Bears LB Roquan Smith calls Week 8 loss to Cowboys ’embarrassing’
The Dallas Cowboys offense put on a clinic against the Chicago Bears in Week 8. America’s Team collected 443 yards of total offense, dominating on both the ground and in the air from the first minute of the game.
Tony Pollard had 14 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns (including a 54-yarder that embarrassed the linebackers), and Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns and ran for one. The Bears allowed the Cowboys offense to score four touchdowns on their first four drives for the first time in eight years.
Before the matchup, we expected the Cowboys to have to mostly worry about the Bears defense. The unit hadn’t allowed more than 27 points through seven weeks, and head coach Matt Eberflus is known for his defensive mind. Against Dallas, they gave up nearly double that — 49 points.
In a turn of events, it was the offense who has able to make things happen for Chicago. Against one of the best defenses in football, Justin Fields and his often-inconsistent unit were able to put up 29 points. That’s impressive.
The defense on the other hand put together an “unacceptable” performance in the words of Eberflus. It was easily the Bears defense’s worst outing of the season, which caused the visiting locker room at AT&T Stadium to be a somber environment on Sunday afternoon.
Fifth-year linebacker Roquan Smith called the loss “embarrassing.”
Roquan Smith said of the Bears' defensive performance: "We just got to get better. We got to take this one on the chin. Hats off to those guys. But we got to get better. It’s embarrassing on the defensive side."
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) October 30, 2022
Roquan Smith and Bears teammates called the loss to the Cowboys in Week 8 “embarrassing”
Smith had a subpar performance with just five tackles on the night and noted that he wanted his team to be more consistent.
His often impressive unit allowed Dallas to covert 9-of-11 third downs on the day and wasn’t able to stop the Cowboys in any of their four red zone trips.
Teammate and Bears safety Eddie Jackson seemed to agree. Jackson, who had an interception in the contest, called the defense’s performance “frustrating” as well.
The most interesting part about this story is what happened just about 24 hours after the comments were made. On Monday afternoon, FOX’s Jay Glazer revealed that Smith was being traded to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for a second and fifth-round pick.
This is likely just a coincidence, but Smith now doesn’t have to worry about rallying his Bears troops for the next game. Instead, he needs to learn a whole new playbook as he heads to the AFC-North-leading Ravens team. Thankfully for Smith, Baltimore is currently the 8th-best team in yards allowed.
