Mistake-prone Bears Stumble in Baltimore

Introduction to the Game

The NFL is a week-to-week league, and after five weeks of building positive momentum, the Chicago Bears took a step back in a loss at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Pre-snap misfires and costly penalties at key moments by the Bears left the door open for the Ravens, who used a late-game charge through that gap to claim a 30-16 victory. Baltimore looked far from the well-oiled machine they were expected to be heading into the 2025 season, but the difference between them and Chicago was that they made plays when they needed to, and the Bears didn’t.

Analysis of the Game

"I think you see flashes of explosive plays and some really good things happening, but the penalties, to me, [are] what stand out," Ben Johnson said. "We still have some of the pre-snap issues. There’s [an] occasional not getting lined up right. There’s [an] occasional not getting the motion quite right. And so, that stuff—it adds up and it hurts us. We get away with it occasionally, but that’s just not the way you win in this league."

Chicago had two more false start penalties on Sunday—which brought their league-leading total up to 16 on the season—on top of a pair of drive-killing intentional grounding flags on Caleb Williams, who was outdueled by Ravens backup QB Tyler Huntley. Williams completed 25 of his 38 passes (65.8%) for 285 yards and a late interception, while Huntley notched 17 completions on 22 pass attempts (77.3%) for 186 yards and a touchdown pass, to go with 8 carries for 53 yards on the ground.

If that wasn’t enough, the Bears’ turnover magic also ran out against Baltimore. They failed to record an interception or a fumble recovery for the first time since their Week 2 loss to the Detroit Lions.

Game Recap

A familiar first quarter played out for the Bears. Their offense found an early rhythm, only for poor red-zone execution to derail drives, while the defense held up its end of the bargain. Chicago possessed the football for 12:41 in the first quarter and had two 10-plus play, 60-plus yard drives, but walked away with only two Cairo Santos field goals.

Their first drive of the game went 13 plays for 64 yards and chewed up 8:10 of clock, but after a D’Andre Swift 3-yard run got them to the Ravens’ 3-yard line, Kyle Monangai was dropped for a 2-yard loss, and Caleb Williams was sacked by Mike Green to knock them back another nine yards.

42 seconds later, a 32-yarder from Santos flew through the uprights for an early 3-0 lead.

After the defense forced a Baltimore three-and-out, Chicago ran 11 plays for 61 yards that took up 4:31, but back-to-back incompletions on second and third down just outside the Ravens’ red zone led to Santos hitting a 39-yard field goal to put the Bears up 6-0.

Baltimore’s offense, led by Huntley, shook off its early rust and went on a 12-play, 62-yard drive of their own to open up the second quarter. The possession ended with a 2-yard Derrick Henry touchdown run to take the lead, 7-6.

"We were intent on not letting [no.] 22 get started," Johnson said. "I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job of that."

Henry ran the ball 21 times for 71 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per attempt, but he also scored twice. Henry’s first touchdown run of the afternoon was the 111th of his career, which moved him ahead of Chicago sports icon Walter Payton for fifth all-time in NFL history.

The Ravens added a 42-yard field goal from Tyler Loop after that, and a 58-yard field goal attempt from Santos fell short as time expired to give Baltimore a 10-6 advantage heading into halftime.

"I thought we had a chance there for points before [the] half. We had a good opportunity to do that, and the intentional grounding certainly didn’t help," Johnson said.

Williams dropped back in the shotgun with less than 30 seconds to go in the second quarter on second-and-five from the Ravens’ 39-yard line. Facing pressure, he fired wide left and far short of rookie tight end Colston Loveland, which drew a yellow flag for intentional grounding that moved them back to midfield.

The Bears burned their final timeout of the half to avoid a ten-second runoff after the penalty. Next, Williams hit Loveland for a 9-yard gain over the middle on third-and-15. Chicago had 22 seconds on a running clock to get their "hurricane unit" on the field for a last-minute 58-yard field goal attempt.

"I thought the execution of all that was nice, but that’s a really long field goal," Johnson said. "It’s a low percentage deal, something we would like to avoid, so that intentional grounding certainly hurt us."

The intentional grounding call was Williams’ second of the quarter. His first intentional grounding penalty came on third-and-9 near the 7-minute mark. Williams fired a throw short right into empty grass as he was hit by safety Kyle Hamilton, leading to the flag.

Turning Point of the Game

Baltimore took a page out of Chicago’s first-quarter playbook in the third. They scored two field goals at the end of time-consuming drives that were sandwiched around a Bears drive that ended with a punt after four plays.

Down 16-6, Chicago got within three after Swift found the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run that capped an 11-play, 83-yard drive that bridged the end of the third quarter with the beginning of the fourth.

That was as close as the Bears would get for the rest of the ballgame.

Williams was intercepted by Nate Wiggins on the second play of their following drive. Wiggins returned the pick to Chicago’s 9-yard line, and Huntley found tight end Charlie Kolar for a 10-yard touchdown pass two plays later to take a 23-13 lead.

"[Wiggins] undercut the route and I could have led [Rome Odunze] farther out in front instead of trying to give him a shot right here," Williams said. "He made a great break on the play. [It was] just unfortunate where we were on the field in the situation."

Santos booted a 47-yard field goal with just over five minutes left in the game to make it 23-16, but a 9-play, 66-yard touchdown drive on the Ravens’ next possession all but sealed a Baltimore victory.

Henry punched in his second touchdown run of the day on a 2-yard run he bounced to the outside near the goal line. The Ravens took a 30-16 lead, and after the Bears struck out at the goal line with under a minute to go, walked away with the win.

"Give Baltimore a lot of credit. They came out and they played a physical brand of football, just like you would expect," Johnson said. "They were hungry. They were determined, and truth be told, I expected a little bit more out of our squad to counter that, so we fell short."

Up Next

The Chicago Bears (4-3) will travel to Paycor Stadium to take on the Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) next Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon CT.

Conclusion

The Bears’ loss to the Ravens was a tough pill to swallow, especially considering the opportunities they had to take control of the game. However, they will look to bounce back against the Bengals and get back on track.

FAQs

• Q: What was the final score of the game between the Bears and Ravens?
  A: The final score was 30-16 in favor of the Ravens.
• Q: Who was the leading rusher for the Ravens?
  A: Derrick Henry was the leading rusher for the Ravens, with 71 yards on 21 carries.
• Q: Who threw the interception for the Bears?
  A: Caleb Williams threw the interception for the Bears, which was picked off by Nate Wiggins.
• Q: What is the Bears’ record after the loss to the Ravens?
  A: The Bears’ record is 4-3 after the loss to the Ravens.
• Q: Who do the Bears play next?
  A: The Bears will travel to Paycor Stadium to take on the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday.