So that was September, huh?

Could it have gone any worse for the Chicago Bears?

[ [Don’t miss] Column: Should the Chicago Bears blitz more to aid their lacking pass rush? Injuries in the secondary make that a Catch-22. ]

Seriously. Are the 0-3 Bears really walking into October as Week 4 underdogs — at home against a winless opponent that lost its last game by 50 points?

Are they really 342 days removed from their last victory?

Do they really have 14 games remaining in a suddenly sullen season with a quarterback whose confidence clearly has been shaken? Without a defensive coordinator? With a coach who has a .150 winning percentage during his tenure?

Wasn’t it just three weeks ago that the Bears were on the entrance ramp to their season opener, fired up to face the Aaron Rodgers-less Green Bay Packers in a home game that seemed to have springboard potential for the organization?

Wasn’t there hope and optimism pumping through Chicago that Justin Fields was on the verge of a much-anticipated Year 3 breakthrough?

Wasn’t there widespread belief that, with the offseason roster overhaul, the Bears were at least in position to become much more competitive and ready to travel several floors upward on their ascent toward relevance?

Instead, when the elevator doors opened, the Bears enthusiastically stepped in but there was no car waiting. The hoped-for trek upward instead became another dizzying descent during a three-week stretch that has filled Halas Hall with a combination of frustration, tension, awkwardness and uncertainty.

The Bears are preparing to play the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Soldier Field with coach Matt Eberflus amplifying his calls for focus and energy.

Eberflus also gathered his 19-player leadership council this week with directives to heighten the team’s fight. “I feel really good about the look in their eye,” he said.

Specifically, though, what kind of fight is he seeking?

“It’s just being determined to improve at your skill and fundamentals at your position,” Eberflus said. “And that goes hand-in-hand with the coaches. We have to make sure we’re putting guys in position so they can execute.”

Easier said than done.

Especially for a team that has struggled across all three phases. The Bears have been sideswiped by key injuries and absences, haven’t found the code to open the door for Fields’ emergence and are still adapting after last week’s sudden resignation of defensive coordinator Alan Williams.

The pressure inside Halas Hall seems intense. The mood inside the building has been uneasy for weeks.

So that was September.

October has to be better, right?

For every NFL team, a season presents multiple pivot points, moments to be met when opportunities can be seized or squandered. These drained and desperate Bears at some point must find their way down the smoother path at such junctions.

On Sept. 17, with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in a Week 2 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears seemed to hold a golden opportunity. Even after allowing 292 yards in the first half, even after going six consecutive possessions without scoring, even after being outplayed for much of a bumpy afternoon, they were still within three points and had the ball with a chance to write a happy ending.

A gutty road win in the final minutes against a feisty opponent? Imagine what that could have done for this group’s mood and morale and how it might have changed the vibes in Chicago.

[ [Don’t miss] 12 numbers to consider as the winless Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos prepare to square off at Soldier Field ]

It happens all the time in this league. A team that has no business winning hangs around just long enough to squeeze a victory out of an ugly performance and suddenly the mix of relief and satisfaction becomes invigorating.

In the final minutes in Tampa, Fla., the Bears had that chance, their opening to claw for a 1-1 start.

Yet on first-and-5 of their penultimate possession, a 9-yard Justin Fields completion to Khalil Herbert was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty against Chase Claypool.

Yep, that Chase Claypool, the mercurial receiver who became the poster child of the team’s discouraging opening loss to the Green Bay Packers after a reel of his apparent lack of hustle and execution circulated across social media.

The criticism piled up.

Leading up to the game in Tampa, Claypool had meetings with Eberflus and receivers coach Tyke Tolbert to discuss his effort and focus levels. Later, according to reports, he apologized to teammates. Claypool also met with general manager Ryan Poles during that week for a stern admonishment.

[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields brief with answers at news conference as the offense searches for solutions in Week 4 ]

The Bears GM relayed on the team’s pregame show on WMVP-AM 1000 before the Bucs game that Claypool had been given a clear directive. “There’s a standard of how we’re going to play football around here,” Poles said. “And if you can’t rise to that standard and live in that space, it’s going to be hard to perform for the Chicago Bears.”

It was Claypool who caught the 20-yard touchdown pass that pulled the Bears within 20-17 in the late stages at Raymond James Stadium. But on the offense’s next possession, on a drive that could have helped change the season’s trajectory, he committed that costly penalty, then confessed after the game that he thought the play was a running play and not a screen pass.

“It’s details like that that will set you back,” receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said. “And then you have to overcome those. But we don’t have to overcome them if we do it right the first time.”

On the next snap, with another screen to Herbert called, the Bears offense malfunctioned. Right guard Ja’Tyre Carter didn’t do enough to clear Buccaneers edge rusher Shaquil Barrett out of the play. And under duress, Fields floated a pass into congestion.

Barrett snatched it. Interception. Four-yard return. Touchdown, Buccaneers.

On a drive that could have tied the game or put the Bears ahead, Fields threw a pick-six on the first play. He threw another interception on the next possession — on a pass that ricocheted off Claypool’s hands — and the Bears’ 10-point road loss felt so much heavier and discouraging than it should have.

That was another game-on-the-line moment Fields and the offense had a chance to master. In the end, though, it turned into another loss, another failure for the Bears to reset from, another anvil to the gut of a group that just hasn’t been able to steer away from disaster.

“We’re going through a storm right now,” Fields said after the game.

The challenge of pushing through it only became more demanding.

The following week, Fields’ desire to become less robotic in his play was addressed in conversations he had at Halas Hall with Eberflus, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. It became a bigger story to the outside world when the quarterback shared his mindset during his weekly Wednesday news conference detailing his mental fog and a self-diagnosed case of mental overload.

“My goal this week,” Fields said, “is just to say ‘F it’ and go out there and play football how I know to play football. That includes thinking less and playing off instincts rather than (having) so much info in my head and data in my head.”

Fields lamented his perfectionist tendencies, openly expressed a desire to run and scramble more and suggested that coaching was contributing, in at least some small way, to his funk.

[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bears Q&A: Could the team’s ongoing struggles hinder the stadium efforts? Will they be flexed out of prime-time games? ]

“When you’re fed a lot of information at a point in time and you’re trying to think about that info when you’re playing, it doesn’t let you play like yourself,” he said.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was receptive to the feedback.

“I think that’s part of the development we’re in the middle of, right?” he said.

Yet the Bears’ first effort to make the quarterback more comfortable and confident didn’t bear fruit Sunday against a tenacious Kansas City Chiefs defense that smothered the Bears in every way imaginable.

At halftime, the Chiefs held a 34-0 lead, a 22-4 advantage in first downs and a 221-32 edge in passing yardage.

[ [Don’t miss] True or false: For the Chicago Bears, there’s no coming back from Sunday’s disastrous loss ]

The Bears went scoreless on their first eight possessions and didn’t break the Chiefs’ shutout until 13:34 remained when they took advantage — kinda, sorta — of short field possession and squeezed a 21-yard field goal from an 11-play, 25-yard drive.

So Bears, right?

Getsy tried to unlock Fields’ explosive speed and athleticism with a handful of designed runs and a flurry of read-option calls. But Fields finished with only 47 rushing yards on 11 attempts. More troubling? In a game during which the Bears trailed by 31 points or more for the entire second half, Fields managed only 11 completions and 99 passing yards.

DJ Moore dropped a perfectly thrown deep ball late in the first half and didn’t record his first catch until late in the third quarter. Claypool couldn’t win a 50-50 battle with cornerback Joshua Williams on another downfield shot.

The Bears had only one completion of more than 15 yards.

After the 41-10 loss, Fields seemed as discouraged as he’s ever been while still expressing a drive to get it all turned around as soon as possible.

[ [Don’t miss] No one is panicking? It might be time to start. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on one of the Chicago Bears’ worst losses in a decade. ]

The Bears’ next rebound effort will come against a Broncos team that just allowed 726 total yards and 70 points to the Miami Dolphins. On the surface, it sure seems to set up as a confidence-building opportunity for an offense desperate to taste success.

“You’ve got to see where the holes are and attack them,” Moore said Thursday. “That’s what we’ve been doing all week. Hopefully we can go out there and do what the Dolphins did.”

Still, a lack of clear-cut answers remains. And inconsistent quarterback play is only a fraction of the Bears’ big-picture problems.

On the morning of Sept. 20, during what is usually a routine weekly Wednesday news conference at the PNC Center at Halas Hall, Eberflus first found himself responding to Fields’ comments about his struggles, then began ducking and dodging around a string of questions involving the whereabouts and job status of Alan Williams.

In the middle of Week 2, the Bears defensive coordinator abruptly left Halas Hall for what the team labeled “personal reasons” that would later prevent him from traveling to Tampa.

Then in the aftermath of that 27-17 loss, word began trickling out that there was more to Williams’ departure than the team was letting on and that Williams’ unexpected separation had been conduct-related with significant uncertainty surrounding his return.

As Eberflus was pressed on the matter on the Wednesday of Week 3, he was asked if he anticipated Williams’ return.

“I do not have an update on Alan Williams right now,” he said.

But was Williams still employed as the team’s coordinator?

“Like I said, I don’t have any update right now,” Eberflus said. Had Eberflus at least spoken with Williams, who he had been coaching with since 2018? “I don’t have any update.”

[ [Don’t miss] Even as Chicago Bears open season with losses, Arlington Heights Village Board working to bring stadium to suburb ]

During the team’s 45-minute open locker-room session that afternoon, players seemed both dizzied and bemused as rumors surrounding Williams swirled across social media. Smartphones were out. Rookies and veterans alike shook their heads trying to sort rumor from reality.

Defensive end DeMarcus Walker acknowledged the lack of clarity among players.

“We haven’t heard anything,” Walker said. “We’re still waiting to hear any news. … I don’t know what’s going on, man. It’s above my paygrade, honestly. So you try to just be where your feet are.”

Officially, the Williams update Eberflus didn’t provide came just after 3 p.m. that afternoon when a Bears spokesperson entered the Halas Hall media room, announced Williams’ resignation and handed out a three-paragraph statement from the coordinator that expressed “great regret” for the departure but asserted he was “taking a step back to take care of my health and my family.” Even by Bears standards, it was a bizarre twist within a turbulent day, made even more peculiar with informed chatter that had made it into league circles indicating Williams had made behavioral missteps that triggered his exit.

Four days later, sources reiterated to the Tribune that Williams’ resignation had been conduct-related. Additionally, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Bears HR department had become involved, looking into behavior that was “inappropriate.”

[ [Don’t miss] What to know about the Chicago Bears’ possible move from Soldier Field — and which other suburbs are vying for the stadium ]

The entire ordeal would have created significant challenges for the Bears if that were the only thing they had to deal with. Instead, that turmoil spiked during a week in which a team that hadn’t won since October 2022 was preparing to face the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and two-time league MVP Patrick Mahomes.

Was it any wonder, then, that the Bears were thoroughly trounced, falling behind by 41 points midway through the third quarter and leaving Arrowhead Stadium in a new state of disarray?

“We just got our ass kicked,” tight end Cole Kmet said.

Had the distractions of the week affected players to any notable level?

“I’d like to think not,” Kmet said. “But there was a lot going on. As players, we did our best to block that out.”

Added Walker: “There were conversations and everything. But I can only speak for me personally. I could give a rat’s ass. We’re not the Kardashians, you know what I’m saying? This is football. And we need to be able to get on the field and line up and play.”

When it came time to do that, though, one of the league’s best teams showed the Bears how far away from the top they seem to be. With pop star Taylor Swift cheering on Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and getting boisterous in an Arrowhead Stadium suite, the Chiefs scored on seven consecutive possessions.

The Bears were getting drilled so badly that Fox took their national television audience to a new game.

So that was September, just a cyclone of misfortune and consternation for the Bears.

Somehow 14 games remain in the season, offering a true glass-half-full/half-empty test for everyone on the football side of Halas Hall.

“You’ve got to have belief,” Eberflus said. “You’ve got to have belief in each other. You’ve got to have belief in the coaches, belief in the players, belief in the man sitting next to you and the work that we put in every single day.”

The microfocus Eberflus and his coaching staff are calling for makes sense logically but might become more difficult to attain with the team’s failures piling up.

By this point, Bears fans are back in a vicious cycle of spinning “The Wheel of Blame” and arguing about where the needle should stop.

Has Fields’ inconsistency and stalled development been a major contributor to the team’s pronounced struggles? Or has the coaching staff failed to optimally set the quarterback up for success?

Has Eberflus’ two-season oversight of a bottom-tier defense offered damning evidence of his coaching ability? More important still, are there reasons to worry about his leadership during a period of crisis and discouragement?

And what about the roster Poles constructed for his second season as GM? Does that deserve greater scrutiny as the outside world tries to identify the Bears’ blue-chip players and long-term building blocks?

The answers: Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.

Even with a wayward Broncos team coming to town this weekend off of a 70-20 loss, the NFL world is searching hard to identify something — anything — these Bears are really good at. Where is the stability? The steadiness? The strength?

Some around the league suggest combing through the Bears’ roster to pinpoint which players on the roster are no-brainers to be with the team two seasons from now.

Moore? Darnell Wright? Kmet?

Tremaine Edmunds? Jaquan Brisker? Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson?

Is the list any longer than that?

Others point to injuries and absences the Bears have had — with Teven Jenkins, Braxton Jones and Kyler Gordon on injured reserve, Eddie Jackson still out with a foot injury and Nate Davis missing two games after his mom died — and acknowledge the Bears’ depth has been significantly tested.

With signs of improvement minimal and way too much uncertainty and uneasiness lingering, the Bears step into October fresh off one of the most chaotic months in recent history — even for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since January 2011 and has had only nine winning seasons over the last 30 years.

Who would have ever imagined a blowout home loss in Week 1 to the rival Green Bay Packers would have been way down the team’s list of humiliations in the first month of the season?

“This was not the expectation we had — starting off 0-3 and still trying to dig and find our identity,” Walker said. “But we’re still having to put those pieces together.”

Now here we are, in a new month, with new challenges and new opportunities and new storylines that are yet to unfold. The Bears will play five more games before Halloween with the teeth of their September schedule behind them.

The combined record of their October opponents is 4-11.

The eagerness to get back on track is accompanied by an urgency to simply get one soothing victory.

“One win would change a lot,” Brisker said. “So just focus on every single day of this week and attack that day and attack the week.”

The Bears have stressed the need for camaraderie and chemistry and are doing the best they can to latch onto a positive mindset to propel them forward.

“It’s not easy,” Kmet said. “But what other option do you have, right? We’re all really close in here. And we’re going to continue to push forward.”

The next meaningful response will come Sunday.