Imrem: Embarrassment the only word for Bears loss
The Bears should be as embarrassed as a football team could be.
Head coach Marc Trestman should be. Quarterback Jay Cutler should be. Running back Matt Forte should be. The defense should be. The special teams should be.
"We lost the game collectively as a group," tight end Martellus Bennett said.
Yes, they all should be embarrassed.
The McCaskey ownership should be. Club president Ted Phillips should be. General manager Phil Emery should be.
Anybody left?
The medical team should be embarrassed. The equipment staff should be. The Halas Hall cleaning crew should be.
The Chicago Bears football franchise should be.
To lose to the reeling Panthers the Bears had to be out-coached, outplayed, out-administered, out-owned, out-everythinged.
Losing 31-24 at Carolina on this particular Sunday afternoon is altogether different from losing to Green Bay last week.
The headline on the Charlotte Observer website read, "Hold your breath, Panthers season could turn ugly."
Maybe on another day against another team. But not on this day against this Bears team.
The Panthers couldn't lose this game even despite coming in after being outscored 75-29 during a two-game losing streak.
The Observer story said about the Panthers, "There is no lifeboat on the horizon. The Panthers are floating at sea right now, in a heavy undertow."
What the Charlotte columnist failed to recognize was that the Bears were on the horizon.
Still the point is that losing to Carolina on this day was, well, it was embarrassing. The Panthers were without their three top running backs due to injuries and Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy due to suspension.
So forget about blaming this loss on anyone missing from the Bears' lineup.
"This is pretty frustrating," Cutler said.
Really?
Nothing will get better until the Bears quit referring to a loss like this as frustrating, disappointing or anything else and start calling it what it is … embarrassing.
It's becoming difficult to hear Trestman say that the Bears have get back to work and move forward. Maybe they should take the week off and see how they play next Sunday at Atlanta, another team teed up to be smoked.
The Bears should be embarrassed that Carolina tight end Greg Olsen and head coach Ron Rivera - both ex-Bears - wanted badly to beat their former team and they let it happen.
Olsen caught 6 passes for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the winner. Rivera's team is 3-2 despite all sorts of adversity.
The Panthers simply demonstrated more resolve and more discipline with the game on the line.
The Bears took a 21-7 lead but Carolina did what the Bears haven't had an inclination to do the past couple of weeks: just keep playing in the second half.
As for discipline, the Bears committed 10 penalties for 80 yards to Carolina's 3 for 30. Meanwhile, the Bears' 4 turnovers to the Panthers' 3 doesn't do the statistic justice.
One of Cutler's inevitable interceptions led to Carolina's tying field goal, then Forte's fumble led to the winning TD.
Those turnovers were enough to turn a 3-point lead into a 7-point loss in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter.
Oh, did we mention that in the first quarter the Bears allowed an unspeakable touchdown: Teddy Williams interfered with Carolina punt receiver Philly Brown, the ball rested on the ground and Brown retrieved it for a 79-yard surprise attack into the end zone.
"It was a sloppy game all over," Forte said.
Seriously?
Overall the Bears were outscored 34-3 in the second halves of their 2 straight losses.
"We just have to play better," Cutler said.
Honestly?
Afterward, nobody on the Bears looked red-faced enough or sounded red-reared enough.
The Bears just didn't appear to be embarrassed enough.