. Even though it’s just Week 2, I’ve seen enough, and someone will need to go sooner or later. I do not have confidence that these two can put together a cohesive game plan.
2. The Bears don't know how to win under Matt Eberflus
It’s very apparent at this point in his tenure that the Bears simply don’t know how to win under Matt Eberflus. Sure, that’s a blanket statement and feels fairly obvious, but the Bears head coach constantly talks about playing with heart, fighting until the end, and being in games. That happened again on Sunday in the loss to the Bucs, when they had a chance to tie or win the game before throwing a pick-six. Eberflus has also said this before, dating back to early last year after close losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders. The Bears have won just a single game since then.
It’s hard to explain, but defeat is attracted to this team. They can’t find ways to win, whether that’s a crucial defensive stop or a late drive by the offense. Opportunities were there from the start, too. Jaquan Brisker dropped an interception on Tampa’s first drive, the defense dialed up the pressure finally, and the offense was cooking when targeting D.J. Moore. When things are good, they never last. But Eberflus will harp on the chances they get.
After the game, the coach was asked if all the losing was impacting the team going back to last year and was quick to shoot it down. “This is 2023; there’s a lot of guys in that locker room that weren’t here last year,” Eberflus said. “It’s a new football team.” That’s only half true. Just over half the players from this team were on that 2022 team, and the new players entered a locker room that hasn’t won since last October. It may be a new team, but the attitude is the same.
Eberflus will say the team continues to fight, but you can only talk about fighting for so long. Because a fight either ends in a win or a loss, and it’s clear which side the Bears are on.
3. The Bears need force feed the ball to D.J. Moore
When D.J. Moore quickly began establishing a strong connection with Fields in practice, I was worried the quarterback would solely lock onto him and not spread the ball around. Shades of Brandon Marshall in 2012 began going through my mind. But seeing as Moore is the only player to consistently move the ball for the Bears, would that be such a bad thing?
Moore finally snapped the 100-yard receiving drought for the Bears with six catches for 104 yards on seven targets. Four of those catches went for first downs and resulted in scoring plays. He’s the catalyst for this offense and needs more targets, even if it borders on ridiculous. It was good to see him get more involved after barely factoring in last week’s game plan. But the Bears can do more (no pun intended) to get him going.
4. Tyrique Stevenson has a long ways to go in his development
Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was always going to be a work in progress as a starter on this defense, but Sunday’s performance makes it feel like he’s more of a project than initially thought. The Buccaneers offense had a plan of attack when passing the ball; a throw to the receiver matched up with Stevenson. It paid off for them, as the rookie allowed multiple big plays, including a touchdown to Mike Evans in the third quarter.
The score came later in the game, but Stevenson struggled from the first snap. Tampa would have had another score on him on the first drive had Baker Mayfield not missed an open Chris Godwin in the end zone. Evans also had another big gain with Stevenson in coverage, though one can argue the receiver pushed off the defensive back. Nonetheless, Stevenson is going through the growing pains of covering NFL receivers. It’s expected, but now we need to see how he learns from it.
5. Yannick Ngakoue needs to finish off his sacks
It wasn’t much of an improvement, but Eberflus deserves some credit for putting the defense in a better position on Sunday to make plays than their Week 1 performance. With defensive coordinator Alan Williams out due to a personal issue, Eberflus took over making the defensive calls and put pressure on Mayfield. The problem was that they still couldn’t muster a sack even though there were plenty of chances, including whiffs by defensive end Yannick Ngakoue that could not happen.
The blame does rest with the entire front seven, but Ngakoue was brought in this season to be the mercenary pass rusher. When the offense is facing a long third down, Ngakoue should be able to pin his ears back and zero in on the quarterback. Instead, Mayfield eluded the former Pro Bowler and completed passes that moved the chains. Tampa was 8-of-15 on third downs, and Ngakoue (and the rest of the team) failed to take down the quarterback. The good news is that there was progress, and the hope is that philosophy will carry over in the next week. The bad news is that it probably won’t matter with Patrick Mahomes as the quarterback.
6. Braxton Jones had the worst game of his career
Everyone is concerned about Fields and Getsy (rightfully so), but there’s a problem with the team’s left tackle after two weeks, and it may be time to start sounding the alarms. Second-year tackle Braxton Jones has struggled mightily to begin the season, both with penalties and play overall. According to 670 The Score’s David Haugh, Jones has six penalties through two games. That’s already half of his total from the entire 2022 season.
When he’s not committing a penalty, though, Jones isn’t doing his quarterback any favors. He’s been beaten off the line too many times and hasn’t come close to taking the next step after an uneven, but promising, rookie year. General manager Ryan Poles chose not to seek out true competition for Jones this offseason, believing he would be the best man for the job. That might have been a mistake.
7. Trent Taylor getting more offensive snaps than Velus Jones is a problem
Out of all the other takeaways from this game, this one is definitely down on the priority list, but it’s still something that caught my attention late in the game. When Darnell Mooney was lost due to a knee injury, the Bears decided to use punt returner Trent Taylor as his replacement instead of Velus Jones Jr. Taylor, remember, was signed just a couple weeks ago to be the team’s punt returner. Now, he’s seeing four times as many snaps as Jones (23 to 4).
We don’t need any more reminders that the Jones pick last year was a bad one, but seeing Taylor out on offense over him made me feel some kind of way. Neither should be getting those snaps, but it’s telling when a player who’s main job is to return punts is out snapping your second-year receiver. Taylor didn’t record a stat, while Jones had one rush for -3 yards.
8. Sadly, there is still hope
Here’s the carrot at the end of the stick. Whether you want to chase it or not is entirely up to you. This team still needs time to gel after not getting nearly enough snaps in training camp and the preseason to make that happen. Sadly, it’s the new norm in the NFL, and there’s still a chance the Bears can turn things around and compete in 2023. Eberflus can look to one of his mentors for advice after going through something similar.
Former Bears coach Lovie Smith was in a similar predicament as Eberflus to start 2005. They began the season 1-4, with multiple players airing frustrations and grievances about the team’s recent play. Nothing was working, and it appeared Smith, a former defensive coordinator, was on his way to flaming out as head coach after a 5-11 first season. But he rallied the troops and found ways to win. Now that team was led by a future Hall of Fame linebacker and other elite defensive players, it’s not exactly apples to apples. But if Eberflus wants to win these fights instead of just being in them, pick Lovie’s brain to see how he turned things around.
Like it or not, there are still plenty of games left and a chance to salvage the season. This is the group Poles and Eberflus assembled together, and it’s on them to make it work. The results should have been better already, but they still have some time to fix it. The Bears talk about valuing their history and tradition, so maybe getting advice on that 2005 turnaround wouldn’t be a bad idea. It can’t get much worse.
