As the losses mount and the frustration builds, Bears players are growing weary of the mandatory post-game media interviews in an increasingly sullen and uncomfortable locker room as they run out of answers to the same old questions about what went wrong.
This was their **Mike Brown** “It’s like, we suck” moment. But that in itself is part of the problem with this disappointing team. The Bears have eight captains. But they don’t have a Mike Brown. And they need one. Probably more than one.
The Bears’ helplessness and exasperation after Sunday’s 38-13 loss to the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium was reminiscent of a similar chapter in recent Bears history, when Brown — also out of answers — took his frustration out on his own team instead of blaming “execution” in 2005.
“I don’t know how to put the frustration into words. It’s terrible. It’s like, we suck, man,” Brown told reporters in front of his locker at Halas Hall a day after the Bears gave up two touchdowns in the final 3:02 of a 20-10 road loss to the Browns following their bye week to fall to 1-3. “I don’t know what else to tell you. We can’t find a way to win ballgames. It seems like instead we always find a way to lose. … Everyone makes mistakes. But it seems like we make them in the most important parts of the game.”
Brown’s diatribe became an indelible part of Bears history when the 2005 Bears — at a similar stage of development in **Lovie Smith’s** second season as the 2024 team — responded by turning their season around. They beat the Vikings 28-3 at Soldier Field the following Sunday to start an eight-game winning streak, and finished 11-5 to make the playoffs. The momentum carried over to 2006 when the Bears went 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985. Since Brown’s rant, the Bears won 23 of their next 27 games. Hmmm …
The 2024 Bears probably need much more than a player popping off to turn things around, but that’s the point — after firing the offensive coordinator and the head coach, Bears general manager **Ryan Poles** has to take a hard look at the roster he’s built. Because for all he has talked about acquiring “the right type of people” with traits he admires in building his cherished culture — “resilience, coachability, grit” and “passion” among them — the payoff hasn’t been there.
It was apparent again Sunday after a tumultuous week following the firing of coach **Matt Eberflus**. This was another golden opportunity for the Bears to show their resilience, coachability, grit and passion. And they fell flat and fell hard — trailing 24-0 and getting outgained 319-4 in an embarrassing first half. If you think that’s just a matter of “execution,” you’ve become a part of the problem and not the solution.
The Hail Mary, blocked field goal against the Packers and clock-management fiasco against the Lions were devastating. But the Bears’ responses to their failures were more defining.
They lost to the Cardinals 29-9 following the Hail Mary, with notably little response after allowing a 53-yard touchdown run with four seconds left in the first half. Vowing to atone for that disaster, they lost 19-3 to the 2-7 Patriots at Soldier Field the following week. And then Sunday’s dreadful loss to the 49ers. Those were moments that showed your team’s culture and resilience, for better or worse.
The loss to the 49ers was a startling indication that the Bears’ issues go beyond **Matt Eberflus.** Poles has built a team that could win with **Andy Reid** and **Patrick Mahomes.** But, as he has to know by now, he’s not in Kansas City anymore. And finding his Andy Reid and developing his Patrick Mahomes at Halas Hall surely is tougher than he ever thought.
**2\. The Bears’ seventh consecutive loss** dropped them to 4-9 and assured them of another losing season. The Bears have had one winning season since Smith was fired after going 10-6 in 2012 — tied with the Jets for the fewest in the NFL in that 12-year span.
The Bears have not had back-to-back winning seasons or back-to-back playoff appearances since 2005-06 under Lovie. Come to think of it, the best thing Ryan Poles has going for him — the haul from the 2023 No. 1 overall pick that netted him **Caleb Williams** and **DJ Moore** — is because of Lovie, whose 2022 Texans beat the Colts in Week 17 go give the Bears that No. 1 pick.
**3\. The Lovie Smith era is looking better** and better as the years pass. The Bears went 81-63 (.563), with five winning seasons, three playoff seasons, three playoff victories and reached the Super Bowl in Lovie’s nine seasons. That’s clearly the Bears’ best run since **Mike Ditka** was fired after the 1992 season.
But let the record show, the Bears’ best run in that 32-year span is barely better than the Packers _worst_ nine-year run in the same span. From 2000-08, the Packers went 84-60 (.583) with six winning seasons, five playoff berths and three playoff victories.
The Bears’ Super Bowl appearance after the 2006 season is the trump card (the Packers came close — losing to the Giants in overtime in the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field the following season). But that’s the Packers’ dark era since **Bob Harlan** hired GM **Ron Wolf** in 1991.
**4\. The List: Bears players who** have played five or more NFL seasons without being on a winning team: **DeMarcus Walker** (38-62 in eight seasons), **DJ Moore** (40-72 in seven), **Andrew Billings** (40-72 in seven), **Montez Sweat** (33-49-1 in six), **Jaylon Johnson** (28-52 in five), **Cole Kmet** (28-52 in five).
**5\. Red Flag Dept.: Are the Bears paying a price** for giving **Thomas Brown** a five-game audition? Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the decline of Williams and the offense in Brown’s first game as interim head coach — and first game on the sidelines — was the biggest disappointment in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers.
The Bears had averaged 22 points, 363 yards and 5.5 yards per play in Thomas’ three games as offensive coordinator — against the Packers (11th in points, 12th in yards), Vikings (fourth/10th) ad Lions (second/12th).
But they scored 13 points, gained 162 yards and averaged 3.1 yards per play against a 49ers defense that ranked 24th in points and fifth in yards and was without Pro Bowl edge rusher **Nick Bosa**.
**6\. Williams gets a pass for his** up and down season amid chronic Bears dysfunction, but he’s not above scrutiny.
His fourth-quarter performances against the Packers, Vikings and Lions were impressive — a combined 118.9 passer rating, with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
But missteps in those games — the 12-yard sack in overtime against the Vikings when he held on to the ball for nine seconds; and his curiously slow reaction to the urgency of the moment after the sack against the Lions — might or might not fall into the category of rookie mistakes that are part of the developmental process.
And as was again the case against the 49ers, he’s not ready to rise above the muck — even with Moore, Allen, Odunze, Kmet and **D’Andre Swift** on the field for virtually every snap.
Williams is still the best quarterback prospect the Bears have ever had. He can become a difference-maker in the right hands. But being in the right hands with the Bears has become a bigger part of the equation the way this season has gone.
**7\. Did the Hail Mary break the Bears’** defense? The Bears were fourth in points allowed (17.0) and fifth in yards allowed (292.0) after **Jayden Daniels’** 52-yard touchdown pass to **Noah Brown** on the final play of the 18-15 loss to the Commanders. In seven games since, the Bears are 24th in points allowed (25.3) and 31st in yards allowed (404.9) after allowing 38 points and 452 yards against the 49ers on Sunday.
**8\. Quick Hits: Williams’ passer rating** against the 49ers was 72.9 when the Bears were within three scores and 133.2 when they were down by 24 or more points. … The Bears are the first team to lose seven consecutive games after going into the bye with a winning record (4-2) since the 2011 Buccaneers. … With two sacks against the Bears, former Bears first-round pick **Leonard Floyd** has 8.5 sacks this season, and 48 sacks in 80 games since leaving the Bears after the 2019 season. He had 18.5 sacks in 54 games with the Bears.
**9\. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Player of the Week:** Falcons wide receiver **Darnell Mooney** had a six receptions for a career-high 142 yards in a 42-21 loss to the Vikings. Mooney has 57 catches for 873 yards (15.3) and five touchdowns in 13 games this season.
**10\. Bear-ometer — 4-13:** at Vikings (L); vs. Lions (L); vs. Seahawks (L); at Packers (L).