Bears and Chargers Live Blog

Fourth Quarter

Final Score: Chargers 30, Bears 13

Bears let the clock run out without using their timeouts. Kind of knocking off early I guess.
Another example of poor officiating. The onside kick nearly worked and it was bouncing around in a pile like a greased pig. No one could grab it. One official was signalling to stop the clock like the play was over and the ball squirted out of the pile and nearly hit him in the foot. How can the play be over if the ball is bouncing around at midfield? These guys were quick with the whistle all night. Too quick. Garbage. The Bears couldn't come up with the ball even though it was right there for them, too.

2:12: Chargers 30, Bears 13

Bagent sneaks in for the TD with 2:12 left on his second sneak attempt after Darrynton Evans put them at the goal line. But the PAT pass to Khari Blasingame failed. Chargers 30, Bears 13
T.J. Edwards with the fumble recovery on a ball stripped by Justin Jones. The Bears have another shot at the end zone.
Bears get another break. A poor spot on fourth-and-1 run by Ekeler and they take the ball away on downs. Have to give them credit for not quitting.
Now the penalties are going against the Chargers with a third-down holding
Edmunds had returned but then he left again with knee pain.
Officials not done cheating and let Herbert get away with intentional grounding on second down, then he picks up the first down to Allen over Jaylon Johnson.
Bagent had said he had a cannon for an arm. He should have used it then because he floated a ball out to Darryton Evans and nearly had it picked off on fourth down. Chargers ball after the incompletion.

Bagent 16 of 22 for 165 with a 75.0 passer rating.

Third Quarter

3:00: Chargers 30, Bears 7

Bears on fourth-and-2 at the Chargers 21 try to draw the Chargers off sides as the quarter closes and nearly foul it up when Teven Jenkins moved. But they got lucky. The clock had run out. End of quarter.

DJ Moore worth the price of admission, shrugs off a tackler and turns a short completion into an 18-yard gain. Then he hit Tyler Scott for 11 at the sideline after a run of 12 yards.

Edwards blitzing on third down completely and legally wiped out Herbert on third down incompletion. Leaving him exposed needlessly to the Bears blitzing by passing. They could be running now for all it matters. Dicker the Kicker makes a 46-yarder and it's Chargers 30, Bears 7

Roschon Johnson stuffed for no gain and there's your game, as if there was a question about it.
Fourth-and-1 after a 2-yard pass to Kmet. He was stopped for no gain but plowed ahead for 2 yards.
Kmet makes up for it with a good route and Bagent with a bullet to set up third-and-3.
Another presnap penalty on second-and-5. This time Cole Kmet. They can't have that kind of thing from a veteran like he is.
On third-and-11, T.J. Edwards blitzed the B-gap and nearly got the sack. The Bears force a three-and-out on the incompletion. Kind of late in the game for gambling now that the horse is out of the barn and the barn burned down.
Edmunds back on the field, a real break for the Bears.
Chase Young, by the way, had one tackle today. Will be interesting to see his play count.
A three-and-out is not what the Bears needed. That play showed what the Bears want their defense to look like. The pass rush got in Bagent's face as he was about to throw and the linebackers had dropped back to tip the ball. It doesn't work that way for the Bears because they have no pass rush. Maybe they should pull that trigger on the Chase Young trade and trust his knee is fine.
Cameron Dicker 53-yard field goal with 8:51 left in the quarter. Drive took 6:09 off clock. Just what the Bears didn't need. Chargers 27, Bears 7
From the Bears 45 on second-and-13 they get a jet sweep and turn it inside for 5. The Bears had it diagnosed but as has been the case much of the night, they didn't put a shoulder on him and stop the play.
Parham burns Bears again with a real long reach to the 42 of Chicago. He had only nine catches coming into this but looks like they've figured out where he is now at 6-foot-8.
A false start on the Chargers! The first flag on them. Bears had first six flags, although there was one called on the first pass completion by the Bears that they declined while the officials prevented Darnell Mooney from scoring.
Billings called for offsides and caused a bad snap. So Chargers face second-and-6.
Jack Sanborn in the middle now.
Losing Edmunds would be a terrible blow for the defense. He was just starting to make plays against the pass.
Tremaine Edmunds and Gervon Dexter both down from friendly fire after a pass to the side. Dexter got up and is fine but Edmunds is the one still down.
Herbert has forever, checks it down on third-and-6 for a throw to Ekeler and first down just before DeMarcus Walker finally got there.
Chargers lined lineman Jordan McFadden up as a fullback. Bears knew it was a run and Justin Jones and Andrew Billings smothered it.
Second half starting with Chargers at their 25.
I remember Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles telling us they were going to solve that lack of edge rush pressure by pressuring up the middle. We're still waiting for it. "Any time now, Carmine," as Marion Wormer said.
I think it's time to put Yannick Ngakoue on the side of a milk carton. Maybe they should make him a $10.5 million inactive next week, right alongside inactive DE Dominique Robinson.

The day started even worse for the Bears because the Panthers won a game. The Cardinals now own the first pick of the draft, not the Bears.
This game is a perfect explanation for why the Bears need to give Jaylon Johnson what he wants because without him they have no cornerbacks. Tyrique Stevenson has been good one out of eight games. Terell Smith hasn't been healthy enough all year to prove anything. Their second-best cornerback is Greg Stroman Jr.

Bagent 10 of 15 for 121 and an interception for a 63.5 passer rating. Herbert, who doesn't face a pass rush, was 21 of 25 for 212 with three TDs and a passer rating of 141.6.

Second Quarter

Parham runs right through three Bears to the end zone for an 11-yard TD catch. Broke Stevenson's tackle attempt first. A horrible first half for Stevenson. But his replacement would be Terell Smith and he's got mono. Chargers 24, Bears 7

Defelected ball over the middle with 10 seconds left right off Justin Jones' helmet and no one home to pick it off in the middle. Elijah Hicks was over to the side more.
Quentin Johnston targeted in the end zone but Jaylon Johnson breaks it up.

Chargers are in the enviable position of getting the ball back in the second half to start, as well.

Ekeler burns Bears slot blitz with a screen to the Bears 23. Eberflus is trying to be aggressive but the Chargers are right back in position for a TD with 42 seconds still left.

It's 171 to 157 yardage now. They've shown they can move it, at least. Now they need another stop.

1:47: Chargers 17, Bears 7

Darrynton Evans on a good, old-fashioned third-down toss play right and it's a touchdown on a 11-yard run with 1:47 left. Chargers 17, Bears 7
Mooney going to try a throwback. He always told us he could throw. But he didn't get the chance because they covered Bagent. Khalil Mack covered Bagent.
It's funny but last time they were here the officials were letting things like that go when players came to the ground untouched. It was the Bears on defense and the Rams were scoring TDs.
They're putting such a big emphasis on this flag football garbage for the Olympics that no one cares about, that maybe these refs have decided it's flag football tonight and Moone and Kmet had their flags taken. Can't think of any other reason why those plays were whistled dead.
Bagent finds Kmet over the middle and he spins and breaks away for a touchdown. And the whistle-happy officials blew the play dead while he was spinning away sideways. That's the second touchdown they took away from the Bears. The Darnell Mooney catch on the first play was a TD. He wasn't touched, got up and ran and would have scored easily but quit running because the officials blew the play dead for absolutely no reason.

Beautiful pass for the first down by Bagent to Moore.

They really need to think about cutting Velus Johnson or trading him for a seventh-round pick. If they could get that.

Robert Tonyan and Moore called for moving illegall before snap. Bears back at 35 and Kmet gets the penalty yards back at least on a short toss in double coverage.

First down catch on third-and-8 by Cole Kmet to Chargers 30. They haven't thrown it to Kmet enough the last two weeks but he's been used to block.

Velus Jones pulls a Velus Jones. He falls wide open in the end zone, still has the ball in his hands sitting on his butt and drops it. Only Velus. He treated it like a punt.
Back to the power running of Foreman and he smashes inside for the first down in Chargers territory. No reason to abandon the run with 6 minutes left in the half

After floundering a bit, Bagent gets it to DJ Moore for a catch-and-run of 18 and the Bears are out to the 47
Bears need to get something going this drive or it's going to degenerate into a total embarrassment.

They finally brought pressure with a Kyler Gordon slot blitz and Khalid Kareem, the D-End, dropped off into pass coverage and nearly picked it. He dropped it though but Dicker makes the 43-yard field goal. Chargers 17, Bears 0

Stevenson interferes on a short pass and it's a first down.

Herbert 14-of-14. This is looking like the defensive game plan they used against Kirk Cousins in Minnesota last year.
This lack of a pass rush is so irritating. They want to play zone but you can't do it if you're going to pass rush by standing and looking at the QB.

Josh Palmer has returned to the game for the Chargers.

An 11-of-11 first quarter for 120 yards for Herbert.

Not sure what Bagent thought was going to happen there. The throw to Moore would have been a tough one to make in the pocket of the zone against the sideline but he threw the shorter one and not a good throw.

Bagent had two different open receivers, one was DJ Moore, and he threw the ball right to Ja'Sir Taylor defending. His second interception this year.

Khari Blasingame fails to pick up a blitz and Bagent has to throw it away on second down.
Johnson drops the ball after the handoff and luckily got it back for a 2-yard gain.

Bears on second-and-8 and Roschon Johnson explodes for 11 off right guard. Getting behind Teven Jenkins and Darnell Wright. It's a good place to run.

Chargers 147 yards in the first quarter.

First Quarter

Quarter ends on 5-yard completion to Roschon Johnson, who cost himself 2 more yards by dancing around instead of hitting it straight upfield, which is what the Bears drafted him to do.

A 7-yard completion to DJ Moore. They finally got him the ball.
This has the look of early Bears games, like Chiefs or Packers game. Chargers look like a team glad not to be playing the Chiefs, Cowboys or Dolphins for a change.

0:43: Chargers 14, Bears 0

Simi Fehoko on third-and-3 for the short TD pass beating Johnson. The former Stanford receiver. Chargers 14, Bears 0
Stevenson injured defending the screen. The Bears had the play diagnosed, plenty of defenders available and Ekeler still got it to the 9. Stevenson looked like he hurt his neck on the play making the tackle of Ekeler.
Herbert gets it to Ekeler for an easy first down under the coverage in the middle. Bears are getting no pass rush as usual.

Bears need to stick Johnson on Keenan Allen the rest of the game because Stevenson should be able to handle whoever else the Chargers throw onto the field at receiver. They were already without Mike Williams due to the torn ACL.
On second-and-7 they go after Stevenson again with a slant to Josh Palmer for the first down but Palmer is playing with a knee injury and was questionable coming into this game. He injured the knee on the play as he's dragged down at the Bears 32.

Chargers first down on Austin Ekeler run up the middle.

They're just picking on Tyrique Stevenson down after down. He looks like he did before the Vikings game. A 9-yard completion on first down playing way off the receiver.

5:01

A 15-yard Bears penalty for punt interference against Velus Jones Jr., the gunner. Didn't get out of the way. Just a stupid play. To top it off, Trenton Gill made a terribly short punt. This next drive will start at about the 45.
Bears have to be happy they just were able to punt again without a penalty.

This game is starting out like so many others on the west coast as Patrick holds on the next play, too, Chargers don't take the penalty. Patrick had to hold former Bear Nick Williams.
Big gain on second down by D'Onta Foreman off a fake reverse and it's wiped out by a penalty. Lucas Patrick. The last two weeks the Bears had 72 yards wiped out by penalties. They're at it again.
Bears start at the 25 and throw goes to Velus Jones Jr. Wow. He caught a pass. Just 4 yards.

7:08: Chargers 7, Bears 0

T.J. Edwards diagnoses a perfectly formed screen and flies in but misses the tackle and it goes for a 39-yard touchdown up the left sideline. Have to worry about Ekeler's receiving more than his running. Edwards had a bad game last week. That was an even worse start. A 10-play, 92-yard drive that took 5:36. Chargers 7, Bears 0
Flea flicker almost wound up blowing up in Chargers' faces but Donald Parham, their tight end in for Gerald Everett, bailed them out with a 7-yard catch.

Ekeler burns the Bears with a catch of 13 yards. That's always what you need to worry about with him.
Allen makes his third catch on the drive for a first down and the Chargers are all the way to their 32.

He finds Allen over the middle and another big hit, this by Hicks for the first down. The Bears will take that. One of those will come out and pop up in the air if they keep sticking to short passes over the middle.

Tyrique Stevenson all over Keenan Allen on second-down catch after a 1-yard run by Justin Herbert and Chargers in third-and-5.

Chargers after the punt at their 8. They ran into punter Trenton Gill on the play but it wasn't unsportsmanlike so the 5 yards would have done the Bears no good. They took the result of the play.

12:44

A great fast start but the drive then went straight back after a Trent Taylor end around ran right into Khalil Mack for a loss. That's not a bad idea to keep Mack at bay but I don't know know Trent Taylor is the guy you want doing it.

Bears get themselves into the situation they can't handle in this game, a third-and-long, as Joey Bosa beats Cody Whitehair coming from the inside for a sack. And it's a punt.

Fantastic lunging catch by Darnell Mooney deep on the first play at the Chargers 38. Asante Samuel Jr. with obvious interference and flagged even if the catch wasn't made. That was the type of start they need to get the Chargers defense off the short passes.

Bears receive Dicker the Kicker's opening kickoff and they'll start at their 21.

Pregame

Former Bears college scouting director Greg Gabriel says the Bears did indeed talk to the Commanders about Chase Young, but that they won't make a deal and the knee situation is the obstacle. That was a bad injury.

Apparently Eddie Jackson is not healthy enough to play even though he has been cleared and went through a full practice on Sunday. The suspicious among us would think Jackon is being traded. Duron Harmon and Elijah Hicks are your starting safeties tonight. Good luck with that.

#ChicagoBears HC Eberflus tells Jeff Joniak on #ESPN1000 PreGame show that even thought Safety @BoJack4 is active, he will only be an insurance player vs. #Chargers. Instead safeties will be Elijah Hicks & @dharm32
— Peggy Kusinski (@peggykusinski) October 30, 2023

In his pregame radio address, Bears GM Ryan Poles says a deal with Jaylon Johnson has to be good both for the player and team. Duh. That's not good news, just blather.
The NFC North took on a different look Sunday as Kirk Cousins appears to be done for the year. They suspect it's an Achilles tear and their backup is Jaren Hall, a young QB from BYU.

Mike Florio picks the Bears, standing alone among NBC analysts.

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