Five critical moments that sank the Bears' season

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The Bears' season is over. Yes, they technically have two games left on the schedule, but it’s over. You can go ahead and close that FiveThirtyEight tab, you won’t be needing it anymore. Their playoff hopes officially died when the Vikings beat the Chargers late Sunday afternoon, but for all intents and purposes the Bears were DOA when they managed to score only 13 points in their biggest game of the season.

Now, with two weeks before the regular season ends, everyone has more time to play armchair GM and fire up their most retweetable take. What do the ‘85 Bears think?! Someone get Jeff Garlin on the RESTORE Fresh Buzz hotline! 

The thing is, it’s not actually all that complicated. The 2019 Bears didn’t make the playoffs because they’re not a good enough football team, and because they don’t play in the NFC East. They’re quite literally the epitome of league average, the product of a very good defense continually bailing out a very … not good offense. This shouldn’t be surprising, either. Last season was an incredible, wild ride that was ultimately just as unsustainable as it was fun to watch. This is what regression looks like.

So why did they regress? Where did this all go wrong? Let us count the ways: 

1. Training Camp/Preseason
It really does go back that far. The two weeks in Bourbonnais were a circus, which is not unique to the Bears but universally unhelpful. Tarik Cohen literally used the word dynasty on the first day that players reported. Gov. JB Priztker showed up. The Bears' offense looked terrible from the get-go, and everyone ignored that because obviously Clifton Duck and John Franklin III were just training camp fodder. Coaches openly talked about how, in year three, they were still trying to figure out which throws Mitch Trubisky could and could not make. Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen were never healthy. The warning signs were all there, clear as the Bourbonnais water tower, and they were all ignored because The Bears Were Going To The Super Bowl. 

The Quote: “I'm doing what I love playing football and I get the opportunity to come out here with my guys and make a dynasty.” – Tarik Cohen 

2. September 29th 
It was the fourth week of the season, and the Bears were 2-1. They laid an egg against the Packers, but rebounded by walking off the Broncos in Denver (The Bears’ kickers concerns are over!!) and walking over the Redskins in D.C. (The Bears’ quarterback concerns are over!!). The Vikings were in town for a critical divisional game, and dropping two home games against NFC North in the first month would have elicited a level of Chicago hysteria typically reserved for when someone says Javy Baez isn’t the best shortstop in baseball. The Bears won, 16-6, but that was hardly the story. Akiem Hicks didn’t play, nor did Bobby Massie due to injuries. Hours before the game, Roquan Smith was declared a healthy scratch for personal reasons, a one-game absence that ended up stunting his next four-to-five weeks. This was all BEFORE Mitch Trubisky exited midway through the Bears’ best drive of the game with a shoulder injury. A win’s a win, but that week was the first real moment when it dawned on everyone just how much injury luck the Bears had during their 12-win season, and just how unlikely it was to happen again. 

The Quote: “I’m going to leave it as a completely personal matter. I’m just going to leave it at that. It’s personal and I’m just leaving it at that.” – Matt Nagy on Roquan Smith

3. October 20th
The Saints game. A 35-26 loss that was not NEARLY that close. Seven rush attempts. It was the week that Matt Nagy returned from his Bears Honeymoon and had to wait 20 minutes for an Uber pickup at O’Hare in 35-degree rain. It was far and away the team’s most embarrassing performance of the season, and that includes failing to score a touchdown on a nationally televised game celebrating the NFL’s 100th birthday. The Bears got exposed by Teddy Bridgewater, an admittedly very good backup quarterback, running an offense that didn’t have Alvin Kamara. It would be the second of three times in a four-week span that the defense allowed more than 100 yards rushing. This was Week 7. In 2018, the Bears didn’t allow their third 100-yard performance until Week 12. It was hard to tell who looked more overwhelmed: Nagy or the defense. 

The Quote: "I know we need to run the ball more. I’m not an idiot," – Matt Nagy 

4. October 27th
The following week! The Chargers are not a good football team this year, yet the Bears couldn’t outscore a Los Angeles team that put up 17 points. Trubisky threw for 195 yards, and the Bears set a season-low in rushing yards (36). It ended with Eddy Pineiro’s missed 41-yard field goal as time expired (his fifth attempt on the day, which tells you how the offense was playing). It was also the start of The Great Hashmark Debate, where Pineiro let it slip that he wasn’t thrilled about trying the kick from the left hashmark. He would have preferred the middle of the field, which technically would have been possible since the Bears took a knee on the play before. Nagy didn’t know that, however, because he didn’t ask. The loss would drop them to 3-4, and they wouldn’t get back over .500 for another six weeks. They also wore those orange uniforms, which should be dropped into the bottom of Lake Michigan. 

The Quote: “Um, no, I didn’t, but it is what it is.” – Eddy Pineiro when asked if he wanted the ball on the left hash

5. November 17th 
The Hip Game. Mitch Trubisky struggles against a Rams team that is also not good this year, and a late-game hip pointer gives Matt Nagy enough room to pull the trigger on Chase Daniel. Not only did the Bears’ coach apparently have a momentary loss of trust in his quarterback, but the Rams loss also was a low point in Pineiro’s season. The kicker missed two field goals – from 47 and 48 yards – and in the process lost the trust of his head coach. It’s been a month since that loss, and Pineiro has yet to attempt a kick over 39 yards since. It was also the second loss to another NFC team that was In The Hunt, again making their late-season climb back to relevance even more challenging. 

The Quote: “That’s when I became aware of it and kept an eye on him for about a series and a half. Even before [the Rams] scored the touchdown to go up 10, we had already made the decision that we were going to go with Chase.” – Matt Nagy

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