Chicago Bears Week 8 storylines: An offense in ruins, Larry Borom’s potential return and a mission to slow Deebo Samuel

The oddsmakers are forecasting a Chicago Bears loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Soldier Field, a possibility that would amplify the outside worries about the franchise’s direction. Coming off their worst defeat in seven seasons last weekend in Tampa, Fla., the Bears are battling to keep the bus on the road but might have to use special teams coordinator Chris Tabor as their designated driver while coach Matt Nagy waits to return after testing positive for COVID-19. The atmosphere should be energized and, well, maybe a bit tense on Halloween near the lakefront. As kickoff approaches, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines

‘We’ve got to be better’

Things were a real mess in 2016. The Bears checked in to training camp that summer with Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer, David Fales and Connor Shaw in their quarterbacks room and finished the season with Matt Barkley starting the final six games and leading the team in passing.

They had stumbles and faceplants, significant injuries and a whole barrel full of losses. Thirteen, in fact.

Hoyer guided the Bears past the Detroit Lions 17-14 in early October. Cutler returned from a sprained right thumb to beat the Minnesota Vikings 20-10 four weeks later. And Barkley chipped in to aid a 26-6 blowout of the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13.

Three starting quarterbacks, one win apiece.

With an inconsistent offense and a defense that couldn’t take the ball away, the Bears sputtered to a third consecutive last-place finish in the NFC North. And very little about that offense was worth remembering. It was just a shrug-worthy attack that averaged only 17.4 points with a middle-tier passing attack that put up 248.1 yards per game.

The next year, with the Bears drafting Mitch Trubisky at No. 2 and vaulting him into a starting role a month into the season, John Fox did everything he could to lighten the load he on his rookie quarterback. Fox, in fact, beamed with pride for months after his team beat the Carolina Panthers 17-3 with Trubisky throwing seven passes (with only four completions) in a Week 7 game.

The Bears used workhorse running back Jordan Howard as their offensive engine for most of that fall. And on the way to a 5-11 finish that cost Fox his job, they finished 29th in scoring (16.5 points per game) and last in passing offense, averaging a measly 175.7 yards per game through the air.

Yuck.

We mention all that simply to put a frame around the Bears’ current offensive mess. The ineptitude has been undeniable for an offense averaging a league-low 124.4 passing yards per game while posting a scoring average of 14.4 points.

We all knew it was bad, right? With 10 touchdowns on 70 possessions this season, it hasn’t been hard to recognize the discombobulation. But even when compared with recent offensively challenged, last-place Halas Hall residents, the current struggles register as astounding.

Deep into his fourth season as the architect of the Bears offense, Matt Nagy is still looking at a disorganized construction site that looks nothing like the blueprint or the pretty “finished product” images that were once presented to the masses. Not only do the Bears rank last in passing, they are a full 52 yards per game behind the league’s 31st-ranked team, the New Orleans Saints. The Bears also are a staggering 117 yards per game shy of cracking into the top half of the league in passing production.

On Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes in the first half of a 38-3 shellacking of the Bears. Nagy’s passing attack, meanwhile, has three TD passes the entire season.

Thus the coach was asked this week just what page and what step in the troubleshooting manual he is on in his efforts to fix things. Nagy stressed the Bears would work to help rookie quarterback Justin Fields with more play-action opportunities while also trying to open up more of their bootleg concepts. He emphasized Fields’ need to continue sharpening his timing with his receivers while strengthening the communication with his offensive line.

For the offense at large, Nagy expressed concern that the persistent breakdowns could indirectly create more pronounced problems. For seven games this season, the Bears have failed to reach 200 net passing yards.

“You can get to a point to where you’re struggling and things don’t feel like they’re going your way and then people start to press,” Nagy said. “That’s what we don’t want. We don’t want our players pressing. That’s going to have to start with us as coaches in making sure our mentality is that we stay loose and know we can be a lot better.”

Nagy might be running out of time to catalyze that improvement. After 55 regular season games as Bears coach, his efforts to elevate the offense haven’t had much success. In fact, when compared with the previous four Bears coaches, the production from Nagy’s offenses has been incredibly disappointing.

• Dick Jauron (1999-2003): 294.2 total yards per game, 194.5 passing yards per game, 99.7 rushing yards per game, 17.4 points per game, 71.4 passer rating, 1.68 offensive touchdowns per game

• Lovie Smith (2004-2012): 292.6 total yards per game, 183.3 passing yards per game, 109.3 rushing yards per game, 20.9 points per game, 73.1 passer rating, 1.85 offensive touchdowns per game

• Marc Trestman (2013-14): 354.4 total yards per game, 252.3 passing yards per game, 102.2 rushing yards per game, 23.9 points per game, 92.0 passer rating, 2.59 offensive touchdowns per game

• Fox (2015-17): 329.5 total yards per game, 217.5 passing yards per game, 112.0 rushing yards per game, 18.3 points per game, 83.7 passer rating, 1.85 offensive touchdowns per game

• Nagy (2018-present): 315.3 total yards per game, 206.9 passing yards per game,108.4 rushing yards per game, 21.3 points per game, 86.4 passer rating, 2.18 offensive touchdowns per game

This isn’t exactly the offensive evolution that was promised when Nagy was hired in January 2018, hand-picked by general manager Ryan Pace to do wonders with quarterbacks while bringing the passing attack to new levels.

Considering that middle-of-the-road in the NFL is usually right around 240 passing yards and 24 points per game, the Bears’ production is beyond alarming. And this year’s passing-game problems have reached a new extreme, adding evidence to the argument that the offense continues going backward under Nagy’s watch.

As a rookie with only five NFL starts, Fields was asked how he will approach Nagy’s directive to play freely without pressing.

“Just play better,” Fields said. “It’s that simple. Practice hard, study the playbook hard, look at film hard and just execute better. That’s it.”

Then Fields added this: “I think we’re very close to having a breakout game.”

After squeezing out only one field goal Sunday in a 35-point loss to the Buccaneers, the pitch of an imminent offensive breakout by the Bears is hard to subscribe to. So what specifically has given Fields that sense?

“I can feel it,” he said. “You just have those feelings. You just feel it. It’s coming.”

Center Sam Mustipher chuckled when told about Fields’ optimistic forecast.

“Whatever QB1 says, we’re going to run with it,” Mustipher said. “If he feels it coming, that’s awesome. And I’ll be right there with him every step of the way.”

Of course, as the Bears have proved over and over again, feelings and camaraderie count for only so much. And empty promises create outside skepticism that becomes contagious.

Now the Bears have to march into Soldier Field on Sunday and attempt to beat the 49ers with an offense that looks competitive and competent. Perhaps they will even score in the mid- to high-20s.

Coordinator Bill Lazor didn’t run from the reality that the passing attack to this point has been abysmal, acknowledging there are few positives to draw from. “To stand up and say there’s a bright spot would be pretty ridiculous,” Lazor said.

So Lazor has asked his players to understand all the cogs within the machine and work to keep them running smoothly and in sync.

“We’ve got to be better in almost every single aspect of the passing game,” he said. “By that I mean our details in pass protection, our details in route running, our details in the decision making and throwing at quarterback. And then it’s putting it all together. It’s hard.”

The Bears always seem to make it harder than it has to be. And even with a solution-oriented approach ongoing within the walls of Halas Hall, the outside reviews of the offense continue to get worse.

Welcome back

Seven weeks after spraining his left ankle, rookie offensive tackle Larry Borom has mixed back into practice at Halas Hall with an expectation that he will be activated off injured reserve before Sunday afternoon.

The Bears might not have the luxury of easing Borom back, either, currently assessing where he’s at both physically and mentally with an eye on giving him a starting opportunity soon. Perhaps even this weekend.

Lazor was asked Thursday where his curiosities lie with both Borom’s recovery and his ongoing development and what the coaching staff is analyzing with the rookie’s comfort in the short term.

“It’s just a matter of how in sync he is with the timing of things,” Lazor said. “Adjusting. Hearing calls. Making changes. The basic things (needed) when they just line up and play. I think we know what his ability level is, and we feel great about it.

“The hard part is you get to this point in the season and the (opposing) defense is doing more. We’ve put in a lot more adjustments to different defensive looks. Can he hear those calls from (guard) James Daniels and quickly make the adjustment and see the defense change? Is he up to speed in that sense? Because doing it and having those adjustments happen quickly is a lot different in person than just standing and watching at practice.”

Lazor stressed, for example, that Borom must be locked in in such a manner where if a blitz comes on third down or an inside linebacker runs a stunt and becomes his responsibility rather than the right guard’s, he can first diagnose what is happening, then react quickly enough to do something about it. Measuring a rookie’s readiness in that regard is no easy task.

Borom was needed in Week 1 at Los Angeles, called on to take over at left tackle when Jason Peters injured his quadriceps muscle in the first half of a 34-14 loss to the Rams. But the rookie lasted only 15 snaps before suffering an injury on a poorly executed shovel pass from Justin Fields to Allen Robinson.

Borom was placed on IR on Sept. 18 but now might be seeing his window of opportunity thrust open as the Bears work to stabilize things at right tackle. If the rookie gets the green light this weekend, he would be the Bears’ fourth starter at the position in as many weeks.

Veteran Elijah Wilkinson was a game-day addition to the reserve/COVID-19 list Sunday and has yet to be taken off that list. Wilkinson started for the Bears against the Packers after Germain Ifedi was placed on IR with a left knee injury.

If Wilkinson gets clearance before Sunday, he still could get the nod to start against the 49ers. But the Bears also are preparing Borom for the role, giving him plenty of practice time with the starters. Alex Bars also played 44 snaps at right tackle against the Buccaneers after the Bears’ emergency move to start Lachavious Simmons didn’t work out.

So yeah, things at that position remain fluid and will until further notice.

“It will probably take the (entire) week’s worth of practice to detail it, just to see guys who are able to practice, when they’re able to practice and how they look,” Lazor said. “It’s truly (a situation) this week where you’re practicing your way into it. We’ll figure it out.”

Since the Bears drafted Borom in Round 5 of the draft, coaches have been enthusiastic about his upside, praising his smooth footwork, athleticism and natural calm. It might be a big ask for Borom to return from a seven-week layoff to provide starter steadiness up front. But with the Bears at 3-4 and coming home as underdogs against the 49ers, they have entered “big ask” territory in the ongoing quest to jumpstart their offense and get back on a winning track.

A year ago, undrafted reserve Sam Mustipher had to make his first career start in Week 8 when Cody Whitehair was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Mustipher was determined to make the most of his opportunity. He quickly proved himself to the coaching staff in that first game. And even after missing the next two games with a knee injury, Mustipher returned and played well enough to cement himself as the team’s starting center.

His advice to Borom? “Just keep working hard,” Mustipher said. “This is a league of attrition. Over time guys are going to get banged up, nicked up. The guys who continue to work and continue to be persistent day in and day out and come into the building every day to try to get better are the guys who stick around.”

Running back Khalil Herbert had similar sentiments. As a fellow rookie who was thrust into a heightened role because of unfortunate circumstances three weeks ago, Herbert has been poised and productive, quickly earning the confidence of coaches and teammates. That’s part of the task Borom will face if and when his chance to get extended playing time comes.

“It’s just letting the game come to you,” Herbert said. “Study. Know what you have to do on every play. But don’t try to do anything spectacular. Just let the game come to you and do your job.”

Energy crisis?

After the Bears defense was lit up for 38 points in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Buccaneers, there might be legitimate reason to worry about the group’s psychological state and ability to rediscover its confident edge. Those concerns seem particularly justifiable during a season that seems to be drifting again, in large part due to the team’s offensive failures.

But defensive coordinator Sean Desai isn’t sensing he needs to lift players’ chins off their chests this week or relight a fire during the current two-game losing streak. Asked directly Thursday how he hoped to regenerate some positive energy within the defense after the deflating experience of Sunday, Desai pushed back.

“I don’t think that’s the right word in terms of recreating (enthusiasm) and reenergizing,” Desai said. “We’ve got good energy here on defense. And I think we’re going to continue to show that. It’s like a snowball. We haven’t been demoralized. This is the NFL. Sometimes you take a punch in the face, and you have to get up and keep fighting.”

Desai was particularly heartened in the third quarter of Sunday’s calamity when his defense dug deep to complete a goal-line stand of Tom Brady and the Bucs. Trailing by 32 points with every excuse to pack it in and look ahead to Week 8, Desai instead saw a group that rallied and retained its passion and unity.

Facing first-and-goal at the 2, Jaylon Johnson stopped Mike Evans for no gain on a reception. Brady followed with an incomplete pass. Safeties DeAndre Houston-Carson and Eddie Jackson then combined to stop Ronald Jones for a 1-yard gain on third down. And the possession ended with Alec Ogletree forcing Jones to fumble on fourth down. Houston-Carson recovered.

In a loss as bad as Sunday’s, such mini-triumphs must be kept in perspective. But the defense’s tenacity and swarming mentality left an impression on Desai.

“That,” he said, “is the character of our defense. And we’re going to continue to build off that. I think our guys have great energy and they’re excited for this next opportunity versus the 49ers.”

After consecutive tests against Brady and Aaron Rodgers, the degree of difficulty will decrease against a 49ers offense that has its own issues, including quarterback uncertainty. Jimmy Garoppolo seems set to make the start, looking to spark a unit that ranks 18th in total offense and has averaged just 18.8 points per game since its 41-33 thrashing of the Detroit Lions in Week 1.

What has been clear through the season’s first two months, though, is that much of the 49ers offense goes through third-year receiver Deebo Samuel, who leads the team with 36 receptions, 648 yards and four touchdowns.

“He’s a really strong receiver with strong hands,” Desai said. “He gets in and out of his cuts really well. And he’s aggressive with the ball in his hands. It’s a credit to him with how he plays the game. He plays with a certain aggressive mindset, which is why he’s having the success he’s having.”

The Bears are going to have to remain alert to how 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan moves Samuel around in an effort to create favorable matchups. With an array of motions and shifts, Desai’s players will need to remain disciplined and on top of their assignments.

But they shouldn’t need help elevating their energy level.

Said Ogletree: “Nobody had the performance they wanted to have last week. But this week, we have a good opportunity to continue to play good ball and put the type of film that we want out there. Just make plays like we’ve been doing.”

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