How 'accountability' and perspective took hold for the Chicago Bears at Halas Hall on Wednesday

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - It was a tense day at Halas Hall.

The Chicago Bears faced questions about how Sunday's loss to the Commanders shouldn't – more accurately, will never – happen again.

According to ESPN, the Bears had a 96.4 percent chance of winning after Roschon Johnson's one-yard touchdown gave the Bears a 15-12 lead with 23 seconds left.

One botched Hail Mary play later, and the Bears lost 18-15. They're 4-3.

Still, two constants hung around Halas Hall as the Bears turned their focus toward the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday: accountability and perspective. Bears wide receiver DJ Moore provided the latter.

"It's better than last year," Moore said. "That's all I'm going to say."

He's not wrong. The Bears blew a 28-7 lead to the winless Denver Broncos to drop to 0-5. But that doesn't hamper the sting of losing a game the Bears had no business being in.

The focus will be on the Hail Mary attempt. That's where "accountability" rose to the surface.

'There is accountability here'

Of all the words uttered Wednesday, none meant more than "accountability."

Who's accountable for a messed-up Hail Mary? Who's accountable for the offensive struggles? How will Tyrique Stevenson be held accountable for a lack of focus on the Hail Mary play?

Starting with Stevenson, there's no real answer just yet.

"I'm not going to talk about Tyrique in terms of starting, not starting, all those things," Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus said. "I will say this: Tyrique's made a lot of plays for this group and for our defense and for our football team over the last couple years. And he's going to continue to do that."

Eberflus stressed there were plenty of conversations that will remain in-house. He's not going to share what was said, just that the conversation did take place. He was pressed on the need for accountability Wednesday often and stressed that accountability is taking place within the Halas Hall walls.

"We do what we do in the building, and there is accountability here," Eberflus said. "We hold each other accountable to it."

On Monday and Tuesday, the team looked at how the late-game actions led to the final play. Eberflus said those moments rest on his shoulders.

"It's all about accountability and execution," Eberflus said. "That starts with me."

The air at Halas Hall on Wednesday goes beyond Sunday's heartbreaking loss. It was set up by players voicing their opinions after the game, on Monday and Tuesday.

Moore was one of those players who criticized the play call to give reserve center Doug Kramer the football at the one-yard line instead of just running the ball normally. 

Moore didn't regret saying what he said, but also said he'll keep that more in-house next time.

Fellow captain and safety Kevin Byard was also open about how the final drive was defended and how the corners should have been pressed up on the second-to-last play.

Eberflus said he welcomes all of those discussions, but it goes beyond the final drive. The offense was stagnant for three entire quarters. 

The Bears' rookie quarterback took some of that accountability on his shoulders, too.

"There's obviously a sense of accountability that I have to take," Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. "I didn't play well. First half, we had stalled drives and that goes back to throughout the week. That goes through during that game, us not finding ways to put ourselves in position to be able to score."

Williams still led the Bears on two fourth-quarter drives and gave the Bears the lead with 23 seconds left.

Now, it remains to be seen what changes happen because of Sunday. Will Stevenson be benched? What happens if it comes down to the final drive against Arizona? Will anything happen? If not, that creates a perception that accountability does not exist at Halas Hall.

That, Eberflus stressed, is not the case.

"Perceptions, they are a burden," Eberflus said. "In the building, we hold each other accountable. It's about our circle and the building." 

The perception is key

The perspective, Moore added, rings true.

These Bears are 4-3, and are perhaps one or two plays away from being 6-1. It's much different than last year.

"We went oh-and-something to start," Moore said. "Being on the other side, on the winning side, it feels good right now."

Moore isn't just pulling that out of thin air, either. He used the example of how the Bears rallied after losing to the Colts 21-16 in Week 3 and it turned into a winning streak after that.

"We were tested then and we bounced back with three-game win streak," Moore said. "We had this one which was even bigger because it was an NFC opponent. Now, we got to just go try to cook another and opponent the way we just lost and make them feel how we feel."

Williams shared Stevenson's sentiment from Monday. Had the ball bounced anywhere but into Noah Brown's arms, this would be a much different conversation now.  

'The conversation I feel, they'd be just a little bit different," Williams said. "Putting everything on a Hail Mary, and everything's exploding on the outside, we have to control what we control. Control everything in the interior, in here, and we got to focus on going out here and winning this game."

If only it were that simple. The fact is the Bears lost on a Hail Mary, but different players harbor a different perspective.

Williams' perspective is to have a player-led team. That kind of leadership is something he said separates good teams from great teams. The Bears need that leadership to impart the kind of perspective that prepares them for Arizona better than how they played against Washington.

"The point of football is to keep getting better," Williams said. "It's a long season."