Second-Half Collapse Typical for Bears

The inability to find consistency has plagued the Bears under Matt Nagy and it rose up again in this 45-30 loss to Green Bay.

Bears coach Matt Nagy seemed exasperated, almost choking to fight back emotion when he began his talk about the 45-30 loss to Green Bay on Sunday night.

It's understandable because it's possible the game represented his one chance to get the team's course turned this year in time to possibly save his job.

"I think for us to be able to come out that first two quarters and and do what we did that's, that was fun," Nagy said. "That's good football. The guys played energized. They they came out and played really good football all three phases complementary and I think they got to see what they can be."

The Bears had so much momentum in the first half, especially on offense, it was easy to see why Nagy thought it was fun. They had yards after the catch, big plays and answered Green Bay's run with a scoring burst of their own.

They played much the way Kansas City did when Nagy was under coach Andy Reid. They played the wide-open, free style of football he has always wanted to see from them in Chicago.

Ultimately, they had the Nagy stamp on them, though, and that is when things have been going good for the Bears they are going very good. When they are going bad, it degenerates into a mess.

This is how they had losing streaks of four and six games wreck the 2019 and 2021 seasons and a five-game skid nearly destroy a 5-1 start in 2020.

Here are grades for the Bears' 45-30 loss to Green Bay on a night when Aaron Rodgers owned them only for a half.

Running Game: D

The yardage total looks very impressive with 23 attempts for 137 yards. The problem is nine rushes for 74 yards came from Justin Fields and the Bears weren't giving him many planned runs when he had broken ribs. He was getting those on scrambles, which really isn't a part of the running game. David Montgomery had 20 of his 42 yards on one carry and then 22 yards on the other nine attempts. The running game vanished when left tackle Jason Peters left the game with an ankle injury. The running attack was their control factor in this game, as it is in most games. It helped their defense and kept the Packers off balance. Without it, the game took a 180-degree turn.

Passing Game: C+

On the 55-yard Rasul Douglas pick-6, quarterback Justin Fields cited the cornerback's ability to gamble successfully and jump the pass route but he needs to be honest with himself when he watches the game film. An NFL quarterback can't float or direct a pass to toward the sidelines and that ball floated. It has to be thrown on a line, and Fields has had this tendency even in training camp to do this with his passes toward the sideline. The next coaching staff will apparently need to remove this tendency. Fields showed great resiliency with the touchdown pass of 54 yards to Damiere Byrd and that one was thrown exactly as it had to be considering it was put into the teeth of coverage to a slanting receiver. His 18 of 33 night with two interceptions is not good enough because of the turnovers again. The lost fumble on Preston Smith's strip sack is part of this. People will look at the Bears defense and say they collapsed, and it's true enough. But the offense also did once Peters left and Teven Jenkins played. Jenkins obviously isn't ready for this after back surgery, rehab and missing the full season until now as he had no preseason or prep for NFL level play or speed beyond practice, which doesn't really include full contact. Two holding penalties and a strip sack occurred once he was in the game. When Peters left, the pass blocking became a matter of hope and prayer—hoping they held up and praying for Fields' safety. Two catches for Allen Robinson and one for Darnell Mooney is a reflection on Fields not playing in time or trusting the receivers.

Run Defense: D-

The turning point here came Saturday when the Bears announced Akiem Hicks wouldn't play after it appeared he was ready after an ankle injury. The only thing stopping the Packers on the ground was their own passing attack. And when Roquan Smith aggravated his hamstring injury there was no run defense. The Packers pretty much accomplished whatever they wanted running it at 5.0 yards a carry for the game. The Packers offensive line was completely changed around due to injury during the game and they still pushed back Bilal Nichols, Eddie Goldman and Angelo Blackson. Green Bay had just 24 attempts for 119 yards but if the Packers had run it 40 times the result probably would have been 200-plus yards against the Bears, who own of the league's worst run defenses.

Pass Defense: D

The only thing keeping the Bears from a failed grade was the pass rush of Robert Quinn, who now has 14 sacks after adding two. Quinn couldn't make up for the inability of Xavier Crawford to cover anyone before he left with a concussion. Jaylon Johnson had his hands full trying to match up all over the field with Davante Adams. He is the first to admit he needs work in slot coverage when an opposing receiver is in this area. Adams' 10 catches for 121 yards and two TDs says how Johnson handled it. The six catches given up to Allen Lazard for 75 yards were devastating because Adams figures to get his catches but Lazard? The Bears' secondary is in tatters at this point with injuries now to Duke Shelley and Crawford, who play the slot, and with Artie Burns struggling on the left side.

Special Teams: A+

The Bears totally embarrassed Green Bay's struggling kick and punt coverage units, with Jakeem Grant breaking a 97-yard team-record punt return TD and Khalil Herbert making kick returns of 42 and 34 yards. It went beyond this, though. The Packers botched a kick return to pin themselves down at their own 5, the Bears recovered an onside kick and also recovered a muff punt that was taken away from them on an obvious officiating mistake. The Packers have to be concerned they are going to lose a playoff game due solely to special teams, with almost all aspects of theirs being absolutely atrocious. But that's their problem.

Coaching: C-

Bill Lazor's play designs against specific Green Bay looks in the first half had the Packers defense stunned. Big plays ensued. The turning point came when they could no longer block the passes or the runs after the problem at left tackle with Jenkins. Coaching can't be blamed for this, or Fields' pick-6. Defensively, the Bears had mixed up their coverages and blitzes well in the first half but once Aaron Rodgers found a rhythm there was no stopping them, and then they started double-teaming Quinn to keep him from wrecking things. Matt Nagy chose to punt from his own 36 on fourth-and-one after the Bears defense gave up 17 third-quarter points and they fell behind 38-27. There is absolutely no logic showing confidence in your defense then when he hasn't even shown this at other times when they were fully healthy.

Overall: D+

The Bears put on a good show for a half and it takes more than two quarters to prove someone no longer owns you.

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