Raiders 24, Bears 21: Whose arrows are up and down after a tough loss in London

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The sooner the Bears can get out of London, the better. Matt Nagy and company made a game of it, but sometimes going down 17-0 with your backup QB playing 4,000 miles away from Chicago is hard to pull off. Here’s whose arrows are up and down after the Bears’ 24-21 loss:

ARROW DOWN -- Offensive Line
The unit’s regression as a whole has been one of the more important yet under-discussed wrinkles of the season so far. Kyle Long’s struggles have shown up the most on tape, but Charles Leno, James Daniels, and Cody Whitehair have all had tough moments. The Raiders front seven is better than people give them credit for, but the Bears’ o-line got *bullied* through most of Sunday’s game. Oakland had four sacks and six tackles for loss while keeping the Bears to 42 yards on the ground. The silver lining is that this is a line with plenty of cohesion that has shown they’re capable of better, but it’s now Week 6 -- time to figure this out. 

ARROW UP -- Allen Robinson
Just spend a quick moment here thinking about where the Bears’ offense would be without Allen Robinson. His line in London? Seven catches, 97 yards, and two touchdowns. Look at these scores: 

The double-move on the second TD made me audibly gasp. Robinson has carried the offense through the first quarter of the season, and the Bears are finally getting a glimpse at what he can do when healthy. He’s the team’s best route-runner, and the way he can control his body while going up to get the ball is something no one else in the Bears’ wide receiver room can replicate (although I’d hear a Javon Wims argument). The offense needs to get someone else -- for the love of god, anyone -- involved, but what a season Robinson’s having so far. 

ARROW DOWN -- Team Discipline
The Bears had 10 penalties for 75 yards on Sunday. Rarely does one play make or break a game, but Kevin Pierre-Louis’ flag for running into the punter with six minutes to go was soul-crushing. Anyone who’s watched the Bears this year knows this isn’t a new issue, either: 

Plain and simple: they’ve got to clean it up. 

ARROW UP -- Team resolve
Maybe this isn’t the time or place for this comment, but it deserves some merit. Matt Nagy will hear it from Talk Radio types over the next two weeks, some of which is deserved. His clock management is baffling at times. The Bears’ offense is still far, far behind where it should be, and the 202-level stuff they talked about all offseason seems like a pipe dream at this point. But there IS something to be said about how this Bears team responds. They could have hid behind the excuse of losing six starters against Minnesota last week, but instead came out with one of the more inspired performances of the Nagy era. After an UGLY (and I stress UGLY) first half against the Raiders, the Bears looked like a totally different unit in quarters three and four. Nagy’s scheming needs to improve, but this team consistently responds when challenged, and that’s a good thing. 

Arrow Up Hon. Mention: Tarik Cohen (71-yd punt return), Sherrick McManis (peanut punch on the 1 yard line), Danny Trevathan (10 tackles), Pat O’Donnell (5 punts for 243 yards). 

Arrow Down Hon. Mention: Anthony Miller, Chase Daniel, transatlantic red-eye flights.

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