5 Chicago Bears takeaways from the Week 11 travesty vs. Detroit

It’s been over 60 hours since the Chicago Bears historically choked away a win in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions, yet I still can’t pick my jaw up from the floor.

Despite 25 years of Bears fandom under my belt, this franchise genuinely keeps finding new ways to bring me as far up as possible before they tear me down.

If you think I’m exaggerating when I say “new,” consider these nearly impossible statistics.

Never before in NFL history has a team won the turnover battle by three, had 40 minutes time of possession, and lost. Per ESPN Analytics, the Chicago Bears had a 98.2% chance to win with 4:17 left in the game. Leave it to this version of the Bears to continue making history!

In an effort to prevent myself from plunging into severe sports depression, I did my best to focus on some positives with these takeaways. With that being said, I won’t ignore accountability, unlike my favorite sports franchise.

These are the five biggest Chicago Bears takeaways from their near-impossible loss in Week 11 to the Detroit Lions.

1. Justin Fields was the best player on either team.

Justin Fields wasn’t just good for the Chicago Bears on Sunday. He was phenomenal.

While many may have made their minds up on Justin Fields and his ability to reach his potential, Ian Rapoport reported before the game against the Detroit Lions that the Chicago Bears have not.

Justin Fields could have responded to that in a multitude of ways. He decided to choose violence to the chagrin of the Detroit Lions and their fans at Ford Field.

For three and a half quarters, Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields owned the city of Detroit. He did whatever he wanted, dicing up the defense with both his arms and his legs leading to a massive time of possession advantage and a 12-point lead with a little over four minutes left.

Those who have already decided that Justin Fields sucks will point to the last possession after the Lions came back to take a three-point lead with 30 seconds to go. On first down from the 25, Fields dropped back and was promptly annihilated by Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, fumbling the ball to lose the game 31-26.

I would challenge those fans who don’t believe in Justin Fields to watch the remaining games of the Chicago Bears with an open mind.

Darnell Wright, who played an awesome game to that point, gave Fields little chance to push the ball downfield with so little time left. This loss is not on the man who gave us an amazing chance to win in the first place.

What matters is that Justin Fields showed a lot of progress in his game while making the kind of throws that very few quarterbacks in the NFL can make.

It’s not his fault that he plays at a handicap, but we’ll get to the usual suspects later. For now, we should all be pleased as Bears fans when it comes to the progress of Justin Fields.

For those who can’t wait for the Chicago Bears to draft a new quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, be careful what you wish for. I believe it’s time to put a stop to this endless cycle of quarterbacks.