Nobody in NFL history has ever done what the Bears did in their loss to the Lions

Almost everything went right for the Bears for 56 minutes

In sports media, terms like “historic win,” or “generational talent,” get thrown around so much that they begin to lose their real meaning. We all do it. It’s OK. Sports are exciting and hyperbole is part of the fun.

But the Bears lost to the Lions in truly historic fashion on Sunday. As in they did something that no other NFL team has ever done before, per ESPN 1000.

From Doug Colletti our @ESPN1000 Bears statistics guru:
First time any team lost in regulation with plus 3 turnover margin and 40 minute plus time of possession. Teams were 48-0 prior to today’s epic collapse. #TakeThat

— David Kaplan (@thekapman) November 19, 2023

The Bears did almost everything right for three and a half quarters. They followed their script to win a game: run the ball well on offense, take the ball away on defense. Justin Fields was electric in his return and made huge plays both with his arm and his legs. It was as dominant of a performance as the Bears could have hoped for on the road against the class of the NFC North.

It all came crumbling down for another disappointing loss as the Lions scored 17 unanswered points in the final four minutes of the game.

Where did it all go wrong? Was conservative playcalling to blame? Or the inability to make a stop on defense with the game on the line? Did the Bears doom themselves by not capitalizing on every single opportunity the Lions gave them to put points on the board, or take points away? Do the Bears need to learn how to win, or is Eberflus’ H.I.T.S. program insufficient for building a winning program? Does the team not have enough talent, and is the talent on the field executing at a high enough rate?

These are the questions folks will debate all week, just as they’ve been debated many weeks prior. Whatever the reason for the numerous disappointing losses, it’s clear the Bears simply aren’t good enough to beat quality teams without playing absolutely perfectly.