Bears' Meltdown Loss to Commanders Exposes Same Old Issues

Under head coach Matt Eberflus the Chicago Bears are 1-1 after the bye week. This week, against the Washington Commanders, was their chance to get to aobe .500 after the bye.

Unfortunately, Eberflus and the coaching staff failed to prepare the Bears to play the Commanders during the bye. As a result, the offense played it's worst game since Week 1 while the defense still held up their end. Ultimately, the defense's performance wasn't enough, as the Bears fell 18-15 to the Commanders.

With that in mind, here are three takeaways from the Bears' horrendous loss to the Commanders.

1. Confusing Coverage Matchups

Due to the Bears' zone tendencies, Jaylon Johnson doesn't typically shadow the opponents' best receiver. This has hurt the Bears in the past and it hurt them again against the Commanders.

Terry McLaurin entered this game with 454 receiving yards and four touchdowns. McLaurin not only has the ability to be a vertical threat, but he is also great in the intermediate and short games.

Despite that, the Bears had second-year corner Tyrique Stevenson covering McLaurin throughout the game. Washington's star made the Bears pay for this mismatch. In the first quarter, McLaurin had a 61-yard catch and run. early. In the first quarter, McLaurin had a 61-yard catch and run.

That should have been enough for the Bears to make changes but it wasn't. McLaurin had five catches on eight targets for 125 yards. He also had a 25-yard catch on Stevenson.

Moving forward, Eberflus needs to consider putting Johnson on opponents' top receivers, even if it goes against the zone principles.