The Chicago Bears (3-9) suffered a 31-10 loss to the New York Jets (7-4), where Chicago severely missed star quarterback Justin Fields in their fifth straight defeat.
It was a weird start to Sunday’s game, where there was some confusion as to who would be starting at QB for Chicago. Trevor Siemian injured his oblique during warmups, and it looked like third-stringer Nathan Peterman was going to get the nod. Siemian was a literal game-time decision just moments before the game kicked off, and he got the nod, leading the Bears to scores on his first two drives. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
Chicago’s already-depleted defense suffered another blow with the loss of Eddie Jackson (foot), leaving the Bears without its top safeties in Jackson and rookie Jaquan Brisker. Jets quarterback Mike White took advantage of that battered group and won himself a starting job.
There was plenty to break down following Chicago’s loss against New York. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their thoughts following the Week 12 game.
The Bears’ Week 12 loss vs. Jets
Alyssa Barbieri
One that was made abundantly clear from the start of this game was that the Bears aren’t fun without Justin Fields. Also, we’ve reached the point of the season where looking ahead to the 2023 offseason is perfectly acceptable. Because after Sunday’s brutal loss to the Jets — which took a physical toll on some key starters and where Fields wasn’t there to dull the pain — stick a fork in the Bears, they’re done.
For an entire quarter, there were some NFL fans who tried to talk themselves into believing Trevor Siemian was a better quarterback than Fields after he led Chicago to back-to-back scoring drives to open the game. But when all was said and done, Siemian’s Bears scored just 10 points in a game where there were opportunities to move the ball. It goes to show you just how much credit Fields deserves when it comes to leading this offense to 33, 29, 32 and 30 points.
At the same time, thank the lord the Bears decided to rest Fields in this game. Because the way injuries went, Fields could’ve wound up further injuring that separated left shoulder. Chicago lost two key starters — and a number of others — to injury at the merciless hands of MetLife Stadium. Receiver Darnell Mooney suffered what’s expected to be a season-ending ankle injury while safety Eddie Jackson suffered a non-contact foot injury. Riley Reiff, Larry Borom and Dane Cruikshank also suffered injuries.
Believe it or not, there was some good news. With the Bears losing and the Panthers winning, Chicago now holds the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. This year has always been about the future, not necessarily winning. And with five games left, the Bears certainly look poised to land a top-three pick. That’s certainly a reason to be thankful.
Brendan Sugrue
It doesn’t feel like a lot needs to be said this week. Without Justin Fields, this game against the Jets was always going to be an uphill battle. Even when the offense looked competent for the first couple drives with Trevor Siemian at the helm, it was only a matter of time before things went haywire. Siemian was able to make quick passes initially, mainly on one-read plays and screens. But it didn’t take long for the Jets defense to make adjustments and halt any offensive progress being made. That’s the Fields difference. He can make something out of nothing that other QBs simply can’t do. Siemian might have shown a few areas that Fields can improve in, but there’s no replacing QB1. The only true positive I have on offense is David Montgomery had his best game since Week 2, which was an encouraging sign. He ran hard and averaged over five and a half yards per carry.
Defensively, it was much of the same that we’ve seen the last few weeks. With a little-to-no pass rush, the Jets were able to carve up a banged-up secondary that looks much worse if Eddie Jackson winds up missing significant time due to his leg injury. Mike White looked like a competent quarterback and the Bears couldn’t stop him or the running game, which was down to their third string back late in the game. The defense allowed 466 total yards on the day. But hey, at least Jack Sanborn was a tackling machine. He notched 15 total tackles, the most for a player not named Roquan Smith in six years.
If you’re into draft position, perhaps this loss doesn’t sting since the Bears now have control of the second overall pick for the time being and Fields didn’t play a role in the game. But the biggest issue coming out of the game was the injuries. The Bears lost numerous players to injury in part due to the poor playing surface at MetLife Stadium. If Jackson or Darnell Mooney are seriously hurt, it would be a huge blow for both sides of the ball. Certain fields have come under fire recently for risks of injury and the Bears saw that firsthand in New Jersey.
Ryan Fedrau
I liked what I saw out of the first two drives from Trevor Siemian. I think he looked OK early on going into the third quarter. Something switched, and the offense got shut down by a very good Jets defense. The Bears defense played awful yet again, giving up 30 points for the fourth time in five games. That has to change if they plan on winning any more games this season.
You could see how much they missed Justin Fields inside the red zone. There was no rushing threat from the quarterback without Fields, and that hurt the Bears offense. You can’t find a backup that will bring that same special talent he has, as he is as close to a 1-of-1 talent on the ground as you get. Chicago will have to figure something out fort their backup plan though.
On defense, this is worse than we thought. Either that, or Mike White is very good. Either way, 3-9 is awful and I’m just hoping Ryan Poles knows what he is doing and 2023 is going to be as special as it can be.
