(670 The Score) The Bears were embarrassed by the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers on Sunday, losing 38-3 at Raymond James Stadium. Here are the observations from the Bears' loss.
Embarrassing
This was the kind of loss that gets coaches fired.
Historically, the Bears don't make coaching changes in the middle of the season, but their ugly setback Sunday was one that could push them closer to a house cleaning in January. That's how utterly poor the Bears played in all three phases. It was a reflection on coach Matt Nagy, whose team is coming apart.
Rookie quarterback Justin Fields, whose development is of the utmost importance, had by far the worst game of his first NFL season. He was 22-of-32 for 184 yards with three interceptions and two fumbles. While he looked to quickly shake it off afterward, it was the type of debacle you fear might stay with him for a time. And that was just the beginning of the Bears' problems.
A defense with a lot of pride got gashed by future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, who checked out early in the fourth quarter. The Buccaneers could've posted 50 points had they continued press the pedal offensively.
Adding to the Bears' humiliation was defensive lineman Bilal Nichols throwing a punch at the facemask of Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen late in the third quarter, earning him an ejection from the game. It marked the third time in the past year that a Bears player was ejected for throwing a punch at an opponent.
The Bears' loss Sunday continued their recent woes. A week prior, Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers screamed "I still own you" at Bears fans after scoring a touchdown in Green Bay's win at Soldier Field. In the aftermath of that loss, Bears safety Eddie Jackson made a poor decision by calling out franchise great Lance Briggs in a tweet late that night. Three days later, cornerback Jaylon Johnson posted on Instagram that he receive a fine from Nagy for arriving late to a meeting at Halas Hall.
The Bears are trending toward dysfunction, which is something Nagy has prevented during his four-year tenure in Chicago. What's team chairman George McCaskey thinking as he watches this mess? Does he feel the same as he did in 2014 when the Bears were a team in chaos and coach Marc Trestman was completely overmatched?
If not, how many more performances like Sunday's can McCaskey watch before he must clean house of Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace?
At the least, McCaskey had to hear the chants from Bears fans inside Raymond James Stadium late in the blowout Sunday: "Fire Nagy."
Extra points
-- The Bears received the opening kick and quickly went three-and-out. They allowed a 43-yard punt return, then Brady drove the Buccaneers for a touchdown in three plays. The tone was set.
-- Last week, Fields spoke of balancing his dynamic talent with trying not to do too much. There were a lot of instances Sunday in which he sought to make a play that wasn't there.
-- Early in this game, the Buccaneers were more concerned with obtaining a football from a fan – Brady's 600th regular-season touchdown pass – rather than anything the Bears were doing.
-- The Bears used far too many five- or six-man protection schemes for Fields, who was strip-sacked three times as a result. If you thought the coaching staff learned from Chicago's bad loss in Cleveland on Sept. 26, you'd be mistaken.
-- The Bears' fade pass to tight end Jesper Horsted late in the second quarter didn't stand much of a chance. But more curious was why the offense looked so poor coming out of a timeout called by Nagy. The Bears then ended up settling for their only three points of the game.
-- Credit goes to rookie running back Khalil Herbert, who rushed for 100 yards against the NFL's top-ranked run defense. He was perhaps the Bears' lone bright spot.
-- There were mitigating factors that explained some of Fields' miscues, but you'd be hard-pressed to defend his decision on his third interception – a deep pass down the sidelines to Robinson that was badly underthrown.
-- By the end of this game, it seemed the Buccaneers were bored. So too were CBS commentators Jim Nantz and Tony Romo. Who could blame them?
-- Why would you ever punch a facemask?
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
