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Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash break down Justin Fields’ play and what went wrong in the loss to the Commanders.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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As the Bears went for the game-winning touchdown in the final minute Thursday against the Commanders, they thought they had it.

They were at the Commanders’ 4-yard line, down 12-7 with 42 seconds left, quarterback Justin Fields hit receiver Dante Pettis in the back right corner of the end zone. Pettis had it in his hands, but safety Darrick Forrest took him down and the ball came loose for an incomplete pass.

The Bears came up inches short on the next play, fourth down, and lost 12-7.

Pettis didn’t see the replay when it was shown on the big screen at Soldier Field, but said it felt like pass interference by Forrest. In slow motion, it showed that, at minimum, Forrest made contact early and was pulling down Pettis’ right arm before the ball arrived.

As he watched the replay for the first time on a reporter’s phone, Pettis shook his head.

“If anyone makes that catch they’re … That’s a tough catch to make,” he said. “The dude is on my arm. Guess I’ve gotta get a little stronger, fight through that. But Justin gave me an opportunity. That’s all you can really ask for.”

He added, “There’s pass interference and holding on pretty much every play. They didn’t call it, so I guess it wasn’t pass interference.”

Fields and coach Matt Eberflus both said they believed it should have been called pass interference.

Pettis’ frustration was exacerbated by the fact that Bears cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson were flagged for pass interference late in the first half as the Commanders went in for a field goal.

“You feel like you’re getting held or whatever it is, and then you see our defense get pass interference called on them,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Alright, we’ve gotta call it both ways.’ But yeah, that’s football. That’s sports. That’s what happens when you’re playing a physical game, and refs can’t make every call.”

Pettis led the Bears with four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

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The Chicago Bears have zero players on offense who inspire any type of hope for the future.

The Chicago Bears are now six games into their 2022 season and the fans know exactly what this team is and it’s a horrible football team.  The Bears put forth another awful performance on offense in their 12-7 loss to the Washington Commanders.  The Bears offense had three trips on offense inside the five-yard line and came away with no points.

The Chicago Bears’ offensive line was horrible, giving up constant pressure all night.  Justin Fields was buried by hits from the Commanders’ front four all night.  The Bears offensive line is the worst unit in the NFL right now, with one player that is of starting caliber.

The Chicago Bears’ wide receivers are just as bad.  Dante Pettis dropped more passes, Darnell Mooney dropped passes, Velus Jones Jr. muffed a punt.  There’s not a playmaker on the outside that Justin Field can trust.

Justin Fields still has no confidence to deliver the football within the structure of the passing game.  He doesn’t see the field very well and holds onto the ball longer than any other quarterback in the league right now.  His accuracy is suspect and when you combine his failures with the failures of the players around him you quickly develop one of the worst offenses in the NFL.  

What can the Chicago Bears do?  The answer is not very much at least when it comes to developing some kind of offensive consistency.  This is yet another game in which the Bears could have developed some sort of consistency on offense.  They could have progressed as players all 11 players on offense.  But it’s apparent that there isn’t starting caliber talent within the Bears offense.

The only thing promising was Justin Fields ability to run with the football.  But it’s going to take more than Justin Fields’ legs to keep the Bears from being the worst team in the NFL this year.  As it stands after this game, the Bears are going to struggle to win another game the rest of the year.

The hard truth is where can you point to hope?  Who or what player inspires hope in the future of this team?  We basically know what kind of player we have in all of the players who play on offense, and none of them inspire any sort of hope that they’ll someday be a part of a playoff-caliber team.  The harsh reality is, if the Bears want to develop into a competitive team within the next two years, beyond 2022, there may not be a single player from this offense who will be a part of that playoff team.

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Justin Fields turned the ball over on the Bears’ first-quarter red zone trip, overthrew a wide-open teammate in the end zone in the second quarter and took an inexcusable delay of game on fourth-and-11 in the fourth quarter.

The plays in between were just as ugly, too, as the Bears quarterback took a significant step backward on national television in a 12-7 loss to the lowly Commanders on Thursday night at Soldier Field.

Fields used a 39-yard scramble to move the Bears to the 5 with 52 seconds to play, but he scrambled for one yard on first down, threw two incompletions and then lofted a pass to Darnell Mooney at the front right pylon. Mooney caught the fourth-down pass but was pushed out of bounds just inches from the end zone.

Coming off his best game of the season against the Vikings, Fields reverted to some of the same frustrating plays that dogged him through the first month of the season.

With about three minutes left in the first quarter, the Bears had first-and-goal at the Commanders’ 6. After David Montgomery ran for one yard, Fields dropped back to pass and sidearmed a pass toward tight end Cole Kmet, who had lined up left and ran a slant route into the end zone. The ball hit the helmet of the Commanders’ Efe Obada, rocketed into the air and was caught by fellow defensive lineman Jonathan Allen for an interception.

The Bears we back in the red zone quickly, thanks to running back Khalil Herbert, who took a handoff on the first play of the next drive and zig-zagged up the field for a thrilling 64-yard run. A flag on the Commanders for having too many men on the field moved the Bears from the 6 to the 3.

After Herbert was stuffed for no gain, Fields faked two handoffs on second-and-goal — first to Herbert and then to receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who ran an end around from right to left. That allowed backup tight end Ryan Griffin to slip away, unguarded. Fields saw him open and running into the south end zone, wound up and threw it over his head. Griffin dove toward the NFC logo, but the throw wasn’t close.

A Fields scramble then put the ball inside the 1. The Bears went for it and handed to Herbert — who was stuffed at the line.

The Bears have been allergic to throwing inside the red zone. Thursday’s plays show why.

Entering the Commanders game, the Bears had run 27 times, thrown six passes and were sacked once in the red zone. The six passes produced two touchdowns — though Sunday’s score, a pop-pass to Velus Jones that he ran in for a nine-yard score, was a glorified handoff.

Fields was battered all night — even on his highlight throw.

Halfway through the third quarter, Fields had a free play — the Commanders had too many players on the field when the Bears quarterback took the snap. The Bears had the ball at the 40, and Fields dropped back to around midfield, looked left and launched a pass to Dante Pettis, covered one-on-one. The veteran receiver caught the ball about five yards into the end zone, tapped both feet in and tumbled out the left sideline for a touchdown.

The Bears held that 7-3 lead until a remarkable swing in momentum. With about eight minutes to play in the game, the Commanders faced fourth-and-1 at their own 42. Bluffing as though they were trying to convert the first down, they tried a hard count, took a delay of game and punted.Jones, the Bears’ rookie punt returner, muffed the punt for the second time in three weeks, falling to one knee and he was unable to collect the ball. The Commanders recovered at the 6 and scored two plays later to take a 12-7 lead.

The Bears took the ensuing kickoff and tried to mount a game-winning drive. Fields was sacked on third down, only to get bailed out by a Commanders illegal use of hands penalty. The drive never got on track. Four-straight David Montgomery runs gave the Bears two first downs and the ball at the Commanders’ 42. Fields then threw incomplete to Kmet, handed off to receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette for a loss of one and then threw low to Pettis in the flat.

That set up fourth-and-11, when Fields took a delay of game. The Bears went for it on fourth-and-16 and Fields threw incomplete to Smith-Marsette, who was running across the field well short of the first down marker.

The delay of game and the ensuing throw showed a shocking lack of awareness for a man the Bears hope will be the face of the franchise.

Commanders kicker Joey Slye missed a 48-yard field goal that would have given them an eight-point lead with about two minutes to play to give the Bears one last shot at winning the game — one that fell inches short.

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Three observations from the Bears’ “Thursday Night Football” game against the Commanders:

Pettis scores

Receiver Dante Pettis’ 40-yard touchdown catch on a free play –the Commanders had too many men on the field –marked his second score of the season. The first was a 51-yarder on Justin Fields’ improvised play in the soaking season opener. In between the opener and Thursday night’s game, Pettis had been targeted five times without a catch, including two drops.

Bears a l’Orange

For the first time since the Bears donned leather helmets, they wore headgear that wasn’t navy blue on Thursday. The team debuted their new orange helmets and paired them with an orange jersey, white pants and orange socks. The team handed out orange towels to fans as well. Last month, chairman George McCaskey called the new helmets, which will also be worn Oct. 30 in Dallas, “another enhancement of a classic look.”

Robinson back

Rookie Brian Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown run halfway through the fourth quarter capped a remarkable two months for the Commanders running back. Robinson was shot twice in his right leg Aug. 28 and amazingly returned to game action Sunday, running nine times for 22 yards. Thursday, he scored his first-ever NFL touchdown.

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The Bears’ defense found a solution to its first-half problems Thursday night — execution, pressure and a favorable matchup.

Facing a Washington Commanders team the presented none of the problems that had flummoxed the Bears in the first half previously this season — Aaron Rodgers’ passing, Daniel Jones’ bootleg runs, Saquon Barkley’s excellence and Kirk Cousins-to-Justin Jefferson — the Bears nearly pitched a first-half shutout against Carson Wentz and the 1-4 Commanders.

The Bears forced punts on the Commanders’ first four possessions before two pass interference penalties paved the way for Joey Slye’s 38-yard field goal that gave the Commanders a 3-0 halftime lead.

Four days after the Bears allowed 307 yards on 44 plays (7.0 avg.), 6-of-7 third-down conversions and three touchdowns in the first half against the Vikings, they held the Commanders to 88 yards on 26 carries (3.4 avg.), 1-of-6 third-down conversions and no touchdowns.

Unconventional pressure played a key role. Safety Jaquan Brisker sacked Wentz on third-and-seven for a three-and-out on the Commanders’ first possession. Linebacker Roquan Smith sacked Wentz on third-and-five on the second possession.

Wentz threw incomplete on a third-and-five pass for Dyami Brown, with cornerback Jaylon Johnson covering, to force a third consecutive punt. And linebacker Nick Morrow’s blitz allowed defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad to pressure Wentz into an incompletion on third-and-four to force the Commanders to punt a fourth consecutive time.

The Bears’ aggressiveness got the best of them on the final drive of the half. On back-to-back third-down plays, Kindle Vildor and Johnson were called for pass interference for gains of 17 and 15 yards to the Bears 40-yard line. On third-and-six from the 20, Wentz threw incomplete for Terry McLaurin in the end zone, with Johnson in coverage, and the Commanders settled for Slye’s field goal with 46 seconds left in the half.

The Bears came into the game with first-half defensive numbers the coaching staff could not ignore. Their 80 points allowed was tied for second in the NFL. Their 11 touchdowns and 63 first downs allowed were the most in the league. Their 6.2 yards per play was the third highest.

The problem was highlighted in the first half against the Vikings, when the Bears allowed touchdown drives of 86, 75 and 71 yards to fall behind 21-3.

“Execution,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said. “They did make some plays, but I still would like to think it’s more about us than it is about them.”

Williams pointed toward simple things as the culprits against the Vikings –elements he expected to fix against the Commanders on Thursday night.

“It’s still about owning your gap. It’s still about reading your keys. It’s still about tackling,” Williams said. “It’s still about doing those types of things more so than it is about them.”

And Williams also pointed the finger at himself.

“As a coordinator, I have to take some ownership of that, too,” he said. “I have to call a better first half to help the guys out. I do believe it’s coach and player. So [the issue] is both.”

The return of Johnson gave the Bears a boost. Johnson’s absence wasn’t really felt against the Texans and Giants. But against the Vikings, they were left to defend Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen with three rookies in their secondary — cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Jones and safety Jaquan Brisker.

“We’re glad to have him back,” Williams said. “That’s another able body, another really good player that helps us out. And it’s another guy that’s been in the battles and communicates on the field to help the other guys out. So I can’t overstate how much it means to the defense to have him ready to go.”

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No one was yelling Super Bowl or bust about the Bears going into this season. They didn’t even have to be good.

In the wake of firing Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, the bar was at an all-time low for Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus: Just give some hope that this team is headed the right direction.

Six games in, signs of progress are scant.

Regardless of the outcome against the Commanders on Thursday, this was an uninspiring performance against an awful opponent.

No one figures more prominently in the Bears’ future than Justin Fields, who is already on the clock in Year 2 to prove he can be their franchise quarterback. Otherwise, they’ll be drafting high, and that’s a prime opportunity to change course.

Fields has played exactly one good game, and it’s too late in the season to keep calling this an adjustment period to the new offense under coordinator Luke Getsy. This was his sixth game in the system, and he has been working on it in practice for months.

Facing one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, Fields didn’t get the Bears on the scoreboard until midway through the third quarter on a 40-yard touchdown heave to Dante Pettis. It was an excellent throw, both in terms of Fields’ accuracy and his recognition that he had a free play because the Commanders had too many men on the field, but there haven’t been enough of them.

His performance against the Vikings — 15 of 21 for 208 yards and a touchdown for a 118.8 passer rating — felt parade-worthy only because of how dismal the passing game had been before that. With a clearer perspective, it would only be significant if it was a gradual step toward something much better.

Fields still sat near the bottom of the NFL in passer rating, completion percentage and yardage, ranking slightly ahead of castoffs Mitch Trubisky and Baker Mayfield.

Fields’ play hinges on him more than anyone else, but no one could claim the Bears have properly outfitted him personnel-wise. He’s playing with budget-friendly offensive linemen and receivers, and that makes an already hard job much harder.

Getsy is equally unproven, and while he conveys confidence at every turn, his assessment of the offense often veers sharply from what is evident to everyone else on game days.

There are big questions defensively as well, and that’s a larger concern because it’s Eberflus’ field of expertise. The early indicators that he had the defense on track have faded.

The Bears looked far better defensively against the Commanders than they did four days earlier when Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins lit them up, but that’s thanks largely to a step down in competition.

Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz has played so poorly that coach Ron Rivera called him out for the team sitting in last place in the NFC East. When does that ever happen in the NFL? Even Nagy defended Trubisky to the point of delusion at times.

The Commanders entered the game 26th in scoring at 18 points per game, a hair ahead of the Bears.

The rookie class could spark some optimism, but who exactly is thriving other than safety Jaquan Brisker?

Fellow second-round pick Kyler Gordon looks like he’ll need a lot more time to develop into the cornerback they envision. Third-round wide receiver Velus Jones is off to a rough start and fumbled away another punt Thursday, this time at his own 9-yard line to set up a Commanders touchdown that gave them a 12-7 lead with 7:21 left. Likewise, left tackle Braxton Jones has ample work to do to secure his spot for 2023.

Maybe the Bears will fix some of this by the end of the season — merely being watchable would be an upgrade — but that requires a lot of trust. And with a first-time general manager and head coach, Poles and Eberflus aren’t entitled to that. Real results are required.

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Armond Jackson’s first possible interception slipped through his hands. He caught the second, but a penalty nullified it.

Then it finally happened in the third quarter: a clean interception to help the Perspectives junior honor his grandmother.

“My nana just died and I really wanted to do something special for her,” Jackson said. “So I was locked in today and focused on the game and playing together with my teammates.”

Jackson helped the Warriors shut out Ag. Science in a 22-0 victory on Thursday at Gately Stadium.

Perspectives (7-1, 5-1 Red South-Central) has already qualified for the Illinois High School Association state playoffs. It’s been a quick improvement from last season when the Warriors finished 2-7.

“The really exciting thing is that this is still a very young group,” Perspectives coach Terry Jones said. “The line is veteran and has been solid and that’s made things easier for everyone. But other than that everyone is young.”

The Warriors didn’t complete a pass in the game but dominated on the ground. Senior Kamarion Cobb, a transfer from Bloom, had 12 carries for 134 yards and a 42-yard touchdown run. Cobb is also a standout basketball player.

“This has been fun,” Cobb said. “These guys are already like my brothers. I have to give it up to my line. I just ran hard and saw the endzone.”

Jackson had three carries for 62 yards and Justin Harris added nine carries for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Jones says senior linebacker Scott Thomas is the heart of the Warriors’ defense.

“The key all season has been communication,” Thomas said. “That was our weakest point last season and we really have focused on that all year.”

Offensive lineman Jermani Massey, a 6-3, 290-pound senior, scored a two-point conversion in the first half. It ignited a major celebration on the Perspectives’ sideline.

“I’ve never touched the ball before in a game so that was really special,” Massey said. “I loved it. We’ve practiced it a couple of times and I had to get in there when I got the chance.”

The Warriors will likely wind up in Class 5A in the playoffs and will have a high seed if they take care of business and beat Dunbar next week to finish 8-1.

“This is the first playoff appearance for the school since 2016 so it means a lot to everybody,” Harris said. “I’ve been playing all four years and dreaming about this.”

The Cyclones (4-4, 2-4) have had an up-and-down season and weren’t able to get much production offensively until the final few minutes of the game.

Senior Thomas Randle Jr. had 11 carries for 59 yards for Ag. Science.

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