Halas Intrigue Bears Report: Breaking down wild Week 5 loss to Raiders

The good: The Bears rallied from down 17-0 at halftime to take a 21-17 lead over the Raiders by the end of the third quarter, but couldn’t hold on in a 24-21 loss at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The bad: Their previous four opponents averaged fewer than 62 rushing yards per game. The Raiders rushed for 169 yards Sunday, including 112 yards from Josh Jacobs, who was selected with the 2019 first-round pick the team received as part of the Khalil Mack trade.

The ugly: The Bears fall to 3-2 entering their Week 6 bye. After coming back, they’ll host the Saints and Chargers at home before visiting the Eagles in Philadelphia. This was a missed opportunity before a challenging stretch.

Let’s get to it ...

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Offense: A Tale of Two Halves

For a while there, it seemed the Bears’ offense might never show up in London. The unit generated just two first downs and 44 total yards in the first half. Then Chase Daniel started hitting his spots, aided with some stellar work by Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, to get the rally going. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late with the defense not playing at its best.

By the numbers:

• 194 PASSING YARDS: Daniel had some good moments in completing 22 of 30 passes for 231 yards, but he also threw two interceptions and got sacked four times. Several of his biggest plays were also the result of stellar catches by his receivers.
• 42 RUSHING YARDS: David Montgomery scored the second touchdown of his career but finished with just 25 yards off 11 carries. An offensive line that struggled to dominate the line of scrimmage didn’t help the ground attack much.

Offensive play of the game:

Defense: A Rubbish Evening in London

This wasn’t the Bears defense we’ve been used to seeing this season. Did the recent trip overseas take a toll? It’s hard to say but the Raiders ended up finding success both on the ground and through the air.

If it weren’t for some bad penalties and turnovers by the opposing offense, Oakland might’ve scored even more points. And when the “D” had a chance to put things away late, the Raiders powered 97 yards on the go-ahead drive. Let’s hope these issues stay confined to England.

By the numbers:

• 398 TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED – 229 passing, 169 rushing
• 0 SACKS: Zilch. Zip.
• 2 TAKEAWAYS: Sherrick McManis’ Peanut Punch (see below) and the wild failed Derek Carr-Jacobs pitch

Defensive play of the game:

Special Teams: Tarik Cohen Goes On A Run

On a day when Eddy Pineiro didn’t even attempt a field goal, Cohen delivered the fireworks with a 71-yard punt return that set up a touchdown.

By the numbers:

• Pineiro: 3-of-3 XP

Here’s that big-time return from Cohen:

What They’re Saying

Daniel on his final interception: “The whole game they were pretty tight on our outside receivers, and I’m not even sure who intercepted, but the corner who really, I thought was supposed to have Javon Wims really fell off. I saw the nickel falling off, Anthony [Miller] took it a little lower than what I wanted, but that’s just completely on me.”

Matt Nagy on first-half struggles: “You know, in this game, you know, it usually starts up front, and that’s – we know that. We preach it. We talk it. We understand that, and we just throughout the game weren’t real successful offensively with running the football. It’s been an issue this year, and so we need to figure out why.”

Gruden on the first NFL game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: “It was great. It was great. It was really fun. I thought the crowd was much more for the Bears, though, it really disappointed me. All the people in London, we’ll be back.”

From Our Notebooks

• Kevin-Pierre Louis told reporters he felt like he was pushed by a Raiders player on the pivotal running-into-the-kicker penalty that gave the Raiders’ offense new life in the fourth quarter. “On the punt play, in my humble opinion, I thought I got pushed into the guy, but they call it how they call it. I have to be smarter on that for my teammates and just keep going from there. I’m definitely going to use that as motivation.”
• Bears coach Matt Nagy said he doesn’t believe Akiem Hicks’ gruesome elbow injury will be season-ending. “I don’t think it is,” Nagy said. “He was in pain. You could see that. But we’ll get more answers here.”
• WR Allen Robinson II caught seven passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns. He caught his first touchdown pass this season, a 4-yarder in the third quarter. Robinson added a 16-yard TD reception to give the Bears their first lead of the game (21-17) later in the third quarter. It was Robinson’s sixth career multi-TD game and second since joining the Bears.

Here are even more game highlights.

What’s Next?

1. The Bears will be on bye for Week 6 before returning to the field Sunday, Oct. 20 to host the Saints at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
2. Mitch Trubisky may be ready to return for that game given the extra recovery time afforded by the bye. He traveled with the team to London but wasn’t active due to a dislocated left shoulder.

View From Oakland

• Michael Lerseth of the San Francisco Chronicle: “It was hardly Shakespearean in its presentation. Sunday’s three-act play in London — great first half, horrid third quarter, stirring fourth quarter — was equal parts enthralling and appalling for the Raiders and their fans. But if the end result is all that matters, the Raiders can rejoice that they go into their bye week with a winning record.”
• Coach Jon Gruden did a victory dance in the Raiders’ locker room — taking a stab at the Bears’ Club Dub — but this upset in London has some thinking big. The East Bay Times laid out how the Raiders could become a playoff team. It takes some imagination, but they pulled it off.

On the Podcast

Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash examine the Bears’ loss to the Raiders in London, from Chase Daniel’s mistakes to Khalil Mack’s relatively quiet game. In the “Pot-cast,” Mark explains how, as a leader, he’ll never measure up to Winston Churchill.

Listen here.

Also, got any questions for the Bears? Email us or tweet at @suntimes_sports and we’ll see if we can get them answered in one of our next newsletters.

This Week’s Question

Dear Reader: Is the Bears’ defense overrated or was this a blip involving jet lag?

Email us at sports@suntimes.com, name and location, and we’ll include the best responses (and our thoughts!) in our next newsletter.

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Halas Intrigue Bears Report

Expert analysis and reporting before and after every Bears game, from the journalists who cover the Monsters of the Midway best.

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