Weary Bears defense takes another beating in loss to Lions

The Lions fooled the Bears’ defense with a bit of trickery Sunday. The surprise wasn’t that the play worked, but that offensive coordinator Ben Johnson would think he needed to resort to deception when plain, old football had been fooling the beleaguered Bears defense all day.

On first down at the Bears 21-yard line on the first possession of the third quarter, Lions quarterback Jared Goff stumbled as he took the snap, running back Jahmyr Gibbs fell to the ground and the Lions players yelled “ball” to simulate a fumble. Goff quickly regained his footing and found tight end Sam LaPorta open in the end zone after streaking past Bears defenders Tyrique Stevenson, Jonathan Owens and T.J. Edwards for a 21-yard touchdown and a 34-14 lead en route to a 34-17 victory at Soldier Field.

“That was by design, because everybody on their team was yelling ‘ball’ and then you look in the backfield and you see the running back on the ground,” Owens said. “By that time, you turned around and the guy from the other side wheeled up. It was good play design.”

So the deception worked?

“They scored a touchdown,” Owens said. “It did what it was supposed to do.”

Whether the deception made the play work or the Bears just were beaten on the play — it’s hard to tell the difference these days — just the attempt was at least a new wrinkle in another disappointing performance by the Bears’ defense. The Lions scored on their first five possessions — three touchdowns and two field goals — in taking a 27-7 lead.

When Caleb Williams caught the Lions’ defense coasting with a big lead — the only trickery in the Bears’ book at this point — and threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen to finish a three-play, 70-yard drive in the final minute of the first half, the Lions responded with a five-play, 79-yard drive, capped by Goff’s touchdown to LaPorta, in the first 2:42 of the third quarter.

“Just not doing the simple stuff right,” safety Kevin Byard said. “There were miscommunications, not making enough plays. They’re a good offense, but a lot of stuff we gave them today. We haven’t been good these last few weeks.”

Indeed they have not. The Bears allowed 475 yards and 7.3 yards yards per play Sunday. Goff threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns without an interception for a 137.0 passer rating. It was the fourth time in five games the Bears have allowed 400 or more yards.

The Bears’ defense hasn’t been the same since the bye, and in particular since the Hail Mary touchdown pass in an 18-15 loss to the Commanders on Oct. 27 in the first game after the bye. Until that moment, the Bears were allowing 16.1 points and 311.6 yards per game. Since the Hail Mary, the Bears are allowing 27.9 points and 394.6 yards per game.

What’s the difference? “Not playing well. Not playing well enough,” Byard said. “Early in the year we were playing really good. We’re not playing good now.”

Whether the Bears want to acknowledge it or not, they never have recovered from the Hail Mary. The defense was leaky that day but still effective — allowing 405 yards but only 12 points until the fateful miracle drive because of stellar play on third downs and in the red zone.

But the defense hasn’t been the same since the Hail Mary play, Stevenson’s bizarre culpability in it and former coach Matt Eberflus’ confounding handling of both matters.

“I think we put the Hail Mary behind us,” Byard said. “We’re just not playing well right now. That was weeks ago. We’ve had some good stretches since then. We just haven’t been playing consistent enough defense, good defense.”

That might be the case. But a team that has failed to respond to every crisis moment since that episode — whether it be a bad play or a bad game — has lost the benefit of the doubt.