Studs and Duds from Bears’ blowout loss to Cardinals

Three weeks ago, the Chicago Bears were 4-2 and had dominated their opponents in two straight games. Today, this same team is 4-4, and it looks like they might struggle to match last year’s win total of seven.

A week after losing to the Washington Commanders on a heartbreaking Hail Mary touchdown, the team came out on Sunday and looked like it was already planning its offseason vacations.

And a lot of that comes down on coaching.

At this point, it’s hard to consider the decision to retain Matt Eberflus this offseason as anything other than a colossal blunder. The defense has been a good unit overall, but that’s not enough. The Bears just do not look like a well-coached team on either side of the ball right now.

But that’s a discussion for another day. Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s 29-9 loss.

Stud: Cairo Santos

Only one bright spot emerged for the Bears this week: their ever-reliable kicker, Cairo Santos. He was three-for-three on the day, including a 53-yarder amid rain and hail slipping through the slow-closing roof of State Farm Stadium. Once again, Santos showed why the Bears gave him a handsome contract extension last Christmas.

Dud: Coaching

I already touched on the futility of the Matt Eberflus era above. Still, I don’t want to let offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and offensive line coach Chris Morgan leave this piece unscathed. I’m not sure what’s going on with Waldron, but nothing he’s done since the bye week has worked. I wrote in my “keys to victory” that utilizing Cole Kmet would be a difference maker, but it looks like Waldron doesn’t come to Bears Talk for advice on his game plans (maybe he should?) because Kmet didn’t receive a single target.

And the offensive line has been an unmitigated disaster this year. After showing signs of improvement in 2023, there’s nothing good to say about the unit in 2024. The Cardinals” defense has struggled all year getting after the quarterback, but on Sunday, they lived in Chicago’s backfield, sacking Caleb Williams six times for 45 yards. Despite the house-cleaning of offensive coaches this offseason, Morgan inexplicably retained his job.

Dud: Run defense

In another bizarre 180-degree turn from last year, the Bears” run defense went from the best in the league to one of the worst, and Sunday may have been a new low. Cardinals’ running back James Conner did whatever he wanted on the field, averaging 6 yards per carry for 107 total yards. Worse, Emari Demercado, who otherwise had just three carries for six yards, took off for a 53-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the first half.

Instead of coming out of halftime with the ball and a mere five-point deficit, the Bears were now staring down a two-score deficit and with absolutely no momentum. It’s safe to say that the game was officially over at that point.

Dud: Reader’s choice

You name it, and it probably deserves a mention for this last dud spot. Keenan Allen? Yup, he had a brutal drop on an early third down that could have extended a promising drive. Caleb Williams? He wasn’t awful but also turned down several check-downs in favor of big-game hunting that didn’t work out. D’Andre Swift? Again, not terrible but largely ineffective. Rome Odunze? He had a good game, but the play I remember most was a drop on a gorgeous deep ball towards the sideline from Williams early in the game when a win was still plausible. Gervon Dexter Sr? A penalty on Arizona’s second-quarter field goal attempt handed Arizona a first-and-goal which resulted in a touchdown, a four-point swing.

It’s hard for a team to overcome bad games from one of their star players. It’s impossible when all the starts phone it in.