Bear Necessities: Is Chicago’s poor defensive outing in Week 1 an outlier or trend?

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The Chicago Bears were embarrassed on prime time, yet again, in a 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1. But it’s not the offense taking a bulk of the criticism — it’s the defense.

Chicago’s defense surrendered 34 points to the Matthew Stafford-led Rams, which were the most points allowed by the Bears in Week 1 since 2015, according to The Athletic. It’s not exactly encouraging when the defense is showing shades of that 2015 group.

But was the biggest question is whether the defense’s struggles are an outlier or a sign of things to come in 2021.

Perhaps it’s shades of both.

It’s important to note the Bears defense faced a Rams offense that looks to be one of the best in the NFL with a great quarterback in Stafford, one of the brightest offensive minds in Sean McVay and a plethora of weapons. High-powered offenses find ways to put up points.

But there’s also a genuine concern that the Bears defense is in the midst of a collapse, which wasn’t helped by a lot of big-name and big-money veterans not coming through on Sunday night. But Matt Nagy is hopeful the defense will turn things around.

‘‘Overall, I’d say the biggest theme for us would be ‘No panic’ and just understand that this was Sean’s first game calling [plays] and this was our first game of 2021 and we understand that that’s not good enough,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘We want to focus on any of the positives that were out there. That’s why I think we all believe in one another, and now we get another chance this weekend.’’

Things aren’t going to get much easier when the Bears host Joe Burrow and the Bengals, who were explosive in a Week 1 win against the Vikings. But it also gives Chicago’s defense a chance to right the ship in the areas where it needs it the most.