10 thoughts on the Bears' 20-10 loss to the Lions

10 thoughts after the Chicago Bears fell to 4-10 with a 20-10 loss to the Detroit Lions on Saturday at Ford Field.

1. It would be far from accurate to say the Bears lost this game because they didn’t hand the ball off to Jordan Howard for running plays from the shotgun formation. But a week after having good success running the ball from that formation in Cincinnati, the Bears didn’t try it once. Howard had 10 carries from the shotgun against the Bengals for 97 yards and two touchdowns. It was strong production from their most consistent offensive performer. It was not a surprise. Howard led all NFL running backs out of the shotgun as a rookie in 2016 when he averaged 7.0 yards per carry (87 rushes for 608 yards). He had a 69-yard run from the shotgun last season. Take that out of the equation and he still averaged 6.3 yards per carry. The Bears finally got back to that in the gameplan last week and, poof, just like that is disappeared. Howard had only 10 carries against the Lions for 37 yards and not one of them came from the shotgun.

Did the Bears not get around to it because the score was lopsided before the midway point of the third quarter when the Lions led 20-3? Maybe that’s part of it. Did the Lions present a look on defense that dissuaded the Bears from trying it? The Bears should dictate what they want to run on offense. Do what fits their players well, and Howard had a ton of success in college running out of the shotgun. The production he piled up running out of the shotgun in college is what got him drafted. He’s comfortable doing it. The team had a lot of success spreading out the Bengals and didn’t do as much of it against the here. Howard has a grand total of 22 carries from the shotgun formation this season and those have produced 145 yards. So the production is right in line with where it was last season.

Again, this tactical move didn’t doom the game for the Bears but before last week, Howard had only 12 carries from the shotgun. It’s not like the Bears haven’t been in the shotgun. Mitch Trubisky entered the game with 173 pass attempts from the shotgun formation. By my count, he attempted 40 passes from the shotgun in this game and there was also a sack, two scrambles by Trubisky and a defensive holding penalty that came out of shotgun snaps. The Bears are in the shotgun, they just haven’t been running the ball from the shotgun. What’s driven that philosophical or tactical shift this season, I don’t know. I get the sense offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains likes opening things up and spreading out the defense. He was a happy man at the Halas Hall podium this past week talking about the success the Bears had in putting up 33 points on the Bengals. Is he being directed to tailor the gameplan differently? Certainly that is possible. But it’s stuck out as a curious move all season and you go back and review the games and against the Buccaneers (nine carries), Steelers (23), Packers (18), Ravens (36), Panthers (21), Saints (23) and now Lions (10), Howard had zero shotgun runs in those games. Coincidence? Yes. Trend? You bet. Bad idea? Unless someone can convince me otherwise, you bet.

2. If the interception by Lions strong safety Quandre Diggs looked familiar that’s because it was the same play Trubisky hit Dontrelle Inman on for a touchdown two weeks ago against the 49ers at Soldier Field. The Bears were on the 8-yard line against San Francisco and were facing third-and-goal from the 5 in this situation on the third snap of the fourth quarter when they trailed 20-3. The Lions had seen the play on tape and diagnosed it. Inman was double-covered and the ball should not have gone there on the post route after Inman faked a move to the corner.

“I told (Diggs) because we already knew what they wanted to do,” said cornerback Darius Slay, who was bracketing Inman on the play. “They hit a touchdown against San Fran, same play, same design. When I saw him (Kendall Wright) motion away, I told my guy (Diggs), ‘It’s gonna happen.’ It was simple. We knew he was going to throw it back side. That’s what he does.”

Said Diggs: “Film study. That’s what we do during the week. You guys probably didn’t see that or know that. We see stuff during the week. That’s the way it was set up, that is the play that needed to be made and I just happened to be in the right spot.”

Slay felt he had a read on Trubisky in the third quarter for what was the first of his two interceptions. Trubisky faked zone read handoff to Jordan Howard and rolled to his left. He got the ball over cornerback Nevin Lawson on a sideline route to Wright, but Slay abandoned the receiver (Inman) that he was covering on a deeper route and made a play on the ball.

“I just watched film and saw it coming,” Slay said. “That’s one of the big-time plays they do for 13 and I made a play on it. It’s as simple as that. It was either going to be an incomplete pass or a complete pass to me, so, I just made a play on it.”

It’s part of the maturation process for Trubisky and evidence the Bears need to be more diversified on offense.

“I got it over the first guy,” Trubisky said. “It sailed on me a little bit and there was another defender there to catch it. So, the right place, right time for them and just sailed a little bit for me.”

3. Markus Wheaton finally showed up. The wide receiver had 29 snaps by my unofficial count, which is five more than he had in the previous five games combined. Wheaton got 123 snaps in the first three games of the season before suffering a groin injury and he’d been Mr. Invisible in games before this. The primary reason Wheaton got more playing time is Inman was sick Saturday morning, according to Wheaton, as a stomach bug has apparently made its way around Halas Hall in the last few days. Wheaton wound up being targeted four times and had two receptions for 42 yards. Nothing fancy but considering the Bears’ dire situation at wide receiver, they’ve needed some production from a veteran that they targeted in free agency.

“I got more opportunities and Mitch came up with the looks that benefited me and we capitalized a couple times,” Wheaton said. “I have had a lot of ups and downs throughout the season and I feel like when I did have those injuries, they lost a little bit of trust in me and a little bit of faith in me. I have been trying to win that back for the last few weeks.”

Wheaton signed an $11 million, two-year contract with the Bears. He’s due $5 million in base salary in 2018 and the guarantees in the deal are fulfilled when this season is over. He knows that. He knows how the league works and what that could potentially mean for him.

“Yes,” Wheaton said. “But I stay in the moment and whatever happens, happens. I’m not worried about it.”

4. The Bears have used five different starting combinations on the offensive line this season, which leaves them a ways off from the Lions, who rolled out their ninth different starting combination on Saturday and then lost talented right guard T.J. Lang to a foot injury during the game. Chances are probably good the Bears are headed to their sixth combination of the season next Sunday against the Browns. Left guard Josh Sitton (right ankle) and right guard Tom Compton (concussion) left the game and did not return. That created a juggling act on the line with Hroniss Grasu coming in at center, Cody Whitehair sliding over to guard and Bradley Sowell, a swing tackle, playing guard. It was rough and Sowell allowed a pressure on his first snap but believes he can iron things out with preparation during the week. It’s been some time since he’s taken snaps at guard during the week.

“I think I will be fine if I get all of the reps and get prepared,” Sowell said. “Obviously, whenever I go in there it’s always in a pinch. It’s never actually my role going into the week. I think with a little better preparation I will be fine going out there.

“Lately, zero practice at guard. Obviously, I will get more reps if I am actually going to have to play there. I came into this game thinking if I was needed, I was going to be a tackle but when injuries happen, they just happen and it’s been like that all year with a couple guys going down. I fill in and do the best I can. Going in there cold in the middle of the game isn’t the easiest thing. I played next to Chuck (Leno) which is nice because we are pretty comfortable with each other.”

Just add it to the growing list of injuries the Bears have had and keep in mind what I wrote way back in August: The loss of veteran interior lineman Eric Kush to a season-ending hamstring injury was a big blow for this team, bigger than anyone imagined at the time.

5. NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock was at the game working as a color analyst for Westwood One in its coverage of the game. I asked him about the available crop of wide receivers for the 2018 draft and he said it’s too early to say. He’s still working through tape of a lot of players and hasn’t taken a deep dive on the underclassmen that will forego their remaining eligibility and head to the NFL. Mayock did talk quarterbacks, though, and said he’s been impressed so far with Trubisky.

It wasn’t a good game for Trubisky as he was intercepted three times, the most he’s had in a game, and he finished 31 of 46 for a season-high 314 yards. The problem is a ton of that production came underneath when the Bears were trailing by 17 points with more than nine minutes remaining in the third quarter.

“I’ve been impressed because, first and foremost, the NFL can be overwhelming for a young quarterback and I think he has handled taking care of the football,” Mayock said prior to kickoff. “He’s conservative. He doesn’t take chances. He’s very secure with the football and because they run the ball so efficiently, it’s been up and down a little bit, but they commit to the running game and that is the best friend for a young quarterback. He’s done a good job so far.

“People always talk about how the game is faster and all that. And it’s true to a degree. I think he has a pretty good feeling for pass protections. I think he is a pretty smart kid. I think he understands the mechanics within the pocket, which is really helpful for a young quarterback. So I think they are all positive things that gives him a lot of confidence that he knows where pressure is coming from and to his credit, he’s athletic enough to get out of some trouble and throw the ball away and punt the ball and go play some defense.”

Next, I asked Mayock if the instant success for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, before his knee injury, was a surprise. Watson threw 19 touchdown passes and was intercepted eight times in seven games with six starts. To put that in context, that’s more touchdowns than Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Derek Carr, Case Keenum and many others have thrown so far.

“He was my No. 1 quarterback last year,” Mayock said. “But I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly and what I’ve been trying to tell people, what I have been seeing leaguewide, and Bill O’Brien epitomizes this: I think NFL coaches are doing a much better job than they even did five to 10 years ago with taking their playbook with a rookie or a young quarterback. It used to be, ‘OK, here’s our playbook. Go learn it.’ That’s it.

“Now, because it’s so different in college football, I think coaches like Bill O’Brien do a great job of saying, ‘OK, Deshaun. What are you comfortable with? What do you like?’ They cut the field in half with sprint-outs and bootlegs, some of which they do with Trubisky also, and they’re easier reads when you’ve got clear vision, clear feet, half the field. Deshaun Watson … what does he do well? Zone read, quarterback draw, they are incorporating quarterback run into it. Everything they did for him made him play fast and at a high level early. If you look around the league you can see more and more NFL coaching staffs are making an effort to make the kids comfortable and productive early.”

6. If the Bears make a coaching move at the end of the season, is it possible Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin will be in the mix again? The Bears interviewed Austin before John Fox was hired in 2015 and Austin has interviewed for nine different head-coaching jobs in the last three offseasons. In some respects, that reminds me of what Panthers coach Ron Rivera experienced before Carolina hired him in 2011. The Panthers were the eighth team that interviewed Rivera. It’s certainly fair to wonder if a handful of teams that brought in Rivera and Austin did so in order to satisfy the Rooney Rule. Rivera was a good candidate that has turned into a successful coach and Austin will likely be viewed as a strong candidate once again.

The 52-year-old Austin was considered the runner-up to Dan Quinn when the Falcons hired him in 2015 and he might well have been the second-place finisher with the Chargers this past offseason when Anthony Lynn was hired. Austin has run the defense in Detroit since 2014 and has had some really good units. Remember, Detroit became the ninth team in NFL history to finish a season allowing less than 70 rushing yards per game in 2014. The Lions tied for second in the league last season when they held opponents to 21 points or less in 10 games.

One thing Austin has is a strong rapport with his players.

“I have answered this question for years,” safety Glover Quin said. “He’s a great communicator. He’s a smart guy, leader, he understands players. He’s been around some great head coaches and I am pretty sure he has learned a lot. Those are the things that stand out and that’s what you want as a head coach, a guy that understands, a guy that is smart and a guy that is going to lead his players. He can do all those things.”

One more thing about Austin: He played for Fox for two seasons at Pitt in 1986 and 1987. Austin was a three-year starter for the Panthers and four-year letterman from 1984 through 1987. Fox arrived at the school in 1986 and was there year seasons before making the jump to the NFL with the Steelers.

7. The holiday season is upon us and you’re in search of some hope. You want something that provides a sense that the better days that are ahead for the Bears arrive sooner rather than later. The Bears are locked into a last-place finish in the NFC North for the fourth consecutive year. This marks the second time since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970 the Bears will finish in last in their division for a fourth straight year after the run from 1997 to 2000 when the team was a combined 19-45. With two games remaining, the team is 18-44 in its current stretch. What’s bothersome is no other division rival (Lions, Packers, Vikings or Buccaneers when they were a member of the NFC Central) has finished last in four consecutive years.

So here comes the hope you’re looking for with some nuggets provided by the NFL:

Entering this weekend, as many as four teams that were last-place finishers in 2016 can win their division this season. The Eagles have already clinched the NFC East and the Chargers, Jaguars and Panthers are in the hunt for their respective division crowns.
Entering this weekend, six of the eight divisions are led by a team in first place or have a team that is tied for first place that finished in third or last place in its respective division a year ago.
If the playoffs were to kick off this weekend, eight teams that missed the postseason in 2016 would be in the tournament. That would tie for the most in league history as it was accomplished once previously in 2003.
With the Eagles already clinching the NFC East, a team has gone from the outhouse (last place in its division) to the penthouse (first place) 14 times in the last 15 seasons.

What does it all mean? Well, it’s no guarantee the Bears are headed out of the forest and will be running at the top of the NFC North at this time next season. But it’s a reminder that parity is a very real thing in the NFL. The league tends to pull teams toward .500. The outliers are good and catch some breaks along the way or are bad and catch some tough luck along the way. Clubs that are really good for a prolonged stretch (Patriots) do a lot of things the right way. Clubs that are really bad for a prolonged stretch (Browns) can’t seem to get out of their own way.

With some luck and shrewd moves along the way, perhaps the Bears can add their own chapter to a worst-to-first turnaround (or some kind of turnaround) in 2018.

8. The Bears designated veteran safety Quintin Demps to return from injured reserve on Nov. 30, returning him to the practice field. Demps suffered a fractured left forearm in the Week 3 victory over the Steelers and the team has yet to promote him to the 53-man roster. That means the deadline to make a move with Demps is Thursday in advance of the Sunday, Dec. 24 game against the Browns. The Bears have to either make a spot for Demps on the 53-man roster or shut him down for the remainder of the remainder of the season, which amounts to two games. The issue with Demps goes beyond the broken bone being healed. A source said the 32-year-old Demps is dealing with some nerve damage at this point, which has complicated things. If Demps was healthy, the team surely would have bumped him up for this game against the Lions with Adrian Amos working his way back from a hamstring injury. Amos practiced on a limited basis this past week so my guess is there is a chance he could be on the field next Sunday against the Browns. That would help considering Chris Prosinski left the game on the first series with a concussion.

It’s fair to wonder if Demps will be in the team’s plans for 2018. Keep in mind there could be a coaching change and then realize that the guaranteed money in the $13.5 million, three-year contract he signed has been paid out this season. Demps has a $3 million base salary in 2018 with a $500,000 roster bonus due on March 18, the fifth day of the league year, and another $500,000 available in per-game roster bonuses ($31,250 per game). I kind of doubt the Bears will keep him around but you never know. The good news is the nerve damage isn’t expected to hinder Demps long-term. We’ll see what happens with him this coming week.

9. Devin Hester made his retirement official on Tuesday and I had a chance to chat with veteran special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis that afternoon. DeCamillis coached Hester in 2013 with the Bears and there aren’t very many men around that have been in the special teams business longer than DeCamillis, who is with the Jaguars now and in his 30^th season in the NFL. He started back in 1988 with the Broncos so DeCamillis has seen just about everything you can imagine and a lot you haven’t when it comes to special teams. I asked him if we’ll ever see a returner with Hester’s capability again, especially with the league seemingly flirting with the idea of eliminating kickoff returns from the game because of concern for head injuries.

“It will be interesting to see if that happens again,” he said. “You know, kickoffs because of all the new touchback rules, it’s going to be hard. You take away all those from Devin, all the chances he got on kickoff returns, he wouldn’t have been as productive as he was although I think he was a better punt returner than he was kickoff returner. He wouldn’t have had all those chances for sure.

“You’ve got to put that new guy, the guy that has that kind of ability in the right situation. You’re never going to see another Devin Hester again in a dome. It’s going to have to be someplace like Chicago or Green Bay or one of those places where you’re going to get cold weather and the ball is not going to travel and you’re going to get returns.”

That’s a really interesting point and something to keep in mind as Chicago is one of the cold cities with an outdoor stadium. Dave Toub, the former Bears special teams coordinator, would always point out that the weather helped the team get more opportunities for Hester. Another factor an elite returner will need? He’s got to play for a team with a top defense. The Bears forced opponents to punt 100 times in 2006, Hester’s rookie season. That’s the most in Bears’ history, tying with 1986 and 1984 when opponents also punted 100 times.

Who was the best DeCamillis encountered before Hester came around?

“Mel Gray,” he replied. “He was like a modern-day Tyreek Hill. He was fast and he was quick in the hole. He was a scary, scary dude.”

Gray had six kickoff return touchdowns and three punt return touchdowns in a 12-year career from 1986 to 1997 for the Saints, Lions, Oilers, Titans and Eagles and was a four-time Pro Bowl performer. He’s best known for his work with the Lions.

“One of my biggest regrets is we had the damn record broke with Devin and (Craig) Steltz had the holding call against St. Louis,” DeCamillis said. “One of the most reliable guys in the world and Craig gets a holding call and they bring that one back or Devin had the record in St. Louis that day. Craig was a really good player.”

10. Trubisky finished with two rushes for 3 yards and while that’s not a big deal, it pushed him over 200 rushing yards for the season (202) in what can be classified as “hidden yardage” in a box score. With 10 starts down and two to go, there is a chance Trubisky could pass Jay Cutler’s season-best 233 rushing yards in 2012. Sure, a big chuck of Trubisky’s yardage came on the 46-yard run he had in New Orleans. But he’s still gained nine first downs on carries and his athletic ability is an added bonus. Other Bears quarterbacks have been pretty good with their feet. Kordell Stewart ran for 290 yards in only nine games in 2003 and Cade McNown had 326 yards rushing in 10 games in 2000. Jim Harbaugh had five straight seasons of gaining between 272 and 338 yards.

10a. The Bears set a franchise record for fewest interceptions in a season with eight in 2015 and then they matched that same total again last year. With two games remaining, they’re in danger of a new record as they have only six interceptions. Let me boost your hopes. The Bears host the Browns on Sunday and Cleveland rookie DeShone Kizer entered this weekend with an NFL-high 17 interceptions (three more than the closest competition).

10b. DeAndre Houston-Carson was gutted after the game. He sat at his locker staring ahead for a solid 10 minutes without moving. Houston-Carson, who has emerged as a quality coverage guy on special teams this season, was called for holding to negate Tarik Cohen’s 90-yard kickoff return in the second quarter. Had the play stood, the Bears would have been at the Lions’ 14-yard line trailing 13-0 with 6:10 until halftime. Instead, the Bears got the ball on their own 10-yard line.

Houston-Carson had his hands inside on Lions running back Tion Green, which is what is taught, but he caught just enough jersey to draw a call when Cohen motored past them. If Houston-Carson disengages in time, there isn’t a call.

“I held him,” Houston-Carson said after a long time reflecting. “They called a penalty and I can’t do that. I put my team in a bad position. I hurt my teammates in a crucial situation.”

Add it to the list of long plays by Cohen that have been wiped out by penalty in recent weeks. It was a heck of a return, though.

“Coach (Jeff Rodgers) put that scheme in earlier this week,” Cohen said. “He really felt like if we sell it in the right direction it will open up the back side and that’s what we just did. It didn’t affect the play at all.”

You could probably argue the final point. Hopefully the Bears can clean things up on special teams in the final two games.

10c. Disagreed with John Fox’s decision to punt when the Bears faced fourth-and-1 from their own 45-yard line in the second quarter. The Lions led 6-0 at the time and the Bears needed a spark, any kind of spark. Go down swinging, not punting. The Lions went on a 92-yard touchdown drive after the punt. Fox said field position was at stake. Sure. Come up with a way to gain a yard and keep the drive alive.

10d. Defensive end Akiem Hicks picked up his team-leading eighth sack of the season. It ended a five-game stretch without one. He also had a big hit on Matthew Stafford late in the game and the Lions quarterback appeared a little shaken when he got up.

10e. The Bears are getting their money out of Lamarr Houston down the stretch. He had two sacks to give him four on the season (for them) with two games remaining. That ties him for third. He was signed after Leonard Floyd’s knee injury and is relishing the chance to contribute.

“It should be five (sacks),” Houston said. “Missed one last week. You play because you love the game. You play for your teammates. You play for the organization. You just want to finish strong. Everybody is watching. There ain’t no Sundays off around here, no matter if you’re 0-16 or 16-0. Everyone is watching in the last quarter of the year to see how you finish.”

bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BradBiggs

Bears offense, Mitch Trubisky fail to take step forward in stumble against Lions »

Dan Wiederer: End can't come soon enough for hapless Bears »

David Haugh: A day of regression for Bears starts with John Fox decision to punt on fourth-and-1 »

Let's block ads! (Why?)