The Chicago Bears hoped to forget their heartbreaking last-second loss in Week 8. However, they embarrassed themselves in Week 9, losing in ugly fashion and opening them up to more questions.
The Chicago Bears suffered a punch to the gut with their last-second loss to the Washington Commanders on a Hail Mary pass. After spending the week talking about what went wrong and how cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is the worst person in the world for what he did, the team hoped that playing against the Arizona Cardinals could change things.
That never happened. In fact, the Bears ended up embarrassing themselves in an ugly 29-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals that opened them up to even more questions. Many are also wondering if last week’s loss left the team imploding.
The Bears were never in the game. For the second time this season, the offense failed to score a touchdown. Unlike the first time, in Week 1, the defense and s. pecial teams could not help by scoring. All the Bears could muster was three Cairo Santos field goals, two of them from beyond 50 yards.
The defense that usually carries the team while hoping the offense gets its act together, had its own troubles. The Chicago Bears gave up 213 rushing yards. They gave up 53 of them with 22 seconds remaining in the first half. Emari Demercado blew past the defensive line and took advantage of Bears defenders missing tackles while he sped away into the end zone.
© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
That play seemed to take the air out of the Bears. They won the coin toss and deferred so they were going to take the ball at the start of the second half. They wanted to stay within striking distance at 14-9. Instead it became 21-9 and the Cardinals never looked back.
The Bears’ points all came in the first half. They had 166 total yards of offense in that first half. However, nothing could go right in the second half. They only had 75 total yards in the second half.
Williams’ struggles continue
© Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
After a three-game stretch in which he looked like the quarterback the Chicago Bears expected when they drafted him number one overall, Caleb Williams struggled against the Commanders. He completed just 41.7 percent of his passes for 131 yards and no touchdowns.
Williams’ struggles continued against the Cardinals. He completed 53.6 percent of his passes for 217 yards and no touchdowns. Of his passing yards, 137 of them came in the first half.
Despite just rushing four throughout most of the game, The Arizona defensive front harassed Williams all game long. They sacked him six times and had him running around for his life. The Cardinals had everything covered downfield and their defensive line was able to pressure Williams.
The pressure forced Williams to make errors He missed open receivers and failed to find open receivers. To be fair, he did make some good throws as well that were dropped. It seemed the only receiver who had a big game was Rome Odunze. He had five catches for 104 yards.
Stevenson made up for his costly goof from last week
© Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In addition to Odunze having a good game, Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had a rocky week. During that infamous Hail Mary, he was caught talking trash to the Washington fans while the play was happening. He then went over to where the ball was thrown. Instead of blocking out the receiver, he tipped the ball to him for the Washington win.
The Chicago Bears coaching staff decided to demote Stevenson. They informed him that he would not start the game against Arizona. He would still play, though. Then reports came out about Stevenson being upset about it.
FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that when the Bears notified Stevenson that he would not start, he was upset. He then took himself out of practice. That, according to Glazer, did not sit well with Stevenson’s teammates.
That made Stevenson enemy #1 among the fans. Chicago Bears fans will accept a player’s misdeeds on the field if they own up to it and try to be better. What Glazer reported would raise the fans’ ire.
However, Chicago Bears beat reporter for ESPN, Courtney Cronin, gave some context to the situation. Her reporting contradicted Glazer’s report. The coaches told Stevenson about the demotion on Wednesday. There was a walkthrough, not a full practice.
When Stevenson found out, he took a few minutes to gather himself. He started every game he’s been with the Chicago Bears so not starting because of his dumb mistake upset him. He was likely upset at himself and not the team.
Stevenson then came back and finished the practice. His teammates, while upset at what he did in the Washington game, had no problem with him taking a few minutes off.
Just spoke with a Bears source and can provide context on @JayGlazer‘s report about Tyrique Stevenson leaving practice Wednesday upon finding out he would not start vs. Arizona.
Bears coaches/execs arrived at the decision to not start Stevenson on Tuesday and relayed that to the…
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) November 3, 2024
Stevenson then went out and did exactly what you want from a player who made a bone-headed mistake — he had a good game. He registered seven tackles (5 solo) and had a pass breakup in the end zone.
After the game he spoke about the demotion.
Honestly, probably (my) feelings were a little hurt. Feeling disappointed, but the decision was made. I can’t go against the decisions. I’m here to be a team player, be great guy for this team and that’s what I stood out to do this week.
Yes, Stevenson made one of the dumbest mistakes possible against Washington. He cost his team what should have been a hard-earned victory. However, he acted like a professional all week then responded with a good game. Hopefully, that mistake was just a one-time thing and he learned from it.
It will be a long week before the Chicago Bears play their Week 10 game against the New England Patriots. there was a hope that they could be 7-2 before they face the division gauntlet starting in Week 11. Now they will be happy if they are 5-4.
After they play the Patriots the Chicago Bears will have their toughest stretch of the season. They could be in an implosion. Chicago Bears fans have seen this story before. One tough loss and things fall apart for the rest of the season. If that is the case, it could be a long time before they get a win. If that happens, we need to be ready for things to get rough for Chicago Bears Nation.
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