GREEN BAY, Wis. (670 The Score) -- During a timeout with 4:36 remaining Sunday night, Bears general manager Ryan Pace stood up from his seat high atop Lambeau Field. He threw on his sport coat, grabbed his belongings and began the long walk down to the visiting locker room.
Pace seemed to know what was coming next – a dagger to the Bears in their 45-30 loss to the Packers. Sure enough, quarterback Aaron Rodgers hit receiver Davante Adams for a touchdown on a slant route on the next play and the Bears' hopes were dashed – for an unlikely victory over the Packers, for their even more improbable playoff hopes and perhaps for Pace and coach Matt Nagy to save their jobs.
There's no longer any pretending what these Bears are or could be in 2021 or what they've been for the better part of Pace's seven seasons leading their football operations. This remains a poor team in need of change.
"We're 4-9 right now, and that's who we are," Nagy said.
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Soon after the final kneel from Rodgers and a seventh loss in eight games, members of the Bears' coaching staff packed into a single elevator from the press box down to a ramp at Lambeau Field, loading onto three golf carts headed toward the locker room. They all were silent and expressionless while hearing the raucous chants from the concourse: Go, Pack, go.
At halftime of this game, Nagy had told the NBC national broadcast that he was having "fun." Then the third quarter began, and the Bears went from leading 27-21 to quickly unraveling. Afterward, the glass-half-full view that the eternal optimist Nagy shared was that it was a "tale of two halves." But the reality lies in the Bears' 4-9 record.
This wasn't just a weird, wild game that got away from the Bears. It was a reflection of who they've been in 2021 and much of the time in recent years. Nagy and his coaching staff failed to produce a game plan that held up for four quarters, and the mistakes added up. A depleted Bears defense couldn't keep up with Rodgers, Adams and the Packers' high-octane offense.
"It just makes the game a lot harder," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said of Chicago's shorthanded defense.
The injuries and inconsistencies can't be chalked up to simply bad fortune. Pace and his brass created the Bears' voids on the depth chart. The Bears never adequately replaced top cornerback Kyle Fuller after releasing him in March. Rodgers exploited that weakness Sunday, targeting reserve-caliber cornerbacks in Artie Burns and Xavier Crawford, who have been thrust into starting roles.
Once again, the Bears didn't consistently protect Fields, with their offensive line continuing to struggle. Rookie Teven Jenkins was forced into action at left tackle for the injured Jason Peters (ankle) and played poorly, allowing a pair of sacks while being flagged for four penalties – two false starts and two holding calls. His troubles came after offensive line coach Juan Castillo recently admitted Jenkins wasn't ready to play.
At the least, the Bears came away from another disappointing loss with Fields showcasing himself as a leader. After the game, Fields pointed toward playing out the final four regular-season games with the future in mind. He sees them as opportunities for growth.
"That's one of the hardest things when you are losing, there are so many people saying, 'You suck,' this and that," Fields said. "You kind of have to look at the positives and build on that. This isn't going to change overnight. You have to keep building."
Uncertainty lies ahead in the franchise's future. The Bears' loss to the Packers ensured that they'll have their first losing season since 2017, after which they fired then-coach John Fox. Of course, this also marked their sixth non-winning season in seven years under Pace's leadership. Nagy is 32-31 in his four-year tenure in Chicago, and the team's NFC North title in 2018 feels like decades ago.
Bears chairman George McCaskey watched Sunday night from a perch atop Lambeau Field separate from Pace, sitting alongside his 98-year-old mother Virginia. McCaskey demanded "progress" in announcing last January that the Bears would retain Pace and Nagy for 2021. With four games remaining this season, the Bears can't surpass the eight wins they recorded in both 2019 and 2020. The Packers delivered the final blow.
The Bears poured their focus into trying to beat the Packers and lost yet again. It hits hard for McCaskey, Pace, Nagy and Chicago because everyone knows this is who the Bears are.
"There's no consolation," Nagy said. "We're 4-9. That's the tough part."
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
