Bears Hiccup

December 4, 2018

In what was their worst performance of the season, the Bears lost to the lowly New York Giants 30-27. The Bears did make a furious comeback, scoring 10 points in the last two minutes to tie the game, forcing overtime. It shouldn’t have been that close.  Suffice it to say, this was a bad loss. Chicago could have put a stranglehold on the division as the Minnesota Vikings lost 24-10 to the New England Patriots. The Bears hope they can maintain their 1 1/2-game lead. They don’t want to play the last regular-schedule game of the season against Minnesota with the division championship on the line.

The game started out poorly. Taquan Mizzell subbing for the injured Benny Cunningham fumbled the kickoff.  The Bears started out at their 15-yard line, and on the second play of the game Giants linebacker Alec Ogletree picked off Chase Daniel’s pass and returned it for a touchdown. This and other plays later showed why Daniel has hardly played since coming out of college in 2009.

The Bears tied the game mostly using running back Jordan Howard on a scoring drive capped by a nifty two-yard pass to tight end Adam Shaheen. A Kyle Fuller interception gave the Bears good field position. However, Chase Daniel was intercepted again by Ogletree. The defense kept getting the ball back. Once again Jordan Howard gained chunks of yardage and an acrobatic catch by wide receiver Allen Robinson set the Bears up at the one-yard line. On a fourth down defensive lineman Aikeem Hicks powered into the end zone and the Bears led 14-7.

Coach Matt Nagy has been getting accolades for the Bears’ 8-4 start. If it were not for the defense, the Bears would be 4-8. The offensive genius can’t find a way to score in most second halves. He has made a really good running back, Jordan Howard, a non-factor. In the first half, Howard had 68 yards on 13 carries. The rest of the game, Howard got only three more touches. Nagy said the run wasn’t working. How does he know? On the other side, the Giants’ Saquon Barkley kept getting the ball and eventually produced big gains. Many running backs get better as the game goes on. Howard didn’t get the ball even in short-yardage situations. Nagy seems to have clueless moments, especially underscored in his calling a timeout with 17 seconds left in the half. The Giants were content to run the clock out.  Instead they got another play and Barkley gained 22 yards.  A 9-yard completion to the sideline set up Giants’ kicker Aldrick Rosas for a 57-yard field goal. The Giants are back in the game. Nagy’s  initial explanation is a doozy. Maybe we go after them with a punt-block team. Huh?  What about the six previous punts? Seeing as the Bears haven’t blocked a punt this year, maybe Nagy should change the personnel  on his punt-block team.

The defense was playing well, giving up only the three silly points in the first half. But two major gaffes contributed the 12. to the loss.  On a trick play, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. took a handoff and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to wide-open fellow receiver Russell Shepard.  The Bears said there was some miscommunication on this play. You would think that might be cleaned up after 11 games. Later, after three goal-line stops, Beckham gets wide open in the corner of the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Cody Parkey kicked a field goal slicing the lead to 24-17. After a Bear hold, a Giants pun t pinned the Bears at their one yard line. Nagy came out passing. Wide Receiver Taylor Gabriel fumbled at the 12 yard line. The Bear defense came up big holding the Giants to a field goal for a 27-17 lead.

After being dormant for the entire second half  the Bears turned to running back Tarik Cohen. With less than two minutes remaining he got open for a long gain deep in Giants territory. The offense stalls at the 5-yard line and Parkey kicked  a field goal. The Bears need a touchdown to tie and lo and behold they recover an onside kick. After another long pass to Cohen and an interference penalty against New York in the end zone puts the Bears at the 1-yard line with three seconds left If Nagy does one thing good, it is the playing calling at the goal line. Hand off to tight end Trey Burton , flip back to Cohen , touchdown to wide receiver Anthony Miller.

It was exciting but there are no moral victories. Slice it any way you want: it was an excruciating loss. After two interceptions and four Chase Daniel fumbles, the Bears need quarterback Mitch Trubisky back.  They now face possibly the best team, the Los Angeles Rams. I’ll be watching Monday’s game to see if the Seattle Seahawks can help by beating the Vikings.