Hub Arkush: Bears appear to find rock bottom in Los Angeles
The Chicago Bears have fallen and they can't get up.
The trip to Los Angeles Sunday night offered up a Rams team that went into the game struggling every bit as badly as the Bears, and in even worse shape injury-wise with three starting offensive linemen and two of their top three wide receivers on the sidelines.
Yet in spite of outplaying the Rams in the first half and all night long, the Bears still went to the locker room at halftime down 10-0.
On a day in which the Vikings came back from a 20-0 deficit to the Broncos and the 49ers rallied after being down 16-0 to the Cardinals, it was impossible to escape the feeling that down by 10 the Bears were toast.
The game marked the 7th time in 10 tries this year that the Bears have failed to score a touchdown in the first half.
Adding to the Bears woes, Eddy Pineiro was wide left on a 48-yard attempt on the Bears opening drive of the game.
Matt Nagy responded by going for it on 4th and 9 on their second possession, eschewing another 48-yard attempt, and then after driving to the Rams 29 on their third possession, Nagy sent Pineiro back out only to watch him go wide right from 47 yards.
Add one more missing piece to the puzzle.
Particularly frustrating was the fact that some of the Bears MIA studs on defense showed up early in L.A.
On the Rams very first play of the game Eddie Jackson ripped the ball out of the grasp of Todd Gurley with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on the spot to recover it.
On the Rams second possession after L.A. drove the ball 42 yards to the Bears 30, Roquan Smith stepped in front of a Jared Goff throw.
Still, the Bears faced one dilemma they've been unable to address in recent weeks and made one mistake and that was enough for the 10-point deficit.
After leading the NFL in run defense through the first five weeks of the season, the Bears have been unable to stop the run since. And in spite of their makeshift line, and Todd Gurley struggling all year long, the Rams ran the ball 16 times for 73 yards - 12-64 from Gurley - and threw just six passes in the half.
But that should have just amounted to a 3-0 deficit.
On 3rd and five with just under four minutes remaining in the half and the Rams at their own 48, Cooper Kupp got singled up outside on Buster Skrine with Eddie Jackson in deep help, and Jackson got caught peeking into the backfield at Goff who found Kupp behind Skrine on a 51-yard bomb.
With two takeaways and a plus-1 edge in TO/TA ratio, a 6:00 advantage in time of possession and one of their best offensive halves of the season, the Bears were down 10.
To their credit, they did fight and the defense had its best 60 minutes since losing Akiem Hicks.
After holding the Rams to a three and out to open the second half, the Bears mounted one of their best drives of the season - 80 yards on 12 plays finishing with a gorgeous 14-yard TD toss from Mitch Trubisky to Tarik Cohen on a wheel route.
Adding to the feeling of helplessness with these Bears, this was a night when Trubisky was the best quarterback on the field. Not spectacular, and not the reason for the Bears meager output of points.
The defense played its best game since week four against the Vikings, but again, the magic just wasn't there.
With 2:10 to play in the third quarter, Kyle Fuller stepped in front of a Goff dart aimed at Michael Thomas that on most nights would have been a pick six. But Fuller lost his footing and couldn't hold onto the ball.
The Rams finally figured the defense out with their lone long scoring drive of the game, 8 plays for 71 yards ending on a five-yard Malcolm Brown TD dive, and the Bears had found another way to lose.
You want one more kick in the gut?
With 3:00 to play, trailing by 10 and with no clear explanation, Nagy yanked Trubisky for Chase Daniel.
What hurt so much about this one is the Bears didn't lose to a better team, they traveled over 2,000 miles to beat themselves, and appear rudderless leaving the field.
• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.