Chicago Bears find way to lose again

harkush@profootballweekly.com

Fresh off their 29-23 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Chicago Bears have become a team that is flat-out impossible to figure out.

The Bears played their best offense of the season, showed their best pass rush of the season, continued to uncover young players that appear to have bright futures and yet found a way to lose a game they should have won.

Am I surprised? No, because the game went pretty much the way I predicted.

The puzzle is this: do we celebrate this performance and laud the development of young talent or throw up our arms in frustration over a game that never should have gotten away?

For example, Brian Hoyer Sunday became just the second quarterback in Bears history to throw for 300 yards in three straight games and the other guy isn't Jay Cutler, Erik Kramer, Jim McMahon or Sid Luckman. It was Josh McCown.

Hoyer's numbers against the Colts were gaudy - 33-43, 397 yards, 9.2 avg., 2 TDs, 0 interceptions and a 120.0 passer rating.

The problem is that performance came against one of the poorest NFL defenses we've seen and Hoyer still found a way to lose.

While he took great care of the football, that singular focus left several big plays on the field that might have turned the game. And, on his last play of the game, he misread the coverage and rather than throw the ball to a wide open Alshon Jeffery in the endzone for the win, he chose to throw the ball behind a well-covered Cameron Meredith for the loss.

Due to head coach John Fox, the Bears now have a quarterback controversy over a guy who is just good enough to lose impressively with.

As to Meredith, we have a young man who would be a great story, a long shot to play professional football who stepped into his first big chance in the NFL and played well enough to be thought of as a potential big-time receiver, but whose fumble at his own 27-yard line with 3:38 to play may have cost the Bears the game.

Meredith may be worth getting excited about, but it's really hard to know because as impressive as his 9 catches for 130 yards (14.4 avg.) and 1 touchdown was, it came against a bad team in a losing effort he helped create.

I thought the Bears had found a good nickel in Bryce Callahan - another youngster who, like Meredith, is a 2015 undrafted rookie free agent - until I realized last week he is actually a good starting corner if he can stay on the field.

After an outstanding first half Sunday, Callahan finished the game injured on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Will he ever be healthy?

It is impossible not to sing the praises of Jordan Howard. General manager Ryan Pace found a good one in the fifth round this year and he has a chance to be special.

So why did offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains only run him 16 times (118 yards, 7.4 avg.) in Indy when it was clear that handing the ball to him 24 or more times was probably the best way to win the game?

Finally I give you Connor Barth. Take him, please.

At no time has there ever been a chance Barth was likely to be more dependable than Robbie Gould inside the 45 or otherwise, which is why we are told he is a Bear.

Gould is the best ever in that regard. So why does Barth have his job?

In fairness, this is what rebuilding looks like and this is what we signed up to watch. That is not the problem.

The problem on Sunday in Indy is that it became a lot less clear as to whether or not the Bears have control of the plan.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.