It was a not a good game. It was difficult on the eyes. And there were a lot of reasons for that. Rapid fire…

• It is difficult to enjoy a football game, as a fan, when you assume every long run and every good play made in the secondary is going to be accompanied by a flag. You’re simply never able to live in the moment of a football game. Yesterday the refs were a disgrace. Inconsistent pass interference calls. Hands to the face on the wrong team. Phantom holds late to literally cost the Bears a chance to tie or win the game. Officiating is going to be a big story come January and it will cost a team in he playoffs.
• Worst example was the Stafford bomb downfield. Bears rushing three and dropping eight. Line judge throws flag, clearly for holding on the Lions. (She was staring at the line of scrimmage.) Refs convene and decide she had called holding ON THE DEFENSE! This means the refs believe one of the three rushers for the Bears held a Lions offensive lineman. Why? The only time defensive linemen hold is to prevent OL from getting to the second level. They didn’t identify who did it because, as you might imagine, it never happened. Farce.
• How on earth are we supposed to evaluate #barkleytime with this crop of receivers “catching” the ball? Barkley didn’t do anything spectacular Sunday but when the game was put on his arm, he delivered. Again. His teammates and the refs let him down.
• Seeing Barkley with Alshon Jeffery this week is going to be very interesting.
• Barkley’s throw to Cam Meredith for the touchdown was a thing of beauty. Which are the throws Barkley can’t make?
• Josh Bellamy plays wide receiver in the strangest manner I’ve ever seen. He has great hands but refuses to use them. He has no sense of where the boundaries are. He never knows when to jump or not jump for the football so his default seems to be JUMP! But he’s always open so how can Barkley not throw him the ball?

• Leonard Floyd, Cody Whitehair, Jordan Howard. Signings like Hicks and Freeman. Why the hell is anybody talking about Bill Polian? Bears have a young GM who seems to be an excellent talent evaluator. Now he has to get the big one – quarterback – correct. The Bears can win the NFC North next season if they do.
• Floyd is the most impressive rookie this organization has had in a long time. He is absolutely everywhere on the field. If the Bears could ever find a complementary pass rusher, or if McPhee could show some of his 2015 explosiveness, it could be special.
• Pat O’Donnell stinks.
• Akiem Hicks was drawing double teams almost all game long. And beating them more often than not.
• Bears don’t have a safety that can cover on this roster. Draft is likely but this might be a target spot in free agency as well.
• Bryce Callahan is a keeper.

This didn’t feel like a game the Bears SHOULD have won. But it was a game they could have won because of the defense, quarterback and Howard.

Barkley remains the story as we move through these final three games. If you don’t believe that, just read this Adam Jahns story this morning.