Raiders embarrassed in blowout loss to the Bears

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Updated Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 | 12:58 p.m.

The goodwill the Raiders had created with a two-game winning streak coming into Sunday’s Week 7 of the NFL season is now gone.

It’s not just that they lost Sunday at Soldier Field to surrender a chance to get over .500 on the season; it’s how they lost. The Raiders were beaten badly against a team some rated as the worst in the NFL, falling 30-12 to the Bears.

In his first career start, undrafted rookie free agent out of Division II Shepherd University Tyson Bagent threw for 162 yards and completed 21 of 29 passes. He leaned heavily on running back D’Onta Foreman, who scored three touchdowns (two rushing and one passing) with 120 total yards on the day.

Las Vegas couldn’t get similar production out of its backup quarterback as Brian Hoyer threw for only 129 yards on 17-for-29 passing in relief of Jimmy Garoppolo, who hurt his back in last week’s win over the Patriots. Hoyer also threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a 39-yard touchdown by Bears defensive back Jaylon Johnson at the end of the game.

Aidan O’Connell threw a third Raiders interception, also to Johnson, near the end of the game. O’Connell led the Raiders on their only touchdown drive on the team’s final possession of the game, hitting receiver Jakobi Meyers in the end zone on a nine-yard slant.

Las Vegas’ defense conversely had no takeaways against Bagent, thrust into action after Justin Fields suffered a dislocated thumb in a loss to the Vikings, to snap a three-game streak with at least one. The defense often looked uncompetitive as Chicago glided to five yards per play before garbage time when it tried to run out the clock at the end of the game, while Las Vegas could only muster a 3.4-yard average.

Star receiver Davante Adams’ much-publicized frustrations are only going to increase from here as he was targeted frequently early but finished with only seven catches for 57 yards. Hoyer missed him on a wide-open potential touchdown pass in the third quarter that eventually fell out of the receiver’s hands.

A couple plays earlier, Josh Jacobs appeared to score on a pass from Hoyer but replay determined that he didn’t get his second foot down on the end zone. The Bears held Jacobs to 41 yards on 12 total touches.

Chicago scored touchdowns on its first and third possessions while Las Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal in the span. He reportedly suffered a groin injury in warm-ups, but later made kicks from 25 and 40 yards.

Las Vegas next plays on Detroit on Monday Night Football in Week 8.

This is a developing story. Please check back later for more coverage or read below for coverage from throughout the game. 

Foreman scores for the third time

The Raiders are getting roasted in Chicago.

Las Vegas now trails 21-3 after D’Onta Foreman scored his third touchdown of the day, on a 5-yard pass from rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent. The throw goes down as Bagent’s first career touchdown pass.

Chicago’s scoring drive lasted 15 plays and amassed 93 yards. The Bears have nearly twice the amount of yards to the Raiders, 265 to 137, as the visitors haven’t been able to get anything going consistently on offense.

And with four minutes remaining the third quarter, they’re running out of time to figure it out.

Carlson gets Raiders on the board before halftime

The Raiders won’t go into halftime without any points at least.

Daniel Carlson, despite being hampered by a groin injury, made a 40-yard field goal inside the two-minute warning to make the score 14-3 in favor of the Bears.

Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, who’s filling in for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, has struggled with his consistency during a rough first half that’s seen him complete 10 of 19 passes for 93 yards with one interception. Another sure interception was dropped on the Raiders’ aforementioned scoring drive and then they were briefly knocked out of field goal range by a holding penalty on fullback Jakob Johnson.

Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers then drew a pass interference flag, however, to set up Carlson’s make after the kicker missed from 41 yards earlier in the half.

Chicago had a chance to add more points before halftime, getting the ball back with 1:49 left, but Maxx Crosby had a sack on rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent, who has 104 passing yards while completing 14 of 19 attempts, to make sure that didn't happen.

Bears pour in

Make it a pair of short touchdown runs for Bears running back D’Onta Foreman.

Foreman just added a three-yard score to his previous two-yard score to put the home team up 14-0 at Soldier Field.

Brian Hoyer and Josh Jacobs must be feeling some blame for the Bears’ latest score. Hoyer fired a short pass through Jacobs’ hands deep in Chicago territory, and Tremaine Edmunds was there to pick it off.

Chicago needed only six plays to go the 34 yards for a touchdown.

Bears score first

All the Raiders’ defensive improvement from the past few weeks momentarily vanished in their second time on the field at Soldier Field.

Bears undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent led the home team on a 12-play, 69-yard scoring drive to go up 7-0. It initially appeared that receiver D.J. Moore ran in a reverse touchdown, but the call was overturned after it was determined he stepped out at the 2-yard line.

No matter, the Bears scored the next play with D’Onta Foreman powering in a short run. The Raiders reached the 23-yard line on their first offensive drive, but kicker Daniel Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal.

Carlson is dealing with a groin injury, potentially one he suffered in pregame warmups.

Inactives reeleased

If the Raiders want to win a third straight game for a second time under coach Josh McDaniels, they’ll have to do it shorthanded. Three starters are out for this afternoon’s game against the Bears at Soldier Field.

That was already determined by midweek, but it’s now official with both teams’ inactive reports in. Las Vegas will be without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, cornerback Jakorian Bennett and cornerback Nate Hobbs.

Brian Hoyer will make his first start of the season in place of Garoppolo. Amik Robertson and Tyler Hall are expected to fill the vacant roles in the secondary.

It’s the fourth straight game Hobbs, arguably the Raiders’ best coverage player, has missed while the rookie Bennett was hurt in last week’s win over the Patriots. Las Vegas’ other inactive players are linebacker Amari Burney, wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson and defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera.

The Bears are also far from healthy, missing a handful of starters including quarterback Justin Fields. Undrafted rookie free agent Tyson Bagent will make his first career start against the Raiders.

PREGAME

The midseason injury bug has started to bite teams across the NFL, and the Las Vegas Raiders and Chicago Bears are no exception. The two teams go into their inter-conference showdown this morning with lengthy injury reports that include many of their best players, including both starting quarterbacks.

The Raiders’ Jimmy Garoppolo (back) and the Bears’ Justin Fields (dislocated thumb) are expected to miss the game, with either Aidan O’Connell or Brian Hoyer filling in for Las Vegas and Tyson Bagent taking the reins in Chicago.

Las Vegas’ two best players, wide receiver Davante Adams (shoulder) and edge rusher Maxx Crosby (knee), have also only practiced in a limited capacity this week but plan to play through their pain. The same goes for current Bear/former Raider edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who’s dealing with a back injury.

Extra rest isn’t coming any time soon for either team, as they both have Week 13 bye weeks, the second-to-last possible slot in the league. The team that comes out on top today will likely be the team that manages its weakened roster more effectively.

Favorable matchup: Raiders’ overall roster quality vs. Bears’ rebuilding state

Raiders coach Josh McDaniels has cooled off the heat that surrounded him after a 1-3 start with back-to-back wins the last two weeks, but the proverbial flames would flare right back up with a loss to the Bears. This is a game the Raiders are supposed to win. There’s little doubt they have the stronger personnel as the Bears don’t have the same top-level talent as players like Adams, Crosby and running back Josh Jacobs give the Raiders. Las Vegas has also seen several second-tier standouts emerge during its winning streak including safety Tre’von Moehrig, linebacker Robert Spillane, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and tight end Michael Mayer. There’s a case to be made that the Raiders belong at least around NFL average in terms of performance at every position group; the Bears might not be there at a single unit. The young Bears have improved from the start of the year, but the bar was low after three consecutive double-digit losses through Week 3 and then a blown 21-point lead against the Broncos in Week 4. If Chicago outplays Las Vegas given the roster discrepancy, the blame will largely fall on the coaching staff.

Problematic matchup: Bears’ offensive team speed vs. Raiders’ defense

“Explosive” was the most commonly-used word in the Raiders’ locker room this week as virtually every question posed about the Bears ended with praise about their game-changing ability. Despite Chicago’s struggles, it actually checks out as it’s in the top half of the league in explosive-play rate (defined by the NFL as plays that go for at least 20 yards) and inside the top 10 over the last three weeks. It’s all predicated on speed. Chicago tried to build a team that fit more with Fields’ strengths this offseason. The third-year quarterback has struggled to throw efficiently throughout his three years in the NFL, but stands out as one of the most electric running and scrambling quarterbacks in league history. But even he’d likely get smoked in a race against his top two receivers, DJ Moore and Darnell Mooney. Moore reminded everyone of his blistering speed in the Bears’ only win of the year, a 40-20 Thursday Night Football victory over the Washington Commanders, when he led the league in Week 5 with 230 receiving yards. The Bears are likely the fastest offense the Raiders have encountered this year, and that could take some acclimation time.

Gamebreaker: Safety Marcus Epps

Despite having spent most of the season playing from behind, the Bears have still run the ball on 45.82% percent of snaps, the seventh-highest rate in the league and first among teams with losing records. The Raiders will likely respond to the rush-happy offense by playing with an extra defender in the box more often than they have earlier in the year. Luckily, that’s a role where Epps thrives. The strong safety ranked in the top five rush defenders at his position in back-to-back years with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and 2022 by Pro Football Focus’s metrics. And he’s graded out just as strongly in the category so far with the Raiders. Epps, who was voted a team captain before the season, has made some miscues in coverage with the Raiders but has maintained his knack for strong tackling and fearlessness despite a slightly-undersized frame. Epps’ strengths should come in handy against bruising Bears’ power backs D’Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson, who’s questionable as he tries to test out of the concussion protocol before kickoff.

Big Number: 48

That’s the amount of yards gained on the Raiders’ longest play of the year last week, when rookie receiver Tre Tucker hauled in a bomb from Hoyer at the opposing Patriots’ 21-yard line early in the third quarter. A more dependable vertical passing game could really open up a Raiders’ offense that has been lethargic to start the year, and the speedy Tucker could be the catalyst. Opponents appear determined not to get beaten deep by Adams, whom they’ve consistently bracketed and rarely left alone for one-on-one opportunities anywhere beyond the line of scrimmage. Meyers’ skillset is more suited to running short and intermediate routes, therefore leaving a void Tucker could fill as the deep threat.Las Vegas is tied for last in the NFL, along with seven other teams, with only one play that’s gone for more than 40 yards this season. Tucker also had the Raiders’ second-longest play of the year when he took a jet sweep 34 yards during an opening scoring drive in a 38-10 loss at Buffalo. He’s shown more than enough big-play ability to merit more opportunities going forward.

Best Bet (5-1): Josh Jacobs over 20.5 receiving yards

The pickings are incredibly slim this week with sports books limiting prop offerings presumably because of the uncertainty with both teams’ quarterback situations. Jacobs is one player with a handful of props up, however, and he should be quarterback-proof. He hasn’t gone over this number in the last two weeks but has still drawn seven catches and 10 targets. Jacobs hasn’t always been a receiving threat for the Raiders in past years, but McDaniels has worked him more into gameplans this season and seemingly pushed him higher in the quarterback’s route-reading progressions. The Bears are the worst team in the league in defending running backs in the passing game, per Aaron Schatz’s DVOA ratings, meaning Jacobs should be able to find openings against them.