KANSAS CITY — It’s safe to say that the worst-case scenario for the start of the Bears’ season has come to pass.

There are some fans who might have even expected the team to lose their first three games of the 2023 season, especially Sunday’s contest against the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

But to see the team make a number of additions in the offseason and then seem to digress after going 3-14 last year wasn’t in the cards. People probably didn’t expect a mysterious resignation from their defensive coordinator, either, but that’s been part of a miserable first three games of the campaign.

Sunday’s 41-10 drubbing at the hands of the Chiefs showed the ineptitude of the current Bears’ team to a national audience for the second time in three weeks. Outside of stopping the Chiefs on the opening drive, Matt Ebeflus’ team was mostly competitive against a Kansas City juggernaut that never let up.

The Bears were outgained 456-203, with a few late drives by the visitors making that total closer than it seemed all day. Two turnovers and six penalties were part of the day, including a rare delay of game infraction after a kickoff return on offense in the first half.

It was 31-0 Chiefs at the break, and it was lucky to just be that bad, as Kansas City scored on seven-straight possessions.

Perhaps it was a blessing that Taylor Swift’s appearance at the game was the national talk of the game, for it may have overshadowed a miserable performance for the “Monsters of the Midway.”

“I would just say that everybody’s got to take a hard look at what they’re doing, in terms
of the schemes we’re running, what we’re doing,” said Eberflus when asked about what the coaching staff isn’t doing early in the season. “We’re in charge of putting our players in a position to execute and that’s what the coach does, developing the players at the same time. We’ve just got to do a better job. It’s also on the players because it is a partnership.

“Both of us together, the execution and the product on the field is always player and coach.”

Eberflus was in the middle of a storm all week as his quarterback first was critical of coaching in a news conference Wednesday before walking that back later in the afternoon. Around that time, defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned in what he said in a statement was for health reasons.

A report from Adam Schefter of ESPN on Sunday indicated there may have been more to it than that.

Then the week ended with the team extending its franchise-record 13-game losing streak, allowing at least 25 points during that stretch. The Bears have lost their last six games by at least ten points and have only scored 20 points once in that time.

Earlier in the week, general manager Ryan Poles tried to make it seem like things were under control at Halas Hall, and on Sunday, quarterback Justin Fields was trying to do the same.

“All we need is one to get this thing going,” said Fields. “The Lions started 1-6 last year and they almost made the playoffs. Just keep going, keep the faith. The big picture is it’s the third game of the season, we have 14 left – at least.

“Just keep going and keep working, that’s it.”

Making it work has been the problem, and the issue so far with the Bears is they don’t look any closer to solving it. That’s made a bad start even more miserable for a team that looks a long way from their place their opponent is on Sunday.