Bears tight end Cole Kmet, who grew up a Bears fan in Lake Barrington, knows fans at Soldier Field on Sunday might not be in the holiday spirit.
“I know what the expectations were coming into this season. I definitely understand the narratives and what goes around,” Kmet said. “[It’s] totally understandable. I always say, ‘Fans can fan how they want.’ I don’t blame how the reaction’s been. Definitely not what we expected this year. Obviously not what the fans expected.”
The Bears return to Soldier Field for the first time in a month when they play the Lions. The last time the Bears played at home, they lost to the Vikings 30-27 in overtime. It was their fifth consecutive loss, but with a little bit of hope in Thomas Brown’s second game as offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron was fired.
With a miraculous mad dash to overtime — scoring 10 points in the final 22 seconds of regulation — rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 340 yards and the Bears gained 398 yards and scored 27 points against a Vikings defense that ranked fourth in scoring and 10th in yards. It was the best thing to happen to the Bears since Roschon Johnson’s one-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left gave the Bears a 15-12 victory — I mean lead — over the Commanders at Northwest Stadium.
Since then, though, the season quickly went even further off the rails. Five days later, coach Matt Eberflus was fired after his clock-management fiasco in the final 32 seconds of a 23-20 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
Seemingly invigorated by the promotion of Brown to interim head coach, the Bears responded by falling behind 24-0 and getting outgained 319-4 in the first half against the 49ers and losing 38-13. A week later, they fell behind 13-0 at halftime in a uninspiring 30-12 loss to the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, going 1-for-12 on third-down conversions.
Most observers knew the Bears had more than a Shane Waldron problem. But the last two losses have confirmed a more uncomfortable reality — the Bears had more than a Matt Eberflus problem. General manager Ryan Poles, the mastermind of the trade for the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick that produced DJ Moore, Darnell Wright, Caleb Williams and more, is on a bigger losing streak than his team.
Third-round rookie Kiran Amegadjie’s disastrous performance in place of left tackle Braxton Jones against the Vikings was a Poles failure, not an Amegadjie failure. The rookie never should have been put in that situation — starting on one-day’s notice after not practicing with the first team at all, because the Bears had lost faith in veteran Larry Borom. So much for “probably the best depth I’ve ever had” on the offensive line, as Poles said before the season opener.
By now, Bears fans know this starts at the top. And with the Bears finally back at Soldier Field, they’ll have two chances in five days to let Bears chairman George McCaskey know how they feel.
“I don’t know [what the reaction will be]. I’ve seen it all,” Kmet said. “I’m sure they’ll be loud. I’m sure there’ll be boos on certain things. All we can do is go out and do what we can. You do your best to not worry about those types of things.”
Attendance will tell the tale. A season-low 57,659 fans showed up at Soldier Field in the previous home game against the Vikings. Will Bears fans make a bigger statement Sunday against the Lions, or next Thursday night against the Seahawks?
If they’re disappointed or discouraged, they’ll show up and let out their frustrations. If they’re disillusioned, they won’t show up at all. And McCaskey will hear them loud and clear.