'Sickening' Bears Loss Adds Another Gut Punch To A Lost Season

Chicago IL

21 November, 2021

10:41 PM

Description

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears' quarterbacking Houdini had again worked his magic, the game was won, the losing streak was over, and hope again, almost inconceivably, was somehow still alive. Until it wasn't. Rather, the game was lost, the losing streak grew to five games and reality, rather unbelievably, reared its ugly head. It was, as Bears fans have become accustomed, just another lost Sunday afternoon along the Lakefront. By the end of Sunday's Bears' topsy-turvy 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, fans had witnessed it all: A half of uninspired offense, rookie quarterback Justin Fields leaving the game with a ribs injury, and Andy Dalton coming to the rescue and turning a fourth down and forever situation into what seemed like an improbable game-winning touchdown pass. And all was, it seemed, well with the football world. Unit it wasn't. Just as excitement built and fans celebrated what they thought could be the first of two victories in less than a week, it all turned out to be an illusion and the Bears had once again suckered everyone into believing everything just might be OK. But just when Bears fans figured they had seen it all, they watched a Ravens quarterback making his first NFL start engineer drive that culminated with what Bears linebacker Robert Quinn characterized as a "sickening" defensive breakdown that dropped the Bears to 3-7 on the season. And by the time it was over, the same fans who believed they had witnessed something magical thanks to Dalton's late heroics were calling for coach Matt Nagy's job. The chants of "Fire Nagy" rang out for all to hear not because he Bears lost, but because the game was there for the taking and instead, the Bears defense failed to live up to the moment by surrendering a go-ahead touchdown with 22 seconds remaining. "Right now, it's just sickening because of the fashion we just lost," Quinn told reporters afterward. Win on Sunday and the Bears would travel to Detroit on Thanksgiving to face a winless Lions team with the opportunity to begin to build some momentum and keep their fading playoff hopes alive. But instead, by allowing Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley to carve up the Bears defense as if he was the reigning NFL MVP he had replaced when flu-like symptoms sidelined Lamar Jackson, the Bears' defense delivered yet another gut-punch to what has been a season full of body blows. Now, the Bears will travel to Detroit uncertain of who will start at quarterback Thursday. The severity of Fields' injury remains unknown. Nagy told reporters he did not know if Fields' ribs are broken or when exactly the injury took place. All of that leaves the rookie's return – not only for Thursday, but for the foreseeable future — unknown. What is known is that while Bears ownership won't fire Nagy right now like fans want, Sunday's loss all but cemented the fact Nagy's days are numbered no matter who his starting quarterback is against the Lions and moving forward. As much as Nagy will remain focused on the work left to be done, he has to know his tenure in Chicago is drawing to an end. And if he needed a reminder, the collective calls for him to be fired immediately after Sunday's collapse certainly couldn't go unnoticed. Not by Nagy and certainly not by the people who have the power to make a change that is becoming more necessary by the week. "I just understand that in the end, we all care a lot, and we are all in this thing," Nagy told reporters. "Of course, we want to do everything we can to win so that's our job to do that. I think everyone is competitive and wants to see the Bears win and that's exactly what we want." But words are just words and wanting something and delivering those results remains two very different things. Nagy wants to win. He wants to keep his job. He wants his team to be successful. But the reality is this: The wins haven't come for more than a month, the Bears aren't successful and if the Bears find a way to lose to the Lions on Thursday, it only gets worse. And as for that job Nagy wants to hold onto so badly, it likely won't be that much longer before it's no longer his job to hold onto. Another lost Sunday along the Lakeshore certainly saw to that.