THE Chicago Bear didn’t come into their game against the Arizona Cardinals with an immaculate vibe. A week before, they lost a heartbreaker to Washington’s commanders in a last-second Hail Mary. Before Sunday’s game, there was some hope that they would bounce back, but that was far from the case. They ended up getting blown out 29-9 and are now 0-18 on Sunday in away games with Matt Eberflus as head coach.
The only thing keeping Eberflus in the organization’s good graces was the quality of the defense’s play. So far this season, they have not conceded more than 21 points. However, they ultimately broke out against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense. Arizona was able to do what it wanted against the Bears on most of its possessions.
Injuries have something to do with it. They started to pile on the defensive side of the ball, and that caught up to them in this game.
Defensive end Montez Sweat (shin), cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring) and safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) were all inactive due to injury, and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was not not started after his role at the end of the Commanders’ defeat. He entered the match, but he was not allowed to make an impact in the early stages of the match.
Cornerback Jaylon Jones (shoulder) and defensive tackle Andrew Billings (chest) also left the game with injuries, making the situation even worse for Chicago.
Sweat and Brisker are Chicago’s biggest hits. Sweat is the biggest passer on this team and not having him significantly diminishes their ability to get to the quarterback. Brisker is an excellent defensive back who helps them dominate their pass defense. Without both, everyone is in a difficult situation.
It’s difficult for the Bears to win games because of their coaching staff. It’s not better when the defense can’t do its job properly because it doesn’t have some of its most influential players. The injuries didn’t stop on defense either. It simply has less impact when offensive players go down because they aren’t very good on that side of the ball. Offensive tackles Braxton Jones (knee) and Kiran Amegadjie (calf) were all inactive due to injuries in last week’s loss, while right tackle Darnell Wright left the game with a knee injury on Sunday.
Injuries are no excuse for the way this team has played over the past two weeks, but it’s clear they’ve made up ground on the defensive side of the ball. It’s difficult to dominate without your most influential players on defense.
The Bears should hope to get back to better health before next Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. At 4-4, they need everyone to be as healthy as possible. This season already seems to be slipping away and any further bad news could put it out of reach.
This article was originally published on Bears Wire: Injuries finally caught up with Bears defense in loss to Cardinals
