KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jaquan Brisker sat in the corner of the visitors’ locker room at Arrowhead Stadium, his hand over his mouth, talking to injured cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The words were muffled, but her eyes and body language said more than enough.
Where the hell do we go from here?
The Bears were gutted Sunday afternoon in Kansas City as Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Chiefs worked them like a speed bag in a 41-10 loss.
A fortnight ago, the Bears prepared for their season opener with great expectations – individually and as a team. It was a rebuilding team with the arrow pointing straight up. They added talent, and many expected quarterback Justin Fields to make a big jump.
Things started badly and have only gotten worse in the two weeks since. The Bears are now 0-3, have the worst statistical defense in the NFL, the offense can’t do anything and have been overwhelmed by a mix of incompetence, lack of execution, poor preparation and poor decisions.
After the Chiefs finished dragging the Bears back and forth across the GEHA Field turf for three hours, the Bears returned to the visitors’ locker room shocked at how poorly things had gone over the past three weeks.
“We just got our ass kicked,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “That’s number one. I can’t imagine a game that looked like that in a long time.”
“Honestly, it’s a reality check for all three phases,” defensive end DeMarcus Walker said.
Kmet looked dazed after the loss. He stood at his locker and answered questions. But one of the Bears’ leaders, a guy this regime rewarded with a big extension in the offseason, has struggled to find a solid explanation for why the Bears are sinking deeper and deeper into the cesspool in 2023.
Defensive tackle Justin Jones sat at his locker, his back turned and his head bowed. One of the more vocal leaders of this Bears team tried to spread a positive message that a recovery could be coming. But his normal confident tone was gone. The Chiefs accepted that too.
“Keep hitting that rock, man,” Jones said quietly. “They are a good team. There is no doubt about that. But we still have players and good coaches. We have a good team. We have to stay united and move forward.”
At the other end of the locker room, wide receiver DJ Moore stood talking to Darnell Mooney. Like Brisker and Johnson, the receivers were engaged in intense conversation. Maybe they were trying to figure out why a passing game that was supposed to be dynamic was borderline inept for three games. Maybe, like the rest, they’re just wondering how bad the next 14 games can get.
“I don’t know,” Moore said. “We have to stick together. What? The next two weeks we got Denver, and then we got the Commanders. We had to find a way to win these two and not be 0-5 or 0-4.”
The Bears players on both sides of the ball tried to stay tall and confident, maintaining that the team was not lost. I am convinced that these first three games do not reveal who they are and that solutions can be found. Chemistry, execution and trust were cited as potential keys to preventing the ship from sinking.
But what if it’s already underwater?
“We’re still trying to find our identity,” Walker said. “I really believe that. The chemistry must be right. Better to be a team that starts slow and finishes fast than a team that starts well and finishes slow.”
This team had months to find its identity. It told us what was going on in the camp. It’s been beaten three times in a row and now they have no idea who they are.
When asked what the key to fixing the defect was, Walker’s answer seemed telling about where this Bears team really is.
“Coaches trust the players, players trust the coaches,” Walker said. “But it has to be 50/50. It can’t be 60/40, 70/30.”
When asked if they trust their coaches, Walker was unconvinced.
“You have no choice,” Walker said. “Of course we’ll do it.”
Linebacker TJ Edwards spent last season with the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. He now finds out how the other half lives.
“I don’t think anyone is freaking out or losing their minds, but we have to have a sense of urgency,” Edwards said. “We have to get going and play good football. There is no time to waste in this league. You never know.”
Slowly but surely, the 2023 Bears walked out of the Arrowhead locker room. The only sound that filled the air was the hum of the overhead lights. Honestly, what is there to say about that?
This team should be different. Should be harder, more explosive and more decisive. There were excuses for last year’s 3-14 team. Many of the starters were not NFL-caliber players. It’s been a teardown season. Bla bla bla.
General manager Ryan Poles added talent. He added his guys at the positions he and head coach Matt Eberflus wanted.
And this team is arguably worse than the one that was a punching bag for most of last season.
This is unjustifiable and goes beyond executing the players on Sunday. There’s something else going on for the 2023 Bears.
They should be better. They should at least be visible.
The Bears can search for answers as long as they want. You won’t find them in Halas Hall, on the bus or in the corners of the stadium’s away locker room where Mahomes and the Chiefs stole their souls.
After Sunday’s throttling, the Bears stumbled through the media session, just as they stumbled through 60 minutes of game time.
There were no catchy lines, fiery pep talks, or easy-to-see solutions—just eyes searching for answers in the void were unlikely to materialize.
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