LAKE FOREST, Ill. — A new year has not brought new success to the Bears early in 2023, instead, it's only continued struggles that were there in 2022.
While Sunday was a little closer than the difficult Week 1 defeat at the hands of the Packers at home, it still hammered home the fact that the team is still far off from being a contender in the National Football League.
Even quarterback Justin Fields agreed after a 27-17 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday, dropping the Bears to 0-2 on the still-young season.
“I think we have a long way to go," said the quarterback to the media at Raymond James Stadium. "I just think, if we keep working, we'll get there. I think everybody has to keep that mindset. I think in this position, 0-2, you can do one of two things and that's either lay down and just kind of throw in the towel and just say whatever.
"But I don't think anybody on the team is like that."
Yet things are not easy for a group that's approaching a full year since they last won a regular season game. The ten-point defeat extends their franchise-record losing streak to 12 games, with ten of those coming at the end of last season.
The last five games have come by ten points or more, with the loss Sunday being the closest the Bears have been to their opponent since a Week 15 loss to the Eagles last December. That's also the last time the team scored 20 points in a game.
In all 12 games, the team has allowed at least 25 points, including Sunday when the team's defensive plays were called by head coach Matt Eberflus.
New personnel on both sides of the ball, so far, have yet to produce the results that many had hoped for as erratic play has plagued the team so far.
"We're going through a storm right now," said Fields when asked if the losing streak frustrates him. "Like I said before, you can just be in the moment [and] just take it day by day and be grateful for what we do, what I do. Because shoot, I can look back to when I was a kid, I would never see myself in this position. I can be grateful for it and give my all each and every
day.
"Each and every day I have the opportunity to do what I do and be the quarterback
of this team. But of course, it's frustrating not winning. But I think at the same time, like I
said, just take it day-by-day and not really worry about the past."
Yet the present has been problematic for the Bears, with little relief ahead this week as the team visits the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City. There are still 15 games remaining in a season for a team that's figuring out the mix for a number of different players on the roster.
Yet morale isn't an issue for Eberflus, for he believes the team is fully committed to a turnaround despite the difficult start.
"We are steadfast, we are straight-forward, and we are all in this together," said Eberflus on Monday. "As coaches, players, and we're looking at a great Wednesday practice and looking ahead to Kansas City.
"That's what we're looking at.'
Doing so in a storm of defeats that continues to make franchise history.