Bears’ season finale should present opportunities for younger players

While the Bears are eliminated from playoff contention, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to play for in regards to the future.

The Chicago Bears won’t have anything to play for in their regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. They were eliminated from playoff contention two weeks ago, and they’re left playing for pride heading into an important offseason.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to play for in regards to the future. While Matt Nagy didn’t opt to give more of his young players an opportunity to get some valuable reps last Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, that’s exactly what could happen this week against the Vikings.

“Being able to go win the game is important to us,” Nagy said. “It does also, at the same time, present some opportunities … knowing kind of where they’re at and where we’re at. We’ll see where that takes us. I want to be smart about it. But at the same time if there is somebody we can get a chance to see, we want to be able to do that as well.”

Players like rookie offensive lineman Alex Bars, rookie receiver Riley Ridley, cornerback Kevin Toliver, linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and running back Ryan Nall are just some of the names that the Bears should play against the Vikings.

While Nagy insists that the goal is to go out and win on Sunday, he wouldn’t rule out resting some starters and giving opportunities to some younger players. But Week 17 is different from the preseason where starters are rested to avoid injuries.

“The end of the year versus the start of the year, is probably the biggest thing,” Nagy said. “Again, there’s some things that we’ll take into account as we go through this. But the main objective for our players and for our coaches is to go there and try to win the football game — even regardless of their situation.”

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Matt Nagy confident about K Eddy Pineiro heading into 2020

Bears K Eddy Pineiro has had his ups and downs this season, but the Bears seem intent on sticking with him heading into 2020.

There were plenty of reasons why the Chicago Bears lost to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday. But kicker Eddy Pineiro wasn’t one of them. Not that the same could be said several other times this season.

Pineiro has had his ups and downs this season — including booting a 53-yard game-winning field goal against the Denver Broncos and missing what would’ve been a game-winning 41-yard field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers.

While it doesn’t change much in the grand scheme of things, Pineiro’s 46-yard field goal in the third quarter against the Chiefs was his first 40-plus successful kick since he missed two against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11.

Since then, Pineiro has been near-perfect on his kicks, connecting on seven consecutive field goals and 10 for 11 on extra points.

“I was really happy that he made that,” coach Matt Nagy said of Pineiro’s kick against the Chiefs. “I think we’re in a good place with him right now. I think if there’s one storyline that we take out of this [it’s that] kickers are going to have some tough times, not only kicking at Soldier Field, but just the kicking world in general.”

Pineiro had a great start to his rookie season, where he connected on 9-of-10 field goals. But as the weather started to turn in Chicago, Pineiro found himself facing his first real adversity of the season.

Following a rough stretch, where he had some costly misses, Pineiro has found his footing, and Nagy feels confident about him heading into 2020. Pineiro has connected on 19 of 24 field goals this season, which ranks 26th in the NFL at 79.2%.

“I like what he has done all year long,” Nagy said. “Moving forward here, going into [2020], I think we know who he is and what we have.”

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Bears’ loss vs. Chiefs can be summed up in one word: ‘Embarrassing’

The Bears’ 26-3 loss to the Chiefs was a microcosm of their 2019 season, a complete disappointment all around.

When describing the Bears’ 26-3 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday night, one word sums it up: Embarrassing.

But don’t take my word for it, let the players explain.

“Last home game, prime time, it’s embarrassing,” Eddie Jackson said.

Khalil Mack elaborated further.

“You play games like that on TV, prime time, you want to go out and ball, especially at home,” Mack said. “It’s embarrassing to us. We embarrassed our fans. And ultimately that’s unacceptable.”

It was a fitting end at home for a season that began with an embarrassing loss to the Green Bay Packers on a primetime stage. Only no one could’ve known that loss was a foreshadowing of what was to come for the Bears in a season that was once ripe with Super Bowl expectations.

The Bears secured their early offseason with a loss last week against the Packers, which shortly after led to their elimination from playoff contention. And yet, there was still plenty to play for. Pride. Jobs. Contract extensions.

But the Bears looked like a group uninspired as they faced off against one of the best teams in the league in the Chiefs — a squad that Bears fans could only dream of their team becoming.

While the Bears offense put on another embarrassing clinic on how not to play football — including abysmal play from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky right down to the offensive line and to play caller Matt Nagy — in a sad way, it was expected. After all, that’s what this offense has shown they are all season.

But it was the defense’s sloppy play that was frustrating. While no one expected them to stop Patrick Mahomes, they certainly helped him with their self-inflicted mistakes, including costly penalties that kept drives alive and allowed Mahomes to do his thing.

“It was definitely sloppy,” Mack said. “There were a lot of things we gave them, especially up front, rushing wise, on the touchdown scramble and a couple third downs he was able to extend the play a little bit. Ultimately, it’s not the type of ball we want to play.”

The Bears still have one game remaining this season before they head into an offseason with plenty of questions to be answered. One of this questions: What type of ball do they want to play?

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Bears’ offensive woes run deeper than QB Mitchell Trubisky

The Bears offense hasn’t accomplished anything this season. Those problems go far beyond QB Mitchell Trubisky.

When the Chicago Bears dropped a 10-3 season-opening loss to the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field back on Sept. 5, it was disappointing. But it wasn’t something that many believed would define the unit throughout the entire season.

But as the Bears left their Week 16 home finale the same way — held to a measly field goal in a 26-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — it was a reminder that the Bears offense didn’t accomplish anything in 2019.

Sunday night’s abysmal outing was a reminder that the Bears have a lot of work to do this offseason before Chicago’s great defense is wasted.

“It’s disappointing,” Mitchell Trubisky said. “Scoring three points — you’re not going to win any games like that. We have to put more points on the board. We’ve got the guys to do it. We’ve just got to find the reason why it’s not happening right now.”

As Trubisky faced off against the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs, it was a reminder that the Bears took the wrong quarterback, although it didn’t take this game to come to that conclusion.

After six solid performances, including two impressive outings that showed the quarterback he could become, Trubisky reverted back to his early-season self — an inconsistent quarterback surrounded by questions.

While Trubisky was certainly part of the problem, Sunday’s game was a reminder that he isn’t the only problem. Yes, Trubisky overthrew a wide-open Allen Robinson on what would’ve been a touchdown down 10-0 in the second quarter. Yes, Trubisky took a sack trying to scramble and make something out of nothing on third down in the first quarter.

While many people will point to those two reasons as examples of Trubisky’s struggles, they’ll also fail to mention that once again Matt Nagy’s playcalling was suspect. While Andy Reid was scheming his players wide open, Nagy failed to do that, outside of Trubisky’s deep miss to Robinson.

They’ll also fail to mention the shoddy pass protection from the offensive line, who replaced right guard Rashaad Coward with Ted Larsen in the middle of the game because he was just that bad. They’ll fail to mention that when Trubisky was putting the ball where it should’ve been that receivers were once again dropping passes.

It was a embarrassing effort all around — one that summed up an entire season of disappointment.

“That’s the biggest emotion I feel right now — disappointed, knowing that we’re a better team than we showed tonight,” said running back Tarik Cohen. “They have a hard defense, but I feel like most of it came down to our execution. It wasn’t there today.”

That’s been the story of this entire season for the Bears offense — lack of execution. While the Bears certainly don’t have all of the pieces in place — just look at Kansas City’s offense — they had enough talent on offense to be better than they’ve been for the majority of this season.

With one game remaining this season, the Bears will head into the offseason tasked with fixing this offense so that this can be a team that can compete in 2020. And it’s more than just Trubisky. It would be easier if it was just him. But Chicago’s offensive woes run deeper than their inconsistent quarterback.

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5 takeaways from Bears’ primetime loss to the Chiefs

The Bears were embarrassed in all facets of the game by the Chiefs on Sunday night. But there are five things that really stand out.

The final game at Soldier Field for the 2019 season was a lot like the first back in September. The offense only put up three points, penalty flags rained all over the field and the fans showered the team with boos throughout the whole game as the Chicago Bears lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-3, dropping them to 7-8 with one final game to go in arguably the most disappointing season this decade.

The Chiefs were able to stifle the Bears offense and the defense was able to slow down quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but they couldn’t stop him. Here are my takeaways from Sunday night’s embarrassing loss.

1. The entire offense was abysmal

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Chicago Bears offense didn’t exactly set the field on fire. For the third time this season, the Bears were held to single digits on the scoreboard. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky missed throws, his receivers dropped his passes when they were on target and the playcalling was suspect once again.

It’s the 10th time this season the offense has failed to score a touchdown in the first half, as well as being held to under 300 yards for the entire game. Everyone is to blame for the lack of production, but one player still looms large…

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Studs and duds from Bears’ Week 16 loss to Chiefs

The Chicago Bears didn’t have anything at stake in Week 16, but their 26-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs still left Bears fans with just as terrible of a feeling as the first seven losses. Almost nothing seemed to go right for Chicago, with an …

The Chicago Bears didn’t have anything at stake in Week 16, but their 26-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs still left Bears fans with just as terrible of a feeling as the first seven losses.

Almost nothing seemed to go right for Chicago, with an offense failing to consistently move the ball down field and a defense overmatched against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

It continued a season-long pattern of ineffective quarterback play, questionable play-calling and a cast of receivers failing to play up to their talent level.

Chuck Pagano’s unit could only keep up for so long before the Chiefs’ multitude of weapons left the Bears a few steps behind, and the national audience saw just how far behind Chicago is from true contention.

Here are the studs and duds from the Sunday night matchup.

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Instant analysis of Bears’ embarrassing 26-3 loss to Chiefs

It’s hard to believe the Bears team that dropped a 26-3 loss to the Chiefs in Week 16 were once believed to be Super Bowl contenders.

As the Chicago Bears faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs, they were facing the very team that they could only dream of becoming. They were facing a team with legitimate Super Bowl potential while they were merely pretenders this season.

Matt Nagy is no Andy Reid. Mitchell Trubisky is certainly no Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs’ offensive weapons are far superior to what the Bears have on offense. And the Bears defense, while battling injuries, couldn’t hang with a legitimate NFL offense.

The Bears lost in embarrassing fashion to the Chiefs in their home finale, where they couldn’t even muster a touchdown in a 26-3 loss that seemed to sum up a disappointing season.

There was a numbing feeling about the loss. It’s hard to believe that this Bears team that dropped an embarrassing loss to the Chiefs is the same team that was once believed to be Super Bowl contenders back in Week 1. Where a season that was once bright with Super Bowl expectations was nothing more than a unachievable goal that was long out of reach before this disappointing affair.

While the Trubisky vs. Mahomes narrative sounded loud and clear through NBC’s telecast, it soon became more about the Bears’ overall struggles as a whole. The problems on this team — the problems on this offense — they extend far beyond Trubisky, who had his worst performance in the last month and a half — a performance that will linger well into the offseason, even with one game remaining.

Trubisky completed 18-of-34 passes for 157 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He added six carries for 20 yards early in the first quarter, but that would be the extent of his success in a game that you figure held significant meaning to him.

The Bears offense ended their home finale just as they started the season: Scoring a mere three points and held without a touchdown. The offensive output was embarrassing all around — quarterback play, play calling, dropped passes, pass protection.

While the Bears defense was one of the lone saving graces of this season, they were part of the problem Sunday night against the Chiefs. While they were missing several starters on defense — including Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan and even Eddie Goldman, who left the game early on with a concussion — the Bears defense had no answer for the Chiefs offense.

Nagy was out-coached in every facet of the game, and his mentor Reid embarrassed him on a national stage.

While there’s still one game left this season — a road game against a playoff-bound Minnesota Vikings team — this offseason is going to be an important one in terms of self reflection and decision making about the future of this team.

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Bears CB Kevin Toliver auditioning for starting role in 2020

With Bears CB Prince Amukamara’s future in question, second-year CB Kevin Toliver is playing for chance at a starting job in 2020.

With the Chicago Bears eliminated from playoff contention, these final two games will serve as a stepping stone for the 2020 season. This means some meaningful playing time for some of the younger players that are perhaps playing for some starting jobs next season.

One of those players is second-year cornerback Kevin Toliver, who has relieved an injured Prince Amukamara, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury suffered against the Detroit Lions in Week 13.

With Amukamara questionable for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs — and his future with Chicago also questionable, considering he’d be a $10 million cap hit next season and only cost $1 million in dead money — Toliver recognizes the opportunity in front of him in these final two games.

‘‘I feel like every day is an audition,’’ Toliver said. ‘‘It’s a day-to-day business, so you’ve got to come to work every day with the same mindset — the dog mindset. That’s all I come in here with, just to get 2 percent better every day.’’

Toliver has seen that progress from himself this season. After getting his second career start against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14, Toliver split snaps with Amukamara last week against the Green Bay Packers. Toliver played 31 snaps compared to Amukamara’s 28. The on-field experience has definitely helped the former LSU product.

‘‘I just have more confidence on the field now,’’ Toliver said. ‘‘Last year I was a little timid. I wasn’t sure if they were going to do that or the other team was going to do this. The game’s starting to slow down for me. I can see the whole field now. I just feel way more comfortable out there.’’

Bears coach Matt Nagy sees the benefit of Toliver getting additional reps, but he prefers to worry about next season, well, next season.

‘‘It’s good for both [players],’’ Nagy said. ‘‘For a guy like Kevin Toliver, getting some reps is good for him. It’s a great opportunity for him. So we’ll just balance that with where Prince is at, where Kevin’s at and then just see where it’s at for all of us.’’

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Matt Nagy will be keeping close eye on Mitchell Trubisky’s decision-making

For Bears coach Matt Nagy, he’ll be focused on one specific element of QB Mitch Trubisky’s play in these final two games: Decision-making.

While the Chicago Bears are eliminated from playoff contention, there is still plenty left to play for heading into 2020. Perhaps none more important than the questions surrounding Mitchell Trubisky’s future as the Bears’ starting quarterback.

For Bears coach Matt Nagy, he’ll be focused on one specific element of Trubisky’s play in these final two games.

“The biggest thing with me at the quarterback position is real simple—it comes down to decision-making,” Nagy said. “A lot of guys have talent. But I think the one [thing] that separates people is through decision-making.

“So, the next couple games, just keeping an eye on how his decision-making continues to grow, puts us in good spots. And then if there’s a play that’s not perfect, how do we keep it from being a bad play? He’s been growing with that, and I think that’s the key these next two games.”

Trubisky’s early-season struggles have been highlighted this year, and his decision-making has been part of that. But he’s string together solid performances over these last six games. Trubisky accounted for five touchdowns in his first seven games. Since then, he’s produced 14 TDs (12 passing, two rushing) in this last six games.

“The first half of the season, it wasn’t that there was bad decision-making throughout,” Nagy said. “There was a lot of things that went into the struggles with the offense. But there were some times that Mitch would tell you and that I would tell you that all collectively together that there might be a play that he wishes he had back.

“Some of it is don’t make a bad play worse, or just don’t force this throw or that throw, or sometimes it’s on a run play. It might be a certain kill package that we have when you’re not supposed to kill it. But he’s been doing a really good job at limiting that. It’s hard to be perfect.

“There’s a lot of decisions, a lot of things that go into playing quarterback. Calling plays, getting in and out of the huddle, seeing what the defense is in. The easiest part of playing quarterback is actually making the throw. There’s a lot of stuff that goes before that. So that’s what we’re trying to continue to see him grow in.”

Trubisky has two more games this season to make positive progress heading into a crucial 2020 season. With his future in question, he still has plenty to prove.

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Week 16 NFL picks: Who are the experts picking in Bears vs. Chiefs?

Do the Bears stand a chance against the Chiefs on Sunday night? See what the experts had to say in their Week 16 picks.

With the Chicago Bears (7-7) officially eliminated from playoff contention, there’s nothing left of significance for them to play for. So it becomes about building for 2020 as they prepare to face the Kansas City Chiefs (10-4).

There will be no shortage of storylines this week as Mitchell Trubisky will face off against Patrick Mahomes, the MVP quarterback taken after him in the 2017 NFL Draft. Then there’s Matt Nagy squaring off against his mentor Andy Reid. But there’s one significant difference between the Bears and Chiefs: One is headed to the postseason and the other is sent into early hibernation.

Still, the Bears have played well in the last month to have a chance against the high-powered Chiefs. But apparently the experts don’t feel the same. They’re not giving the Bears a chance in this game as 100 percent of experts polled believe the Chiefs will beat the Bears, according to NFL Pick Watch.

Can the Bears prove those experts wrong and pull the upset over the Chiefs? Will Trubisky get the best of Mahomes, at least in this game? Will the student outsmart the teacher? Can the Bears find something to build on for 2020?

We’ll see Sunday when the Bears and Chiefs kick things off at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.

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