Steelers vs. Bears: What they're saying in Chicago after loss

With 12 penalties, an alleged hip-check from a referee and a controversial taunting call, there’s no question Chicago Bears fans have some gripes after Monday’s loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Are the gripes legitimate?

You be the judge.

Chicago media is now pushing back against the franchise after a game that “raised the wrong kinds of questions,” wrote Patrick Finley for The Chicago Sun Times.

Finley took shots at the number of penalties collected by the Bears, specifically one by outside linebacker Cassius Marsh who celebrated a sack of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger by performing a spinning heel kick and then running toward the Steelers’ bench. The celebration is something Marsh regularly performs.

Sorting through the taunting flag on Cassius Marsh, why the #Bears LB felt the ref ‘hip-checked’ him and what to make of a night strewn with flags: https://t.co/22K9wiiydj

— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) November 9, 2021

The penalty was the Bears’ 11th in game, totaling 110 yards. The team finished with 12 for 115 yards.

That’s compared to the Steelers who finished with five penalties for 30 yards.

“It was a crippling disparity for a Bears team with zero margin for error,” Finley wrote.

He then questioned whether the Bears’ lack of discipline reflects on head coach Matt Nagy or if the players who play for the oldest NFL team should know better.

“Whatever the answer is, it’s unacceptable. On national television, the Bears were finally exciting — but for all the wrong reasons,” Finley wrote.

Several media outlets honed in on an incident between Marsh and official Tony Corrente. The incident took place after Marsh was penalized for his celebration. Walking back to Chicago’s sideline, Marsh made contact with Corrente, something Marsh later identified as “incredibly inappropriate.”

In defense of Marsh, Patti Curl of the Windy City Gridiron wrote, “Giving a first down on 4th on a taunting penalty when a man isn’t even taunting in the 4th quarter of a 3 point game. That ref has to know that’s going to be interpreted as a terrible call. That’s just brazen, childish flaunting of authority. And they’re trying to make sure the ‘players’ stay respectful. What a disgrace.”

While Curl questioned a handful of calls against the Bears, she also called out the team for being undisciplined.

Justin Fields has revived my hope in good things. https://t.co/e7O5fWJp6G pic.twitter.com/SV00h1IFV2

— Dr. Opinion Bear (@OpinionBear) November 9, 2021

“Most of Chicago’s penalties were deserved, and at some point, an undisciplined team loses the benefit of the doubt from the refs,” she wrote. “Refs will always make bad calls, and I’m usually mad about it. Today, I’m just mad about the fact that the Bears have been a consistently sloppy team under Nagy’s tenure.”

Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, also took shots against the number of penalties incurred by the franchise.

“To be clear, the Bears took ownership of their costly penalty issues after the game, understanding they are a below-average team that can ill afford so many self-inflicted wounds,” Wiederer wrote. “Surrendering 115 penalty yards through a flurry of miscues proved ultra-costly.”

Steelers 29, Bears 27

Your choice tonight, peeps.

Three-word review - or - three-letter review…

— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) November 9, 2021