The Bears suffered a demoralizing defeat in Week 15 after winning three of their previous four games in 2023.
The team’s catastrophic blown lead against the Cleveland Browns not only further showed how flawed the Bears coaching staff but even set an NFL record in the process.
According to NFL on CBS, the Bears are the first team in NFL history to lose three different games while having a 10+ point lead in the fourth quarter in the same season.
Those three games occurred in Week 4 against the Broncos, Week 11 against the Detroit Lions and most recently on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. In those three losses, the Bears were outscored 23-54. On the season, the Bears have a -21 point margin in the fourth quarter.
Simply put, the Bears have struggled to close out games, even those that they actually win. That fact falls directly on the team’s coaching staff, offensively and defensively.
The Bears have a -7 turnover differential in the fourth quarter in 2023, only the Tennessee Titans (-8) have a worst margin this season. Three of the Bears nine losses this season ended with offensive turnovers on the final drive while down by one possession, including Week 15’s loss.
Chicago clearly has a major problem and it’s one that shouldn’t be expected to be fixed over the final three games of the season. The late game results have been embarrassing and the current coaching staff has yet to find an answer for it.
“It comes down to the fundamentals,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said after the loss in Week 15. “When you watch the tape and look at it, it’ll be about playmaking. We got to make the plays down the stretch. You got to play to the last second. I’m proud of our guys, at the last second we had a chance to win and that’s much improved. We’re going to cash in on those coming up.”
The problem is, the Bears already squandered all of those opportunities they had left. The team is now 5-9 and all but eliminated from playoff contention with three weeks left to play. Those three weeks will more than likely be the last in Chicago for multiple members of the coaching staff, if not the entire staff as a whole.
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