4 things that stood out to Matt Eberflus in Week 9 loss

(3) Negative plays on offense, including sacks and costly penalties, stalled drives.

After the defense opened the game with a three-and-out, the offense was moving the ball on its first possession, picking up three first downs and reaching the Cardinals’ 37. The drive was highlighted by Caleb Williams completions to Rome Odunze of 17 and 15 yards.

The Bears overcame a pass interference penalty on Keenan Allen but were forced to punt after an illegal formation infraction nullified Williams’ 7-yard pass to DJ Moore and Williams was sacked on third-and-3 from the Arizona 42.

“Offensively, just as a whole group, we have to make sure that we don’t take negatives to put us behind the sticks,” Eberflus said. “That could be by penalty, or it could be by sack, or a TFL (tackle for loss), because the percentage of you scoring there across the league, it diminishes. Those things have to get taken care of first, and that’s a whole team thing in terms of the offensive team.”

(4) After suffering their second straight defeat following a three-game winning streak, Eberflus said that there’s a “heightened sense of urgency” at Halas Hall.

The Bears will try to rebound Sunday against the Patriots at Soldier Field before beginning a rugged six-week stretch in which they play five games against division opponents and one versus the defending NFC champion 49ers in San Francisco.

“Whenever you lose two in a row in the NFL, there’s always a heightened sense of urgency because you have to get that win column back,” Eberflus said. “That was no different than early in the year when we lost a couple in a row. It’s really the same. We have to find answers and find solutions to where we are right now.

“We move in the right direction for three weeks, and then the last couple, we have to make sure we find answers right now moving into this week. We don’t have a lot of time. We have less than 48 hours before we practice [Wednesday]. We have to do a good job. Before the players get back in the building, we have to do a good job of finding those answers.”