Rozner: In one way, Bears still control own fate

It is always unpleasant when a team is forced to acquiesce, finally giving up the fight only when required to recognize the wasted opportunity.

In a way, there's a bit of relief, and anger gives way to explanation, or at least the attempt to understand where it all went bad.

That is now the Bears after losing to Dallas, no longer able to convince even themselves that there is a glimmer of hope.

They raised the white flag Thursday at least a month after their city, quietly searching for answers and desperately looking for reasons to finish the season playing respectable football, knowing all the while that the playoffs are out of the question.

"Heading into the season, no way could I have imagined us 5-8. No way," said safety Ryan Mundy. "There were some pretty high expectations, but the games are not played on paper. You look at the roster and think this is a really good team, but you still have to go out there and play."

There weren't a lot of players in the Bears' locker room postgame Thursday, but Mundy was there - as he always is - to answer questions.

"Everybody's gonna take criticism when you're 5-8," Mundy said. "I was taught to be accountable when I mess up, and I'm sure every guy in here feels that way."

It was a quiet room Thursday night, but not a somber one. Fear and despair had been replaced with acceptance, a nod toward the football gods which punished the Bears for believing in the preseason that they were playoff worthy, and then failing to play like it.

"There was a segment of the season when we were losing, and the talk was, well, 'We practice well.' Practice is a very crucial part of our preparation for the game, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't execute in the game what we've worked on throughout the week," Mundy said. "We don't count practices. We count games. We count wins and losses."

The Bears can count 4 home losses among their 8 defeats with two more games at Soldier Field, and they must now find a way to finish the season with a reasonable effort or risk more collateral damage.

That will not be easy considering the emotional letdown.

"Pride is one reason," Mundy said. "We have the opportunity to play this game. There's six billion people in the world and less than 2,000 have the opportunity to play this game.

"So we just need to put that in perspective and go out and have fun. You have to remember why you play this game and who you play for and find that internal motivation."

Easier said than done, but the Bears insist they will show up for the rest of their games.

"After every loss, early in the week it's hard," admitted Jay Cutler. "I'm not going to lie about that. It's hard for guys to find the motivation, the energy and stuff to get going.

"It's always easier after a win. That's a given. When you're losing, it's when you find out a lot about your locker room and the guys around you. So far, we've found out we've got a good group of guys. As the week goes on and it leads up to game day, everyone is all in."

That's been a theme all season, the need to bounce back emotionally, but it still doesn't change the fact that the Bears haven't gotten it done on the field.

"It just comes down to execution, knowing your assignment and being in the right place," Mundy said. "Even when you win, there's a lot of plays that aren't positive, and that gets overlooked when you win. When you lose, it's all magnified.

"We just have to continue to trust the plan and learn from those mistakes and try to correct them during a game. We put in the time. We study for hours and hours and we practice, but then it's just not happening in games."

So the Bears will continue to work on it, believing they'll play hard the next three games and knowing they gave away a season that should have been so much better.

To quit now would be overlooking what's at stake. There are jobs on the line, from the careers of players to the employment of coaches and the futures of executives.

The players will have a lot to say about it. How hard they play and how much they care will say much more than any words.

In that regard, the 2014 Bears season is far from over.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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