Halas Intrigue Bears Report: Breaking down Week 11 loss to Rams

The good: At least this game didn’t come down to a last-second field-goal try.

The bad: The Bears ran 22 more plays than the Rams but averaged just 3.6 yards.

The ugly: The Bears had great field position early after the Rams turned the ball over on their first two drives, but they couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-9 on the Rams’ 31 and missed a 47-yard field goal after the second turnover.

Let’s get to it ...

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Offense: O’s identity still MIA

The Bears’ frustrating offense is still seeking an identity. That’s not a good thing 10 games into the season. Tarik Cohen, who caught a 12-yard touchdown pass, was the lone bright spot for an offense that continues to frustrate. Mitch Trubisky was benched late in the fourth quarter, apparently suffering a hip injury, though you could make a case that he was benched for his lackluster play. The injury remains murky.

Trubisky said he was hurt in the second quarter and was evaluated at halftime. Coach Matt Nagy indicated he was hurt at some point in the second half. If Trubisky’s version is correct, it raises the question of why Nagy would have his quarterback try an option play on third-and-1 in the third quarter if he had a bum hip (the Bears wound up with minus-three yards on the play). Either way, Trubisky said he was “super frustrated,” our Patrick Finley reports.

By the numbers:

• 193 PASSING YARDS: After Mitch Trubisky threw for just 190 yards on 43 passes, Chase Daniel came in and completed one pass for nine yards.
• 74 RUSHING YARDS: RB David Montgomery struggled with just 31 yards off 14 carries.

Offensive play of the game:

Defense: Donald tops Mack

In what was billed as a showdown between the Bears’ Khalil Mack and the Rams’ Aaron Donald — two of the NFL’s highest-paid defenders — Donald easily won. Donald had two sacks. Mack had none and was overshadowed by second-year linebacker Roquan Smith, our Mark Potash writes. Mack had zero tackles and didn’t even show up on the stat sheet.

By the numbers:

• 283 TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED: Todd Gurley led the way with 97 rushing yards and 36 receiving yards.
• 0 SACKS: The Rams threw only 18 passes — a career low for Jared Goff in games he has started — but the Bears still didn’t do much to pressure the QB.
• 2 TAKEAWAYS: Roquan Smith intercepted his first pass this season — and second of his NFL career — as part of two early takeaways by the Bears’ defense. Unfortunately, there weren’t any more after that.

Defensive play of the game:

Special Teams: Unsteady Eddy

It appears the Bears’ kicking problems have officially returned after another shaky performance from Eddy Pineiro, who has now missed four of his last seven field-goal attempts. He bounced back to hit an extra point in the third quarter, but it was telling when coach Matt Nagy opted to go for it on fourth-and-9 rather than try a 49-yard field goal late in the first quarter, Patrick Finley writes. Not that a change is coming anytime soon:

By the numbers:

• Pineiro: 0-for-2 on field goals, 1-for-1 on extra points.
• Pineiro is 4-for-8 on his last eight kicks, missing three field goals and one extra-point try.

What They’re Saying

• Matt Nagy on lifting Mitch Trubisky for Chase Daniel: “I said, ‘Listen, here’s the deal. We got to know, and you got to be honest with us as to where you’re at.’ And it was hard for him to say that. It was really hard, but he told me exactly how he felt, and I made the decision to put Chase in there at that time.”
• Mitch Trubisky: “You just want to be out there with your team. But if you’re not 100 percent, you can’t help the team. I’m not doing the team any favors if I’m not able to run around or throw the ball with accuracy because I’m throwing with all arm.”

From Our Notebooks

• General manager Ryan Pace’s first public comments about quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s Saturday workout weren’t much. “Like any workout, we really keep those things in-house,” he said on the team’s radio pregame show. “And that’s where we’ll keep that one.”
• Tarik Cohen has caught at least one pass in all 42 career regular-season games.
• Robert Woods, the Rams’ second-leading receiver, was a surprise scratch Sunday. The team said it was for a personal reason.

Here are even more game highlights.

What’s Next?

The Bears will be busy over the next 10 days with a home matchup against the Giants next Sunday before facing the Lions four days later on Thanksgiving. New York has won four of the last five matchups between the two teams.

View From Los Angeles

• With two key receivers out and a banged-up offensive line, Rams coach Sean McVay played it safe against the Bears’ defense and it paid off for a team that still is part of the postseason discussion.
• The headline on this story in the Los Angeles Daily News says it all: Rams lean on defense to tame ineffective Chicago Bears.

On the Podcast

On this week’s episode, Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash debate Mitch Trubisky’s future after he was pulled from a poor performance with a hip injury. They talk about the Bears’ sealed fate after a 17-7 loss. Mark makes multiple attempts to ruin the show, as usual. And then in the Pot-cast, he blasphemes In-N-Out Burger.

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.

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