As poorly as the Bears have played at times this season, they do leave a void with fans during their bye week.
Enter Adele. No, the British singer never has been known to be the voice of the football fan. Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood, sure, but not Adele.
Still, her new single, “Hello,” is perfectly timed to be the anthem for Bears fans getting reacquainted with the team. Especially after the organization said goodbye to Jeremiah Ratliff (and don’t come back!) and as they try to fill holes created by injuries.
Allow us to make a few “introductions,” if you will, in the wake of the Bears’ heartbreaking 23-20 loss Sunday.
Hello, expanded playbook
Offensive coordinator Adam Gase opened his bag of tricks (treats?) on Sunday. The Bears twice used the wildcat formation to snap the ball directly to Matt Forte in the first half, with Jay Cutler keeping his distance from the rest of his teammates on the field. Later, they tried a double reverse with receiver Eddie Royal carrying the ball.
The problem is that each of those plays gained only a handful of yards. And before going 34 yards for a touchdown on the final drive of the first half, the Bears had 69 at that point.
You might see Gase close that bag in a hurry. At least until Forte returns; he left the game in the second half with a knee injury.
Hello, new punt returner?
Marc Mariani had a rough day. He muffed the first punt, though he caught a break when it eluded Minnesota players and trickled out of bounds. Then he dropped the second punt, recovering quickly enough to pick it up and return it 3 yards. He couldn’t blame the sun, either; it was behind him on both plays.
On subsequent punts, the Soldier Field crowd sarcastically cheered Mariani when he fielded a punt without incident.
Hello, revamped offensive line
Here’s the list of Bears offensive linemen who started in the same place Sunday that they did the previous game:
>> Kyle Long, right guard
That’s it. The other four linemen were either at a different position or new to the starting lineup because of injuries. The good news is the line held up for the most part. Cutler was not sacked all day, and the Bears rushed for 97 yards, averaging 3.9 yards per carry.
“I think we didn’t start out as quickly as we’d like to from an efficiency standpoint,” Long said. “But we got more and more comfortable as we went, which is a good thing. But at the same time, I think we need to start the way we want to start.”
Hello again, Kyle Fuller
The cornerback who showed a great deal of promise in his rookie year in 2014 has been largely invisible this season. Not the case Sunday, however. He knocked down a pass to force a punt in the first quarter and intercepted Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater late in the second, which led to a Bears touchdown.
Hello, history
If you’ve noticed less of Cutler throwing or fumbling the ball to the other team as of late, you’re not imagining things. Naturally the play calling has something to do with that, but he seems to be taking fewer chances, even if it means fewer passing yards. He ended up with 211 on Sunday with no interceptions.
And every so often, Cutler rises to the occasion. Late in the first half, he tied Sid Luckman’s team record of 137 TD passes when he found Alshon Jeffery in the back corner of the end zone.
“That’s what you want from your quarterback; he played his ass off. He gave it up for the team, put it all on the line and scored the touchdown,” said Jeffery, referring to the shot Cutler took as he delivered the TD pass.
He also bulldozed his way to a 4-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter.
“I regretted it immediately,” Cutler said jokingly, adding “I just figured the shortest distance [to the end zone] is a straight line. Obviously that’s not how I want to make a living.”
Hello, two-game losing streak
Unfortunately for the Bears, the Minnesota offense rallied for the final 10 points, including a game-winning, last-second field goal by Blair Walsh. It gave the Vikings their first win at Soldier Field since 2007.
Chris Sosa is RedEye’s sports editor. @redeyesportschi
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