DETROIT – Here are five things we learned in the Chicago Bears' 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thursday:
1. Playing for pride: What’s left? The Bears now sit 1-3 in the NFC North, three full games behind Detroit and 3½ behind Green Bay (the Packers play the New England Patriots on Sunday). This is not a playoff team. The organization’s eye must be toward the future, but the present is equally important. Think about it. The new regime has watched the whole operation slide from 10-6 (Lovie Smith’s final season), to 8-8, to whatever record the team manages to salvage over the next month. Coach Marc Trestman needs to win games. General manager Phil Emery needs to win games. Quarterback Jay Cutler needs to win games. This is worst-case-scenario stuff. The Bears need to build for 2015, but they remain stuck in 2014. They’re trapped. I used to call it "the march to 8-8." Will they even get to eight wins? Can it get worse?
2. Screen-pass fatigue: Cutler completed 31 of 48 pass attempts for 280 yards. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 34 of 45 throws for 390 yards. Don’t get me wrong, Matt Forte is a great receiver out of the backfield -- probably the best in the NFL -- but why can’t the Bears, with Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, stretch the field in the vertical passing game? Marshall and Jeffery aren’t blessed with blazing speed. However, they are big targets with long arms. Find me a 6-foot-5 defensive back. They barely exist. The Bears should win that matchup down the field almost every time. Because the Bears prefer to keep it simple, teams figure out the offense. After a sluggish start, the Lions defense began to sit on the Bears’ underneath routes. Get creative. Of course, the Bears need to actually run the ball for play-action to work. Five carries for Forte. Five! Forte said the offense is "underachieving." He’s spot-on. It starts at the very top. The Bears don’t seem to make any in-game adjustments. It’s a mess.
3. Marshall in a funk: Marshall caught six passes for 42 yards. He’s on pace for 77 receptions. Marshall is talented enough to catch 100 balls in his sleep. What are the Bears going to do here? They just awarded Marshall a contract extension. He is supposed to be a cornerstone of the franchise. Instead, he appears almost disinterested at times. Marshall is clearly frustrated. He is having a bad year, by his lofty standards. How will he react when Jeffery receives a lucrative extension in the offseason? This is another major issue the Bears will need to address. Marshall is a star. Why is he not playing like one? Is his ankle that badly injured?
4. Trial by fire for Fuller: Give rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller credit for playing hurt (knee) on a short week. He has shown the ability to push through pain. The first-round pick is tough. One hopes Fuller becomes a better player because of what happened Thursday, when future Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson torched him and the rest of the Bears’ secondary for 11 receptions, 146 yards and two touchdowns. Fuller matched up against the best -- and lost. He should benefit from the experience.
5. Time to invest at safety: As with the majority of the NFL, the Bears do not value the safety position above other spots on the roster. Cornerbacks are paid the big dollars, not safeties. Maybe the Bears need to be trailblazers and change that culture of thinking. Almost every year, the Bears seem to have a need at safety. This offseason will be no different. Ryan Mundy is a nice player. In my opinion, the Bears still need to find a home-run hitter. Chris Conte has battled through adversity, but he’s having a difficult time staying on the field. Brock Vereen doesn’t strike me as a future Pro Bowler, although it would be unfair to write off such a young player with such a professional attitude. I like Fuller on the 53-man roster. I’d like somebody else to be the starting free safety in 2015. Spend some money, or use a high draft pick to address the position. Otherwise, we will probably be having this same conversation next November.