I've never understood the term "moral victories." If they're meant to buoy one's spirits in the aftermath of a loss, shouldn't they be "morale" victories? Sorry to be getting deep on a Monday morning, but when you're a Chicago Bears fan dealing with yet another existential crisis (or is it all just one ongoing crisis? It's getting difficult to tell at this point), it helps to think about something other than football.
The Bears lost again on Sunday, their seventh defeat in a row. This was the first game of the post-Matt Eberflus era, and while it didn't vindicate their former coach, who is objectively and historically bad by any measure, it did show that the problems with the Bears run much deeper than simply who wears the headset on the sidelines.
For all practical purposes, this game was over in the first quarter. The Bears once again came out flat, and once again allowed their opponent to score first, something that, incredibly, has happened in 12 out of 13 games this season. In fact, the 49ers would go on to put up the first four scores of the game on their way to the most dominant half of football any NFL team has played this year.
There have been 207 NFL games played to this point in the regular season, so that might seem like a wild statement to make. The Lions beat the Jaguars 52-6 in Week 11, yet still the first half of Bears-49ers was more lopsided than either of the two that those teams played. San Francisco's offense, injury-depleted though it was, managed to rack up 319 yards against a defense that includes Jaylon Johnson, Montez Sweat and T.J. Edwards. The Bears, with Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and D'Andre Swift, managed four yards. In the half. Four yards!
Moral victories seem especially useless after games like this in which the team humiliated itself in so many ways. If there was any morality at play in the NFL, then Bears fans wouldn't be made to suffer like this for so long. Was The Super Bowl Shuffle really that offensive to the football gods that we're still paying for it nearly 40 years later?
Nevertheless, Bears fans must push on anyway. What are we going to do, just give up forever? Actually that doesn't sound half bad at this point, but no. Being a fan means believing that one day, whether it be tomorrow or when we're old and gray, things will finally go our way.
Let's not call them moral victories then, but silver linings. Bears fans have endured a biblical amount of suffering, but even Job got his happy ending eventually. Here are three reasons to believe that one day, Bears fans will, too.
The Caleb Williams-Rome Odunze connection is real
Caleb Williams has given Bears fans so much to be hopeful about with his play this year, even though there have certainly been bumps along the way. Although Williams extended his streak of interception-less games to seven, Sunday's game was not the rookie's finest hour by any stretch.
Williams did nothing until the game was well out of reach, and it seemed like he was sacked every time he dropped back to pass on third down. Still, there were things to like, such as his competitive fire in trying to lead the Bears back, but most especially with the way he connected with fellow freshman Rome Odunze.
We predicted this week that Odunze would have his best game as a pro (please kindly ignore the part about the Bears winning this game), and though he didn't approach his season-high in yardage or receptions, he did manage to triple his career touchdowns by pulling in two of his four catches in the end zone. The first was one of the Bears' best highlights of the season—a perfectly-feathered ball to the back corner by Williams that Odunze managed to reel in while just getting both feet down. The second was impressive as well, as Odunze hung on to the 14-yard score despite getting popped by Niners safety Ji'Ayir Brown right as he caught it.
The Bears are, frustratingly, still in rebuilding mode, but Williams and Odunze, and the connection they already share, are terrific building blocks for the future.
The Bears are hurtling towards a top-five draft pick
As much as I love the draft, I do have to say that I envy teams that never have to pick before the mid-20s. Being in the top 10 is exhausting, but the Bears, who as of right now are locked into the ninth spot, are making a terrible habit of it.
If you heard a loud slap during yesterday's game, that was the sound of Bears fans around the world striking their foreheads in disbelieving unison when Fox showed the Bears as being "in the hunt" for the playoffs at 4-8. Seriously, in the words of one of the network's greatest icons, eat my shorts.
Including the Bears in the “in the hunt” playoff graphic is like keeping that senior family dog alive well past the point of it enjoying life anymore. Please just give us a little plate of steak, take us to our favorite park, and let us die with what’s left of our dignity. I beg.
— alyssa (@alyssaacorrine) December 9, 2024
The Bears are not in the hunt, and after yesterday's beating, they're not even in the woods. Only two things matter right now with this team—make sure that Caleb Williams is healthy going into next season, and get the best draft pick possible.
That doesn't mean losing on purpose, but with the schedule the Bears face to end the year, it won't much matter what the Bears want, anyway. A Monday night road game at the 11-2 Vikings is on the menu for next week, followed by a home game with the 12-1 Lions (the Bears were just half a game behind Detroit eight weeks ago, remember that?), a home game with the NFC West-leading Seahawks, and a regular season finale against the Packers at Lambeau Field, where nothing bad has ever happened.
If the Bears pick ninth or later in next April's draft with this schedule, it will be a miracle. The Raiders and Giants are in a race for the top spot with matching 2-11 records, but there's a case to be made that each of the six three-win teams will win more games to close out the season than the Bears will.
Picking in the top five again would be embarrassing after coming into this season with such high hopes, but if it allowed the Bears to draft someone like Penn State's Abdul Carter, Michigan's Mason Graham or LSU's Will Campbell, Bears fans would take it.
This loss brought much-needed clarity to the Bears head coaching search
Bears fans were impressed with the change of tone that interim head coach Thomas Brown brought to the mic this week. The passing game coordinator-turned-offensive coordinator-turned-head coach looked and sounded like a younger Mike Tomlin, leading many fans to rank him at or near the top of their lists when it came to who the team should hire on a permanent basis going forward.
Bears team president Kevin Warren said that he is looking for "a leader of men" to be the team's next head coach, and between his inspiring rhetoric (Brown said at his first press conference after taking the job, "Football is a violent game and it rewards those who play the game violently") and sterling reputation around the league, Brown appeared to have an inside track at winning the job.
History has shown that removing the interim tag from a head coach rarely works out in the NFL. Just look at Antonio Pierce, who won the Raiders job with a strong closing stretch last year after Josh McDaniels was let go, but is now just 2-11 and only a week removed from saying the Raiders were "the worst team in football." It's good then that Brown's first audition for the permanent gig was so spectacularly bad.
To be clear, this Bears team is a mess right now. Matt Eberflus was not a good head coach, but the defense was solid under him. It was guaranteed to take a step back when he left, and it sure did against the Niners. That's not Brown's fault, nor is it his fault that the Bears continue to drop the ball in crucial situations.
The Bears have a culture problem. That much is clear after yet another game in which they dug themselves a double-digit hole. Bad penalties, such as Darrell Taylor's roughing the passer on Brock Purdy, continue to be the norm, and the sight of Bears players celebrating an interception while down 25 with two minutes to go (which, mercifully, Fox cut to commercial rather than show) is enough to make any Bears fan sick.
It would have been incredible to see Brown come in and whip this team into shape in less than a week, but that was never realistic, nor would it have made things any easier for Ryan Poles or Kevin Warren going forward. Brown may end up being a great head coach at some point, and he may even get the Bears to look like a real football team before this season is done. This team has ignored history for too long though, and if Brown starting his interim tenure with a thud means the Bears finally break the bank for a top head coaching candidate, then it will have been a good thing.