CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- Time and again, the Bears don't just lose football games, they invent new ways to avoid victory.
They don't just disappoint their fans, they rip their hearts out.
They don't just hit rock bottom emotionally, they keep sinking and sinking until you start to wonder how far down the McCaskeys will allow their once-proud franchise to plummet.
These are the depths the Bears season reached Sunday at Soldier Field after the Ravens rallied to win 16-13 in a game that was so on brand for an organization that can't get out of its own way, a fifth straight defeat that was so very Bears in every way. That was so achingly familiar and amazingly predictable for a 3-7 team that hasn't won a game since Oct. 10. That looked winnable until it wasn't.
The Bears defense played valiantly without injured stars Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan and Eddie Jackson -- $36.7 million worth of salary-cap space unavailable – and limited a Ravens offense missing MVP-caliber quarterback Lamar Jackson to 299 total yards. Except, 72 of those yards came on the final drive when the Bears failed to protect the unlikeliest of 13-9 leads they took with 1:41 left.
When the Bears needed a stop most, struggling cornerback Kindle Vildor got flagged for pass interference on first down and gave up a 21-yard completion one snap later. The backbreaker on the fateful drive came on third-and-12, when Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley found Sammy Watkins for a 29-yard completion down to the 3-yard line after the Bears blew a coverage. On the next play, Devonta Freeman scored the winning touchdown on a three-yard run.
In the CBS booth, Jim Nantz could've called it "a tradition unlike any other,'' and Chicagoans would've thought Nantz was talking about the Bears blowing games.
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How does that coverage breakdown happen on third-and-12 with the game on the line? Why was here hesitation earlier from the Bears on whether to go for the two-point conversion when that was obvious? Why do the Bears lose so many close games and look so discombobulated after a bye week? When will the Bears stop committing silly penalties – like on the first play of the second half or 12 men on the field – or wasting timeouts? Or calling head-scratching plays in clutch situations, allowing blocked punts in the fourth quarter and looking like one of the most poorly coached teams in the league?
When will somebody in charge at Halas Hall do something, anything that says they feel as fed up as their fan base, which broke into a chorus of "Fire Nagy" at the end of the defeat Sunday?
How much more of this can a football city take?
"I just understand in the end that we all care a lot and we're all in this thing, we want to do what we can to win," Nagy said postgame when asked about the chants. "You just keep fighting and believing in each other. Keep it real simple."
Quite simply, the Bears wasted an opportunity to beat a Ravens team with a quarterback making his first NFL start.
Jackson flew to Chicago despite missing two days of practice last week with a non-COVID illness and woke up Sunday morning feeling weak. A buzz spread throughout the stadium pregame when Jackson appeared on the Ravens' inactive list, thrusting Huntley into the spotlight. Huntley's last start came in Dec. 31, 2019, for Utah in the Alamo Bowl, a 38-10 loss to Texas, which was coached then by current Bears offensive assistant Tom Herman. Whether Herman offered any insight into defending Huntley or not, the Bears struggled at times defending the dual-threat who enjoyed an efficient day. With the Ravens calling a smart game, Huntley managed to complete 26 of 36 passes for 219 yards and an interception – a nifty fourth-quarter pick created by Bears safety Tashaun Gipson.
But for the first half, Huntley was the best quarterback on the field, which tells you everything about the kind of day Justin Fields endured.
Fields struggled before leaving the game in the third quarter with a rib injury, going 4-for-11 for 79 yards and often looking like a rookie again. He fumbled for an NFL-high ninth time. After taking two steps forward, Fields took one step back, and such is life in the NFL for first-year starters. Except for a couple completions, Fields lacked the command and accuracy he flashed against the Steelers and at earlier points of the season. His unsettling third-quarter exit after taking a shot to the ribs made way for Dalton, the rare backup quarterback who's the most unpopular player in town.
The football gods smiled on Dalton, rewarding his patience. On Dalton's first drive, Darnell Mooney turned a quick pass into a 60-yard touchdown. But Dalton left his biggest impression on fourth-and-11 from the Ravens' 49-yard line with the Bears down 9-7 with 1:48 left, when he found wide receiver Marquise Goodwin wide open for a 49-yard go-ahead touchdown pass. Goodwin put a nifty double-move on Ravens cornerback Chris Westry and Dalton put the ball where it needed to be – and where he had often in the past against the Ravens as the longtime quarterback of the AFC North Bengals.
The feel-good moment should've gone down as the game-winning throw, a rare bright spot in a dismal season, but the Bears defense picked the worst possible time to collapse. On a day linebacker Roquan Smith seemed to make every tackle past the line of scrimmage and pass rusher Robert Quinn flew around with abandon, they deserved better. So did Dalton.
Showing rust from not seeing extended action since Week 2, Dalton completed 11 of 23 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns with a 107.3 passer rating. The 13 points in the final 1 1/2 quarters qualified as an offensive outburst by Bears standards and spoke to the professionalism of the 34-year-old veteran. Dalton wasn't great, but the bar is low and he cleared it.
"I've been through a lot," Dalton said. "I knew that God had me here in Chicago for a reason. Football's part of it … There's also being a good teammate and the guy guys can lean on and staying ready for the next opportunity."
Dalton's next chance could come as early as Thursday against the Lions, depending on Fields' injury. Nagy sidestepped questions postgame until learning more about the condition of his young quarterback's ribs, but the Bears should be in no hurry to see Fields return. The playoffs no longer matter and the development of Fields – the primary purpose of 2021, especially now – includes taking minimal risks with his health.
Giving Fields as long as possible to recover from a rib injury makes the most sense, and that really has nothing to do with how well or how poorly Dalton executes the offense. Let Fields fully heal for the good of everyone and Dalton do what he does: release the ball quickly, move the chains and be a pro. When Fields is ready, it's his job no matter the circumstances because the future outweighs the present for teams out of the playoff picture.
And if Fields' future includes a coaching or regime change, then so be it. The need for continuity rings hollow. The notion that Fields would be negatively affected by change is overstated for a quarterback with his skill set. He's scheme-proof, perhaps limited more by the coaches and executives who drafted him than by those who will surround him when the Bears are good again. The focus shifted Sunday to 2022 and beyond.
General manager Ryan Pace arrived in 2015 and is still waiting to celebrate a playoff victory. Nagy finds himself in Year 4 offering empty rhetoric instead of the results he needed to produce this season. It's the NFL and the bottom-line reality of professional sports. It's obvious to everyone but those who run the $4-billion enterprise that's headquartered at 1920 Football Drive in Lake Forest.
A microcosm of Nagy's tenure came during an odd, confusing sequence early in the fourth quarter. The Bears were facing fourth-and-1 at their own 49-yard line and sent punter Pat O'Donnell onto the field. Then they called a timeout because Nagy's headset apparently cut out, sending him into a sideline tizzy. The offense returned and lined up in the Wildcat formation, where David Montgomery took the direct snap. How clever. But like everyone else in the 312 area code, the Ravens saw that play coming and stopped Montgomery cold to take over on downs. No singular moment in any NFL game should come down to whether a coach has a solid connection with his headset. That Nagy reacted as frantically as he did said everything about his reliance on sideline technology in a game in which the clearest communication involves contact.
It also revealed that the Ravens weren't outsmarted, outcoached or outplayed, not on that fourth-down play or all game. In a game in which attrition robbed us all of seeing stars on both teams, everybody knew the deciding factor would be coaching and roster depth. And, frankly, when it comes to coaching and roster depth, the Bears are no match for the Ravens – or for too many teams on their schedule and around the league. Sunday simply provided the latest example.
We were reminded but, sadly, nobody should've been surprised.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on Twitter @DavidHaugh.
