CHICAGO – When the Bears opened the season 3-1, veteran defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and his teammates never dreamed that their playoff hopes would be virtually dashed before Thanksgiving.

Tight end Kellen Davis scored the Bears' only touchdown on a 15-yard pass from Jay Cutler in Sunday night's loss to the Eagles.

But that’s the disappointing predicament they face after Sunday night’s 24-20 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field. The reeling Bears (4-6), who’ve now lost three straight and five of their last six games, need a miracle to earn a post-season berth. 

“It’s hard to fathom as hard as we worked this offseason, [with] the additions we have and the talent we have on this team,” Ogunleye said. “To be 4-6 when you see teams being successful that I know we have more talent than, and they’re finding ways to win and we’re finding ways to lose, it’s very frustrating.”

The Bears struggled on offense Sunday night for the second straight game, mustering just one touchdown while settling for four Robbie Gould field goals. With quarterback Jay Cutler missing open receivers all night, Chicago converted just 3 of 16 third-down opportunities, including 0 of 7 in the second half.

The defense rebounded from a slow start to generate three takeaways and three sacks. But the unit permitted 377 total yards and twice allowed Philadelphia touchdowns in the second half after the Bears had taken the lead.

The Eagles (6-4) jumped to an early 10-0 advantage as David Akers’ 25-yard field goal and Donovan McNabb’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Jason Avant capped drives of 68 and 76 yards on their first two possessions.

The Bears defense then buckled down, yielding just three first downs on Philadelphia’s next six drives extending into the third quarter. By then, the Bears had rallied to grab a 12-10 lead on Gould field goals of 45, 28, 28 and 49 yards. But they should have had more points.

The Bears settled for the first field goal after Cutler overthrew wide open receivers in the right corner of the end zone on back-to-back plays, failing to connect with Greg Olsen on second down and Devin Hester on third down.

“I missed some throws early,” Cutler said. “I missed Greg and  then I missed Devin on the slant-and-go. It can’t happen. We only get down in the red zone a few times. You’ve got to hit them.”

On Chicago’s next possession, rookie running back Kahlil Bell—who was promoted from the practice squad on Friday—dashed 72 yards on his first NFL carry to the Philadelphia 10. But the Bears settled for a second field goal after a pass Cutler forced into double coverage to Olsen fell incomplete.

“When you’re down in the red zone, you need to be able to get touchdowns instead of field goals,” said coach Lovie Smith. “That hurt us.”

Cutler completed 24 of 43 passes for 171 yards with 1 TD, 1 interception and a 63.2 passer rating. 

With the Bears trailing 24-20 late in the game, his pass deep down the left sideline sailed over the head of speedy receiver Johnny Knox, who had beaten cornerback Sheldon Brown.

Cornerback Charles Tillman forced three fumbles, two of which resulted in turnovers, in Sunday night's 24-20 loss to the Eagles.

Asked to explain what happened on the play, Cutler said: “I missed the throw. What do you want me to say about it?  I missed it. It’s going to happen. It’s a throw I should hit, but I didn’t tonight.”

After McNabb’s 48-yard TD pass to DeSean Jackson gave the Eagles a 17-12 lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter, the Bears offense responded. Cutler completed 4 of 4 passes for 45 yards, including a 15-yard TD pass to tight end Kellen Davis in the right corner of the end zone.

Cutler then rifled a pass to running back Matt Forte for the two-point conversion, putting the Bears ahead 20-17 with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter. It was the Chicago’s first TD in seven quarters.

The offense slipped back into neutral, however, managing just 39 yards and one first down on 16 plays in the fourth quarter. The Bears failed to pad their lead even after Charles Tillman stripped the ball from McCoy after a 17-yard run and Hunter Hillenmeyer recovered the fumble at the Philadelphia 37.

After Gould’s 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked by defensive tackle Antonio Dixon, the Eagles took a 24-20 lead as LeSean McCoy capped an 11-play, 62-yard drive with a 10-yard TD run with 5:31 to play.

“It came down to a big sequence there where we had a field goal blocked and then we let them go down and drive for the winning score,” Smith said. “It’s disappointing right now for us, but we’ve been in some situations like that before. I felt like this was a playoff game for us that we needed.”

The Bears got the ball back at their own 21 with 1:51 remaining. But Cutler’s pass intended for Olsen was deflected by linebacker Tracy White and intercepted by safety Sean Jones at the 50 with :45 to go.

It was just the latest in a series of failed opportunities for a struggling offense, which scored only three points following three takeaways by the defense.

“We had good field position that one time with the turnover,” Cutler said. “You’ve got to take advantage of those. The defense is doing as much as they possibly can out there for us, getting turnovers. They’re getting stops on key third downs. We’ve got to play better. I’ve got to play better.”