The Chicago Bears found another way to lose a game — and Lamar Jackson wasn’t even playing for the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens defeated the Bears 16-13 at Soldier Field on Sunday as Tyler Huntley started in place of Jackson, and Chicago fans clearly weren’t happy about it.
Chicago finished with more total yards than Baltimore (353 to 299) and averaged 6.2 yards per play to Baltimore’s 3.9, yet managed to score only 13 points. The Bears dropped their fifth consecutive game to fall to 3-7, causing the angry fans at Soldier Field to vent their frustration at head coach Matt Nagy — whose time may be running out in Chicago.
A confusing sequence on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter may have been the focal point of Bears fans’ frustration. The Bears were leading 7-6 with 12:30 left on their own 49-yard line when Nagy had an embarrassing sequence of plays that failed miserably. Nagy initially sent the punter on, then called a timeout. He then sent the offense back onto the field and called a wildcat play with David Montgomery that was stopped short of the line. The play wouldn’t have counted anyway, because of a holding call on James Daniels that was declined.
The advantageous field position helped Baltimore take a 9-7 lead on a Justin Tucker field goal with 3:45 left. Andy Dalton — who finished 11 of 23 for 201 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Justin Fields (rib injury) — gave the Bears the lead with 1:49 left on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin. But Chicago’s defense allowed Huntley — who got the start because Jackson had a non-COVID related illness — to go 3 of 3 for 56 yards on the final drive, which resulted in a Devonta Freeman 3-yard score with 25 seconds to play to give Baltimore the win.
The Bears had the ball for just 21:10 in the game, and NFL teams are now 0-18 this season when their time of possession is under 22 minutes. Chicago went just 2 of 11 on third down conversions. This offensive ineptitude is coming off the bye week — where Nagy is 0-4 in his career.
Another late-game collapse by Nagy and the Bears defense caused even more frustration for the Bears fan base. Perhaps Chicago can turns things around on Thanksgiving, when they travel to Detroit to face the Lions.
