Bear Necessities: The Morning After…the Bears’ Week 12 win vs. Lions
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The Chicago Bears snapped a five-game losing streak with a 16-14 victory over the winless Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. But the win did nothing to reassure fans that Chicago is trending in the right direction.
The Bears needed a Cairo Santos field goal as time expired to beat the Lions and prevent Matt Nagy from remaining the hot topic of conversation in regards to his future…at least for another week.
There was plenty to digest from Thursday’s game. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their immediate reactions to Chicago’s victory over winless Detroit:
Alyssa Barbieri
The Bears were able to avoid their second straight six-game losing streak in as many seasons, but it was made all the more unimpressive given they beat a winless Lions team that did everything to hand this game right to Chicago. Of all the weeks to face Detroit.
The Bears needed a game-winning field goal as time expired to beat the hapless Lions, which says everything you need to know about this game. While Andy Dalton had 317 passing yards — the first time a Bears quarterback has reached the milestone this season — the offense did nothing to inspire confidence that things had changed or will change so long as Matt Nagy is in charge.
This was a must-win game for Nagy amid speculation surrounding his immediate future and the dysfunction that unfolded this week at Halas Hall. But while Nagy got the win, his future is far from safe — at least through the end of the season.
Chicago has four wins this season, and half of them are against Detroit.
The hope is Justin Fields is able to return next week in time to face the Cardinals. That way we can get back to what’s important: focusing on the future, one that doesn’t involve Nagy.
Brendan Sugrue
I haven’t felt this indifferent about a Bears win since the 2019 season finale when they beat up on the Minnesota Vikings reserves.
Maybe it’s the fatigue of the Matt Nagy saga that gripped the team earlier in the week. Maybe it’s the fact the Bears only beat the winless Detroit Lions by two points. Maybe it’s because Justin Fields wasn’t playing. Or maybe it’s because it’s Thanksgiving and I selfishly want to distance myself from this team on a holiday where I’m used to lazily paying attention to football games while in a food coma. Whatever the primary reason, I just have a “meh” feeling about this victory.
This game seemed important to the players and coaches given the turmoil regarding Nagy’s future and I’m glad they were able to use the issues to galvanize the locker room. My attitude is being happier for them that they temporarily got the monkey off their back than for my own pleasure rooting for this team. I’m sure that will change as we’re getting closer to the end of the season, but did this game validate anything we didn’t already know? Andy Dalton is decent, the Lions are a bad football team, and Nagy found the one coach who makes worse in-game decisions. If this were a minor speed bump to clear during a postseason run, feelings would be different. But not with a 4-7 team.
With Fields expected to return to the starting quarterback position as soon as next week, I’ll be more invested in this game to see what he can do after missing a week. This week just felt like a hollow victory. Good thing I filled that void with plenty of food and drinks throughout the day.
Ryan Fedrau
It’s been 46 days since the Bears have last won a football game until now. Andy Dalton and Cairo Santos have changed that. Dalton took Chicago down on an 18-play game-winning drive to snap the team’s five-game losing streak. On that 18th play, Santos hit a 28-yard field goal to win.
It took the Bears 60 minutes to score 16 points on a struggling 0-10-1 football team. That’s underwhelming for an offensive guru.
I was impressed with Andy Dalton, he made some good decisions. He also made some boneheaded decisions, including that interception in the end zone. Chicago should have scored more than 16 points but they continued to get in their own way on offense.
Still, a win is a win. We’ll see if they can build on from here.
> Instant analysis of Bears’ 16-14 win over Lions on Thanksgiving
> Studs and duds from Bears’ Thanksgiving victory over Lions
> Bears vs. Lions recap: Everything we know about Chicago’s Week 12 win
> Bears fans are unimpressed by narrow victory over winless Lions
> Report: Bears unlikely to fire Matt Nagy midseason
> Packers must run the ball effectively against Rams. Read more on Packers Wire.
> Four things the Minnesota Vikings should be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Read more on Vikings Wire.
> Lions coach Dan Campbell: ‘We have to learn to win.’ Read more on Lions Wire.
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