No Alshon Jeffery , no Matt Forte means big trouble for the Chicago Bears .
A win over the Denver Broncos and their vaunted defense would have inched the Bears closer in the NFC wildcard race. The Bears kept things close, though never held the lead in a narrow 17-15 defeat . It was a game where one could not help but wonder, would things had been different if their top offensive players had played.
The Bears were beginning to gain momentum as a team over the last two games, both victories. After starting the season 0-3, it took a total team effort to win four out of six games. The Bears were 4-5 entering the game with the Broncos.
Standing at 4-5, the Bears were just two games shy of both wildcard leaders, the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers. A win would have kept the Bears on pace with both teams. Victory was a tall order without Alshon Jeffrey, who was out with groin and shoulder injuries (courtesy of ESPN ) and Matt Forte. Forte is still nursing a sore knee. They were both initially game-time decisions.
Having both Pro Bowl players with have given the Bears more options on offense. At no point during the season have Chicago had every position player healthy, or performing well at the same time. Today’s loss somehow serves a microcosm of how this year has been.
Failures in close have #Bears seeing red but not the end zone: https://t.co/9GS4lbFt4o ( @CSNMoonMullin ) #BearsTalk pic.twitter.com/LWKAEiCVQ7
— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) November 23, 2015
Denver’s number one ranked defense shut running back Jeremy Langford down. They held the rising rookie to a measly 25 yards and one touchdown.
Langford had taken the league by storm the last couple of weeks in Forte’s absence. His 332 all-purpose yards the last two weeks were among the top of the list of running backs in the same timeframe. Those yards were accumulated against San Diego and St. Louis. Running the football versus the Broncos’ defense is a different animal as everyone understood. Even a healthy Matt Forte would have some struggles against them. Having him available would have made things interesting.
The same goes for having Alshon Jeffery.
The Bears had many opportunities (via CSN Chicago ) that they failed to capitalize on in this game. With help from the Broncos – their costly penalties, the Bears were in position, yet could not get into the end zone.
No situation was more infamous than when the Bears had a first and goal near the five-yard line. Three consecutive passes by quarterback Jay Cutler led to a fourth and goal with the Bears trailing 17-9. A touchdown and a two-point conversion is needed to tie things up, while a field goal would draw them closer with plenty of time left on the clock. The usually conservative John Fox opted to go for the touchdown, but the Bears’ attempt was nullified by the Broncos. That was perhaps the defining moment of the game.
Without Jeffery on the field to at least act as a decoy, Cutler had to force the pass to Langford. Langford, despite having two big games is still a rookie, and is not a tall target.
The closing seconds of the game provided a glimmer of hope. Cutler, after shaking off two interceptions, led another comeback scoring drive which ended in Jeremy Langford’s lone touchdown. The Bears failed to connect on the two-point conversion, thus giving Broncos’ backup quarterback Brock Osweiler the victory in his first career start, on his 25th birthday nonetheless.
#Bears 2pt conversion: Cutler checked from pass-to-run. Bennett ran a route to the outside. T.J. Ward came free. pic.twitter.com/v1UovKKmxR
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) November 22, 2015
On the bright side, the Bears defeat did not cost them any ground in the race for wildcard contention. The Falcons were on the wrong end of a 24-21 game with the visiting Indianapolis Colts. There were several teams that the Bears needed to lose in order to remain on track. Among those teams, only Seattle and Tampa Bay were victorious. St. Louis, Washington and Philadelphia all lost..
[Photo by David Banks/Getty Images Sport]
