Eagles 22, Bears 14: Whose arrows are up and down after Bears' fourth-straight loss

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PHILADELPHIA —  It’s probably okay to start booking those early-January vacation flights. A Bears team that was supposedly indescribably desperate for a win came out and scored 14 points in a loss to the Eagles on Sunday afternoon. After starting 3-1, the Bears have now lost four straight and are basically an afterthought in the NFC playoff race – if they’re even thought about at all.

It only took half the NFL season to declare Nagy 202 a failure, and the 12-4 2018 season that had Bears fans feeling like they were just entering a window of Super Bowl contention has never felt farther away. 

ARROW DOWN – Just The Bears In General 

If the Saints loss was sobering and the Chargers loss was surprising, then this loss in Philadelphia was embarrassing. Nine penalties for 70 yards. Zero points on nine yards in the first half.  No turnovers on defense. The Eagles were clearly more prepared (on both sides of the ball,) and even the plays that were well drawn up well were poorly executed, or not executed at all. Outside of two one-yard touchdowns, David Montgomery (14 for 40) had a quiet game – in part because the offensive line played poorly; Trubisky took three sacks and the Bears only ran for 62 yards as a team. Keep in mind this team still has: 

- Three NFC North road games

- Primetime games against the Rams, Cowboys and Chiefs 

- No first round pick next year 

Terrific! 

ARROW DOWN – Mitch Trubisky 

At this point I feel like I’m the creepy tattooed guy in Season 1 of True Detective who’s reminding you all that Time Is A Flat Circle. Trubisky was playing one of the worst pass defenses he’ll see all year, and that was the result. The QB completed one pass in front of the line of scrimmage in the first half. One! The footwork was still shoddy, the pocket presence was still nonexistent and the egregious overthrows outnumbered NFL-caliber passses by, like, a 4-1 ratio.

There’s not a whole lot to say about Trubisky that hasn’t been said already. He hit Taylor Gabriel on a nice 53-yard pass, but that was about as positive as it got on Sunday. Far be it from me to tell you how to feel about your football team, but at this point in the season, it feels like the anger has subsided into grim acceptance. 

ARROW DOWN – Tarik Cohen 

Of all the catastrophic developments in 2019, Tarik Cohen’s disappearance may be one of the more discouraging. He continued to be heavily-targeted (five, two receptions) but couldn’t translate any of those into the game-swinging plays he’s capable of. And maybe it’s more pronounced because the Bears are losing, but Cohen runs laterally A LOT. Like a lot. On more than one occasion in Sunday’s game, there appeared to be space up field for Cohen to work. Constantly being behind the sticks to start drives didn’t help, but whether it’s Cohen’s abilities, or the coaching staff’s schemes, he’s looked like a shell of himself all season. 

ARROW DOWN – Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen 

The Bears gave Burton TE1 money and drafted Adam Shaheen in the second round, and together the duo had no receptions all afternoon. They are completely, totally, thoroughly, supremely, indisputably not a part of this offense. If I could think of more adverbs I would keep going. Ryan Pace is getting (somewhat rightfully) lambasted for his first-round picks, but his inability to find a suitable tight end for an offense that needs one to operate is inexcusable. 

ARROW UP – Pat O’Donnell? 

He punted well? IDK. 

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