Missed opportunities plague Bears again

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The Packers backward pass when they received a Bears fourth-quarter punt looked like something out of a comedy sketch. The Bears, surprised as anyone, were attentive enough to recover the fumble created by said screwy play, on Green Bays 16-yard line.

Down 21-10 at the time, the Bears had a golden opportunity to get a touchdown and put the squeeze on the Packers. But much like a third-quarter drive where the Bears couldnt capitalize big on Packers' miscues, they couldnt do it this time, either.

The Bears offensive issues were magnified on two second-half drives in a 21-13 loss to Green Bay. On the third-quarter one, back-to-back Packers penalties set the Bears up at Green Bays 5-yard line. But after Matt Forte gained four yards on first-and-goal, the Bears were stalled and had to settle for an Olindo Mare 34-yard field goal.

On the goal line, the offensive line has got to get movement. I looked for a hole and try to hit it, said Forte, who was stopped on second and third downs for no gain. There are going to be unblocked players. My deal is I have to slam it up in there. Thats what I was doing. You have to give them credit, too. They played tough defense on the goal line.

Right tackle Jonathan Scott said, somewhere, it wasnt 11 people working in unison. Im not saying thats what the reason was. But usually when we all work in unison, good things happen.

And while the Bears have been banged up and rotating different players at different spots on the offensive line, Scott said thats not an issue.

We work well together, we talk, we communicate, Scott said. They have faith in all seven linemen, and all seven linemen have to be accountable.

But the Bears got the chance to make amends. Flash forward to that bizarre Packers special-teams call in the fourth quarter. Not only did the Bears fail to get a touchdown starting at Green Bays 16, they didnt even gain a yard.

Thats another opportunity weve got to take advantage of, said quarterback Jay Cutler, who was surprised at the Packers pass. To get a ball like that, when the score is 21-10, those things dont happen often. To get a turnover was a great job by special teams. For us not to take advantage of that kind of opportunity is another reason you lose football games.

Not that the Bears were alone. Twice, the Packers couldve extended their lead on Sunday. Beleaguered kicker Mason Crosbys frustrating season continued, however, as he missed 43- and 42-yard field goals. Hes now 17-of-29 for the season. Didnt matter: Aaron Rodgers three touchdown passes to James Jones were eventually enough.

The Bears offense has had its struggles all season. But not getting the optimum number of points on those two drives, in this big of a game, against their division rival, was incredibly costly.

It hurts, coach Lovie Smith said. It was a one-score game at the end. We had excellent field position. Youve got to capitalize and thats the case most of the time. You cant rely on field goals in those situations. We need to get touchdowns.

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