Biggest Takeaways from Chicago Bears' Week 2 Loss

The Arizona Cardinals returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears in Week 2 at Soldier Field and never looked back. The Cardinals improved to 2-0 on the season, but the Bears fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2003.

Quarterback Jay Cutler left the game due to a hamstring injury after throwing an interception late in the second quarter, according to Chicago Bears radio network sideline reporter Zach Zaidman. The Bears struggled to get back into a rhythm on either side of the ball once the veteran quarterback was declared out for the game.

The offense struggled to put points on the board, and the defense had no answer for Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

Cutler's status for Week 3 is not known, and the Bears will face the difficult task of traveling to Seattle next Sunday to take on the Seahawks.

What are our biggest takeaways from Chicago's loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2?

Chicago's Offense Struggled with Jimmy Clausen at Quarterback

David Banks/Associated Press

Jimmy Clausen and Chicago's offense struggled in the second half against Arizona.

Cutler completed his first eight passing attempts for 120 yards with one touchdown, but his ninth passing attempt was picked off by Arizona's Tony Jefferson. In attempt to keep Jefferson out of the end zone, Cutler lunged toward the defensive back, but he fell hard to the ground.

The veteran quarterback was later seen walking to the locker room, and the team announced he had suffered a hamstring injury. After the game, Fox would not elaborate on Cutler's condition.

"It takes a while to run tests. Our medical people will inform me, and then I will inform you. But at this point, he's got a pulled hamstring," Fox said after the game, per Kevin Fishbain of ChicagoFootball.com.

Cutler was replaced by former second-round pick Jimmy Clausen, but he struggled in relief. Clausen finished the game with 120 passing yards on 14 completions, but he was intercepted once, sacked twice and had a 56.6 quarterback rating.

Clausen mishandled a few snaps, forced a couple of throws and never really appeared to be in sync with his receivers.

"Any time you put a quarterback in the game who has had backup reps during the week, I think it's tough for any position, but particularly quarterback," Fox said after the game about Clausen, per Fishbain. "But I think all-in-all, he did the best he could, and that's all you can ask for as a coach."

With Cutler out of the game, Chicago's offense struggled to get back into a rhythm, and the offensive line committed six penalties. Even though Clausen struggled, running back Matt Forte did not pin the loss on the veteran quarterback's play, according to Fishbain:

"

I don’t think it was because [Cutler] went out and Jimmy had to go in. We didn’t score there on the goal line, the penalties were killing us. Pre-snap penalties, post-snap penalties on first and second down is going to kill your drive. ... We were still trying to run the ball a little bit, establish that, too. Then the passing game was opening up for us, but mistakes. Too many mistakes out there.

"

Clausen was thrown into a tough situation against a good Cardinals defense, but if Cutler misses an extended period of time because of his injury, the Bears could end up having issues moving the football with Clausen under center.

The Defense Still Has Not Registered a Sack

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Defensive end Jarvis Jenkins recorded one of the team's six quarterback hits on Sunday.

Chicago's defense struggled to get after the quarterback under former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, and the team was expected to do a better job of applying pressure under new coordinator Vic Fangio.

In the team's first two games of the year, the defense has failed to record a sack.

The Bears signed Pernell McPhee this offseason to give the team a pass-rushing force at outside linebacker, but he has failed to live up to his billing in the team's first two games. He played well against the run on Sunday and finished the game with three tackles, but he struggled to take down Palmer in the passing game.

McPhee was credited with three quarterback hits on the afternoon, but he missed an opportunity to sack Palmer when he rushed up the middle against Cardinals guard Ted Larsen. Palmer is not an overly athletic quarterback, but he did a nice job of shuffling his feet and getting out of McPhee's way.

Jared Allen, like McPhee, held his own against the run, but he struggled to take down Palmer. Allen finished the day with two tackles, two quarterback hits and one interception, and he acknowledged after the game that the team needs to get better.

"Eventually you have to make this decision that you're tired of losing, you're just not going to accept it," he said, according to ChicagoBears.com. "It's frustrating, it's disheartening and has to be corrected."

Chicago failed to get much of a push up front all afternoon, and defensive end Jarvis Jenkins was the only other player to record a quarterback hit for the Bears in Week 2. 

The Bears tried to get a bit creative against the Cardinals and used different looks up front, including using McPhee with his hand in the ground in a four-man front, but Arizona's offensive line played well.

In total, the Bears were able to record six quarterback hits in Week 2 after not recording a single quarterback hit in Week 1, but they will have to start recording sacks if they want to stay afloat in the NFC North division.

Kyle Fuller Struggled for the Second Week in a Row

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Second-year man Kyle Fuller was expected to be Chicago's top cornerback in 2015, but the former first-round pick has struggled in Chicago's first two games of the year.

Fuller was called for a 42-yard pass interference penalty against Cardinals receiver John Brown early in the game, and he was eventually replaced by former Oregon Duck Terrance Mitchell on the outside.

After the game, Fox said the team expected the Cardinals to try to throw the ball deep, yet his cornerbacks still struggled to corral Arizona's speedy receivers.

“I just know we gave up 170 yards of penalties in downfield throws. And it wasn’t a mystery that we were going to see some of those,” Fox said, per ChicagoFootball.com's Arthur Arkush.

In addition to his big pass interference penalty, Fuller was caught out of position on a touchdown throw from Palmer to Fitzgerald in the third quarter.

After Clausen turned the ball over on an interception on the team's first drive of the second half, the Cardinals ran a flea flicker that stopped Fuller dead in his tracks. Palmer handed the football off to running back Chris Johnson before he flipped it back to the former USC quarterback. Palmer stood confidently in the pocket and hit Fitzgerald in the end zone for the touchdown.

Fuller had solid coverage on Fitzgerald off the snap, but he bit on the handoff to Johnson and was forced to trail the veteran receiver in coverage.

Inside linebacker Shea McClellin came over to cover Fitzgerald, but he was not fast enough to keep up with the former first-round pick. When asked after the game about the play, Fuller admitted he made a mistake.

"Yeah, I should have been back there," he said, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Mitchell had his share of ups and downs during his limited time on the field, and he also allowed a touchdown to Fitzgerald late in the game. 

Fuller flashed his potential last season during the first three games of the year, but he struggled near the end of the year and has not looked much better this season. Fox did not comment about Fuller's standing as a starter moving forward, but it would not come as a surprise if Fox decides to see what he has in Mitchell as a starter on the outside against Seattle in Week 3.

Matt Forte Is Chicago's Most Consistent Weapon on Offense

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Forte carried the football 24 times for 141 yards with one touchdown and caught five passes for 25 yards in the team's regular-season opener against Green Bay, and he backed up that performance on Sunday by carrying the football 15 times for 61 yards and hauling in four catches for 44 yards.

“Matt’s Superman,” left guard Matt Slauson about Forte after the game, per ChicagoFootball.com's Nate Atkins. “He’s been the Bears’ whole offense for years.”

Once Cutler went down with his injury, the Cardinals began to stack the box to force Clausen to try to throw the football down the field. Even though Arizona was playing tight up front, the Bears continued to run the football.

Forte did not put up the same type of numbers against the Cardinals that he did against the Packers, but he once again showed a lot of patience in the backfield. Forte does a great job of waiting for holes to open up in front of him, and his great vision helps him work quickly up the field.

With a trip to Seattle looming in Week 3, Forte is going to need to be at the top of his game against one of the league's best defenses. The Seahawks gave up an average of just 81.5 rushing yards per game last season, and they held the St. Louis Rams to just 76 rushing yards on 26 carries in Week 1.

Forte is arguably one of the best running backs in the league, and he may have to take on an even bigger role in Chicago's offense this season if Cutler is forced to miss an extended period of time. The Bears have had to lean on him in the past, and there is a good chance he will record his fourth straight 1,000-yard rushing season in 2015 if he continues to be a focal point on offense.

John Fox Wants a Team That Does Not Give Up

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In addition to struggling to put points on the board on offense and not being able to take down Palmer on defense, Chicago committed 14 penalties for a total of 170 yards on Sunday afternoon.

“That’s just crazy,” tight end Martellus Bennett said after the game, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Defensive penalties, offensive penalties, special teams penalties. Just penalties everywhere."

Chicago struggled in all phases of the game on Sunday, and Fox noted he wants players who will continue to fight even when the team is down.

“If we don’t believe it, then we might as well go and wrap it up," he said after the game, per John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. "We have to do it. We have to do it. This is what we get paid to do. We’ve got to find ways to get wins. We let our team down and our fans down.”

The Bears looked a bit deflated after Cutler went out because of his injury, but McClellin said Chicago does not have any room for people who lack confidence.

“If anyone does have a loss of confidence, they better change their mind right now,” said McClellin, per Mullin. “No matter the score, we keep grinding. It’s way different than last year. And I think everyone’s mind is that way.”

Fox has a history of turning teams around, but he knows it will take a lot of work to get the Bears heading in the right direction.

"We were a [Denver] team that started 0-4 and then won 11 of our next 12," Fox said, per Mullin. "This isn’t a prediction [regarding the 2015 Bears]. [But] we’ll find guys that want to do it and can do it, and we’ll move forward.”

Chicago's schedule does not get any easier with a matchup against Seattle this week, but if they can come away with a victory on the road, Fox may be able to get the Bears turned around.

Statistical information courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.

Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Follow @MattEurich.