Mistake-prone Bears fritter away 4-game win streak in 30-16 loss to Ravens

BALTIMORE AP The Chicago Bears four-game winning streak is over mainly because of their inability to tap into their usual formula for success against the Baltimore Ravens Chicago put together its longest success run since by forcing turnovers running effectively and playing solid defense in the fourth quarter None of that happened on Sunday Throw in an inordinate amount of penalties several of the pre-snap variety and it s no wonder the Bears exhilarating winning streak ended with a - defeat Chicago came in with an NFL-best plus- turnover differential and had forced at least three turnovers in each of the previous four weeks Against Baltimore the challenge s lone giveaway was when the Bears Caleb Williams was picked off in the fourth quarter with Chicago trailing - The Ravens cashed in on the mistake with a touchdown for a -point cushion with remaining It s our first contest all season in which we didn t have a takeaway Bears coach Ben Johnson announced When that happens you ve really got to play a clean challenge and we didn t Chicago - was called for penalties for yards Williams was twice cited for intentional grounding guard Joe Thuney jumped offside with the Bears on their own yard-line and a superb punt by Tory Taylor that pinned the Ravens on their own was nullified by an illegal formation Chicago also failed to get touchdowns on two of its three trips inside the Baltimore That shortcoming was magnified by four failed plays in the closing minutes from inside the We were double-digits in penalties we re not scoring in the red zone and we couldn t quite get off the field as often as we like on defense Johnson lamented D Andre Swift ran for more than yards in his two previous games wins over Washington and New Orleans but against the Ravens he rushed for only yards on carries The Bears were limited to only yards on the ground of them on a scramble by Williams Forced to throw more than he would prefer Williams went for for yards But his interception was a huge factor as was his inability to take Chicago into the end zone instead of settling for field goals Still the penalties were really the main issue Every time the Bears started to move the ball a penalty or two impeded their progress Penalties and not being able to figure in the red zone that s the two main things we have to fix Williams disclosed We have to figure it out find a response because it s hurting us as an offense Johnson insisted that the coaching staff has tried nearly everything to stop the Bears to stop beating themselves Now it s up to the players to hammer home the point The penalties are what stands out first and foremost We still have several pre-snap issues That stuff adds up and it hurts us Johnson explained I really put it on the leaders in the locker room to get this ship going in the right direction in that regard The Bears knew the Ravens were desperate for a win after starting the season - Yet even though Baltimore was without standout quarterback Lamar Jackson the Ravens maligned defense made up the difference The Ravens came out and played a physical brand of football just like you would expect They were hungry they were determined Johnson announced Truth be communicated I expected a little bit more out of our squad to counter that AP NFL https apnews com NFL Source