Bear Digest

Even Matt Eberflus' Bears looked better against the Detroit Lions

Analysis: Almost nothing went right for the Bears Sunday after the middle of the second quarter as they looked like last year's team in a 52-21 defeat.
Gene Chamberlain|
Amon-Ran St. Brown gets loose in the first half against the Bears defense.
Amon-Ran St. Brown gets loose in the first half against the Bears defense. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It normally takes more than two games for a team to find its identity, a concept believed in by both Bears coach Ben Johnson and former coach Matt Nagy.

Not this time, though.

The Bears went through an offseason retooling under Johnson and GM Ryan Poles, and basically it's already apparent they are the same team as last year except with three better interior offensive linemen and now no defensive backs.

They lost 52-21 to the Detroit Lions Sunday and their retooled offensive line allows Johnson to work his play-calling magic to some extent. It allowed Caleb Williams to look more relaxed in the first half Sunday, even dangerous at times.

When Williams wasn't throwing for two touchdowns to Rome Odunze, though, he spent much of the time fleeing Detroit's pass rush like he did last year.. Eventually, he gave way to Tyson Bagent in the fourth quarter after throwing for two touchdowns, completing 19 of 30 for 207 yards and absorbing four sacks.

Ultimately, there is only so much you can do playing from behind 14 to 17 points and without a running game. Playing with a defense that gives up 510 yards usually isn't a good thing, either. It soon becomes a 31-point deficit.

The Bears defensive line only occasionally pressures a quarterback, even though everyone was assured by Poles sufficient pressure would come from the inside while the edges would be stout run protectors. It hasn't come from the inside, and hasn't come from the edge either, as another sack-free game by Montez Sweat came and went, his seventh in eight games.

Considering how bad their pass rush is, and that their top two cornerbacks are injured again, the chances of stopping anyone comes down to an opponent committing a penalty or just turning it over to beat themselves.

Jaylon Johnson, who told a podcast he actually suffered a torn abductor muscle off of  his pelvic bone before the season, went out Sunday with another injury.

Jared Goff didn't throw a single incompletions once Johnson left Sunday's game in the second quarter, so there's that, and also 15 more games to ponder.

There is, however, great imagination in the Bears' running attack. That is, they imagine it exists and it doesn't.

Occasionally D'Andre Swift breaks a run but 10 or more yards but the consistency required as a foundation for their entire offense can't be found. Seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai provided no more of a spark on the ground after they said he would get the ball more.  Their running game actually hasn't existed since Justin Fields left, and he was more of a trick runner than a threat to pile up consistent, physical yardage against a defense.

The great Bears draft of 2025 is a myth for now, too, until the rookies gain more experience. On Sunday the only experience Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner gained was at watching, and there are countless Bears fans who could say they did that much until they changed channels in the third quarter, or at halftime for the less patient and more intelligent. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland did get in the game but did a good Gerald Everett imitation and was never targeted.

Johnson, himself, seems out of place, taking risks twice Sunday in his own territory on fourth down gambles as if he has an established, dangerous attack instead of one showing only occasional flashes.

He needs to take stock of what he actually has.

At least when Matt Eberflus comes in with the Cowboys next Sunday to Soldier Field, he 'll be able to better recognize his old team as they still look much closer to the one he left behind than the one Johnson and Poles have promised everyone—if not worse.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.