Bears' ugly loss to Ravens littered with same, old problems

For Ben Johnson's Chicago Bears it's been four steps forward, and now one big step back. The consistency throughout the inconsistency, however, has been sloppiness.

The Bears made fundamental, mind-numbing mistakes during their winning streak, but were able to slip by the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders and wallop the awful New Orleans Saints. But Sunday in Baltimore - even without playing against Lamar Jackson - the same miscues reared their ugly head in an disheartening 30-16 loss.

The Bears are 4-3 and still in the mix in the NFC North, but at times this team feels like it needs another week of training camp to work on the simple things.

Pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball. Issues with the correct personnel on the field. Executing motion on offense. These shouldn't be a problem in Week 8, and it falls at the feet of Johnson.

"We get away with it occasionally, but it's just not the way you win in this league," Johnson said after the loss. "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."

Bears Again a Sloppy Football Team

In the loss to the Ravens, the Bears committed 11 penalties. Down only a touchdown and desperate to the ball back late in the game, they were flagged for two offsides penalties on defense to pave the way for Baltimore's game-clinching touchdown. A false start by rookie tight end Colston Loveland in the Red Zone turned an promising early drive into only a field goal.

In a long NFL season there will be ups and downs. But if the Bears hope to be a playoff team, they have minimize their self-inflicted wounds.