Justin Fields a bit sore after Bears' tough 12-7 loss against Washington Commanders
CHICAGO (CBS) – Bears fans are likely still feeling the pain after a tough loss on Thursday night to the Washington Commanders.
CBS 2's Matt Zahn had more on some of the issues they're trying to clean up.
The team gets a mini-bye week with 11 days off between games. That break will give the Bears time to evaluate everything, and it's also probably good for quarterback Justin Fields' health at this point.
He took a ton of hits during Thursday night's loss. Head coach Matt Eberflus said he was a little sore on Friday but will be OK.
The most glaringly not OK part of the Bears tough 12-7 loss was their red zone issues.
The troubles were not just inside the 20-yard line. The Bears offense had three trips inside the 10-yard line and came away with zero points. That included a Fields interception and getting stopped on fourth down, twice.
It's the second time in three weeks the Bears failed to score a touchdown with multiple red zone chances.
"It comes down to execution," said head coach Matt Eberflus. "I thought we had some real good plays in there ... we just got to hit the guys when they're open. We just got to execute was a group better [in the red zone]."
Fields added, "When the play's there, make it, plain and simple. There's no logistics. It's not complicated. When you have that opportunity, finish. It's that simple.
"We had plenty of opportunities in the game that we just didn't finish so we just got to get better at that."
Fields was sacked five times in the game on top of taking numerous hits. According to ESPN, Fields as been pressured on 46% of dropbacks this year, the highest rate through six games since they started tracking the statistic in 2009.
Some of that could be blamed on Fields, but the offensive line hasn't been good enough and will clearly be one of those position groups that needs evaluating over the break.
"We're pissed off about it," said offensive lineman Sam Mustipher. "That's not what we want to do. When you have a guy that's that talented, that's able to make you right in situations where you're wrong, you got to protect him. You got to be able to hold up in the pocket so he can hold up in the pocket and deliver the ball down field."
Eberflus added the coaching staff has to look at "each individual guy" and scheme to see how the team can improve during the extended time off.