3 Takeaways from Bears' Week 8 Loss

The Chicago Bears fell to 5-3 with an overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. While the defeat won't derail a promising season, it did negate an opportunity to make ground on the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.

The Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings, but they still hold a slight divisional lead with a 5-2 record.

Chicago will still face Green Bay twice this season, so there's time to lay claim to the division. However, getting win No. 6 by midseason would have been huge. Instead, the Bears have dropped two in a row and are stumbling into the season's second half.

Here are three notable takeaways from this latest loss, as Chicago turns its attention to the Tennessee Titans in Week 9.

At 5-3, Chicago should be a playoff team. However, there's a lot of football left to be played, and things could quickly go south following a second-consecutive loss.

At least this one was close. Last week's loss to the Los Angeles Rams wasn't, as the Bears got blown out 24-10. Chicago has also lost to the Indianapolis Colts, which points to a troubling reality. The Bears might not be a good 5-3 football team.

While Chicago has defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that's the only victory the team holds over a team currently with a winning record. Even including Tampa, the Bears have beaten opponents with a combined 14-23 record.

While a team can only play those on its schedule, good squads find ways to win close games, like the one Chicago lost on Sunday. The Bears might be 5-3, but they're probably closer to the 5-3 Cleveland Browns than the five-win Packers.

We'll obviously find out more in the second half of the season, but the Bears don't have the feel of a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Bears receiver Allen Robinson II missed practice all week and wasn't cleared from the concussion protocol until Saturday. Yet he still led the team with 87 receiving yards and a touchdown. He tied for second on the team in targets with seven.

Robinson is far and away the most reliable piece of Chicago's receiving corps, and he proved it once again against New Orleans. Players like Anthony Miller and rookie Darnell Mooney did contribute, but Robinson is clearly the centerpiece of the passing attack.

This is noteworthy because if Robinson eventually does miss extended time or if opponents figure out how to take him out of the offense, the Bears could struggle to move the ball through the air. Nick Foles has been mostly good since taking over as the team's starting quarterback, but he needs Robinson to make the offense hum.

Expect opposing defenses to largely double-team Robinson over the next nine weeks, leaving it up to Foles and coach Matt Nagy to respond.

Chicago doesn't have the talent to consistently beat teams like New Orleans when it is playing an undisciplined brand of football—and that's precisely what we've seen from the Bears through the first eight weeks.

This was highlighted in the third quarter, when wideout Javon Wims decided to throw punches at Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

"There's no part of that in this game," coach Matt Nagy said, per Alyssa Barbieri of Bears Wire. " ... That's not how we roll here."

While throwing haymakers might not be a common Bears occurrence, mental errors are nothing new. Chicago currently leads the NFL with 56 penalties through eight weeks.

The Bears are entering a tough three-game stretch with the Tennessee Titans, Vikings and Packers on the immediate slate. If they don't clean things up in a hurry, they could quickly find themselves out of divisional contention.