GLENDALE, Ariz. — Let’s be real. There’s not enough sugar in Brazil to coat whatever that was Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
A blowout. An embarrassment. An absolute stinker.
Arizona Cardinals 29, Chicago Bears 9.
For a Bears team looking to bury the previous week’s stomach-twisting road loss to the Washington Commanders, this proved to be a brutal response.
Sloppy and disjointed. Flat and disheartening.
The Bears defense was trampled, to the tune of 213 rushing yards and its first game since Week 11 of last season allowing more than 21 points.
The offense? Not a single touchdown and a 3-for-14 effort on third downs — against a Cardinals defense that entered the day last in the NFL in those situations.
In a nutshell, this was a middle-tier opponent doing absolutely whatever it wanted with the Bears, who were out-everythinged on a day where they had hoped to show themselves and the outside world how tough, resilient and focused they are.
Instead? This became a runaway. It went into the ledger as Matt Eberflus’ 18th loss in 21 road games as Bears head coach. Eight of those defeats have been by at least 10 points.
“We have to circle the wagons,” Eberflus said afterward. “We have to do a really good job of staying tight. That’s what you do in times of adversity.”
Now, though, much of Chicago is bracing for a Week 10 full of Flus-under-fire ranting while the players inside the Bears locker room must embark on another quest for answers.
“This wasn’t good enough,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “From top to bottom. We know that. That’s not us.”
Still, some of this was very familiar.
Another scoreless first quarter. More difficulty stopping the run. Costly penalties. Poor tackling. Dropped passes.
Yuck. Across the board.
“Obviously we didn’t play well,” safety Kevin Byard said. “And they whooped us today.”
Spin the wheel and pick the most troubling thing to come out of this trip to the desert. Was it the error-filled execution on both sides of the ball? The pile-up of injuries to key players — Darnell Wright, Andrew Billings, Terell Smith and Jaylon Jones among them? The reality that the Bears are back at .500 and, as of Monday morning, amid a quintet of four-win NFC teams looking up toward a playoff picture that sure seems like it’s miles away?
The cover photo from Sunday’s loss is obviously the 53-yard touchdown run the Bears allowed in the final seconds before halftime. By the Cardinals’ No. 3 running back, Emari Demercado. Untouched. Right past the Bears defensive front, through the second level and onward beyond three Bears defensive backs.
Eberflus took the blame for the defensive call on the play, a third-down pressure that left the Bears somewhat vulnerable against the run.
“I can make a better call there,” he said. “That’s on me.”
Still, even with a shaky call, that run should never get out of the gates for 53 yards. Not if Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds can shed their blocks or if Jaylon Johnson can help funnel Demercado toward Byard and fellow safety Elijah Hicks.
None of that happened. And that became the trap door, the explosive play that put the Bears in a 21-9 hole at the intermission. They never recovered.
“It just got out of hand,” rookie quarterback Caleb Williams said.
Still, the argument can also easily be made that the Bears never fully recovered from the Hail Mary knockout blow Jayden Daniels hit them with seven days earlier. In fact, that’s an assertion Williams offered himself after Sunday’s loss, still seemingly disappointed that the team as a whole didn’t find closure more quickly after that final-play loss to the Commanders.
“Early on in the week, I think we could have done better overall of bouncing back,” Williams said. “I know that was a tough loss. It was tough regardless of who you are in the facility — whether you were out there making plays or if you are making decisions up top. (But) it’s being better with that.”
So here the Bears are now. Again. At an anxious moment in their season.
They are less than two weeks away from a 12-day challenge that will push them into consecutive NFC North games against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. The Bears figure to be underdogs in all three contests. And, well, yeah, it’s terrifying to acknowledge the very real possibility of this team finishing November with a losing record and a heavily obstructed path to the postseason.
“We’ve got so much ahead of us,” Williams countered. “We’ve got nine games left.”
That’s a fair assertion. And the Bears can only focus on what’s next, which is next week’s game against the New England Patriots. The Patriots are 2-7 and coming to Soldier Field, where the Bears have won eight consecutive games.
Perhaps the quick-relief prescription is ready. Make the layup next weekend and exhale.
“We have to be 5-4 by the end of next week,” Byard said. “That’s my only focus. That’s the only thing I can have my attention on.”
Still, there are so many bigger-picture concerns with this team’s long-term direction. And it has become increasingly difficult, after two-and-a-half seasons under Eberflus’ guidance, to see how a truly meaningful breakthrough will occur.
After Sunday’s performance, it was easy to note that the Bears were far from sharp and fair to wonder if the group is still bought in.
“That’s our job,” Edwards said. “There’s no quit in anyone here. No one is going to sit here and just take this. We’re going to get back to work and figure this out.”
That loss to the Commanders created so much turbulence and unease. Yet from the top of the organization, there were vows to emerge stronger and more focused.
On the Bears official pregame show on WMVP-AM 1000 on Sunday, general manager Ryan Poles spoke of the importance “to not let one loss leak into the next week.”
“I loved how the team responded, how they practiced this week,” Poles said. “It was very focused. The precision was there.”
Poles described a team that, through his lens, appeared “locked in,” “together,” and “aligned.”
“Everyone rebounded really well,” Poles said. “We got positive as the week started. We’re in a good place.”
But they weren’t in a good place for the three hours of the week that mattered most. On Sunday, the Bears were thoroughly trounced. By a team that had no business trouncing them.
According to Williams, that triggered several players to speak up after Eberflus addressed the team in the locker room.
“All the guys are bought in,” Williams said. “I think this is one of the first times that a bunch of guys have come and stepped up (to speak). I spoke about it earlier this week, that the player-led teams are the best teams. Obviously the spirits aren’t good. But I think the guys are there and bought in.”
Eberflus shared similar sentiments.
“We’ve got everybody we need in that circle of men in there and the staff members in there and the coaches in there,” he said. “We’ve got everyone we need. We have to take an inward look and make sure we’re doing things the right way. That starts with the coaches first. And then it starts with that practice on Wednesday.”
One of these days, one of these weeks, one of these seasons, perhaps the Bears will progress beyond the constant troubleshooting and answer-finding modes.
For now, they remain a staggering team with significant work ahead to keep this season alive. And the questions about their direction under Eberflus are only growing louder.
