Chicago Sports

The Chicago Bears are in the midst of a rebuilding process that is causing them to put up some lopsided numbers that have them going down in NFL history.

When Ryan Poles tore down the Chicago Bears roster over the 2022 off-season he did so with the future in mind.  He completely gutted the defense and as a result, the Bears have set a record for ineptitude that can be blamed on the defense’s inability to stop anyone.

The Chicago Bears are the first team in NFL history to score at least 29 points in three consecutive games and lose all three.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) November 13, 2022

The Bears are chugging along on offense on the legs of Justin Fields, but after trading away Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith they’re not able to stop anyone on defense.  Today was another example of defensive ineptitude as the Bears gave up 24 points including 14 points in the fourth quarter (Justin Fields gave up the pick-six for the other TD in the fourth quarter).

It’s going to take an entire rebuild of the defense for the Bears to get back to respectability in 2023 and this stat proves just how bad things have gotten.

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Justin Fields’ rushing ability has become the sole point of success for the Chicago Bears’ offense in 2022 and one stat proves just how teams are slowing Fields down in order to win games.

Justin Fields has been a terror for defenses with his ability to run the football.  Fields has had two incredible highlight-reel touchdown runs of 61 and 67 yards in the past two games.  He has had two consecutive games of over 140-yards rushing, but none of that seems to matter as the Bears have lost those games.  In fact, the Bears are 1-3 in games in which Justin Fields runs for over 80-yards in a game.  In those four games, the Bears have been unable to score more than seven points in the fourth quarter.

Fields has been dynamic with his legs, but by the fourth quarter teams have adjusted and become more disciplined in their containment Fields and have in turn completely shut down the Bears’ offense.

Last week the defense kept the Dolphins off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter and Fields couldn’t get done in the fourth quarter.  This week, the defense imploded in the fourth quarter allowing 14 points, but Fields gave up a pick-six and was once again shut down by the Lions’ defense garnering only one touchdown in the fourth quarter.

After Justin Fields’ 67-yard TD run the Bears had two more bites at the apple to put the game on ice and the offense netted two yards on two drives.

Last week against the Dolphins the same problem existed on offense, two drives, and the Bears’ offense only netted 38 yards total.

Without question, Justin Fields has shown growth with his ability to make plays with his legs running the football, and it has resulted in the most exciting era of football perhaps ever.  However, until Justin Fields starts to make more plays with his arm the Bears aren’t going to field a team that’s going to compete against the upper echelon of Super Bowl-caliber teams in the NFL.

Instead, the Bears will be left to fight it out against the lower-tier teams in close games that they may win or may lose depending on how things go with turnovers or key fourth-quarter plays.  Credit is due for Justin Fields’ ability to make plays with his legs, but he has shown little growth as a passer in the same time frame.

For Justin Fields to become a complete QB he is going to have to become the clutch fourth-quarter field general that the greatest QBs in the league are known for over the course of their careers.

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The Chicago Bears suffered a tough loss Sunday

The Chicago Bears started slow but then scored three unanswered touchdowns to take the lead over the Detroit Lions they would relinquish late in Week 10. The Bears’ offense continued to look impressive, with quarterback Justin Fields leading the team down the field over and over. The Bears have now scored 30 points in three of their last four games.

Defensively, the Bears played pretty well compared to their performances in the previous two weeks. However, they made some egregious errors they’ll need to clean up if they want to win another game. They surrendered two touchdowns in the fourth quarter that allowed the Lions to complete their comeback Sunday. Here are three studs and duds from the Bears’ loss to the Lions. 

Chicago Bears Studs

Justin Fields-Cole Kmet connection

For the second straight week, Cole Kmet caught two touchdown passes from Fields. Kmet showed his athleticism against the Lions’ defense. Kmet was Field’s favorite target on Sunday, as Kmet was targeted seven times. Kmet finished with 74 yards receiving on four catches. The two seem to be establishing a solid connection as this season progresses.

Jack Sanborn sacks

Who needs Roquan Smith at $20 million a year? Jack Sanborn is making exciting plays for the Chicago Bears’ defense. Sanborn brought the heat against the Lions in Week 10. He sacked Jared Goff twice and finished with 12 total tackles on Sunday. Two were tackles for a loss. Sanborn was used to blitz often in the Bears’ scheme against the Lions. It was effective when it worked, but when he missed, the Lions got first downs and a touchdown.

Sanborn made great plays. A second-half interception by Sanborn was negated by a Jaylon Johnson penalty. As head coach Matt Eberflus would say, that’s great “ball production” by the undrafted rookie free agent.

The Chicago Bears run game

The Chicago Bears continued to run the ball effectively against the Lions. Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery were both averaging more than four yards a rush in Week 10. Fields took the running attack to another level. He accounted for 147 of the Bears’ 258 rushing yards. He added two touchdowns as well. Fields set a Bears record in the Super Bowl era, as he has now run for a touchdown in four consecutive games.

Chicago Bears duds

The Chicago Bears’ secondary

The Bears’ secondary looked terrible against the Lions. The Lions decided to play with a balanced attack, as they ran the ball 31 times and attempted 26 passes. They would have done better just sticking with the passing game. Lions quarterback Jared Goff finished with 236 passing yards and a touchdown pass.

The coverage was bad, but penalties hurt as well. Jaylon Johnson had two illegal use of hands penalties on a fourth-quarter drive that ended in a touchdown. Johnson’s penalty wiped out a Sanborn interception that would have given the Bears a chance to ice the game on the next drive.

Third and fourth down defense

The Chicago Bears couldn’t get off the field on third down against the Lions. A lot of that was because of the poor play by the secondary. The Lions finished 5-11 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down conversions. It wasn’t just short conversions the Lions had to make. The Lions converted on third and nine and third and 14 on two of their scoring drives against the Bears.

Chase Claypool’s production

The Chicago Bears gave up considerable draft capital to add Chase Claypool to the offense. He was targeted twice by Fields. Claypool caught one of those passes for eight yards. He wasn’t seen in red-zone situations against the Lions. Claypool might be learning the playbook, but the Bears surely have some easy packages for Fields heave a jump ball to the big-bodied receiver. The Bears need to make better use of the playmaker they traded a second-round pick for.

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Justin Fields’ sequel was almost as exciting as the original. But the outcome was just as bad as last week.

For the second-straight game, Fields and the Bears had a chance to march down the field in the final two minutes to win the game. They couldn’t, and lost 31-30 to the woeful Lions at Soldier Field.

The Bears inherited the ball with 2:21 to play and down by one. They ran six plays and gained a total of two yards. The drive ended when Fields was sacked on fourth-and-8 at the Bears’ 32.

The Bears blew a 14-point lead but regained it in stylish fashion. Suddenly facing a tied game after throwing a pick-six to Jeff Okudah early in the fourth quarter Sunday, the Bears quarterback took a shotgun snap third-and-2, faked a handoff and ran to the right behind tight end Cole Kmet, who had gone in motion from left to right.

He sprinted up the field. No one caught him.

Fields’ 67-yard touchdown run was the longest for a Bears quarterback in franchise history. He beat the record he set last week, when he ran 61 yards for a score against the Dolphins.

He gave the Bears a six-point lead. It remained that way after Cairo Santos missed the extra point.

After Fields’ 67-yard run, the Lions drove 91 yards on eight plays, scoring on a one-yard Jamaal Williams run with 2:21 to play. The Lions made their PAT.

Fields went 12-for-20 for 167 yards, two touchdowns and a 99.4 passer rating. His lone turnover was the pass that floated into Okudah’s arms and tied the game two minutes after the Bears boasted a 14-point lead.

Fields threw two second-half touchdown passes for Kmet, who has five in his last three games. The second was a beauty. From midfield, Fields and the Bears gave a hard fake handoff and rolled left. Kmet sold his block and slipped up the field and down the right flank — wide open. Fields lobbed a touchdown pass to Kmet, who was never touched.

Kmet gave the Bears their first lead of the game on a six-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter. After they went up two touchdowns on the deep ball, the Bears seemed to be cruising to victory. They were up 14 three minutes into the fourth quarter when rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn’s interception was negated by an illegal hands to the face flag on cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The Lions got the ball back at the Bears’ 9 and scored on the next play, a handoff to D’Andre Swift. Sixty-six seconds later, Fields threw the interception, his first in three games.

Before the long run, Fields’ most impressive gain of the game went only one yard. With 12 seconds left in the first half and the Bears down seven, Fields took a third-and-1 shotgun snap, pump faked, bluffed a run left and then right, and then took off to the left. He plowed into the end zone, leaving two Lions players injured and defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs wondering how he could have missed Fields on an ankle tackle. He ran 34.2 yards; per NFL Next Gen Stats, it was the longest a player has run during a one-yard touchdown since former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles ran 35.4 yards in Week 15 of 2016.

The Bears and Lions traded field goals to start the game. The Lions scored on their second drive when, on fourth-and-goal at the 2, quarterback Jared Goff found tight end Brock Wright wide open to the right for a touchdown. No other Bears defender was in that half of the end zone.

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Justin Fields is back making history again for the Chicago Bears in Week 10

The hot streak for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields continued on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.

With the Bears taking on the Lions in an NFC North showdown, Fields made history once again during the first half of the game. Fields scored on a one-yard touchdown run late in the first half to help the Bears tie the score at 10 all before halftime. With the rushing touchdown, Fields became the first Chicago Bears quarterback to rush for a touchdown in four-straight games.

Justin Fields has been fantastic on the ground and through the air for the Bears in this stretch of five games.

Despite the Bears not coming out on top in all of those games, Fields has been a big bright spot and has offered hope for the future of the franchise. It’s clearly a rebuilding year for the Bears here in 2022 but it looks like they may have the quarterback position figured out at least.

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No. 1 Georgia led an unchanged top five in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, while the rest of the Top 25 was shuffled after eight ranked teams lost — including two big upsets in the Pac-12.

For the second straight week, the Bulldogs received all but one of the 63 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. No. 2 Ohio State received the other first-place vote.

No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Tennessee held their spots after victories Saturday, with only the Horned Frogs facing a real challenge.

Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and Tennessee won by a combined 203-60 against conference opponents.

Home losses by Oregon (to Washington) and UCLA (to Arizona) shook up the rest of the top 10. No. 6 LSU and No. 7 Southern California each moved up a spot.

The last time two top-10 Pac-12 teams lost at home during the same weekend was Oct. 2-4, 2014, when No. 2 Oregon fell 31-24 to Arizona 31-24 and No. 8 UCLA was defeated 30-28 by Utah.

Alabama jumped two spots to No. 8 after it fell to a season-low No. 10 last week. Clemson moved up four spots to re-enter the top- 0 at No. 8 and Utah climbed to No. 10.

POLL POINTS

Georgia is closing in on a school record.

The Bulldogs are No. 1 for the ninth time this season, matching the total from last season, when they won the national title for the first time in 41 years.

Georgia has been at No. 1 a total of 33 times in school history, one behind Michigan for 12th most in the history of the AP poll.

The Bulldogs are at Kentucky next week and close the season against Georgia Tech. Barring a major upset, they’ll go into the Southeastern Conference championship against LSU with 11 weeks as the country’s top-ranked team.

IN

Of the four teams that moved into the rankings this week, Coastal Carolina is the only one making its season debut. The 23rd-ranked Chanticleers have now reached the Top 25 in each of the last three seasons.

— No. 22 Cincinnati is back in. The Bearcats give the American Athletic Conference a season-high three ranked teams along with No. 17 Central Florida and No. 21 Tulane.

— No. 24 Oklahoma State returned after snapping a two-game losing streak by beating Iowa State.

— No. 25 Oregon State is also back. The Beavers broke a nine-year poll drought two weeks ago, immediately lost a close game at Washington and dropped out, and then moved back in Sunday after beating California.

OUT

Texas’ season in the rankings: Unranked for the first two polls, moved in for two weeks in September, out for two weeks, in for two weeks, back for a week and now gone again.

— Illinois tumbled out after a second straight home loss.

— North Carolina State is unranked for the first time this season after the Wolfpack was upset at home by Boston College.

— Liberty’s time in the Top 25 lasted a mere week. The Flames followed up a victory at Arkansas to move into the rankings by losing at UConn to fall out.

CONFERENCE CALL

The Ducks and Bruins getting toppled crushed the Pac-12’s hopes of putting a team in the College Football Playoff. One consolation prize: The conference now has more ranked teams than it has since Sept. 15, 2019.

Pac-12 — 6 (Nos. 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 25).

SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 5, 6, 8, 14).

ACC — 3 (Nos. 9, 13, 20).

American — 3 (Nos. 17, 21, 22).

Big Ten — 3 (Nos. 2, 3, 11).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 4, 19, 24).

Sun Belt — 1 (No. 23).

Independent — 1 (No. 18).

RANKED vs. RANKED

The Pac-12’s big games lost some luster, but they’re still at the top of the marquee.

No. 7 USC at No. 16 UCLA.

No. 10 Utah at No. 12 Oregon.

THE TOP 25

1. Georgia (62 first-place votes) 10-0

2. Ohio St. (1) 10-0

3. Michigan 10-0

4. TCU 10-0

5. Tennessee 9-1

6. LSU 8-2

7. Southern Cal 9-1

8. Alabama 8-2

9. Clemson 9-1

10. Utah 8-2

11. Penn St. 8-2

12. Oregon 8-2

13. North Carolina 9-1

14. Mississippi 8-2

15. Washington 8-2

16. UCLA 8-2

17. UCF 8-2

18. Notre Dame 7-3

19. Kansas St. 7-3

20. Florida St. 7-3

21. Tulane 8-2

22. Cincinnati 8-2

23. Coastal Carolina 9-1

24. Oklahoma St. 7-3

25. Oregon St. 7-3

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Only Justin Fields could make a 1-yard run a spectacle.

But that’s just what the Bears quarterback did with 12 seconds left in the first half Sunday against the Lions. He took a shotgun snap, pump faked, bluffed left and then right before tucking the ball to run left. He plowed into the end zone on third-and-goal from the 1.

His run, which left two Lions players injured and a third, defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs, in disbelief that he couldn’t ankle-tackle him in the backfield, tied the game at 10 before halftime.

Fields ran 34.2 yards; per NFL Next Gen Stats, it was the longest a player has run during a one-yard touchdown since former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles ran 35.4 yards in Week 15 of 2016.

Fields started Sunday’s game with a repeat of last week’s record-setting rushing performance — a 28-yard rush. The Bears, though, weren’t as dynamic the rest of the first half. Fields completed 5 of 8 passes for 51 yards and an 80.7 passer rating. He ran six times for 65 yards.

The Bears and Lions traded field goals to start the game — Cairo Santos made a 33-yarder, his 20th-straight field goal, to cap the first Bears drive. Michael Badgley kicked a 25-yarder to cap the Lions’ first — before the Bears were forced to punt after a penalty-filled second possession.

The Lions then put together a plodding 13-play, 86-yard drive that lasted 7:26 — and almost ended in disaster. They went from first-and-goal at the 1 to second-and-four on when Jack Sanborn tackled quarterback Jared Goff. Linebacker Nick Morrow pushed D’Andre Swift out of bounds on third-and-goal from the 1, setting up fourth-and-goal at the 2. The Lions went for it and Goff found tight end Brock Wright wide open to the right for a touchdown. No other Bears defender was in that half of the end zone.

The Bears’ defense allowed 5.8 yards per play in the first half and didn’t force a punt. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who started after fighting an oblique injury, missed most of the Lions’ second drive while standing on the sideline in pain.

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Mount Carmel’s program was built on running the football. Jordan Lynch revamped the offense when he took over in 2018, but the success the Caravan is having throwing the ball right now is unprecedented.

Quarterback Blainey Dowling has passed for 35 touchdowns and more than 2,300 yards so far this season. Both numbers smash the school’s previous records. Jeff Welsh set the previous record for touchdown passes with 22 in 1996.

Dowling has thrown more touchdown passes this season than any other Mount Carmel quarterback has managed in their career. Don Butkus had 34 TD passes from 2010-12, Jordan Lynch managed 31 from 2006-08 and Donovan McNabb had 27 from 1991-93.

You won’t have to brave the cold weather to get a look at Mount Carmel’s offense. Marquee Network is showing the Class 7A semifinal between the Caravan and Brother Rice live on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Cinderella story

Providence is a No. 13 seed in the Class 4A playoffs. The Celtics flew under the radar all season, but a closer look at their schedule shows that maybe the playoff run to the semifinals shouldn’t have been a huge surprise.

Tyler Plantz’s squad was just 3-6 in 2021 and entered the season without any hype at all. Providence beat a team from Indiana in Week 1 and then was shut out 28-0 by Wheaton North at home in Week 2.

Things turned around at that point. The Celtics beat Fenwick in Week 3 and from then on took care of business against the teams they were expected to beat and put up tough battles against the area’s elite teams.

Providence lost to Joliet Catholic by eight points, Loyola by 12 and St. Rita by 10 points.

On Saturday the Celtics, who took down the Hilltoppers in the second round, beat previously undefeated Richmond-Burton 31-14. Quarterback Lucas Proudfoot threw three touchdown passes, including a 61-yarder to Alex Gibson and a 72-yard score to Jack Tess.

Next up for Providence is a showdown at St. Francis in the semifinals.

A new rushing king

Prairie Ridge senior Tyler Vasey broke the state’s single-season rushing record on Saturday against Harlem. He set a Class 6A playoff record with his 481 yards and eight touchdowns. He now has 3,609 rushing yards this season, smashing the previous total of 3,325 which was set by TJ Stinde of Lexington in 2009.

The Wolves will host St. Ignatius in the Class 6A semifinals this weekend.

End of the road

The quarterfinals were the end of the road for Public League teams in this season’s state playoffs. There’s no shame in that at all, most conferences around the state have been eliminated at this stage.

Kenwood lost a competitive Class 6A quarterfinal game 14-0 against undefeated Lemont and Morgan Park was shut out 29-0 at Nazareth in Class 5A. Simeon lost to Crete-Monee in the second round of Class 6A last week.

That’s a very solid season overall for the Public League powers.

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