KANSAS CITY, Mo. (670 The Score) — The Bears’ 13th straight loss was by far their worst of the franchise-worst skid, as they were clobbered 41-10 by the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Here are the observations from Kansas City.
A new team?
When the Bears kicked off their season on Sept. 10, there was genuine hope and anticipation at Soldier Field. Despite a 3-14 record in 2022, the Bears seemed to be an improved team on paper, and they expected to showcase progress.
That day feels like ages ago now, with the Bears sitting at 0-3 and already in shambles. Coach Matt Eberflus, who was hired by general manager Ryan Poles to lead the day-to-day development of this rebuild, doesn’t seem to have any answers.
Instead, Eberflus has attempted to create a narrative that the Bears are just starting from the beginning now as they're 20 games into his Chicago tenure.
“This is a new football team,” Eberflus said. “We’ve got 30-something new guys who are coming together, that are playing the game together for the first time for these three games. So, there’s a process to that. It’s certainly not where we want it to be. But to get there, we’re going to have to have focus. We’re going to have to have fight. We’re going to have to be resilient. We’re going to have to block out outside noise. We’re going to have to do all those things and then keep a positive, optimistic attitude about this as we’re working.
“It will crack. It will crack.”
The Bears are 3-17 since Eberflus was hired. This team was new when his tenure began in 2022. The results are also unchanged from 2022 to 2023. His message is starting to sound as desperate as it is misleading.
It’s unacceptable for Eberflus to suggest that a 3-14 last season simply should be forgotten and that the Bears are in some separate phase now in 2023. The Bears' record-setting losing streak is the continuation of poor performance all around from the organization.
Eberflus was hired by the Bears to create a winning culture and develop the roster that was overhauled by Poles. Instead, he oversees a team that’s just accustomed to losing results.
“I’m tired of losing,” veteran pass rusher DeMarcus Walker said. “I don’t like losing.”
Poles’ rebuilding plan called for the Bears to tear down the roster that he inherited from the previous regime and start anew last season. Losing was expected to be part of the endeavor, though it needs to shift for the better at some point. The risk of going 3-14 by design was that there was no realistic chance to instill any winning habits in that season.
Eberflus is an embattled head coach who understands that he's falling well short of the hopes set for him. Poles was confident that more victories were coming this season, and new president Kevin Warren will likely work differently than predecessor Ted Phillips in taking action from the front office of Halas Hall.
The 2023 Bears aren't a new team, but they're experiencing the same lack of success as they always have under Eberflus' leadership.
Fields’ fate already seems apparent
Last week, quarterback Justin Fields called upon Bears coaches to help him play more freely, believing he had been too “robotic” early on this season. His comments created controversy, with the perception that he had criticized offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
Fields apologized to Getsy and the Bears’ coaching staff, and they came together with the hope of utilizing an offensive game plan that better fit Fields' skill set. With that as the context, Sunday could’ve marked a turning point for Fields and the Bears. Instead, they looked even worse.
Fields had one of his worst performances in the NFL on Sunday, going 11-of-22 for 99 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His lone touchdown pass came when he found receiver DJ Moore on a nine-yard connection with 4:20 remaining in the game, but the Chiefs were resting many of their key starters by that point.
Fields was as indecisive as ever Sunday, struggling to work through his progressions and getting sacked three more times. Three games into his pivotal third NFL season, Fields seems to be a broken quarterback and the Bears’ looming decision on his future is becoming more clear.
With a big 2023 season, the 24-year-old Fields could’ve secured a lucrative long-term contract extension next offseason and his place as the Bears’ franchise quarterback. Instead, it seems likely at this point that Chicago will once again be searching for a new quarterback.
Fields has completed 58% of his passes for 526 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions in three games this season. He's averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt, a career-low figure. Over 30 career NFL games (28 starts), Fields has completed 59.5% of his passes for 4,638 yards, 27 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has surpassed that yardage total in four different single seasons. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert did so in consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, earning a five-year, $262.5-million contract extension with Los Angeles this past offseason.
Poles and his brass will certainly be scouting the quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft class. Come next April, if the Bears hold the No. 1 overall pick for a second straight year, the opportunity to land USC star quarterback Caleb Williams would create renewed hope but also would represent a massive organizational failure in Chicago.
Fields and the Bears should be ascending this season. Instead, their glaring regression is a damning indictment of everybody involved.
It was ugly
Bears tight end Cole Kmet summarized this loss in a straightforward manner.
“I mean, we just got our ass kicked,” Kmet said.
It was difficult to find parity in a matchup between the reigning Super Bowl champions and the team that was worst in the NFL last season. Somehow, it played out even worse than imagined for the Bears.
Mahomes led a scoring drive on all but one of the series he played before the Chiefs pulled him from the game in the third quarter. He was 24-of-33 for 272 yards and three touchdowns as Kansas City marched for 456 total yards of offense. Chicago managed only 203 total yards on 51 plays.
The Chiefs kicked a field goal just prior to halftime to take a 34-0 lead into the break. Suffice to say, as the Bears regrouped in the cramped visiting locker room of Arrowhead Stadium, there was no Knute Rockne-like speech from Eberflus and no dramatic comeback to take place.
The only break for the Bears came when Blaine Gabbert entered at quarterback for the Chiefs in the third quarter. Chicago’s defense recorded a pair of interceptions off Gabbert, which represented the team’s first two takeaways of the season.
Rookie safety Quindell Johnson appeared ready to call his teammates to the end zone for a group celebration after his interception in the fourth quarter, but the Bears backed off on what would’ve been perhaps their most embarrassing moment of an ugly day.
Extra points
-- The Bears got on the board for the first time in the fourth quarter as Eberflus elected to send out the field-goal team with Chicago down 41-0. It was a decision that came as Fields was pulled off the field for a medical evaluation following a hit on the previous play. The Bears had planned to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line before Fields was banged up, Eberflus said. Arrowhead Stadium filled with boos as Bears kicker Cairo Santos’ field goal went through the uprights to end the shutout bid.
-- Bears right guard Nate Davis spent most of last week tending to his family following a death. Because of that, Eberflus and his staff elected to make him a reserve for Sunday, with Ja’Tyre Carter starting at right guard. Once Davis’ personal business is settled, the Bears hope to get him fully acclimated in his role.
-- Every starter in the Bears’ secondary has missed time at some point across the first three games the season due to injury or illness. That unit is a strength for the team, but it hasn't settled in yet. On Sunday, starting safety Eddie Jackson was sidelined by a foot injury.
-- 1985 Bears Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon explained that game with one word on Twitter: “Embarrassing.”
-- At least Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy didn’t rub salt in the wound of his former team.
-- At least Mahomes didn’t count to 10 on his fingers this time around as he took it to the Bears.
-- Arrowhead Stadium, which holds a Guinness World Record for noise, was dead quiet in the fourth quarter of a game long decided.
-- Wait, Taylor Swift was at the game?
-- The Bears are betting underdogs next week against a Broncos team that gave up 70 points and lost by 50 on Sunday.
-- There are still 14 more games left in this season.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.