Bear Necessities: The Morning After…the Bears’ Week 13 loss vs. Cardinals

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The Chicago Bears suffered a brutal 33-22 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals, which was Chicago’s sixth loss in the last seven games. While the Bears are still technically “in the hunt” when it comes to the playoffs, this loss seemed to be the nail in the coffin.

Backup quarterback Andy Dalton threw four interceptions that led to 23 of Arizona’s points, and the Bears never stood a chance in this game. Things don’t get easier when the Bears travel to Green Bay to face the Packers, a game that — history tells us — could get ugly real quick.

There was plenty to digest from Sunday’s defeat. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their immediate reactions to Chicago’s loss against Arizona:

Alyssa Barbieri

I expected this game to be a loss, but the Bears manage to find new ways to lose in excruciating fashion. Much like Chicago did everything they could to give the Lions a win last week, the Cardinals left the door open for the Bears to pull off an upset.

But, per usual, Chicago did the one thing they couldn’t afford to do — make mistakes. In this case, Andy Dalton made four brutal mistakes in the form of interceptions, although one of those wasn’t on him. The Cardinals scored 23 of their 33 points off those Dalton interceptions, which made it impossible for the Bears to stage any sort of comeback.

At this point, we’re approaching the apathy stage for some fans, which is dangerous territory. And that figures to be the case until a change is made at head coach and/or general manager. When Justin Fields isn’t on the field, it’s hard to care much about this team, and he’s been sidelined for the last two games. Simply put, we’re all wishing Fields a speedy recovery so we finally have some sort of hope to cling to while we wait out the rest of this 2021 season.

Brendan Sugrue

I’m really starting to feel apathetic about this football team. It takes me back to the John Fox days when we all knew change was inevitably going to happen, but for one reason or another, nothing materialized during the season so we all just patiently waited for the season to end. That’s how I feel about the 2021 Chicago Bears. Sunday’s 33-22 loss to the Arizona Cardinals does nothing for me, aside from being able to check off another game closer to real changes being made.

It’s a sad reality, really. We are only promised 17 football games a season and the hope for a successful team seems to dwindle each week. We’re conditioned to the many weaknesses of the Bears at this point and there’s no use in getting made. The offense couldn’t take care of the ball, the defense was put in a tough position with short fields, and the coaching staff had issues all throughout the game, even resorting to communicating plays via walkie talkie in the year 2021. It’s the perfect representation for the Bears as an organization.

There’s not much to say about the game itself except the fact that David Montgomery and Roquan Smith are real assets to this team, both as players and leaders. It was nice to see them show up when so many others failed to do so. Outside of them? Wake me up when Justin Fields is back under center.

Ryan Fedrau

Being a Bears fan gets harder each week. The decision making, the quarterback play, everything. This is a game most of us expected them to lose, but the way they lost was worse than I expected.

Four interceptions? All of them giving the Cardinals perfect field position. At least two of those interceptions could have been scoring drives for Chicago. Those four interceptions turned into 24 points for the Cardinals. Take even two of those away and add even a field goal for the Bears and they win at least 25-23. Crazy.

We need Justin Fields back as soon as possible. Also, you cannot rush him back and potentially have him get injured again. Is it time to call Nick Foles QB1 until Fields is 100% healthy?

Nate Atkins

The return of David Montgomery has helped put life back into the offense. But like a boat with many holes, the Bears plugged one spot, and water started coming in from another.

The defense is injured, playing poorly, and made the Cardinals’ offense seem unstoppable as they scored 21 points in the first half. But while Dalton and Montgomery may have revived the league’s lowest scoring offense, it’s still not one built to score quickly.

Slow offense coupled with bad defense had Bears players watch as a 14 point deficit quickly turned into a 17 point deficit, and by the time the Bears cut it to 10 points, it was practically the fourth quarter.

Then Dalton did what he does, make mistakes in big moments. That 10 point deficit became 13 points after an interception by Dalton, and to add insult to injury, he turned it over one more time, turning a 13 point deficit into 19 points. If the Bears couldn’t score 14 points quickly, they wouldn’t score 19 with six minutes left in the game.

Dalton is equal parts good and bad and Montgomery is electric, but his talent is wasted this year on a bad team. With no first-round pick in 2022, the Bears need to act quickly – next year cannot be another rebuilding year.

Montgomery, Herbert, Mooney, Kmet, and Fields are a high potential nucleus of talent, but the window of opportunity in the NFL closes fast.

If there aren’t changes to the coaching staff and front office this offseason to appear more serious about developing these guys, then it seems safe to say the Bears wasted the picks it traded away for Justin Fields.

> Instant analysis of Bears’ brutal 33-22 loss vs. Cardinals

> Studs and duds from Bears’ messy loss to the Cardinals

> Bears vs. Cardinals recap: Everything we know about Chicago’s Week 13 loss

> Bears fans react to Andy Dalton’s brutal outing vs. Cardinals

> Bears QB Andy Dalton on his brutal day: ‘I had 2 tackles today, unfortunately’

> Bears HC Matt Nagy insists he wasn’t calling plays vs. Cardinals

> How the Packers can clinch the NFC North title next week. Read more on Packers Wire.

> Vikings WR Adam Thielen injury update. Read more on Vikings Wire.

> Lions, Dan Campbell honor Oxford HS after victory over the Vikings. Read more on Lions Wire.

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