Brown on Amegadjie's performance in first start, Kramer's penalty that nullified TD |
CHICAGO—In his second game as interim head coach, Thomas Brown and the Bears suffered another blowout loss, falling 30-12 to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. Chicago has now lost its last two games by a total of 43 points.
The Bears were without a few players, including offensive linemen Ryan Bates and Braxton Jones. Jones self-reported concussion symptoms Sunday morning and entered concussion protocol, ruling him out for the game and putting his availability for Chicago’s next game on Sun. Dec. 22 (Noon / FOX) into question. Rookie Kiran Amegadjie took Jones’ place at the left tackle spot. It marked the sixth game Amegadjie has appeared in this season and his first-ever NFL start. He struggled against the blitz-heavy Brian Flores-led Minnesota defense, including missing a block that led to a strip-sack and turnover on Chicago’s second offensive drive of the game. “I have confidence in (Amegadjie’s) ability. I think being able to have an opportunity to work him in that spot. He kind of been rotating the last few days and weeks also behind Braxton. So, just more about just the spot play on the left side,” Brown said. “He’s (a) tough dude. He’s going to be a really good player, is still a good player for us right now. So, he’ll get better. We’ll all get better. I’ll get better.” On the strip sack, defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard came from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ blindside. Williams never saw Greenard coming, leading to the turnover that set up Minnesota’s first touchdown of the game. Brown was critical of himself on that play, stating that he could have made a better play call in that situation. “He can’t see the defender coming, so I can’t expect him to be able to have eyes in the back of his head. I think obviously being on the road, the noise (does) have an effect when it comes to guys getting off on the snap versus us not,” Brown said. “But, (we) just (need to) be better than that (in that) situation. Also, I can do a better job of calling (a) better play with the ball and come out faster versus holding onto it. That’ll help out, too.” Given this is Brown’s second game as a head coach, it is understandable that he is trying to establish his coaching style. That appears to be what he tried to do by being aggressive on the opening drive of the game. On fourth and one from their one 39-yard line, Brown elected to go for it and hand the ball off to running back D’Andre Swift. Swift did not get the first down. Later in the game, he went for another fourth-and-one, this time at Minnesota’s 29-yard line. Again, he ran the ball with Swift, but he did not get the first down. “I wanted to be aggressive going into the game, but it was kind of a point of emphasis for our unit to be able to stay on the grass and make some plays. Backfired early. Defense, I thought, battled their butts off, put us in really good spots, and kept us in the game for the most part,” Brown said. “I thought special teams also played particularly well. But, when you end up having nine penalties, you’re one of (12) on third down, makes it very difficult to stay on the grass, to sustain drives, and just too many plays end up biting us in the butt.” Of course, it would not be a Chicago Bears game without something bizarre happening to hurt the Bears at a critical point in the game. Down 13-0 on their second drive of the second half, Chicago made their way down to the Minnesota one-yard line. On first and goal, they ran the ball with Swift, who got in for the touchdown to make it a one-possession game, except for one problem—there was a flag on the play. The touchdown was nullified because Doug Kramer lined up at fullback and did not report as eligible. So, they ran the ball with Swift and got back to the one-yard line. On Swift’s second attempt to get into the end zone from the one-yard line, he was pushed back for a loss of two yards. But again, there was a flag on the play. Amegadjie was called for a hold, backing Chicago up from the one to the 11-yard line. Two incomplete passes followed, and Chicago settled for a field goal; it was still a two-possession game after that lengthy drive. Kramer’s mistake was crucial, as it completely changed the game's momentum. Once Minnesota jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first quarter, it was never a one-possession game again. Swift’s touchdown at that moment would have gotten the Bears back in the game. Brown takes that on himself, saying he could have called a timeout to save the field position but was also proud of the fight in the Bears until the very end. “Normally, when (Kramer) reports in the game, his back is turned to me. So, I can’t always tell if he does or he doesn’t. I think if there was some indecision, I could have just called a timeout, save it and got back in the huddle. So, I put that on myself,” Brown said. “Our guys battled to the very end. So, I think saying we don’t have a lot left in the tank, a lose till our guys quit and I didn’t see it at all on tape. So, I think our guys continue to battle like they’ve been battling. I’m going to continue to fight for them and stay behind them and so, we’ll go back to work.” Brown will attempt to get his first win as a head coach when the Bears face off against the Detroit Lions this coming Sunday (Noon / FOX). Detroit is coming off its first loss since week two, while Chicago is trying to end an eight-game losing streak.
