The Chicago Bears are averaging around three more penalties in 2019 compared to 2018. Furthermore, the Bears are only one of nine other teams that have had 50 or more flags thrown against them in the first five games of the 2019 season. Penalties have happened when the team has had the ball and when they have been on defense.
On opening night, the Bears had a couple of big offensive plays that were called back due to penalties. Without them, the Bears may have beat their arch-nemesis the Green Bay Packers. More recently, the Bears took a penalty that hurt their chances to beat the Oakland Raiders late in regulation.