The Chicago Bears had every chance in the world to close out the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and they failed. Repeatedly. There were a number of reasons for this. The defense decided to take the game off, making heaps of uncharacteristic mistakes. There were some questionable calls by the coaching staff and a number of crushing turnovers at the worst possible time.
That’s how a team loses close games and loses games to teams they should beat. It was a throwback to how the Bears have been for the past five years. They didn’t take their opponent seriously, came in way too relaxed and by the time they managed to get their footing again it was too late. This is what happens with young teams who are still learning how to consistently win.
There were plenty of plays that illustrate this, but five in particular stood how the most. Plays the Bears will see during film review and known the game turned against them further and further on each one.
#1: Jordan Howard fumble
This was arguably the most brutal moment of the game, which was saying something. Despite being in a mire all of the first half, the Bears had a chance to tie the game before intermission. They had it down to the 1-yard line. They had Jordan Howard ready to rumble and game him the football. Then he inexplicably fumbled, allowing Miami to recover and escape into the half up 7-0. That play became a portent of things to come.
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#2: Roughing the passer call on Leonard Floyd
There were a ton of bad calls in this game on both sides. Most of them against the Bears. One particularly costly flag that was absolutely terrible was a roughing the passing call on Leonard Floyd. It gave Miami a 1st down on their own 40-yard line and enabled them to work their way towards a field goal. While that may seem trivial, remember the Bears lost by three. So, in the end, that call was huge.
#3: Mitch Trubisky red zone interception
What makes this so much worse is that the Bears had the touchdown on the previous play. It was called back due to a highly dubious offensive pass interference call on Trey Burton. Sure enough on the next play Trubisky tried to force the ball in tight coverage and it got picked off. On the ensuing Dolphins possession, they went 80 yards in six plays to tie the game 21-21. If the Bears had scored there the game was likely over.
#4: Tarik Cohen fumble
Even after Miami had tied the game 28-28, the Bears still had time to go down the field and win it with a field goal. They were driving well and had reached the 43. Just about 15-20 more yards and they’d be in range for Cody Parkey to hit a go-ahead field goal. Instead Tarik Cohen coughed the ball up and the Dolphins recovered. Despite the defense preventing a field goal attempt by Miami, that was a crushing sequence.
#5: Cody Parkey missed field goal
This one was created by a mistake from the Bears offensive coaching. They had the ball 3rd and 4 with Miami clearly selling out for the run. Chicago ran it anyway and set up a difficult 53-yard attempt from the right hash for Parkey. It was a rare conservative moment for Matt Nagy. Could he not have tried a high-percentage passing to try for the 1st down? Apparently not. Parkey pushed the ball wide right. Miami won a few plays later.
