Halas Intrigue Bears Report: Breaking down Week 9 loss to Eagles

The good: QB Mitch Trubisky actually helped spark the offense in the second half with completions of 53 yards to WR Taylor Gabriel and 30 yards to RB David Montgomery. Both passes set up Montgomery for one-yard touchdown runs, the second of which pulled the Bears within striking distance at 19-14.

The bad: The offense netted nine yards in the first half. The defense failed to stop the Eagles on four consecutive third downs on their final drive, which lasted 16 plays, took 8:14 off the clock and effectively ended the game. The Bears had nine penalties for 70 yards, including a roughing-the-passer call on fourth-and-one.

The ugly: The Bears’ record fell to 3-5, their losing streak reached four and their playoff chances are all but gone after entering the season with Super Bowl hopes.

Let’s get to it ...

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Offense: First (half) is the worst

By the end of the first half, the Bears had six drives, ran 20 plays and gained a total of nine yards. They didn’t record a first down until the final minute of the second quarter. It was the worst stretch in a dreadful year for the offense and the franchise’s lowest first-half yardage total in at least 40 years. However, don’t expect Mitch Trubisky to be benched anytime soon, writes Patrick Finley.

By the numbers:

• 102 PASSING YARDS: Mitch Trubisky completed 10 of 21 passes for 125 yards but gave back 23 yards on three sacks.
• 62 RUSHING YARDS: David Montgomery led the way with 14 carries for 40 yards and two touchdowns.

Offensive play of the game:

Defense: Eagles drive Bears out of town

The defense won’t look back fondly at the Eagles’ game-sealing drive, a 16-play, 69-yard romp down the field that took over eight minutes and effectively iced the game. In fact, it looked painfully similar to the unit’s failure in the playoff loss to the Eagles last season, writes Mark Potash.

By the numbers:

• 373 TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED
• 4 SACKS: Leonard Floyd, Nick Williams, Aaron Lynch, Eddie Goldman.
• 0 TAKEAWAYS: The second time the Bears have failed to record a takeaway this season.

Special Teams: Nothing to see here

Eddy Pineiro didn’t have a chance to do much given the offense’s ineptitude, but Tarik Cohen continued to make an impact with a 24-yard punt return in the third quarter. He entered the game as the league leader in yards per punt return among players with 10 or more returns.

After the Eagles kicked a field goal to go ahead by eight, Adam Shaheen fumbled the kickoff that sealed the loss, although with so little time left, it likely didn’t matter.

By the numbers:

• Pineiro: 2-for-2 on extra points.

What They’re Saying

• Khalil Mack called out Eagles center Jason Kelce for alleged illegal tactics to draw offside penalties: “You see the [b.s.] Kelce was kinda doing with the ball, just moving it a little bit. But even then, you can’t really make no excuses. That’s not the type of group we have. We’ve still gotta get there, regardless of what it is and what that was. All those offside penalties, it hurt us.”
• Former Bears running back Jordan Howard was happy to beat his former team, but it wasn’t anything personal: ‘‘There was a little back-and-forth with the guys. Everything else was normal. It was definitely a little strange because I didn’t really go against them in practice. They never really tackled me.’’

From Our Notebooks

• The Bears escaped mostly healthy, but safety Deon Bush was a late scratch because of illness and Eddie Goldman left the game with a thigh injury.
• Former Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery had three drops but caught the first of the Eagles’ four third-down conversions on their final drive.
• Tight end Trey Burton, famed for his ‘‘Philly Special’’ touchdown pass, was blanked against his former team. He had one ball thrown his way, and it was incomplete.

Here are even more game highlights.

What’s Next?

The Bears return home next Sunday at noon for a divisional matchup against the Lions before hitting the road the following week to face the Rams. Last season, the Bears won both of their games against Detroit for the first time since 2012.

View From Philadelphia

• Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is perhaps the Eagles’ best player, and he knows it. “Khalil [Mack is] a great player. An All-Pro,” Cox told Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He always plays on another level. He’s different.” When asked who else is different, Cox responded, “I’m different.”
• Carson Wentz delivered on the Eagles’ game-sealing, fourth-quarter drive, writes Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Four times, he threw on third down on that drive. Four times, if Wentz didn’t complete the pass for a first down, the Eagles would have had to punt. Four times, he did.

On the Podcast

Should Mitch Trubisky have been benched? Is the Bears’ defense still dangerous? Will the Bears ever snap their losing streak? And in an impromptu Pot-cast, Mark Potash is furious with Patrick Finley, and Jason Lieser rules on who was wrong.

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: Do you believe the Bears should bench Mitch Trubisky to try to save their season, or does his development take priority?

Email us at sports@suntimes.com with your 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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