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It wasn’t a very happy Christmas Eve as the Chicago Bears fell short against the Buffalo Bills in a 35-13 loss at Soldier Field.
The Super Bowl hopes to continue for Buffalo as they improved to 12-3 and clinched the AFC East for the fourth year in a row, something they haven’t done since 1995-1999. Meanwhile, the Bears maintained their hold on the No. 2 overall pick.
Chicago had a strong showing in the first half taking a 10-6 lead over Buffalo, led by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Justin Fields to Dante Pettis and a 37-yard Cairo Santos field goal. But the second half was all Bills. Buffalo scored on back-to-back drives to take a 21-10 lead before the end of the third quarter.
Quarterback Justin Fields had a decent game as a passer completing 65% of his passes for 119 yards and one touchdown. However, for the first time since Week 3, Fields didn’t rush for at least 40 yards and only finished with 11 yards rushing on seven attempts.
After going down 35-13 in the fourth quarter, the Bears pulled Fields on the final drive and let Nathan Peterman finish the game. As a result, Chicago has solidified the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft at 3-12.
The Bears run defense struggled to contain Buffalo’s stable of running backs. The Bills rushed for 254 yards, where Devin Singletary had 106 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown and James Cook had 99 yards on 11 carries and a score. Josh Allen added 41 yards on six carries and a touchdown.
The Bears will hit the road to face the Detroit Lions on New Year’s Day.
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