CHICAGO — The Bears entered Sunday’s rivalry game versus the Green Bay Packers at a cross roads. They had fallen below .500 thanks to a three-game losing streak where the offensive output was so bad that coordinator Shane Waldron got fired.

Head coach Matt Eberflus hoped Thomas Brown’s promotion to OC would provide a spark, and it certainly did that. The Bears needed more than a statistical uptick.

They needed a win. Like, really bad.

They didn’t get one.

The Bears ultimately won/lost by a score of 20-19 to the Green Bay Packers at Solider Field.

Let’s take a closer look at this result in our instant analysis:

Bair’s break down

New offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said he wasn’t going to “reinvent the wheel” after taking over as play caller. There was room for significant change, however, within the structure of the play book.

That was evident on Sunday afternoon. The Bears got DJ Moore tons of touches with play design. Quarterback Caleb Williams was more active as a rusher on scrambles and plays called for him to take off, including zone reads.

The Bears used more motion than they have in the past and played in tighter formations with receivers often clustered and closer to the line. There weren’t many deep shots but the offense was way more efficient and Williams looked comfortable operating Brown’s instructions.

Those are all positives following the play-caller switch which was made in attempt turn the season around. We don’t know if that will happen over a longer term and how Brown will respond once future defensive coordinators start countering his tendencies, but the offense looked better. It still wasn’t consistently explosive, but the unit took a step in the right direction.

Count all of those things as improvements in the short term and provides optimism that the offense can play better in the future. The way any of the above matters is if the Bears start getting wins. That didn’t happen on Sunday. 

Key stat

70

Caleb Williams was more decisive Sunday. When he needed too, the rookie quarterback wasn’t afraid to scramble for yardage and extend plays. He finished with 70 yards on 9 carries and kept the Green Bay defense honest with his legs.

That opened up the playbook, too, as the Bears featured more zone reads into their play calling, especially on short yardage situations.

Pivot point

The Bears looked set to snap their losing streak. Williams had led a 2-minute drive down into Green Bay territory on the back of two incredible throws to Rome Odunze — the latter on 4th down to keep the game alive.

But as the ball flew into the air off Cairo Santos’ boot for the game-winning field goal attempt from 46 yards out, the Packers got a hand on the ball, blocking it to preserve their win.

It was a sour end to a nice drive by Williams and the Bears offense. Facing a third-and-19 from their 21-yard line, Williams connected with Odunze over the middle for a 16 yard pass. On the next play, the rookies connected again, this time along the sidelines for a 21-yard gain. Williams found veteran Keenan Allen for a 12 yard pickup the next play to get the Bears within field goal territory.

What’s next

The Bears’ run of NFC North games continues with a home game against the Minnesota Vikings, who feature Justin Jefferson and a creative defensive scheme run by coordinator Brian Flores. All these division games are important, especially at Solider Field, where the Bears generally play better football.