Rozner: Interest in Bears dropping by the week
They stayed away from Soldier Field by the tens of thousands Sunday.
They - as in, the paying customers - wanted little to do with a wretched Bears team that's getting thinner by the week, raising questions daily about the fitness of GM Ryan Pace, head coach John Fox and a staff that hasn't done much of a job teaching young players how to play NFL football.
Instead, the Bears (2-9) seem to be stuck in the Soldier Field mud and Sunday they dropped - yes, dropped - a 27-21 decision to Tennessee (6-6), which has won five of its last eight, while the Bears have lost six of seven.
Though some seek excuses for Pace and Fox, their two years in Chicago (8-19) have been far worse than Marc Trestman's. Fox would have to win his last five games this season just to match the two-year record Trestman posted as he was getting fired.
"The results are wins and losses," Fox said late Sunday afternoon, "and the results have not been good."
Down only 21-7, the Bears recovered an onside kick to start the second half, and quarterback Matt Barkley moved the team down the field and into scoring position. When he threw his second red-zone interception of the day, this time in the end zone, there were no boos from the half-empty stadium.
Just a few sighs and a collective shrug. That's where the franchise is right now. No-shows and shrugs.
The Bears reported 11,086 failing to use their tickets, but it appeared to be considerably more than that.
Irrelevant is a dangerous place to be in a town dominated today by the Cubs and the Blackhawks, and you wonder if Virginia McCaskey is as angry and embarrassed now as her son said she was two years ago.
Meanwhile, the number of reporters gathered to enter the locker room postgame was half the norm and the smallest I've ever seen at Soldier Field.
What does that say about the interest in local NFL entry at the moment?
"I don't even know what the crowd was like," said Akiem Hicks, the defensive end who previously played for the Saints and Patriots. "I don't look up. I don't even know where my family is during a game."
Had he looked up, or listened, he wouldn't have seen or heard much until the Bears rallied in the fourth quarter and nearly won the game, a moral victory that hardly satisfied Hicks.
"I think we've taken that road a few times this year, and quite frankly, a lot of guys are tired of having to look for the bright side," Hicks said. "We want the result. I know I want the result. It's hard to swallow."
The Bears have scored 23 points or less in all 11 games, matching a streak from 1994, according to ESPN, though Barkley led them to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and should have had a third.
On first-and-goal with 42 seconds left, Josh Bellamy dropped a TD pass that would have tied the game and given the Bears a chance for the lead with an extra point.
That was at least the seventh drop of the day. On fourth-and-goal, Deonte Thompson muffed another touchdown catch. Earlier, Marquis Wilson botched a sure touchdown.
Lined up like a firing squad, the small group of reporters waited out each receiver, including Cam Meredith, and they all faced the music - a couple reluctantly - after letting down their quarterback.
"We definitely left some plays on the field," said Meredith, who handled it like a pro. "We have to go back to the fundamentals. Today when it mattered, we didn't show up."
On the positive side, the Bears didn't mess up their draft position by winning a meaningless game, though they get the Niners (1-10) at home next week with another such opportunity.
"We will get it right," Meredith said. "I know we've said that a lot. We just have to finish the game."
Week 12 in Chicago carried all the energy, enthusiasm and significance of a fourth preseason game, at least for the home team.
In the playoff race, the visitors had a reason to play, but they also have their quarterback, a developing offensive line and a coach they believe in.
The Bears, well, the Bears at this point are simply the Bears.
Shrug.
brozner@dailyherald.com
• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.