Justin Fields had a career day throwing the football this past Sunday. Fields accounted for 335 passing yards and four touchdowns with a 132.7 passer rating. All three of those stats were new career highs for Fields. He also set a new Bears record with 16 straight completions. DJ Moore amassed 131 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions. Cole Kmet had his best game of the year, accumulating 85 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Darnell Mooney joined in on the fun with 51 receiving yards. Khalil Herbert had 103 rushing yards and a receiving touchdown. With all the offensive production the Bears put up, would that lead to victory?
Nope. The Bears fell to 0-4 after a gut-wrenching 31-28 loss to the Denver Broncos. Chicago led by 14 points at halftime and 21 points with a little over four minutes left in the third quarter. The coaching staff of the Chicago Bears failed once again.
After opening the game with a punt, the Bears’ offense scored a touchdown on three straight possessions. On the Bears’ last possession of the first half, Matt Eberflus’ lack of clock management skills was on display. The Bears started with the ball on their own 16-yard line with two minutes and 29 seconds left in the second quarter. After a false start by Larry Borom, Fields found Moore open on the right sideline for a gain of 24 yards. Despite having all three timeouts, Eberflus let the clock run down until calling a run play with two minutes and two seconds left in the second quarter, and called a run play for Roschon Johnson, resulting in a one-yard gain. After the two-minute warning, Fields found Kmet for an 11-yard gain. With one minute and 51 seconds left in the second quarter and the clock running, Eberflus still refused to call a timeout. The Bears then wasted 26 seconds before snapping the ball again. On the next play, Broncos edge rusher Jonathon Cooper ran around Borom for a sack. The Bears then wasted 21 seconds before snapping the ball again. The next play was a two-yard pass to Roschon Johnson, who smartly stepped out of bounds. Next, Fields found Robert Tonyan wide-open for a nine-yard gain. After Tonyan’s catch, the Bears had the ball at Denver’s 48-yard line with 46 seconds left in the second quarter. It was now fourth and five, and Chicago had all three timeouts available. Instead, Eberflus let the clock run all the way down until only six seconds remained in the first half. Before Fields snapped the ball, Lucas Patrick was called for a false start. Because of the penalty, Eberflus was forced to call a timeout to avoid a ten-second runoff. On fourth and ten, the Bears tried a Hail Mary attempt that multiple members of the Broncos’ secondary batted down. If Eberlus had used his timeouts correctly, the Bears might’ve converted on fourth down and five with 46 seconds until halftime. That possession could have resulted in a field goal or a touchdown, which would’ve been helpful at the end of the game. Fields finished the first half, completing 16 of his 17 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns.
The second half of the game started amazingly. The Broncos punted on the first drive of the third quarter. Fields then led the offense on a 15 play, 66-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. On that drive, Fields completed all seven of his passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. On the Bears’ first six possessions, Fields completed 23 of his 24 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns.
The last four Bears’ possessions were a different story. On the last four possessions of the game, Fields completed 5 of his 11 passes for 50 yards and two turnovers. Those four drives resulted in a punt, a fumble by Fields and a touchdown for the Broncos’ defense, a turnover on downs, and an interception to end the game.
The biggest blunder by the Bears wasn’t Fields’s fumble or interception. It was Eberflus’s decision to go for it on fourth and one. The Bears had the ball on the Broncos’ 18-yard line, and instead of kicking a 35-yard field goal, they went for it on fourth down and miserably failed. Bears fans still don’t understand Eberflus’s refusal to kick the field goal. After all, Bears’ place kicker Cairo Santos, has made 81 of his 89 field goals since rejoining the Bears in 2020. Santos has made all 22 field goals between 30 and 39 yards.
In summary, the Bears had a 21-point lead, let the Broncos tie the game at 28 points apiece, failed to convert a fourth down when they should have kicked a field goal and choked away what should have been their first win of the season. The Bears have lost 14 straight games. Fields finally put up the performance Bears fans have been waiting for since he was drafted in 2021. He displayed the accuracy of Drew Brees and the improvisation of Patrick Mahomes. Fields played the best game of his NFL career, but the Bears lost, and Matt Eberflus is to blame.
