WHAT’S THAT SMELL?
Offense stunk in every conceivable way against the Eagles
The Bears found the origin of the foul stench Monday at Halas Hall. Sushi, disposed of improperly, spent the weekend working up to a vile, eye- watering potency.
In the film room Monday, the visual equivalent of that smell jumped off the screen. The Bears had 33 yards of offense — and 36 penalty yards — at halftime of their 31- 3 loss Sunday to the Eagles. They didn’t muster a first down until about a minute into the third quarter.
It was an unmitigated mess. The Bears were overmatched — most teams have been this season against the Eagles — but also appeared to be unprepared. After receiver Dontrelle Inman was injured in the second quarter, the Bears had to stop punter Pat O’Donnell from taking the field on third down, then took a timeout because ‘‘ we were backed up and we were lined up wrong,’’ coach John Fox said.
The game against the Eagles destroyed any momentum offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains had gained the week before, when the Bears set season highs for yards and first downs against the Lions. It’s unclear how he can get it back. He certainly can’t do it by beating the 49ers, who have given up 25.8 points a game, on Sunday or the Browns, who are allowing 26.3 points a game, on Dec. 24.
It would have taken a surprising performance against a good team to give Loggains’ job prospects any buzz heading into next season. Instead, the Bears posted the secondworst rushing game in franchise history. The Bears, an outsidezone running team, ran such a play only once in the first half. Players in the locker room wondered why.
‘‘ All these matchups are different,’’ Fox said. ‘‘ I think that’s obvious. I think we executed better [ against the Lions]. I think we were probably a little bit more whole. They aren’t excuses.’’
They sounded like them. Fox pointed to guard Josh Sitton’s concussion and a large deficit as reasons for the Bears’ offensive struggles.
‘‘ I just think the whole game just went different,’’ he said.
Loggainswas praised for his creativity in the first quarter against the Lions — and with good reason. Rookie Mitch Trubisky completed passes to four receivers and staked the Bears to a 10- point lead.
In the seven quarters since, the Bears have averaged 4.39 yards per play. One team in the NFL has averaged fewer during the full season.
The offense took a step backward against the Eagles, and so did Trubisky. Praised by his bosses for his accuracy, Trubisky left throws high and wide en route to a .515 completion percentage ( 17- for- 33).
Fox argued Trubisky didn’t have an ‘‘ overabundance’’ of bad throws. He blamed bad timing, a result of mistakes by both Trubisky and his teammates.
‘‘ We did not resemble a welloiled machine in that department,’’ Fox said. ‘‘ I think most people can see that, including myself.’’