3 and out: Bears' run game saw success, but offense struggled in red zone

The Los Angeles Chargers scored a late touchdown and erased a nine-point deficit to beat the Bears, 17-16, on Sunday at Soldier Field.

Three moments that mattered

1. Trailing by a point with four seconds on the clock, Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, wide left. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky had led the Bears down field in the final two minutes to give themselves a chance. The Bears elected to take a knee to set up the field goal, rather than take a shot at the end zone.

2. After leading, 9-7, at halftime, the Bears drove 75 yards on the first possession of the second half to score a touchdown and extend their lead. Trubisky connected with Allen Robinson for a 31-yard gain before David Montgomery ran the ball in on a 4-yard touchdown score. It was exactly what the Bears needed after halftime and following some first-half struggles in the red zone.

3. Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller intercepted a pass for the Bears defense in the first quarter. Takeaways were something the Bears defense missed last week in a loss to New Orleans. Fuller nearly took the ball back to the end zone, too. He set up the Bears offense at the 4-yard line. Trubisky and the offense couldn't punch it in, but Eddy Pineiro gave the Bears an early lead, 3-0.

Three things that worked

1. The run game: What a difference a week makes. Coach Matt Nagy said this week that the Bears knew they needed to run the ball more - and they did on Sunday. Montgomery had the first 100-yard game of his career, including a long run of 55 yards. After running the ball just seven times last week against New Orleans, the Bears were near a 50-50 between the run and the pass this week. Montgomery had the best game of his young career.

2. Defense rebounds: Following a disappointing showing last week against Teddy Bridgewater and the Saints, the Bears defense played much better. The Chargers punted on four of their first five possessions and the fifth one was Fuller's interception. The defense had only one major breakdown, a 43-yard reception for Los Angeles receiver Mike Williams in the second quarter, which led to a Melvin Gordon touchdown run moments later.

3. Sharing the wealth: When the Bears offense was working - which it did for certain stretches - Trubisky was sharing the ball with a number of different receivers. It wasn't just the Allen Robinson show, as it had been the previous few weeks. Seven different players caught passes on Sunday. Six of them caught multiple passes. Montgomery and Tarik Cohen were involved in the pass game, too.

Three things that didn't

1. Red Zone offense: The Bears went 0 for 4 in the first half in terms of touchdowns in the red zone. Twice the Bears had the ball inside the 5-yard line and couldn't punch it in. The Bears had an unorganized opportunity at the 1-yard line right before halftime. After a Montgomery run, some 15 seconds ticked off the clock before Trubisky could clock it with one second remaining. Pineiro made a field goal to put the Bears ahead, 9-7, at half.

2. Late turnovers: Just when it looked like things might be trending up for the Bears, Trubisky telegraphed an interception with just under 13:00 remaining in the game and fumbled about three minutes later. One turnover led to nothing for Los Angeles after the Bears defense stood tall and Chargers kicker Chase McLaughlin missed a 42-yard field goal. The second turnover, the fumble, led to an Austin Ekeler touchdown for the Chargers.

3. First-half breakdown: The Bears secondary had some sort of breakdown on Williams' 43-yard reception. The Chargers marched 75 yards down the field in four plays on the scoring drive.

What's next:

The Bears travel to Philadelphia next week to take on the Eagles in a noon kickoff on Sunday. It will be a rematch of last year's wild card playoff game.