The Chicago Bears fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-17, on Sunday. The Bears are now 0-2 on the season and have lost 12 straight regular-season games dating back to 2022. Despite having chances to win the game late, the offense couldn’t get into a consistent flow. It was an ugly game, with only a few bright spots.
Teams who start the season 0-2 have an 11 percent chance of making the playoffs. Though fans weren’t all expecting playoffs in 2023, they were expecting a competitive football team. Through two weeks, the Bears have been far from that.
Buy Bears TicketsHere’s everything we know about Chicago’s Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers.
Final Score: Buccaneers 27, Bears 17
Keys to the Game
DJ Moore is finally being utilized: With a lack of targets last week, fans were wondering why DJ Moore wasn’t more of a target against the Packers. That was cleared up against the Buccaneers, with Moore leading the team with six receptions for 104 yards. Every time Moore touched the ball, something big happened. With Darnell Mooney being knocked out of the game, that left Moore stranded. When both guys are used equally, the passing offense should improve.
Will the real Justin Fields please stand up: Everybody talked about Fields needing to use his legs only in broken plays. On Sunday, almost every play was a broken play. The more he has been told to not be himself, the worse he has been. It’s understandable to not want your quarterback running the ball as much as he did last season, but Fields needs to be allowed to be himself. Luke Getsy needs to open up more plays on the perimeter, giving Fields the option to run when he isn’t comfortable.
Credit to the defense: The Bears defense, for once, wasn’t the problem. Well, at least not the biggest problem. They bent but didn’t break and kept the offense in the game to the very last drive. With Matt Eberflus calling defensive plays, they appeared to improve, but they still couldn’t get to quarterback Baker Mayfield and interrupt his flow. That is something that needs to improve throughout the season before it is too late, if it isn’t already.
It was over when...
It was over when Justin Fields tossed a pick-six in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Fields was intercepted by Shaquil Barrett, who returned it a very short six yards for a touchdown with 2:03 left in the game. That gave Tampa Bay a 10-point lead, which put the game out of reach for Chicago.
3 Duds of the Game
***Bears’ Offensive line: This isn’t all on the Bears’ offensive line, but anytime your quarterback is sacked six times, they’ve had a rough day. Fields was sacked six times for a loss of 42 yards. Fields was constantly hurried and knocked down, partly due to him being gun-shy on Sunday, but the offensive line wasn’t doing him any favors.
**Justin Fields: Fields put on another poor showing Sunday, completing 16-of-29 passes for 211 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions, two fumbles and six sacks. Fields now has thrown a pick-six in both games this season. Fields has regressed as a passer – not improved – as we were promised by the coaching staff going into the 2023 season. The passing offense in Chicago is ugly.
*Luke Getsy: Fans are unsure what is going on with the playcalling, but it has been very inconsistent under Luke Getsy. The first drive of the game saw the Bears march down the field and look like a great passing offense. After that, they went cold. Getsy is an inconsistent playcaller, leaving his offense and quarterback out to dry when they need him the most.
What's Next
Next week, the Bears (0-2) will travel to Kansas City to face the Chiefs (1-1) at 3:25 p.m. CT. This will be their first regular-season matchup with the Chiefs since 2019, where Kansas City blew out Chicago, 26-3.
