LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The opportunity Chicago Bears receiver Darnell Mooney desperately sought after was lost in the lights at Soldier Field.
The Bears were back in the low red zone for a third time against the Washington Commanders on Thursday night. Unlike their two previous trips inside the 10-yard line, which happened on their second and third drives, respectively, this one meant everything. If they didn’t punch the ball in after quarterback Justin Fields’ 39-yard scramble got them to Washington’s 5-yard line, they’d walk away losers of an ugly game.
Mooney talked to himself over and over, pleading with fate for a chance. Please, give me this ball, he told himself. He wanted to be the closer the Bears desperately needed.
So, when the ball came his way on fourth down, and Mooney bobbled what would have been a touchdown and didn’t corral the ball until he was downed just shy of the end zone, his frustration was palpable. He said he momentarily lost the ball in the lights as he was tracking its location, the second time he recalled that happening at Soldier Field.
But this time, it cost his team a win.
“Just catch the damn ball the first time and win the game,” Mooney said.
Chicago had zero scores on the three trips inside the red zone in the 12-7 loss. It’s the second time this season that’s happened after the Bears went 0-for-3 inside the 20-yard line two weeks ago in a loss to the New York Giants.
The Bears have scored seven touchdowns on 15 red zone trips this season, a 46.7% touchdown rate which ranks 24th, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Where it worsens for Chicago its red zone scoring percentage, a 73.3% mark, is tied for fourth worst, ahead of the Broncos, Commanders and the Buccaneers.
Mooney and Fields were among the last players remaining in the locker room late Thursday. The two sat in adjacent locker stalls and spoke quietly for several minutes, looking over a video on Fields’ phone. That final play stung, but that fourth down wasn’t the only thing on their minds.
Mooney was particularly frustrated about an incompletion two plays prior to him falling short at the goal line. He was wide open in the flat on second-and-goal to the right of Fields, who threw a pass that was batted down by a Washington defender at the line of scrimmage.
“I was frustrated on that play because I knew it was a touchdown,” Mooney said.
Fields felt the same way about a play he wanted back in the second quarter. On second-and-3 from the Commanders’ 3-yard line, the quarterback sailed a ball past tight end Ryan Griffin, who had 4.05 yards of separation, according to Next Gen Stats.
“He probably could have ran a little bit more, but he's wide open,” Fields said. “I got to hit that. I'm an NFL quarterback. I got to hit that.”
The Bears had two more chances to score that drive but failed after Khalil Herbert was stopped shy of the goal line on a fourth-down run.
Coach Matt Eberflus didn’t see a connection to the struggles in the red zone the Bears have faced in two of their last three games. The playcalls were different, but the common theme is a failure to execute.
Fields threw the first red zone interception of his career in the first quarter against the Commanders. Facing a Cover-0 look, the QB tried to fit a pass over the middle to tight end Cole Kmet at the 5-yard line. Instead, the quarterback threw the ball into the helmet of Commanders defensive lineman Efe Obada, and it landed in the hands of Jonathan Allen for the turnover.
Eberflus said he wasn’t concerned with Fields’ mechanics on that throw, but like the pass batted down in a condensed area on their final trip to the red zone, the interception came down to the quarterback needing to adjust in ways that he didn’t.
“The arm angle and the lanes are always tough down there when the field shrinks in the red zone,” Eberflus said. “It’s his instincts. You’ve got to have the instincts to be able to do that.
“You’ve just got to change it around and move your arm angle. That’s got to be a tight ball, and it has to be thrown in there tight.”
Eberflus said the Bears will evaluate every player during their mini-bye week and list three things they’re doing well along with three things to improve upon. The offensive and defensive schemes along with special teams will be re-evaluated, as will the lineups. Within that will come an in-depth look at what’s gone wrong for this team when it has gotten so close to scoring but continues to hinder its ability to do so.