A lot of the time, 24 hours after a loss, I begin to feel better. I’ll get more optimistic, diagnose how it wasn’t as bad as it looked, and start to get optimistic about the future. This is not one of those times. Part of the reason why is obvious. The Bears’ outstanding season, one that defied all of our expectations, has come to a close.
And, while not many of us believed they could get this far when the season kicked off in September, now it feels like it came to an end too soon. The Rams are an outstanding football team that could very well win the Super Bowl, but last night the story of the game was more one of missed opportunities from the Bears as opposed to the Rams just being the better team. And that’s what makes this one such a difficult loss.
Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesBears 24 Hour Rule
While I mentioned above that it felt more like the Bears missed opportunities to win this game than the Rams were just flat out better, we still have to give Sean McVay’s squad their flowers. They’re a very good football team. They also didn’t really make any big mistakes last night, which ultimately was the decisive factor. The Bears turned the ball over three times. The Rams didn’t give the ball away. Come playoff time, you just can’t give the other team the ball, and you really can’t lose the turnover battle 3-0. Let’s get to some of the missed opportunities. First and foremost, the final offensive play of the season – Caleb Williams’ interception – was a massive one. If you want to argue that the Bears didn’t need to dial up that big of a play, you can, but at the same time, playing for 15-20 yards to barely get Cairo Santos into field goal range in that weather is far from a lock to work out. While Caleb made the throw, the pick absolutely falls on DJ Moore. If Moore flattens out his route to be in front of the safety, at worst were talking about an incompletion. At best, we’re talking about a walk-off winner. Now, I can’t know for sure the objective of the play design, but I can take an educated guess. If he’s running harder on his route, too, and he’s trying to make Kam Curl make a decision, then Caleb Williams has arguably three different options for a walk-off winner. If Curl bites on Moore, Rome Odunze is open on the skinny post, and Luther Burden had a step on his man in what turned into a wheel route. Again, if you want to say you didn’t need to hit a home run there, you’re not totally wrong, but it’s not like a 45-50 yard field goal was a lock in that weather either. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Another absolutely glaring missed opportunity came on the first drive of the game. Caleb Williams fit a ball into a tight window between two defenders for what should have been the game’s opening score to Rome Odunze. Only, Odunze tried corraling it in with his body instead of catching with his hands, which any receivers coach will tell you is a no-no, and instead of six points, we end up with a drop and a big fat zero. Should the Bears have taken the 38-yard field goal attempt instead of going for it on 4th and 2? Probably. But when Ben Johnson is your head coach, you’re just going to have to accept that he’s going to go for it more often than not. I do think last night, though, probably taught Johnson a lesson on taking the points at times. Don’t get me wrong, he’s always going to err on the side of going for it. That’s who he is, and that’s in his coaching DNA. I don’t want him to change that. BUT. Especially in the postseason, I think he’s going to have to come to the realization that there is a time and a place to get aggressive, but that’s not every single time you have a 4th and short. Sometimes just taking the three is ok. Some are upset Ben Johnson opted not to go for two after the miracle throw to Cole Kmet at the end of the game. But honestly, I don’t blame him. The Bears’ defense was playing outstanding football. The momentum and crowd were on his side. And his best short-yardage receiving option, Colston Loveland, was in the injury tent being evaluated for a concussion. I think he made the right call there, honestly. Plus, the Bears really struggled in those goal-to-go situations prior to that point. I mentioned the Rome Odunze drop because that was massive, but those drops happened way too frequently across the board last night. Colston Loveland had one of his worst games of the year. I don’t think that will happen again. He’s been outstanding most of the year and has come a long way as a blocker. He’s got a very bright future ahead, and he made a huge catch on his last play of the game before leaving with a concussion, but he most certainly had a few drops he’d like back. It also appeared that the loss of Ozzy Trapilo hurt quite a bit. While pass protection was solid, the Bears really struggled to run the ball. I get the move for Thuney to LT, but at the same time, I think it legitimately affected three of your starting OL. First, Thuney is a fine left tackle, but he’s significantly better as a guard. Jordan McFadden seemed fine at LG, but obviously, he’s not Thuney. Plus, Drew Dalman then goes from having an All-Pro left guard to having a first-time starter next to him, which puts a little more on his plate. Theo Benedet has his issues in pass protection, and we certainly know that. But he’s also a very good run blocker. It’s not the only reason they lost, and I understand the logic behind the decision they made. Also, this is nothing against McFadden either; he was fine most of the night. Having said that, I can’t help but feel like the running game could have been more effective by starting Benedet, then giving him extra help in pass protection when needed. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images To the Rams’ credit, their defensive line was outstanding all night. They won the battle in those short-yardage situations just about every time, except when the Bears ran their QB sneaks, which they probably should have tried a few more times. I also thought the defensive ends did a great job keeping contain and not letting Caleb Williams get outside the pocket. I’ll finish by talking about the defense and giving them their flowers. I think Dennis Allen made one mistake last night. That was sending the house on the third and short in overtime and letting Puka Nacua run free. That was such an easy pitch-and-catch for Stafford and Nacua. Blitzing had been working all night, and the Bears’ defense did a great job of generating pressure. But in that situation, allowing Nacua to run free was not the right call. Outside of that choice, though, the defense played their tails off. Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker were awesome. The defensive line was able to get pressure with only four rushers at times. All things considered, it was probably the best game this unit put together all season. Unfortunately, they just weren’t able to take the ball away. Several times, they were oh-so-close to an interception or a fumble recovery, but the bounces just refused to go their way. That’s just football, though. The Bears’ defense gave the team a great chance to win last night, and all things considered, they provided quite a bit of reason for optimism for the future, even if some changes are coming. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe this is just the start of what should be an extended run of contending Bears teams. The Bears have done the hard part. They got the quarterback and the head coach. However, as we’ve seen in the NFL, things can change FAST. While things look great right now, you never know what next year holds in this league. That’s why this one hurts so much. While we all firmly believe this team will be back in this spot next year, nothing is guaranteed, and when you’re in the moment and can’t capitalize on it, you can’t help but feel like you missed a great opportunity.Hence then, the article about bears 24 hour rule self inflicted wounds unforced errors ultimately doomed the bears was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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