Bear Digest

Fans Chant 'Fire Flus' in Miserable 19-3 Bears Loss to Patriots

Bears coach Matt Eberflus suggests they'll consider changing play callers after 142 yards of offense in their third straight defeat.

Gene Chamberlain

Ja'Lynn Polk gets open for the game's only touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Drake Maye in a 19-3 Patriots win over the Bears.
Ja'Lynn Polk gets open for the game's only touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Drake Maye in a 19-3 Patriots win over the Bears. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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The Bears flatlined.

No one could have expected it at Soldier Field against one of the league's worst teams but after Sunday's abysmal 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots, the Bears can probably be fitted for the NFL equivalent of toe tags.

Now 4-5 and playing without a hint of offense, they got Caleb Williams sacked nine times gained only 142 yards of offense and even had coach Matt Eberflus saying they'll have to consider everything including changing play callers away from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

"We'll look at everything," Eberflus said. "Like I said you've got to go down to it and look at everything. I think that's an important part of it. We need a spark in there.

"We need to be able to move the ball in the scoring zone to be able to score when we get there. That's just really it."

The defense and special teams both set the Bears offense up with great opportunities early to get the lead and nothing happened beyond a 33-yard Cairo Santos field goal in the second quarter to tie the score 3-3.

Caleb Williams went 16 for 30 with 120 passing yards and lost 51 yards on the nine sacks. They had four three-and-outs and no one had more than Keenan Allen's 44 yards receiving and five catches.

About the only thing the offense got accomplished was 59 yards rushing from D'Andre Swift but they couldn't break big plays and eventually the mediocre Patriots and rookie QB Drake Maye scored enough points to make it an easy win.

Predictably, the chant "Fire Flus" began in the second half.

"I know it's part of the job," Eberflus aid. "It's part of it but you've got to stand strong. You've got to be the same leader that you've always been and make the necessary adjustments that you need to make.

"You know, be strong and courageous throughout it all, look each other in the eye, tell each other the truth and that's how I do it."

If it had been one game, it would be easily discounted and they could move on or at least work optimistically toward a better outcome. Instead, with three straight defeats and two without a touchdown scored, it seems to be snowballing toward a cliff.

"Lose three straight it definitely snowballs," safety Kevin Byard said. "It's not a great feeling. It's something we didn't plan to do. It's not something we expect, but the situation we're in. We've got to find a way out of it."

T.J. Edwards got the ball for the Bears offense early in the second quarter with an interception of Maye at the Bears 48 to set up a potential score, but the offense went out in three plays. The very first Bears possession started at the New England 47 after DeAndre Coleman's 38-yard punt return and they went three plays and punted.

They went 1 of 14 on third downs and managed 142 yards of offense.

Considering how shocking their loss to Washington had been on a Hail Mary three games ago, then how revolting a 29-9 loss to Arizona looked, this might have been the most stunning of all considering those losses and the offe came on the road.

"I wouldn't say stunning," tight end Cole Kmet said. "It was just when it going a certain way it was just hard to kind of get out of the way of the funk of it a little bit. Even when we were moving the ball it didn't really get flowing how it should have at times.

"Yeah we've really just been in a funk the past three weeks and we've got to find a way out of it."

The Bears defense did what they could. They the Patriots to seven possessions of five plays or less, limited Maye to 15 of 25 and 184 yards, but he did get the ball to Ja'Lynn Polk on a 2-yard play-action TD pass in the second quarter and then the Bears went out so fast on offense it gave the Patriots time to drive for another Slye field goal of 37 yards on the last play of the first half. He also made 30, 25 and 33-yard field goals.

Now they can ponder whether the offense can be helped by a new play caller. Passing game coordinator Thomas Brown called plays for Carolina last year.

"I mean, they're not going to reinvent the wheel in a sense, you know?" Williams said. "We're midseason and that's not a decision for me. I have to deal with whatever coach says, I have to deal with whatever decision he makes and I have to be fine with it.

"Will I be able to adapt? Yes I will. We will be able to adapt whatever decision he makes and from there we have to go out there and execute and win games."

They haven't done this for three straight games, and now the real fun starts with six games against powerful NFC North teams, the 49ers and the Seahawks.

"I don't really concern myself with strength of schedule or nothing like that," Byard said. "We play the next team on our schedule. We've got a division game coming up net week that we have to win."

That would be Green Bay. They haven't beaten the Packers for 10 straight games.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.