CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- The Bears on Sunday dropped their second straight game, losing 26-23 in overtime to the Saints at Soldier Field.
Here are the observations from the matchup.
No composure
Bears coach Matt Nagy sounded dejected after the loss. It wasn't just because of the outcome or the latest uneven performance by his team.
Nagy kept thinking back to the moment in the third quarter when receiver Javon Wims threw multiple punches at Saints cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson, inciting a brief skirmish between the two teams.
Nagy seemed genuinely betrayed by the incident. He believes the Bears have the kind of culture that wouldn't allow a player to explode like that and a team to unravel in such fashion.
"I'm just going to continue going back, I am really, really bothered by that third-quarter incident," Nagy said. "That bothers me. I'm being completely honest. It bothers me. You know, but I'm proud of the guys that played hard. I'm proud of the guys that were selfless and tried to do everything they could to help us win."
The Bears gave the football away on the very next play after Wims' ejection, as quarterback Nick Foles threw an interception caused by miscommunication. The Saints capitalized on the Bears miscues, setting up kicker Wil Lutz for a 39-yard field goal. On the Bears' ensuing drive, they went three-and-out and were penalized for a delay of game on their punt team.
The Bears beat themselves in many ways in a game they led 13-3 late in the second quarter. Like with Wims, they lost composure.
Glass half-empty
Where were you when the 2020 Bears had that four-play, 80-yard scoring drive?
In the second quarter, the Bears broke through with the kind of drive that hasn't seemed possible for most of this season. Foles threw a 50-yard strike to rookie receiver Darnell Mooney, who ran a pristine route and hauled in the deep ball. It marked Chicago's longest play of the season. Two plays later, Foles hit top receiver Allen Robinson in the back of the end zone as he made a diving catch for the touchdown.
Where has that been all season?
"That's something that we're working towards," Foles said of the drive.
It certainly hasn't happened enough for the Bears, who struggled to replicate that success for the rest of the game. Take away those four plays and 80 yards, and the Bears averaged 3.8 yards per play Sunday.
The Bears cut their deficit to 23-20 in the fourth quarter by scoring a touchdown on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that felt laborious at times. A defensive pass interference in the end zone set the Bears up with first-and-goal from a yard out, from which it took them three plays to score.
The Bears got the ball back at their own 32-yard line with 1:51 remaining while trailing by three. They proceeded to embark on a 12-play, 35-yard drive that ended with a 51-yard field goal from Cairo Santos.
After forcing a punt in overtime, the Bears ran six plays for eight yards -- which included a 17-yard catch by Robinson that was ultimately wasted. The Bears then punted to the Saints, who drove for a winning field goal by Lutz.
Once again, the Bears couldn't sustain drives on offense.
"That's what it is," Nagy said. "It's hard for me to try to figure that thing out."
Al-vin!
Leading up to Sunday, the Bears had plenty of praise for Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a future Hall of Famer. But they showed the 41-year-old Brees a bit too much respect.
The Bears didn't bring pressure on Brees the way they did to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers or Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers. He was sacked just once -- when star edge rusher Khalil Mack forced a fumble that registered as a sack -- and hit only twice. Brees was an efficient 31-of-41 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, completing 28 of those passes inside 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.
The Bears dropped eight men in coverage often on Brees but still didn't challenge him enough inside of 10 yards. They hardly pressured a quarterback whose mobility was waned at 41.
The Bears also didn't do enough to stop Saints star running back Alvin Kamara, who rushed 12 times for 67 yards while adding nine receptions for 96 yards. Without No. 1 receiver Michael Thomas, the Saints' lone star playmaker on the field was Kamara, and Brees kept getting him the ball while the Bears didn't do enough to keep him in check.
'There will be consequences'
Immediately after the game Sunday, Nagy hadn't seen a video replay of Wims' punches that led to his ejection.
By Monday morning, Nagy saw the footage and was fuming once again. Consequences will be coming for Wims, he said.
"It was completely senseless, it was stupid, it was selfish," Nagy said in his weekly interview with WBBM Newsradio 780. "Every word you could possibly think of with what he did. It's unacceptable.
"That's not good for this game. That's not good for kids that watch the sport of football. We're not going to deal with that.
"That's not how we do things here. There will be consequences."
Wims will undoubtedly be fined and could face a suspension from the NFL. First, the Bears must decide whether they want him to remain on the roster.
Extra points
-- The Bears couldn't afford further attriotion on the offensive line, but then right tackle Bobby Massie suffered a knee injury early in the game and didn't return. Jason Spriggs replaced Massie, leaving the Bears without three of their five starters on the offensive line.
Center Cody Whitehair didn't seem particularly close to playing Sunday and could be dealing with a week-to-week calf injury. Without him, Sam Mustipher stepped in at center alongside left guard Rashaad Coward, who replaced James Daniels after his season-ending pectoral tear on Oct. 8. A struggling offensive line is facing even more challenges.
-- NFL officials face a tough job, but you may never see a worse call than the one in the first quarter -- a dropped screen pass by Bears running back David Montgomery that was ruled a fumble on the field. There shouldn't have been even the slightest question as to whether the ball was caught.
-- It would've been fun to hear the reaction of a Soldier Field crowd in the first quarter when reserve quarterback Mitchell Trubisky entered for one play, which resulted in a three-yard gain on a designed carry. Nagy and the Bears should create more packages involving Trubisky.
-- In the second quarter, Montgomery took a third-and-1 carry through a huge hole up front and for 38 yards. The Bears set him up with a faked jet sweep to Cordarrelle Patterson. Maybe that's why Nagy has called so many jet sweeps for Patterson this season. It was all a long con.
-- After the four-play, 80-yard touchdown drive for the Bears, they went three-and-out and lost four yards -- those coming on a failed screen to Patterson. Score teammate and morning host David Haugh said it best: "That drive was intended to guard against overconfidence."
-- Santos deserves credit, as he overcame a miserable kicking day at Soldier Field to convert all three of his field-goal attempts. Santos has worked hard on managing the Midwestern winds, both at Halas Hall and Soldier Field.
-- Speaking of kicking at Soldier Field, did the Fox television broadcast put a microphone inside the goal posts or are all doinks in Chicago just that loud? The kick by Lutz that hit off the upright brought an echo on the broadcast.
-- Veteran tight end Jimmy Graham certainly didn't make the Saints miss him, catching just two of seven targets on the game. He later apologized for the performance on Twitter.
-- Can Kyle Long put on 60 pounds before next Sunday? Asking for a general manager.
-- Can Olin Kreutz put on 100 pounds before next Sunday? Asking for a general manager.
-- "You got to let it hurt sometimes," defensive lineman Akiem Hicks said after the loss. Chicago was way ahead of him with that request.
-- These eight weeks have felt like an eternity.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.