Bears vs. Chargers: Final score and highlights

Eddy Piñeiro missed a game-winning 41-yard field goal as time expired in the Bears’ 17-16 loss to the Chargers on Sunday afternoon. They’ve now lost three straight games and sit alone at the bottom of the NFC North.

The strong running of David Montgomery led the Bears to a 16-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, but Mitch Trubisky turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions that led to the Chargers’ go-ahead touchdown.

A late drive put Piñeiro in position for the game-winner with four seconds on the clock, but his kick drifted wide left for his second miss of the game.

Relive the Bears’ Week 8 defeat below.

Final score: Chargers 17, Bears 16

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Piñeiro misses from 41 yards as time expires. Bears lose.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Mitch Trubisky uses his feet for a big 12-yard run to get the Bears even closer for a potential game-winning field goal, then the team oddly kneels to drain the clock rather than get more yardage. This is all up to Eddy Piñeiro.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Allen Robinson makes a big catch over the middle to put the Bears at the Chargers’ 34 with less than a minute to go. The Chargers just took their first timeout but this may come down to Eddy Piñeiro.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Mitch Trubisky hits a wide open Taylor Gabriel for 22 yards to put the Bears into Chargers territory.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Kyle Fuller helps to make a huge tackle on Hunter Henry less than a yard before the first down marker, forcing the Chargers to punt it away. The Bears are going to get the ball back.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Khalil Mack and the pass rush finally show up with a big sack of Philip Rivers leading into the two-minute warning. The offense should get another shot if the defense can make a couple more good plays after the break.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: And then it all goes wrong. David Montgomery gets tackled in the backfield for a 6-yard loss on second down, then Mitch Trubisky gets sacked for a 4-yard loss on third down. That effectively pushed them out of field goal territory and into a punt. That’s a brutal turn of events.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Allen Robinson draws a big defensive pass interference penalty on Casey Hayward to move the chains on third down. We’re under four minutes left in regulation.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Mitch Trubisky has responded to his big mistakes with some very good passes over the middle to get the Bears into Chargers territory. Good news for them: All they need is a field goal to get back ahead.

Chargers 17, Bears 16: Austin Ekeler scores the go-ahead touchdown for the Chargers with 8:04 left in regulation.

Bears 16, Chargers 10: The Bears almost force the Chargers into a tough third-and-long but Leonard Floyd gets called for a facemask while tackling Melvin Gordon, so the Chargers are looking at first-and-goal.

Bears 16, Chargers 10: A play after missing a wide open Taylor Gabriel, Mitch Trubisky loses his bearings with the pass rush crashing in on him and fumbles the ball, which the Chargers recover for another takeaway. This is the Trubisky that’s going to cost the Bears any shot at the playoffs this season if things don’t change quick.

Bears 16, Chargers 10: Chase McLaughlin misses wide right on a 42-yard field goal attempt, giving the Bears solid field goal position in addition to maintaining their six-point lead.

Bears 16, Chargers 10: Keenan Allen straight up drops a third-down bomb from Philip Rivers in the end zone. He’s clearly been struggling this afternoon despite recording six catches for 49 yards.

Bears 16, Chargers 10: Mitch Trubisky throws his first interception of the game to Casey Hayward, who returns it 37 yards to put the Chargers at the Bears’ 20. The quarterback had avoided turnovers even with his recent struggles, but now L.A. has a chance to strike.

Third quarter: Bears 16, Chargers 10

Bears 16, Chargers 10: The Bears stop Austin Ekeler on a third-and-goal near the goalline, so the Chargers are forced to settle for a short kick from Chase McLaughlin, a former Illinois kicker. The Bears’ defense did a nice job of stiffening up to prevent the touchdown after getting diced a bit on that drive.

Bears 16, Chargers 7: The Chargers have responded to that touchdown drive with a lengthy one of their own. They’re now almost six minutes into a drive that’s put them inside the Bears’ 10.

Bears 16, Chargers 7: TOUCHDOWN! Allen Robinson goes over the defender for an unreal catch to put the Bears inside the Chargers’ 5, then David Montgomery pounds it into the end zone from four yards out for the team’s first TD of the game.

Bears 9, Chargers 7: The Bears keep the ball moving with a big fourth-and-1 conversion to Anthony Miller.

Bears 9, Chargers 7: David Montgomery, who’s gotten the ball on four straight plays to open the first half, passes 100 yards in a game for the first time in his career. He’s up to 17 carries for 113 yards.

Halftime: Bears 9, Chargers 7

Bears 9, Chargers 7: FIELD GOAL! David Montgomery gets stuffed on second-and-goal and they’re forced to spike the ball on third down just to set up a 19-yard field goal from Eddy Piñeiro. Unsurprisingly, a chorus of boos came down after that one.

Chargers 7, Bears 6: Another defensive penalty on third-and-goal, this time pass interference on Casey Hayward, gives the Bears ANOTHER set of downs inside the 5-yard line.

Chargers 7, Bears 6: A third-down horse collar tackle penalty on the Chargers gives the Bears new life with first-and-goal at the Chargers’ 4. They badly need to punch this one in for a TD.

Chargers 7, Bears 6: David Montgomery finds a big hole and goes for 55 yards, easily the best play of his NFL career thus far.

Chargers 7, Bears 6: Melvin Gordon carves through the Bears’ defense on first down for a 19-yard touchdown run. Just like that, L.A. leads by taking advantage of its opportunity in the red zone.

Bears 6, Chargers 0: Despite double coverage on the deep ball, Mike Williams comes down with a 43-yard catch to get the Chargers right into the red zone.

Bears 6, Chargers 0: FIELD GOAL! Eddy Piñeiro hits the 25-yarder to extend the Bears’ lead to six.

Bears 3, Chargers 0: Mitch Trubisky misses Allen Robinson on what probably should’ve been a touchdown. That’s three trips into Chargers territory and not much to show for it.

Bears 3, Chargers 0: Anthony Miller makes more noise with a 35-yard play to the left side to push the Bears into Chargers’ territory. He had 144 receiving yards entering this game, but he’s already up to 59 this afternoon.

Bears 3, Chargers 0: The Bears’ defense is doing a very good job of shutting down Philip Rivers and Melvin Gordon so far. The Chargers QB has completed 5-of-11 passes for just 37 yards and an interception.

Bears 3, Chargers 0: After a three-and-out by the Chargers’ offense, the Bears get back to it with Allen Robinson battling for a first down on a short pass, then drawing a holding penalty on the next play. It’s worth noting the better balance this week, too, with 11 pass plays and eight run plays so far.

Bears 3, Chargers 0: FIELD GOAL! Mitch Trubisky looks to his tight ends twice inside the 5-yard line but the Bears have to settle for a short field goal from Eddy Piñeiro for their first lead of the afternoon.

First quarter: Bears 0, Chargers 0

Bears 0, Chargers 0: INTERCEPTION! Kyle Fuller picks off Philip Rivers and almost takes it back to the house for a pick six. Instead, the cornerback got shoved out inside the 5-yard line, so the offense will need to punch this one in to take advantage.

Bears 0, Chargers 0: Eddy Piñeiro misses a 33-yard field goal off the upright after the drive stalls out near the Chargers’ 20. It’s still scoreless at Soldier Field.

Bears 0, Chargers 0: Back-to-back big passing plays?!? Mitch Trubisky hits Anthony Miller for 24 yards on third down, then Tarik Cohen for another 31 years on the very next play. This is the kind of confidence-building play that could portend good things for the offense.

Bears 0, Chargers 0: The Chargers have gone to Keenan Allen a few times so far, but the wideout hasn’t been able to find his footing to do damage yet. It’s worth remembering that Allen was limited in practices this week by a hamstring injury.

Bears 0, Chargers 0: A 10-yard run by David Montgomery was the highlight of the Bears’ first drive, which ended with a Pat O’Donnell punt.

Bears 0, Chargers 0: The Chargers go three-and-out with a series that almost ended with a Buster Skrine interception. The cornerback couldn’t get his hands underneath the ball, however, so Ty Long punted it away for L.A.

Bears 0, Chargers 0: The Bears won the coin toss and, as usual, deferred possession, so the Chargers open with the ball.

Before the game

The Bears didn’t expect to have their season effectively at a crossroads entering Week 8, but that’s the feeling around the team ahead of a big matchup against the Chargers. If they continue to struggle en route to a third consecutive loss and a sub-.500 record, it’ll become increasingly hard to see their path to the postseason in a stacked NFC North.

The last three weeks showed the Bears won’t be able to simply ride a talented defense to the same success as last season. The offense, at times, isn’t just bad, it borders on inept. And as good as the defense can be, the workload becomes overwhelming when that unit is expected to prop up the rest of the team week after week.

So yet again the Bears’ fate seemingly comes down to Mitch Trubisky, for better or worse. Whether the third-year quarterback can find his way after some disastrous performances will likely determine what this team is capable of.

The Chargers, despite winning 12 games a year ago, have also struggled to sustain their success. The offense sputtered out of the gate while Melvin Gordon held out, and he’s been ineffective since returning to the lineup. Their injury report was crowded throughout the week. Four players were already ruled out Friday.

The Bears are the healthier team, playing at home and have no shortage of motivation to right the ship. They can’t waste any more opportunities like this one.

Bears vs. Chargers, Week 8

Time: 12 p.m. CT

TV: FOX

Live stream: FOX Sports Live