CHICAGO, Ill. (670 The Score) -- Bears quarterback Justin Fields fell to a crouch, and his eyes shifted down to the Soldier Field grass in a state of disbelief. Twenty minutes later, he remained in full uniform with an empty stare toward the navy blue locker room floor.
Fields had led the Bears to the brink of a comeback victory Thursday night, but they came up just short. On a fourth-and-goal play from the 4-yard line, receiver Darnell Mooney was stopped inches shy of the goal line after bobbling and then hauling in a pass from Fields, a sequence that sealed the Bears’ 12-7 loss to the Commanders.
“We always get told that we’re almost there, almost there,” Fields said.
“Me personally, I’m tired of being almost there. I’m tired of being this close.”
Coming up just short was the story of this painful loss for the Bears, who dropped to 2-4 and came up completely empty on all three of their trips into the red zone. The final missed opportunity came after Fields put his team in position to steal a win with a spectacular 39-yard run that set Chicago up with first-and-goal from the 5-yard line with 52 seconds remaining.
Fields gained one yard on a scramble to the right side on first-and-goal.
He then had a pass intended for Mooney deflected at the line of scrimmage on second down. Then came a third-and-goal play that will stick with the Bears. Fields lofted a pass to the back corner of the end zone for receiver Dante Pettis, who couldn’t make the catch as his arm also looked to be tied up by Commanders safety Darrick Forrest.
“It felt like it,” Pettis said when asked if his arm was prevented from making a catch. “I mean, there’s like pass interference and holding – it happens on pretty much like every play. They didn’t call it. So, I guess it wasn’t pass interference.
“That’s what happens when you play receiver. You feel like you’re getting held or whatever it is.”
Bears coach Matt Eberflus argued for the pass interference call, but no flag was thrown. He declined comment on the officials’ decision, while Fields was a bit more blunt.
“That was a PI that we didn’t get,” Fields said. “Simple.”
The Bears still had one final chance to score on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Fields had five reads on the play, starting with Mooney as his first read on the right all the way back across to running back David Montgomery running a route in the flat on the left side.
Fields went to Mooney at the goal line. Mooney positioned himself to make a catch across the plane, but he explained later that his vision was briefly blinded by the stadium lighting. That contributed to Mooney bobbling the ball. He hauled it in on his second effort, but he was on the wrong side of the goal line by the time he controlled the pass, and he was immediately tackled.
“I’m literally talking to myself, like, ‘Please give me this ball, give me this ball,’” Mooney said. “I just got to close the game for us. If I want to be that player, if I want to be that guy for our team, I got to make that play, for sure.
“At the end of the day, that last play, I had an opportunity to make a play. Whatever happened in the first or second quarter doesn’t matter. I had a play. It came down to it. Just catch the damn ball on the first time and we win the game.”
The shock of the loss seemed to hit hard in the Bears’ locker room, with the team acknowledging the disappointment of dropping a game that was there for the taking. For Fields in particular, there was great frustration.
Fields lamented his pair of throwing errors that cost the Bears on their first two appearances in the red zone. On second-and-goal from the 5-yard line in the first quarter, Fields attempted to target tight end Cole Kmet in the end zone. He forced a tight spiral low that hit off the helmet of Commanders defensive lineman Efe Obada and deflected into the air for defensive lineman Jonathan Allen to make the pick.
Then came a second-and-goal play early in the second quarter with the Bears at the 3-yard line. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy drew up a play that had tight end Ryan Griffin wide open on the right side, and Fields simply overshot him. The Commanders then came up with a goal-line stand to keep the Bears out of the end zone.
The Bears’ lone score of the game came on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Pettis in the third quarter, but this game was all about three empty appearances in goal-to-go situations.
“Disappointing,” Griffin said. “Really frustrating. A lot of guys are hurting in here.
“We got to find a way to punch it in. Period.”
Fields broke out of his postgame stare as a Bears team staff member pulled him aside for a medical evaluation. He was sacked five times and took several more hard hits, including one to his left shoulder that led to the postgame examination.
Fields believes he’ll be fine when the Bears return from their weekend off, but the sting of this loss will be hard to brush off. They were close, but that wasn’t enough.
“I feel like I’ve been hearing it for so long,” Fields said. “At the end of the day, all you can do is get back to work.”
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
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