BALTIMORE -- At this point, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson probably feels like a broken record.
The same issues that have plagued Chicago (4-3, 0-2) throughout their losses and the four-game win streak that ended Sunday continue to show up. On occasion, the Bears have been able to outlast their mistakes and do just enough to come away with a victory. In those instances, the sloppiness gets tabled momentarily with the promise of fixing their issues via better discipline, better execution and everyone "being on the same page." It's become a weekly refrain echoed by players and coaches alike as the Bears prepare for their next opponent.
But against the Baltimore Ravens in a game when Chicago did not officially know it would face backup quarterback Tyler Huntley until less than 24 hours until kickoff, the Bears' self-inflicted issues did them in yet again, this time resulting in a 30-16 loss.
The Bears racked up 11 penalties Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, marking the third game of the season in which they were on the receiving end of double-digit flags. The issues of getting lined up correctly and executing the right motion prior to the snap are still occurring, months after Johnson routinely lit into his team for these mistakes daily in training camp.
"We get away with it occasionally, but it's just not the way you win in this league," Johnson said. "I really put it on the leaders there in the locker room to get this ship going in the right direction in that regard. Us coaches, we have been pounding that drum now for a while, and we haven't gotten the results we wanted. So, it is on the leaders here on this team to get us right."
The Bears' 16 points were their fewest this season after scoring at least 20 in their first six games. There are two main culprits behind Chicago's offensive regression: Penalties and red-zone inefficiency.
Since Week 3, the Bears have the NFL's lowest red-zone touchdown percentage (36.8%). Chicago has scored a league-low 3.9 points per red zone drive in that span.
The Bears ran 22 plays and had nine first downs in the first quarter. Their first drive of the game ate up 8:01 and spanned 13 plays while their second took them to the end of the quarter and went 11 plays.
Chicago reached the red zone on its first drive and came close on the second. In both instances, the Bears came away with field goals over touchdowns to establish a 6-0 lead. That would be the only time the Bears held the advantage over the Ravens.
"The majority [of the problem] is shooting ourselves in the foot," wide receiver Rome Odunze said. "Penalties, misalignment, missed execution on the play. I don't think there's ever been any instance where we've not had a penalty and executed a play properly where we haven't scored touchdowns in the red zone, so we've got to get back to that."
Quarterback Caleb Williams aimed to overcome a false start on tight end Colston Loveland that backed the Bears up to the Ravens' 13-yard line when he connected with Odunze for a third time on Chicago's opening drive. A negative run by Kyle Monangai and a sack taken by Williams on third down forced the Bears to kick a 32-yard field goal.
The accuracy issues Williams struggled with (eight off-target throws, according to ESPN Research), showed up on the next drive that stalled at the Ravens' 22-yard line. Kicker Cairo Santos was sent out for another field goal.
Of those eight off-target throws, Williams threw six in the fourth quarter as the Bears tried to make a comeback. After Sunday, Williams has been off-target on 21.5% of his throws this season, second-worst among qualified quarterbacks behind only Atlanta's Michael Penix Jr. (22%).
Last week, Williams lamented that incompletions bothered him more than throwing interceptions. Bad ball placement or missing wide-open receivers is less acceptable to Williams than the occasional pick.
Against the Saints, Williams threw an interception in the first half that didn't negatively affect the game. He wasn't so lucky in Baltimore when he launched an interception when targeting Odunze with the Bears trailing by three while backed up in their own territory. Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins picked off an underthrown ball and returned it to the Bears 9-yard line. The Ravens turned that into the eventual game-winning TD two plays later
"It was a good read," Williams said. "Rome was man-to-man with the guy who caught the pick. I just didn't give a good ball to Rome."
Johnson didn't necessarily see it the same way.
"In my mind, there might have been another option that we could have gotten to," Johnson said.