Chicago Bears Score and Recap (Week 3): Colts 21, Bears 16 – Chicago Comes Up Short in Incredibly Sloppy Game
The Bears traveled to Indianapolis Sunday afternoon for a matchup with the Colts. It was an incredibly sloppy game filled with questionable coaching decisions but in the end, Chicago came up on the losing side with another lackluster offensive performance.
Neither team produced anything in the first quarter, although the Bears did move the ball a little bit. The Colts drove towards the end zone but a brutal interception by quarterback Anthony Richardson killed the drive. Unfortunately, Caleb Williams returned the favor with an interception the following drive and the home team finally took advantage.
The excellent running back Jonathan Taylor broke a 29-yard touchdown run to put Indianapolis ahead 7-0. The Bears took their next possession all the way down to the goal line before they ran an inexplicable option pitch on 4th down from inside the 1 yard line which lost 6 yards. Williams actually completed a Hail Mary D.J. Moore as the half expired but he was tackled just short of the end zone and the score remained 7-0.
Chicago intercepted a pass from Richardson to begin the second half and turned it into a 53-yard Cairo Santos field goal. Colts put together another drive and paid it off with running back Trey Sermon basically being pushed over the goal line by his offensive line in a rugby scrum to make it 14-3.
The Bears were finally able to reach the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter with Williams throwing his first career TD pass to Rome Odunze who also made his first touchdown reception on the play. A two-point conversion attempt failed and the road team was behind 14-9.
Williams was stripped sacked deep in his own territory and Indianapolis jumped on it. Taylor ran in his second score of the game to give his team a 21-9 margin. Cole Kmet hauled in a TD Play before the two minute warning that cut the deficit to 21-16. That was as close as things would get, however, and the Colts ran up the clock to take home the victory. (Box score)
Why the Bears Lost
They made several critical mistakes when they had chances to score points. That proved to be the difference in a very close game.
Key Moment
The Bears attempting to do an option pitch on a 4th and goal from inside the 1 yard line makes no sense. The Colts had struggled mightily against the run the first two weeks of the season, it really felt like offensive coordinator Shane Waldron got too fancy instead of just powering straight ahead to get the half yard they needed.
Stats That Matter
- Williams showed a lot more in this one than he had in his first two starts with two touchdowns and 363 yards but three turnovers were killers. Obviously, that’s something that will need to be cleaned up in the future.
- An incredibly disappointing performance on the ground for the Bears against a team with a very bad run defense. Chicago only had 63 total yards rushing.
- The secondary did a very good job against Richardson intercepting him twice and holding him to only 167 passing yards.
Bottom Line
Matt Eberflus and the rest of the Bears coaching staff have hardly distinguished themselves in the first three games of 2024. There have been several decisions and calls that have made little sense including wasting an important time out on the two point attempt in the second half Sunday. They are going to have to clean up their act if they want to stay around for 2025. Williams is making progress but it’s inconsistent and rocky so far.
Next Up
The Bears return home to face an injury ravaged Los Angeles Rams squad Sunday at 12:00pm CT with a broadcast on FOX.
