Wildcard@NO: Bottom was hit

    The Bears were once again outplayed and outschemed by a better team who just knew what they were going to do on both sides of the ball and got shutdown, the score might reflect a very tough defensive match which it was but the Bears offense did little to nothing to beat a Saints defense that was more than ready for them.

   The offense never could get the running game started and that killed any chance they had to get back on the scoreboard, the Oline lacked everything they lacked before this game and then some, getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage in a regular basis while David Montgomery just didn't seem to feel it today, he missed some small openings that could have gotten him going for some extra yards but looked confused and opted often to follow his blockers which were not going anywhere instead of cutting to the middle to try and beat the edge defender coming in pursuit. Cole Kmet didn't have a good day by not getting himself positioned correctly in run blocking and was shutdown in the passing game due to the Saint destroying the Bears play action and bootlegs, his phantom personal foul didn't help him either. Jimmy Graham and Allen Robinson were nowhere to be found and Darnell Mooney was badly missed. Javon Wims will likely remember this game for a while, the TD he dropped in the endzone was the only shot the Bears had to keep it close. Mitchell Trubisky just couldn't get it going, he needed to take shots and be aggressive against this defense but until the 4th quarter when the score was still close, it seemed that the priority was still to keep it safe, they tried to play it like they did against the Packers and it just did not work, the Saints did their homework and it showed, the lack of pride and fight in this Bears offense was just not in par with their opponent.

   The defense on the other hand, although they still struggled, once they got scored for the Saints first TD by playing conservative, they started to play like their lives depended on it. They were getting exposed on zone coverage and changed to play more man but they were getting beaten anyway. like I said, the Saints were ready and knew what to call to get the better of them but the Bears defense fought hard even with the disadvantages against a better skilled and coached offense, they created pressure, they often stopped the running game against Alvin Kamara and the Saints Oline which is no easy task, but their efforts were not answered and again fell victim once more to their opponent by being too long on the field because of a mediocre offensive performance and play calling.

   Hope for improvement died Sunday, just like Graham going directly to the tunnel after his TD catch at the end of the game, it didn't matter that it ended in a positive mark, the result was abismal and couldn't wait to leave this behind and wait for next season. The miracle was too great to achieve and to far to grasp for this team that struggled and at the end could not piece it together to find who they really were and how could they make it work.The news that Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace are returning for 2021 does make it feel like this team is complacent, reaching the last extra spot of the payoffs with an even 8-8 record is enough  for this organization to give it another go with the same driver at the wheel of a beat up car which he possibly doesn't know how to fix. Can't wait to write what I want to see happen this offseason against what I think will happen and dread what could possibly happen.