Bears' first loss of season is an uneven one against Colts

CHICAGO – The Nick Foles era in Chicago lost a lot of its luster Sunday in the Chicago Bears' 19-11 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Soldier Field.

One week after Foles replaced Mitchell Trubisky and led the Bears back from 16 points down to beat the Atlanta Falcons, he and the Bears offense flopped against one of the NFL's best defenses.

The Bears (3-1) looked out of sorts throughout the game and didn't find the end zone against Indianapolis (3-1) until 1 minute, 35 seconds remained. There was no big comeback this time by the team that in September became the first with two victories in the same season after trailing by 16 or more in the fourth quarter.

"I have to be better, I have to be more crisp and it's as simple as that," Foles said. "I look forward to improving."

Foles completed 26 of 42 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown and an interception on a key scoring opportunity in the fourth quarter. Chicago ran for only 28 yards, converted four of 14 third-down opportunities and got penalized eight times for 103 yards.

"There was really never a rhythm in the game," coach Matt Nagy said.

Foles hit Allen Robinson for a 22-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter, and David Montgomery ran in for the two-point conversion to cut the Colts lead to 19-11. But the Colts easily recovered Cairo Santos' onside kick and ran out the clock.

The Bears defense, meanwhile, couldn't capitalize with the big plays it needed for a spark. Khalil Mack dropped an interception, and Roquan Smith stepped out of bounds on another possible pick in the end zone.

After Philip Rivers threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mo Alie-Cox on Indianapolis' first possession, the Colts managed only four Rodrigo Blankenship field goals, the last a 30-yarder with 3:47 to play.

"We didn't do the dumb things," said Rivers, who needs four completions to join Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning with 5,000. "We didn't turn the ball over three times, we didn't a lot of those things, so I think that is key. A lot to build [on], but certainly a lot of things we need to do better."