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Good morning, Chicago!

Coming into this season, most everyone thought a split against the 49ers and Packers would represent a pretty good start for the 2022 Chicago Bears.

So why do we feel so crummy this morning?

It’s because the loss came against the Packers, duh. Dropping the 24th game in 29 tries against Aaron Rodgers will always sting, no matter how often it happens.

It’s not like Sunday’s 27-10 loss at Lambeau qualified as a moral victory, either.

Quite the opposite, really. If the second half of Week 1’s wet win over San Francisco showed reasons for optimism, last night’s loss gave us plenty of pessimistic bullet points.

• Outside of an impressive opening touchdown drive, the offense was bad. Justin Fields attempted just 11 passes, completing seven of them for just 70 yards. Take away the trick flea flicker on the first drive and Fields would’ve had just 40 passing yards.

• Two games into the season, Cole Kmet and Darnell Mooney have yet to appear. Kmet turned in another set of goose eggs with a horrid drop on one of the early three-and-outs while Mooney caught one pass for negative yards. This pair was supposed to be Fields’ top weapon, yet have turned in just two total catches for four yards so far.

• Aaron Jones maybe have been the more dangerous Aaron of the night, working the Bears defense for 132 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries while adding another score on three receptions for 38 yards.

• Poised to make a game of it in the fourth quarter, Fields was stuffed at the goal line on fourth-and-short after Luke Getsy called a run from shotgun. Yes, the call probably should have been overturned on replay, but it was still a poor playcall.

There will be plenty of things for the Bears to learn from this tape and we better hope they do if we want 2022 to be the year of growth we’ve envisioned.

From our standpoint, the loss should serve as a reset of expectations after Week 1’s euphoria as well as a reminder that every week cannot be a referendum on the franchise’s future.

I know that perspective is the biggest shortcoming of our fanbase, but it will be important to maintain it this season. This is a young Bears squad that is operating at both a talent and experience deficit. There will be plenty of highs and lows, as we’ve learned just two weeks into this season.

Fields, after all, is just 12 starts into his NFL career. The solid rookie crop that everyone was toasting just 24 hours ago is just that … a crop of rookies. This roster looks nothing like it will once the Bears become contenders.

It won’t be easy for us to keep an even keel, because that’s what makes us fans. But it’ll be on the Bears to block out the noise and ensure there’s progress being made in the middle of it all.

If we’re sitting here in 2-3 months saying the same things about Fields and Co. over and over, then it will be time to be really concerned.

We’re on to Houston.

Kevin Kaduk
CHGO Head of Content

More from the game:
• Instant reactions from the CHGO staff
• Nicholas Moreano’s report from Lambeau Field
• Watch our postgame show on YouTube
• Mark Carman’s game grades (CHGO members)

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Join us on Sunday for our first CHGO Bears tailgate!

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The Week Ahead

• We’ve been saying all year it’s a do-or-die week for the White Sox, but I’m serious this time. Cleveland arrives on Tuesday for a three-game set with either a three or four game lead in the AL Central. (The Guardians play Minnesota today.) Vinnie Duber has more on how Sox fans should feel heading into a series that feels like a must-sweep.

• The Cubs embark on a Frank Schwindel-less future with a seven-game trip through Miami and Pittsburgh that should see the team officially avoid a 100-loss season. One thing for fans to watch: Hayden Wesneski’s impressive repertoire.

• The Blackhawks open up training camp on Thursday at Fifth-Third Arena and our CHGO squad of Jay Zawaski, Greg Boysen and Mario Tirabassi will be there every step of the way, just like they were at the team’s recent prospect tournament.

• There’s still a week until the Bulls open up their own camp. Until then, read Will Gottlieb on whether Patrick Williams can have a Kawhi Leonard-like breakout season.

• The Fire killed its playoff chances by blowing a two-goal lead to Columbus. The Red Stars still hold their playoff destiny in their own hands with two games left to play in the regular season. They’ll travel to Portland next Sunday.

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