A day later, Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet was still agitated, still bothered he hadn’t handled his pass protection duties with more polish. Less than 7 minutes remained Sunday in Indianapolis and Kmet and the Bears had taken over possession for a potential go-ahead fourth-quarter drive.
But that series ended as quickly as it began — with Kmet getting beat around the edge by Colts edge rusher Laiatu Latu, who swiped the football out of quarterback Caleb Williams’ right hand.
Williams was loading to throw toward receiver Rome Odunze, who had broken open over the middle behind linebacker E.J. Speed and in front of Zaire Franklin. With even three-quarters of a second longer, what could have been a completion of 20 or 25 yards instead resulted in a lost fumble. A missed opportunity. A giveaway that the Colts immediately turned into a 16-yard touchdown drive to seal their 21-16 victory.
On a day full of errors, that was one of the Bears’ biggest.
After the game, Kmet took accountability for his mistake, describing himself as “just lost there” on a shot play where the Bears used a seven-man protection to handle a four-man rush.
On Monday, after reviewing that sequence on video, his tune hadn’t changed. Kmet said that turnover was “all on me” and lamented that he hadn’t given a harder run sell to help divert Latu and afford Williams a little more time.
“It’s just technique and being more physical at the point of attack,” Kmet said. “It starts with the snap count and getting off the snap correctly and being physical from the get-go.”
Those types of missteps have defined the Bears offense through the season’s first three games, a period during which they have had 35 possessions yet produced only three touchdowns against five turnovers.
To Kmet’s credit, as a veteran captain, he understands the need for personal accountability as well as a team-wide focus on mastering the little things.
“We have to be more detailed with what we’re doing, with what the coaches ask of us,” Kmet said.
Kmet has also been pointed in vocalizing the urgency Bears coaches and players must have with their collective improvement efforts if they are truly serious about contending for a playoff berth this season.
Sure, the Bears have a rookie quarterback and a new offensive coordinator with a group of players grinding to assimilate into a new system. The growth process takes time and patience. But NFL seasons don’t wait around either. Every week offers a pass-fail test of winning competence. And every defeat provides a reality-check progress report.
On the day Kmet checked into training camp in July, he was asked what the ideal timeline would be for the Bears to get their offense up and running at an acceptable level. He quickly responded with one word: now.
“There’s not going to be time to kind of meander through this thing,” he said. “We’ve got to get this thing going quickly here.”
That sense of urgency was admirable then and remains so now.
On Monday, Kmet was asked how he’s recalibrating or sharpening his mindset now that the offense has taken longer than hoped to find its identity and its groove.
“We have to continue to have that urgency to get better every day,” Kmet said. “You also have to blend that with not getting too overwhelmed or too frustrated by what’s going on.”
With 84 offensive plays Sunday, the Bears did a lot right against the Colts, enough to unlock Williams’ first 300-yard passing game while amassing five possessions where they gained at least 50 yards. Kmet had 10 grabs for 97 yards and made a 6-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Odunze turned six receptions into 112 yards and a score.
Still, the Bears’ biggest errors proved more significant. That included Kmet’s errant block on the Latu strip sack. And it also included a failed goal-to-go possession late in the first half where the Bears had four plays from inside the Colts 5-yard line but failed to score.
That drive ended when running back D’Andre Swift was buried for a loss of 12 on a speed option to the left on fourth down from the 1.
That play call was questionable at best. The look the Bears got from the Indianapolis defense was suboptimal. Williams felt he didn’t have enough time after breaking the huddle to check to a better run given the Colts’ personnel and alignment. And ultimately the Bears blocking up front left Swift as a sitting duck in the backfield.
It was a grand slam of ineptitude. Such malfunctions have been at the center of the evaluation of the offense this month, even with noticeable progress being made in key areas.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus asserted Monday that he is working to strike the right balance between accentuating the positives and offering a firm reprieve for mistakes that lead the team down a losing landslide.
Said Eberflus: “It’s about accountability, watching the tape and looking at yourself with a critical eye in terms of, ‘Did I execute that particular play in the right way in terms of my job and my responsibility? And did I do it with the right focus and intensity? Was I part of the execution or was I part of the breakdown that happened?’ And that’s for every single play. We hold each other accountable and it’s important to be able to do that in front of your peers.”
Added Kmet: “Offensively, we haven’t played up to the standard we wanted to yet. I think it has gotten better each game. But I mean, again, we’re being real. Right now? Better is not good enough.”
In that vein, Kmet felt like many fans did about Sunday’s loss — that it was a game the Bears could have and should have won had they played up to their potential.
“You look at our roster and look at theirs and I’d take ours over theirs any day of the week,” Kmet said. “So yeah. I mean, it’s not a game I think we should have lost.”
But the Bears did. And now they’re 1-2. Still, the only thing they can control going forward is their response.
Kmet sees an opportunity this week for the offense to retain a positive outlook, to embrace the growth they’ve made, to continue catalyzing Williams’ climb and to dial in on next Sunday’s home game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“I don’t think it’s an all-hope-is-lost situation,” Kmet said. “There’s a real opportunity to get this thing going quickly. And once it clicks, I don’t think we’ll look back. But we’ve got to get there first.”
