The bears were starting a backup quarterback who had never started an NFL game. You would think the opposing coach would want to get a quick lead to force the inexperienced backup QB into passing situations. The best way to get a quick lead against the bears, as we all know, is to pass on first down. Let’s see what happened in the beginning of the game when the goal should have been to get a nice lead.
Raiders’ first possession: Throw on first down and complete the pass for 19 yards. Throw on first down and complete the pass for 24 yards. Run on first down, the drive stalls, and kick a field goal.
Raiders’ second possession: Run on first down for 3. Run on second down for 1. Punt.
Raiders’ third possession: Throw on first down and get first down. Run on first for 2, the drive stalls, kick a field goal.
Had the Raiders not run on first down, it would have been at least 14-0 instead of 6-0, and it’s very possible they would have also scored on their second possession.
Later in the game, the Raiders ran on first down from the bear 11 and the bear 9, stalling both drives and resulting in field goals. First-down runs also hurt other drives.
There are numerous bad calls I could discuss, which gave the bears 10 points and cost the Raiders a TD, but the only thing I will mention is that at the end of the half, the Raider player with the ball was laying on the ground out of bounds at the bear 1 with 8 seconds showing on the clock. While the player was on the ground out of bounds, the clock continued to run and stopped at 5 seconds. This caused the Raiders to go for the field goal instead of having one more play to try to get the touchdown.