Another 1-possession loss turns on a few key plays for Chicago Bears

CHICAGO – Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a deep ball up for top receiver A.J. Brown down the right sideline. For much of Sunday’s game at Soldier Field, Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson guarded Brown.

On this fourth-quarter play in particular, Johnson was a step behind Brown. The 6-foot-1, 226-pound monster of a receiver caught the ball in stride and shed Johnson, who watched the end of the play from the ground. It went for a 68-yard gain and set up an Eagles touchdown moments later.

Brown quietly put together a career-best performance with 181 receiving yards and a touchdown in an Eagles’ win, 25-20, over the Bears. Johnson and the Bears played well against the Eagles’ receivers for much of the day, but things hinged on a few key plays.

For a Bears team that dropped to 3-11 with the loss, that has been the story of the season. Once again, this young Bears team hung around in a close game. Yet, again, this one goes down as a loss.

The Bears have lost seven one-possession games. They are 1-7 in games decided by eight points or fewer.

“We always talk about there’s six or seven critical plays in a game,” rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon said. “If you change, execute, do your job, it’s all about being consistent and keeping those explosive plays to a minimum. If you do that, then that one possession for us could be big. Just really got to get those and execute.”

Brown’s 68-yard reception was one of those plays. The Eagles were up by just four points at that moment. The Bears defense found ways all afternoon to come up with stops against a high-powered Eagles attack. The defense had two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

But in that moment, Brown had the better of Johnson.

“It’s tough when you’ve got a good quarterback dropping dimes,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, I’m playing monkey in the middle, but I know damn well he gonna work for every catch.”

Johnson lives for matchups like these. He loves guarding an opponent’s best receiver. Sometimes he wins those battles, other times he doesn’t. Life as an NFL cornerback is tough in that way. He truly is playing monkey in the middle – and nobody likes when they’re stuck in the middle.

The Bears are not in the middle. They are very much at the bottom of the NFL right now. But for a team that is 3-11 and staring down the No. 2 overall draft pick, losing seven one-possession games could, in some ways, be seen as a positive. The Bears are showing promise and they’re looking at the best possible draft scenario.

Quarterback Justin Fields continues to give fans hope. As he has said over and over again for weeks, he believes these losses are going to turn into wins eventually.

In 2020, the Eagles went 4-11-1 and fired their head coach. Now, two years later, they are 13-1 and rolling. Fields believes that could be the Bears in the future.

“No matter what our record is, the coaches come in the same every day and the players come in the same every day and we work,” Fields said. “That’s all we know. So no matter what our record is, what’s in the past, we come in every day and show up. As long as we do that, we’ll get better.”

Fields surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the season, becoming the third quarterback ever to do so (along with Lamar Jackson and Michael Vick). He threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He took care of the football and gave his team a chance.

The Bears simply ran into a team that is taking advantage of its chances better than they are.

“We’re fighters,” Johnson said. “I know sometimes things don’t go our way, but we never stop fighting.”