In the moments after the Bears' 26-3 loss to the Chiefs, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky didn't make any excuses.
"We just didn't play our game today," Trubisky said after the Bears fell to 7-8. "It was tough. They came to play, we didn't, and we got behind early. You just can't play catch-up against a team like that. You can't play sloppy, either."
Trubisky finished the game completing 18 of 34 passes for 157 yards, his lowest output since Week 9 in Philadelphia. In the last six weeks, Trubisky and the Bears offense seemed to find life, making a spirited final charge to earn a spot in the playoffs.
With those dreams dashed last week in Green Bay, the Bears will now need a win next week in Minnesota to avoid a losing season.
Trubisky addressed a few of the plays that will undoubtedly become the focus of film study in the coming week and the offseason.
Down 10-0 in the second quarter, Allen Robinson II got past the last Chiefs defender. As Trubisky's pass sailed through the air, it was obvious that if the pass connected, it would be a certain touchdown.
Unfortunately, the pass sailed over Robinson's head. Trubisky acknowledged the overshot in the press conference.
"Felt good coming out," Trubisky said. "I've got to hit those.
Coach Matt Nagy agreed with Trubisky about the play while still expressing faith in his quarterback.
"Those are ones that you want to be able to hit," said Nagy, "and we didn't. But those have happened this year, and then there's others that Mitch is going to make a real good throw, but we just happened to not connect on that one."
Missed opportunities dogged the rest of the quarter. A running-into-the-kicker penalty allowed the Chiefs to stretch their lead to 17-0 and take enough time of the clock that Trubisky was unable to string together a scoring drive before the half.
Two illegal motion penalties killed any momentum Trubisky had built after getting the ball with 52 seconds left in the half and only one timeout.
The Bears continued their yearlong tradition of solid drives coming out of halftime, marching 83 yards before stalling out of the Chiefs' 4. Trubisky's fourth down fade to Robinson failed to clear cornerback Charvarious Ward, who deflected the pass.
Trubisky spoke of the team's struggles in the red zone, an issue that has dogged the offense in several games this season.
"You've got four plays down there," said Trubisky. "We're on the 5, we run one, didn't get it; I pulled one, didn't get it, and I've got to give A-Rob a better chance to come down with that last one on fourth down. You get down there, you've got to take advantage of those opportunities, and we didn't, and it really hurt us."
Late in the fourth quarter, Trubisky was able to march the Bears into Chiefs territory again before taking a 13-yard loss on a sack on third-and-10. With time running out, the Bears opted to go for it on fourth-and-23.
Rolling to his right, Trubisky quickly dumped the ball to tight end Eric Saubert, who was stopped 12 yards short of the first down. Trubisky said that checking down to Saubert rather than looking for something closer to the first down marker could be called a mistake.
"I probably should have took a shot," said Trubisky. "Just when I was escaping the pocket, saw everyone really, really deep. Yeah, tough situation, but try to get what we can get. Maybe next time to force one to give ourselves a better chance."
With only one game remaining in his third professional season, Trubisky can't spend too much time dwelling on the loss, but he may use to the disappointment to drive him forward.
"We've just got to be better," Trubisky said, "We've just got to dig deeper and find a way to finish strong."
