Rozner: Bears welcome in dog days with defeat

It would be easy to say you can't win without a pass rush.

That would be true enough.

And it would be easy to say you can't win without a secondary.

And that would also be true.

But setting aside momentarily the linebacking corps - which needs plenty of help - it's easy to remember why the Bears looked like a five-win team heading into the season.

It's hard to play football without players.

They so severely lack talent in so many areas that taking seriously this NFL season in Chicago is time wasted and never to be regained.

The Bears are every bit the team their 2-5 record suggests they are after a last-second Minnesota field goal gave the Vikings a 23-20 victory Sunday at Soldier Field.

They were so close to having a reason to play the remaining games on their schedule, so close to having a sliver of hope at 3-4, clinging to dreams of a big second-half run.

Instead, it's an unfortunate welcome to the dog days of November, when NFL teams without any hope turn to as many young players as they can find, and veterans begin the task of preserving their bodies in order to squeeze out another year or two.

It is no easy road for the very talented players on the Bears, of which there are few.

"We played a number of these games this year, win or lose, and they've all been really close," said tackle Kyle Long, the team's best hope for the future. "We need to understand the importance of the moment, the repercussions that our actions have in the now.

"We can't be thinking, 'We get the ball after the half.' We need to score now. It's like investing, investing in a win when you put your best foot forward in the first quarter, because you get the returns in the fourth quarter."

Neither team did anything in the first quarter and the Vikes led 7-3 because of a punt return for a touchdown on which Marcus Sherels went 65 yards, literally untouched by the Bears' special teams squad, and the Bears had 35 yards passing late in the first half before a Kyle Fuller interception got the Bears back in the game.

The game was tied at 13-13 early in the fourth when Jay Cutler led the Bears on a 14-play drive good for 74 yards and a touchdown, eating up 8:34 in the process.

Minnesota looked to be in trouble on the Bears' 40 with a third-and-4 and 2 minutes remaining, but Vikes QB Teddy Bridgewater kept the play alive with his feet and found Stefon Diggs for a short pass.

Sherrick McManis was right on the receiver but slipped just as Diggs caught the ball and stopped on a dime, reversing field and taking it 40 yards to end zone to tie the game at 20-20.

"I've got to stay on my guy," McManis said. "I'm disappointed I didn't make the play. It's all about me doing my job for my teammates. It's not bad luck. It's just football."

The Bears got the ball back with plenty of time on the clock but went three-and-out when Jeremy Langford - in for an injured Matt Forte - dropped a third-down catch that would have kept the drive alive.

Minnesota got the ball with 60 seconds left and needed just one big play to get in field-goal range. They got that on second down when Bridgewater threw one up for grabs down the right side.

Safety Antrel Rolle stood under the ball for what felt like an eternity, but just as he jumped, Vikings receiver Charles Johnson ran right in front of Rolle, stole the ball for a 35-yard gain and that was the game.

Blair Walsh ended it with a 36-yard kick as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

"It should have never come to that. That was just a layup," Rolle said. "I never saw the guy come from outside in.

"I would do the same thing again. Nothing I could have done different. Playing deep safety and Cover-2, deepest of the deepest, ball hung high and I waited for the ball to get closer. I jumped.

"It's science. He had a running start and undercut me while I was in the air."

Credit Rolle and McManus with taking the blame, but in fairness they are what they are and little should be expected from them at this point in their careers, part of a bad personnel group that doesn't fit the defensive scheme.

That's hardly a surprise, but there's little the Bears can do except take the time necessary to remake a weak roster.

In the meantime, one play - maybe two - cost them another game when their margin for error is razor thin.

"That's the beauty of the NFL," Long said. "Nobody's perfect. There's a chase for perfection all the time.

"Along that path you're gonna have your ups and downs. Hopefully, we can take some positives from this and apply it to our next games and not be in these situations again - and not have this conversation again."

On a warm and sunny fall day, the optimist in Long thought it possible. The realist probably understood that soon it will turn gray and cold and November will be unkind.

It usually is for teams in the middle of a rebuild.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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