The Bears won, but why does it feel like they didn’t? Patrick Finley and Jason Lieser break down the 23-20 win Sunday and why the quarterback struggled.

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The Bears have a lot to sort through after scraping by the Texans 23-20 on Sunday, starting with quarterback Justin Fields’ ugly game and running back David Montgomery’s leg injury.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Johnson out

The Bears’ top cornerback, Jaylon Johnson, missed the game with a quad injury. Johnson, who played nearly every snap in the first two games, got hurt in practice and was inactive against the Texans.

More of the same

Fields was hardly the first Bears quarterback to have a nightmarish performance and still win. It’s a bit of a tradition around here. The last one to post a sub-30 passer rating and escape with victory was Todd Collins in 2010. He completed 6 of 16 passes for 32 yards and threw four interceptions for a 6.2 rating in the Bears’ 23-6 over the Panthers.

Butkus ad-libs

Bears great Dick Butkus made an appearance during the game and after waxing poetic about his years playing at Soldier Field, he looked incredulous as he blurted, “And now we’re moving to Arlington Heights?” Butkus also improvised during a sponsored toast to the crowd. When the setup was, “May our team be…” Butkus finished the sentence with, “Get better.”

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Roquan Smith has made big plays in big moments before, but this one was seemed to mean more.

After intercepting a Davis Mills pass at the Texans’ 30-yard line, taking a shot at a pick-6 and getting tackled at the 12 with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter of a tie game, the Bears’ All-Pro linebacker punctuated the celebration by winding up and heaving the ball into the south end zone stands.

“To all my supporters. I threw it to all of them,” Smith said with a big smile. “And saying F-you to all the ones that don’t.”

Smith’s big play not only set up the Bears for a 23-20 victory Sunday at Soldier Field on Cairo Santos’ 30-yard field goal as time expired, but capped a day of rejuvenation for Smith coming off an underwhelming start to the 2022 season. After sitting out practice all week because of a hip injury, Smith had 16 tackles and two tackles for loss in addition to the interception.

It was a welcome performance. The victory didn’t say much about the Bears — who won unimpressively — and even less about quarterback Justin Fields. But Smith’s breakout performance in his third game in Matt Ebeflus’ defense was the closest thing to defining.

“It’s big time,” Smith said. “I’ve showcased what I can do year-in and year-out. Not having [training] camp — first two games still working my way in. But hey — third game normally feeling myself out. So I think [from] here on out you can expect some big things.

“I feel like I can always step it up a notch. I’m always hungry to get better, because I’m on a one-year deal essentially. So I’m just trying to do everything I can to do what I need to do.”

It was the bestevidence yet that Smith can be as productive in Eberflus’ defense as All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard was with the Colts.

“That, to me is getting there,” Eberflus said. “That position, it’s a hot position, and we need production out of that, and he certainly had a really good game [Sunday]. He’s getting comfortable in the defense.”

After a contentious contract “hold-in” during training camp that left him embittered and upset with Bears general manager Ryan Poles, Smith pledged to put it behind him and “bet on myself” in 2022. He didn’t consider the standout performance — or that celebratory heave — a message to Poles or the Bears.

“It’s a message to myself,” Smith said, “Just me telling myself what I always tell myself –I’m the best in it.”

Smith made his plays count. When the Texans had a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line late in the first quarter, Smith tackled rookie running back Dameon Pierce for a two-yard loss. Eddie Jackson intercepted Mills in the end zone on the next play.

When the Texans had a third-and-one from the Bears’ 2-yard line late in the third quarter, Smith tackled Pierce for a three-yard loss to force the Texans to settle for a field goal that tied the game 20-20.

And finally, on a third-and-one at the Texans’ 26 with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Smith stepped in front of running back Rex Burkhead to snare a Mills pass that had been tipped by defensive tackle Angelo Blackson at the one of scrimmage.

“I knew it was third-and-one –I figured the quarterback was gonna try to get the first down,” Smith said. “So I said, ‘OK, I’m gonna break on it and then I took a chance.”

The next thing he knew, the ball was in the stands.

“Then I wondered where the ball went,” he said. “I just tried to throw it so far to say everything. That was the best part … throwing the ball.”

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The excuses and explanations cannot be endless. There has to be an expiration date on them.

The reality is that this season is going badly for Bears quarterback Justin Fields, and choosing to be in denial isn’t productive. He was a disaster against the Texans on Sunday, and it’s almost impossible for the Bears to win when he plays like that.

Almost.

Roquan Smith bailed him out with a late interception to set up Cairo Santos’ game-winning field goal for a 23-20 escape.

Fields had little to do with that outcome.

He completed 8 of 17 passes for 106 yards with two interceptions for a career-worst 27.7 passer rating and opened his self-assessment with, “Everybody in the stadium knows I didn’t play as well as I wanted to,” but quickly let loose how he really felt.

“Straight up, I just played like — I want to say the A-word, but I’m not gonna do that,”Fields said. “I just played like trash. I played terrible. Really just gotta be better.”

When asked what specifically he needs to fix, he answered, “A lot of things.”

The Bears went up 10-0 after two possessions, but nearly blew it by the end of the first quarter. Fields was deep in his own end of the field and overthrew tight end Cole Kmet over the middle for an interception by rookie safety Jalen Pitre. The Texans had first-and-goal at the 5-yard line when Eddie Jackson wiped it out with an interception in the end zone.

He sailed another one early in the fourth that could’ve cost the Bears the game. On third-and-six at his own 39-yard line, Fields threw too deep for Darnell Mooney and again into Pitre’s arms. The Texans got to the Bears’ 35-yard line before the defense again rescued Fields by pushing them out of field-goal range.

Fields’ poor performance is more significant than the Bears eking one out against the lowly Texans. In the long-term aspiration to contend for a championship, this victory is a footnote to Fields’ struggles — not the other way around.

Having a franchise quarterback matters more than anything in the NFL, and the single greatest priority for the Bears this season is to determine whether Fields is that guy.

It doesn’t look promising at the moment.

He was the only starter in the NFL to throw fewer than 20 passes in the first two weeks, doing so twice, and did it again Sunday. He had a 100-yard cushion for last place in yards passing. The Bears can wave around a 2-1 start, but this isn’t a template for anything legitimate.

Fields’ debacle Sunday could be brushed aside if it was an aberration, but this game fits painfully well with his young career.

For the season, Fields has now completed 51.1% of his passes for 297 yards, thrown two touchdowns against four interceptions and posted a 50.0 passer rating. His circumstances certainly worked against him as a rookie, when he threw 10 interceptions and had a 72.8 rating, but coordinator Luke Getsy’s offense is supposed to be tailored to his skills.

Fields isn’t claiming he needs more time to acclimate to the scheme.

“It’s early right now, but I can guarantee you all the guys in the locker room on the offense aren’t gonna make that excuse,” he said. “You can really throw that out the window for me.”

While it’s obvious this is a mess, it’s not so clear how to untangle it.

Fields certainly has played his part in it, and 14 interceptions in 15 games is concerning. But when he sits in the pocket forever, is it indecision or has general manager Ryan Poles not given him receivers that can get open? Mooney is their most accomplished receiver, and he’s in his third season.

When he hurries a throw or almost instantly takes off scrambling, is that impatience or is he smartly countering his fledgling offensive line? He got sacked five times and was under pressure on the interception in the fourth.

“On any unit, it’s always everybody,” Eberflus said, echoing the empty answers Matt Nagy always gave about Mitch Trubisky. “You can never just point to one guy. I don’t think that’s the answer. It never is. It’s the protection, it’s the route combinations being in sync — it’s everything.”

Everything includes him and Getsy.

It accomplishes nothing to take the ball out of Fields’ hands and run draw plays on third down, as the Bears did twice Sunday.

And it’s even more egregious that Eberflus ran the clock out at halftime with three timeouts in his pocket. He went conservative, clinging to the hope of merely a 14-13 deficit rather than give Fields the shot to lead a drive. Eberflus admitted he mismanaged that scenario, saying, “I’ve gotta be better.”

The best-case scenario for the Bears is for Fields to be their answer. It would solve the biggest problem any team faces. Eberflus and Poles haven’t given Fields a proper opportunity to prove that, but he also hasn’t provided much evidence that he’d be able to make the most of it anyway.

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The manner in which the White Sox were eliminated from the American League Central title race Sunday disgusted acting manager Miguel Cairo.

“Today was the worst one,” Cairo said of the Sox’s sixth consecutive defeat — a lifeless 4-1 loss to the last-place Tigers that gave the Guardians the division title.

“That’s not acceptable. That’s not baseball. That’s not what the Chicago White Sox are about. It was terrible.”

In a fitting manner, the Sox wasted six shutout innings by ace Dylan Cease thanks to a feeble offense that produced one extra base hit (a home run by Yoan Moncada), a bullpen that allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score in the seventh and eighth innings, and a wide throw by second baseman Romy Gonzalez on a potential double play that might have prevented three runs in the eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, Adam Engel was nailed at first base after aborting his steal attempt for the first out with the Sox trailing by three runs.

“You can put it either way,” Cairo responded to a question about the Sox’s effort. “Execution. Effort. Everything.”

The loss sank the Sox (76-77) below .500 for the first time since Sept. 1. They entered last week hoping a six-game homestand would enable them to cut their four-game deficit. Instead they fell 10 games back — starting with a three-games sweep by the more-polished Guardians.

“I think we definitely didn’t play up to our abilities,” Cease said in assessing the season. “I’d have to really take a step back and look at it. I don’t really want to comment just off the wing, but I think we all know we had more in the tank.”

The Sox fell to 13-12 since Cairo took over for Tony La Russa on Aug. 30, but Sunday’s loss stood out in a manner that annoyed Cairo.

“You saw for six series the way you are supposed to play the game,” Cairo said. “And you saw (Sunday) it was totally different team. So, just better go back and get a day off (Monday) and regroup, and there’s nine more games. You got to finish strong and hard.”

Even with several players coping with an assortment of nagging injuries, Cairo doesn’t plan to shut anyone down.

“They are all playing, Tuesday until the last game (Oct. 5). So they better bring some effort. It was kind of embarrassing.”

Sunday’s loss marked the 12th time the Sox entered the seventh inning with a lead, only to lose the game. They also scored three runs or fewer for the 75th time in 153 games.

This marked the first time the Sox were swept in a homestead of at least six games since May 19-24, 1989, to the Blue Jays and Orioles.

During their current losing streak, the Sox lost two games after Cease departed with leads.

“It was tough,” Cease said of the general disappointment of the week. “After a disappointing season, for it to be sort of capped off by this, it’s tough. I still like us to finish strong with our last nine, so I’m looking forward to that.”

While Cease spoke, many players packed their equipment in preparation for the last trip to Minnesota and San Diego, with the pounding of attendants removing mud from cleats dominating the sound inside the clubhouse.

“We’re definitely disappointed,” Cease said. “We take the game serious. We compete, so when you compete and it doesn’t work out, it’s frustrating. We’re disappointed, but we got a lot of professional guys here, guys with a lot of big league time. We’re not sulking. We’re showing up to play the rest of the games.”

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Khalil Herbert walked into the Bears’ locker room after the best game of his career, grabbed his phone and texted David Montgomery.

“That was for him,” Herbert said.

Montgomery, the Bears’ starting running back, had left Sunday’s 23-20 win against the Texans in the first quarter with injuries to his right knee and ankle. On a pass play, Montgomery was pushed by Texans safety Jalen Pitre back onto defensive tackleMichael Dwumfour, who rolled up on his leg.

Montgomery’s injury looked ugly. While the Bears’ locker room was somber, head coach Matt Eberflus tried to paint his situation in hopeful, albeit vague, terms. He called Montgomery “day-to-day” and said the Bears would reevaluate him Monday.

“It’s a positive, for sure,” he said.

Herbert more than filled in for Montgomery, running 20 times for 157 yards.

“It’s like he was running for two back there,” right guard Lucas Patrick said. “What he did is special. Like any back, to run for that [yardage] is special.

“But to step up when one of our offensive leaders goes down and to do that and say, ‘Don’t worry –I got us,’ it invigorates all of us. It inspires all of us.”

Herbert is the ninth Bears running back ever to run for more than 155 yards in a game. The Bears’ 281 rushing yards Sunday were the most they’ve totaled since Sept. 30, 1984, against the Cowboys. They averaged seven yards per carry, the 11th-best clip in franchise history, against the Texans.

Herbert led the way.

“[I’m] proud of the way he ran the ball,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “Proud of the way our offensive line blocked for him. Just proud.”

Their three longest plays were all runs –a 29-yard Fields scramble, a 41-yard Equanimeous St. Brown fly sweep and Herbert’s career-long 52-yarder on the Bears’ first offensive play of the second half.

“A lot of things have to happen wrong,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said, “for them to be able to get some of those plays.”

Herbert made an impact immediately. The Bears handed off to him on three of the next four plays after Montgomery limped off the field. He gained eight yards on the first carry and 11 yards on each of the next two, including a bruising touchdown.

“It really just gets the juices going, gets everybody back in the game,” Herbert said. “We’re just trying to find a way to win anyway we can.”

With the Bears’ pass game stuck in the stone age, Herbert figures to get plenty of opportunities as long as Montgomery is out. He’s been efficient all season –he averaged 6.4 yards per carry, the fourth-most in the league, entering Sunday’s game — but had run only 11 times.

Herbert’s 20 carries Sunday were three short of a career high set last year, when he was the Bears’ lead back for four games with Montgomery hurt.

“Once you get in a rhythm you start feeling things, you start feeling hot, and you’re able to just do stuff,” Herbert said.

Montgomery, whom the Bears consider a team leader, is in the last year of his rookie contract. He was coming off one of his best career games; he ran 15 times for 122 yards against the Packers.

“[Montgomery’s] play style represents a lot of what we want everyone to play like,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “And you see how physical he plays. Khalil comes in and does a great job. That’s pretty cool, to see guys step up like that.”

Herbert, who admitted to being more sore than usual after the game, will have to step up again.

“Really just making the most of my opportunities,” he said. “I come in with that mindset every week, whether it’s one carry, 20 carries. Just try to make the most of that, and make a play with what I get.”

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Dylan Cease is assured of at least one more start to strengthen his slim American League Cy Young hopes, and he wants to continue improving even with the White Sox out of AL Central title contention.

“I think I really want to chime home the fastball command,” Cease said after walking three but still managing to pitch six scoreless innings Sunday in a 4-1 loss to the Tigers.

Cease lost a chance at a win when Reynaldo Lopez allowed a game-tying double to Victor Reyes in the seventh, but Ceaselowered his ERA to 2.06 — second to the Astros’ Justin Verlander (1.82), who leads the AL with an 0.84 WHIP and was tied with Cease and Shane McClanahan for lowest opponents’ batting average (.188) entering play Sunday.

Cease has allowed one earned run or less in 23 of his 31 starts, and his ERA is the second-lowest by a White Sox pitcher over his first 31 starts of a season since 1920.

“I got a lot left in the tank,” Cease said.

With an off day Monday, the Sox could keep Cease on a normal five-day schedule and start him Friday at San Diego, which would line him up for the season finale against the Twins Oct. 5.

“I’d love to throw as much as I can, but we’ll have to see.”

Cease has no intention of letting up.

“We got to show up and bring it,” Cease said. “It’s still major league baseball. There is no half-assing it. You got to bring it every day. So I think that’s our plan.”

Rest for Abreu

Acting White Sox manager Miguel Cairo earned a minor victory Sunday by persuading slugger Jose Abreu to rest.

This marked Abreu’s first game missed since the Game 2 of a May 17 doubleheader at Kansas City.

“Believe me, he would play no matter what,” Cairo said before the game. “But he needs a day (off).”

Abreu, 35, is one of the Sox’s most productive players in an otherwise disappointing season. He is among the league leaders in hits (176), and batting average (.304), in addition to a .377 on-base percentage.

“He’s a hard head, but we love him because he wants to be out there every day,” Cairo said. “And that’s the kind of player you want to have on your team, guys who, no matter what, they want to be in the field.”

Abreu has started 123 games at first base and 27 as the designated hitter.

This and that

The Sox were swept for the sixth time, and the third time at home. This marked the Tigers’ first sweep of the Sox since June 15-17, 2018, at Guaranteed Rate Field.

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Khalil Herbert was the Bears’ player of the game on offense in what was an otherwise dreadful performance by the offense today.

Khalil Herbert had 20 carries for 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns today after David Montgomery left the game early with an injury to his knee and ankle.  Herbert once again came up big with Montgomery down with an injury, just as he did a year ago.

Only this time Herbert was more clutch with his play.  Herbert got the Bears down into the end zone twice, despite a disastrous day from Justin Fields.

David Montgomery had 15 carries for 122 yards and no touchdowns last week against the Packers.  Montgomery is a very good running back, but he’s not worth the type of money the Bears should pay him.  Montgomery deserves to be extended, he deserves to be paid well, but when you have a running back who will be cheaper and as productive or perhaps even more productive then you can’t justify a contract extension for him.

This is just the unfortunate reality of today’s NFL game.  Decent running back production the next two season could come from Herbert and Trestan Ebner.  Ebner has shown enough flashes that he can be a solid backup to Herbert.

Not extending Montgomery is not a reflection of him as a player, but a reflection of today’s reality in the NFL.  It may be a hard pill to swallow for Bears fans, because Montgomery is a fan favorite.  He  works hard, he plays hard and is a consummate professional teammate, but he is not good enough to invest money in when the Bears need to invest in a QB or receivers moving forward.

#Bears RB Khalil Herbert’s carry chart from Week 3: pic.twitter.com/bYUBr3Xn2C

— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) September 25, 2022

Khalil Herbert meanwhile shows why he was such a steal in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.  He could easily get over 1,000 yards if he was given the workload.  He has better home run hitting ability and showed up with two touchdowns in the win today.  Herbert is just the more talented running back and as a result should be the starter next year.

Montgomery will be listed as day-to-day according to Matt Eberflus, but it may not matter because with Khalil Herbert as the featured back, the Bears offense won’t miss a beat.

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