Gabriel: Bears-Broncos Review
By Greg Gabriel--
(CBS) Sunday marked the third game this season that the Bears could've and should've won but came up just short in. Chicago's 17-15 loss to Denver joined losses to Detroit on Oct. 18 and Minnesota on Nov. 1 as contests in which it came up just short.
While it does get frustrating, it's also good to know that this team is a little better than we gave it credit for back in September.
There's one trait we don't have to worry about with these Bears: This team is full of competitive nature. The Bears work hard, and when you understand the roster, they outplay their talent level. That's a sign of strong football character on the players' part and good coaching.
Still, in saying that, I thought that it was the coaches' decisions that cost the Bears in the Lions loss in October, as they were far too conservative in the overtime period. I had a similar belief from Sunday's game, as it was again a coach's decision that may have cost the Bears the game. Down 17-9 with about 10 minutes remaining, the Bears had a first-and-goal from the Broncos' 7-yard-line. After they navigated to the 4-yard-line in the first three plays, the Bears chose to go for the touchdown on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal. Jay Cutler's pass fell incomplete as the Broncos blanketed all the receivers.
Because they came away with no points there, the Bears still needed a touchdown and a two-point conversion. They got the former but not the latter for the tie, as Jeremy Langford was stuff on the conversion try. In hindsight, a field goal with 10 minutes left would've been enough for the win.
I understand coach John Fox's thought process, thinking that the way the Broncos were playing defense, the Bears may not get a chance at a touchdown later. The fault with that is he didn't believe in his own team, which has shown this season that it can make a late comeback.
Hindsight is 50/50. We can take shots at it all day, but in this case, the right move was to kick a field goal at that point of the game.
Not scoring on that drive brings up another question: the red-zone offense. The Bears have proved time and again that they can move the ball between the 20s. Once Chicago gets in the red zone, it struggles mightily. The Bears are 28th out of 32 NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage, at 42.4 percent, according to teamrankings.com.
This has been a problem all season and needs Chicago's full focus to be improved upon. A team only gets so many chances to score a touchdown in a game. Walking away with three points instead of seven will usually bring defeat.
Another trend that has become disturbing in the last three games is the slow start of the Bears defense. The overall play of the defense in the last three games has been solid, except for one aspect. On each of the Bears' opponents opening drives, the defense has been at its worst, allowing the foe to go downfield quickly to score for a 7-0 lead. Points are too hard for the offense to come by for this trend to continue. Why this happens is beyond me, especially because after the opening drive, the defense always plays much stronger.
Looking ahead to Bears-Packers
Going into Sunday, it looked as if the Packers were struggling. They had lost three in a row, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn't looking like the Aaron Rodgers we are used to seeing.
The poor play all ended, as the Packers put up 30 points and 320 yards of offense. Rodgers was his usual self, and the Green Bay defense -- after three weeks of subpar play -- came back strong. That included sacking Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater six times.
The Bears (4-6) and Packers (7-3) have a short week with a Thanksgiving night game awaiting Thursday in Green Bay. That matchup is looking tough for Chicago.
Entering Sunday, there were some thoughts of the Bears being legitimate playoff contenders. Those are almost completely extinguished now, and after seeing how Green Bay played at Minnesota, I feel it will be awfully hard for the Bears to beat the Packers.
The good news is these Bears are far better than the 2014 version of the Bears, but they are still at least a year away from contending for a playoff berth.
Greg Gabriel is a former NFL talent evaluator who is an on-air contributor for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @greggabe.
