Bears Suffer Reality Check After Win Streak

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry scores on a 2-yard run, his 111th career touchdown, against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. (PC: Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun/TNS)

After four straight wins, Chicago Bears fans thought that maybe they finally had a team that could win consistently. That is, until Sunday night happened.

The Bears lost 30-16 to the Baltimore Ravens Oct. 26 after not losing a game for an entire month. It definitely wasn’t a fun one to watch.

This was a team that the Bears should’ve beaten. The Ravens were 1-5 going into the game and were missing Lamar Jackson.

Caleb Williams looked flat out sloppy and just seemed lost for a majority of the game. From misreading his receivers to not throwing any touchdown passes, it just overall wasn’t a good performance from the 2024 number one overall pick.

However, it wasn’t only Williams’ fault. The offense as a collective struggled all game against the worst defensive unit in football. The only touchdown for the Bears came from running back D’Andre Swift. Head coach Ben Johnson also said his play calling on Sunday could’ve been better.

“I don’t like my call on the quarterback sneak,” said Johnson in a press conference post-game. “We have plays set up to go tempo down there, and I probably didn’t do a good enough job in that department.”

Apart from the mistakes on the offensive side, the Bears’ already injury-plagued defense performed surprisingly well given the circumstances. They held the Ravens to 355 total yards, while the Bears had 372. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how good your defense is when your offense can’t manage to score when they’re in the red zone.

To be clear, I don’t believe it’s time to throw in the towel. Not even close. This is a young team that’s still learning how to win and have better on-field chemistry with each other. The defense and outgaining Baltimore in yards were bright spots in this game, and that does say something. However, the offense needs to be able to back that up.

Take the first quarter for example. The Bears dominated time of possessions with the ball as well as yards, but they only left the quarter up 6-0 on two field goals. That should have put them in dominant control over the Ravens, not just hovering.

For me, the most frustrating part of this game was watching the organization’s old habits squeeze through.

To put it in perspective, the Bears came into this game with an NFL-best +11 turnover margin across that four game winning streak, but they forced zero takeaways on Sunday. That’s unacceptable for a team that’s trying to win using the little things. Not capitalizing on opportunities came back to bite them after Williams threw an interception at the Chicago 18 down 16-13.

Here’s the thing. A four game win streak doesn’t automatically make a team a Super Bowl contender, or even a playoff contender for that matter. But it does show potential for what this team can be.

And losses like this? They either derail the team’s progress or sharpen it. When I turn my TV on every Sunday, I’m hoping to see the sharpened version of the team.

Looking ahead, the Bears absolutely have to prioritize turning red zone trips into touchdowns. They also need to eliminate pre-snap penalties, which is something that continues to kill momentum for this team.

For Williams, he needs to show the same control and effectiveness that we saw flashes of during the win streak. What this team could use right now isn’t a new identity, but consistency.