The Chicago Bears’ Youth Was Finally Their Undoing — Here’s Why
Anybody who understands playoff football in the NFL knows the most fundamental rule. The least efficient teams are the most punished. The Chicago Bears played their hearts out on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams. Per usual, it was a tough and gritty game that went right down to the wire. The Rams had the lead 17-10 in the final seconds before Caleb Williams once again did the unfathomable, hitting Cole Kmet on a ridiculous 4th down heave for a touchdown to force overtime.
Sadly, their magic ran out. Williams was intercepted on the Bears’ first drive of the extra session, allowing Los Angeles to drive down for a winning 42-yard field goal. The truth is, this game was defined by missed opportunities. Chicago’s evening was frustrated by three key factors:
- Turnovers
- Dropped passes
- Poor execution on 3rd and 4th down.
Williams had three interceptions. Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Colston Loveland were all guilty of some tough drops. Chicago was 9-of-19 on 3rd down and 3-of-6 on 4th down. What hurt even more was that many of those failures were in short-yardage situations, indicating the Rams were able to control the line of scrimmage.
The Chicago Bears must learn some important lessons from this.
They aren’t the first young team to come into the playoffs and exit this way. When you’re facing the best teams in the NFL, every mistake gets magnified. The more you make, the greater your odds of losing skyrocket. It happened to Josh Allen and Buffalo. It happened to Jalen Hurts and Philadelphia. This experience is nothing new in the NFL. For Williams and the Bears, it will be about how they apply the lessons learned in the coming offseason. Will they rest on their laurels or put in extra work to clean up the areas that hurt them this year?
Knowing how Ben Johnson operates, you can bet he will attack the summer with renewed fervor. He has no intentions of being a one-year wonder. The Chicago Bears will be a factor in the NFC every year if this head coach has anything to say about it. First on the agenda is seeing if they can provide the roster with some additional support, which won’t be easy given their tight budget. The next few months should be interesting as they take stock and prepare for what comes next.