4 Takeaways From Bears’ Loss to Lions: Different Day, Same Result for Chicago

Halas Hall, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears

Let’s just get into it.

With a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, the Chicago Bears have dropped six straight games. Their last three have come by a total margin of 7 points. They overcame a 16-0 deficit at halftime to threaten on their final drive of the game.

But a sack that took them out of field goal range. That was followed by poor clock management, leading to a harmless airball from Caleb Williams to end the game.

Afterward, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said they handled the situation accordingly.

Bears-Lions Takeaways: Different Day, Same Result as Chicago’s Skid Continues

Matt Eberflus, Bears Players Not on Same Page Over Timeout Decision

Former players and current media lit into the Bears’ head coach to the extent that many called for his firing. This is a good time to remind everyone that the Bears have never fired a head coach during the season, let alone on Thanksgiving.

But the tone from the outside matched the dismay from the inside at the decision not to call a timeout before the final play to set up something amid the confusion.

Cole Kmet, often a bridge messenger between the coaching staff and players, spoke candidly.

DJ Moore and Keenan Allen were also unsure why they did not take a timeout. Williams said he got the final play with 20 seconds to go. He was sacked with 32 seconds on the clock. The rookie changed to play because what they had on would have left them without any time.

He remembered that he did have the timeout during the answer to another question. But that was only after saying they did not while describing the confusion.

Rinse and repeat.

This has become par for the course for the Bears who are the first team in 70 years to boast a positive point differential with just four wins or fewer through 12 weeks, per Marquee Sports Network.

Jaquan Brisker, who is on injured reserve for at least one more week, fired off several tweets in disbelief.

DeMarcus Walker posted the “triumphant” emoji, though most likely signaling his frustration.

Injuries Underscore Bears OL Concerns

It was a costly game in terms of record and personnel. Starting right tackle Darnell Wright suffered a knee injury and had to be carted into the locker room after trying to work through the issue on the sideline.

Starting center Coleman Shelton, who had logged every snap coming, was also lost, forcing Doug Kramer into the lineup.

The Bears ran a fake reverse out of shotgun on Kramer’s first snap this season which the Lions sniffed out.

On the game’s penultimate play, the Bears called a QB draw in which Williams was taken down, saying afterward he believed Wright’s replacement, Larry Borom, missed the call to start the play.

No updates were given on Wright’s status postgame. All of the questions were geared toward end-of-game management and Eberflus’ thoughts on his job security.

There is an even bigger issue at play here, though.

The number of times Caleb Williams has been sacked, let alone hit, this season should be unacceptable for former OL, now GM, Ryan Poles. Bears QBs were sacked 152 times since the start of the 2022 season – Poles and Eberflus’ first season – entering Week 13, per Stathead.

That is the third-most in the league during that span behind only the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans.

The Lions got to Williams for 5 sacks and 10 total quarterback hits.

Wright is the sole first-round pick on an offensive line that is the fifth-most expensive unit on the Bears’ revamped roster behind (in order) the defensive line, wide receiver, linebacker, and secondary.

Former Packer Trolls Matt Eberflus, Bears Over Loss to Lions

Many Bears fans are familiar with former Packers tight end Tom Crabtree from his fake field goal touchdown catch in a win against Chicago during the 2012 season.

He had a tongue-in-cheek suggestion for the Bears brass about Eberflus’ job security after the Lions’ win.

His fellow former Packer, QB Kurt Benkert, took the coaching staff to task for not calling the final timeout after Williams took the “sack,” going so far as to share an image of a play card with the exact scenario the Bears faced on it calling for a timeout.

Eberflus “remains under evaluation,” per the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser,

Penei Sewell Turns Jack Sanborn Into Art

In one of the early signs of what the Lions thought of the Bears, they ran an end around to Lions starting right tackle Penei Sewell, brother of Bears linebacker Noah Sewell. The Lions Sewell even pulled up as if he were looking to pass on the play.

Unfortunately for Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn, Sewell thwarted his tackle attempt, turning the Lake Zurich, Illinois native into a recreation of Peter Paul Rubens’ “David Slaying the Bear.”

The play itself did not work, with Sanborn and rookie Austin Booker combining for a sack.