There’s a history of some pretty sloppy Bears-Ravens games, and Sunday’s game at Soldier Field was no exception. With Lamar Jackson sidelined with an illness, this was a game that was ripe for the taking for Chicago. But, as we’ve grown accustomed to with this Bears team, they just couldn’t get it done.
The Bears suffered a brutal 16-13 loss to the Ravens, which dropped them to 3-7 on the season. For the second year in a row, Chicago has lost five straight games.
In many ways, this game was an indictment on everything that’s wrong with this Bears regime, particularly head coach Matt Nagy. Not only was Chicago facing backup quarterback Tyler Huntley in his first career start, but the Bears just collapsed in a game that they should’ve won, especially given the defense’s best outing in weeks.
Whether it was Nagy’s misusage of timeouts or the bizarre fourth-and-1 sequence that left fans frustrated, it becomes clearer with each week that Nagy needs to be fired — whether it’s now, after Thanksgiving or at season’s end.
The big story of the game was rookie quarterback Justin Fields suffering a rib injury in the third quarter, which knocked him out for the remainder of the game. Before that, Fields had his share of struggles, finishing 4-of-11 for 79 yards and was sacked twice. It’s unclear whether he’ll be ready to face the Lions on Thanksgiving in just four days.
Andy Dalton, who began the season as the starter, stepped in and threw two deep touchdown passes in relief of Field, including a 49-yard bomb to receiver Marquise Goodwin that would’ve and should’ve been the game winner.
Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t hold on against Huntley, who led his team on a five-play, 72-yard touchdown drive to win the game. But Chicago was without several key starters, including Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and Eddie Jackson.
While the defense once again blew a lead, there were a couple of standout performances on defense from linebacker Roquan Smith and outside linebacker Robert Quinn, who absolutely dominated.
Smith had 17 tackles, including two for a loss, in one of his most impressive outings. He had 14 tackles in the first half alone. Quinn had a career-high 3.5 sacks against the Ravens, bringing his season total to 10 sacks.
Now, the Bears face a short week as the Lions await on Thanksgiving. And given how Chicago has lost five straight games and could very well give Detroit its first win of the season, there’s not much to be thankful for in this Nagy era. Except that maybe it’s mercifully coming to an end in the near future.