Somehow, Matt Nagy's explanation Monday for what went down on the lakefront Sunday didn't quite suffice.

"It was a higher-scoring game that we weren't able to finish," Nagy said.

And that 1865 scene in Ford's theater was a theatrical production with an interruption.

The complete Bears collapse on Sunday in the final five minutes had numerous intricate pieces involved, and changing any of them might have prevented a catastrophe, even embarrassment.

They could have been tied for the NFC wild-card lead, but their 34-30 loss to the Detroit Lions instead fueled speculation about the firing of Nagy and GM Ryan Pace, if not a restructuring of the entire organization.

Part 1: The Defensive Collapse

Nagy pointed out they've wanted this chance late in games to let their defense tee off without concern over the opponents' running game, so a 30-20 lead with five minutes left was exactly what they wanted.

It would give them a chance for the secondary to make plays on ill-advised, rushed passes. Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks could rush Matthew Stafford.

"If you asked me in the middle of the season, beginning of the season, where we're at in that situation, I'd tell you 10 out of 10 times we're going to end up with it at the end, we're going to get a big stop, we're going to end the game with the ball in our hands and win," Nagy said.

Instead it was the reverse of the early season when the offense couldn't move and the defense propped up everything.

A 96-yard drive allowed in 2:15 over seven plays and got the Lions a chance at the win.

"I know that our defensive guys in that moment, they get that back, they want another opportunity at that," Nagy said. "We just got to get that one game where all three phases are playing together and I think it will show our guys how sturdy of a team we can be. We just haven't done it."

The defense caved in so poorly that Detroit was able to retain all of its timeouts and also have the two-minute warning left in case they got the ball back, which they did.

"It was obviously well done by them on offense and I think that right there, you know when we look back that's where we want to either be able to make them use more time, at worst make them kick a field goal, but certainly be able to stop them there," Nagy said.

Part 2: The Kickoff Failure

Some teams might try an onside kick with 2:18 remaining. The Lions opted to kick deep. The Bears put their hands team on the field just in case, and had rookie Darnell Mooney back deep instead of Cordarrelle Patterson. He returned it sideways and the Bears were pinned back at their own 11.

Even if Trubisky hadn't fumbled, they'd have been punting from the goal line and giving Stafford plenty of time to manage at least a tying drive.

Nagy said the choice made was intended to make sure they got the ball, more than anything else.

"That's one there where field position-wise, with where that was at and being a three-point game, I think you can certainly go either way," Nagy said. "We decided to go that way with the onside kick, to protect that."

They got the ball, but at their own 11. So the offense was going to need to generate at least one first down and couldn't do it.

Part 3: The Strip-Sack

Mitchell Trubisky tried to pass from inside the pocket. Guard Germain Ifedi, who has been forced to play right tackle due to Bobby Massie's knee injury, didn't stay square in his pass block stance and gave the edge to Romeo Okwara, who came around and knocked it loose as Trubisky got set to throw. Defensive tackle John Penisini recovered at the 7-yard line for Detroit. The throw was meant for Anthony Miller, but Trubisky had an option in safe routes over the middle to Darnell Mooney and David Montgomery, as well. He was going for Mooney.

"Could you go back and could you try to run a screen or do something like that, or throw it behind the sticks and keep the clock running? You could always look at doing that," Nagy said.

The clock wouldn't have run long because the two-minute warning was approaching.

"But we all collectively as a staff, we felt good about that; I think our players did," Nagy said. "It was just something where unfortunately Ifedi, he just kind of opened up his hips a little bit. The kid made a good rush off the edge.

"I think Mitch was just getting ready versus zone when Mooney was getting ready to burst to his last three steps. He was gonna give it to him. And it would have been probably a little short of the sticks and try to fall forward for the first. But timing-wise, we just weren't able to get it out."

Part 4: The Final Drive

The Bears still had a chance at the win and had one timeout left when for some reason Allen Robinson chose to run out of bounds a yard short of the stick when he could have pressed the issue and challenged a tackler who had fallen. If he hadn't gotten out, they had a timeout left but would have had only 11 seconds left to score from the 19 without a timeout. It was a split-second decision.

Robinson twice before this season has shorted a play near the stick and did it again, except this time it was in the closing seconds.

"I have not yet talked to him personally about that yet," Nagy said on Monday. "After a game like that, there are just so many raw emotions that we're all going through. I think that's real. Let it out a little bit from everybody's side, because everybody cares.

"That's one in the heat of the moment when you catch that ball, it is a crucial situation. Allen's a super smart guy. He has a high football IQ. That's one where you think, 'OK, there's not much time on the clock, I need to get out of bounds.' But it's in a position where you can still get the first. And if you get the first, you stay in bounds, then we're going to have to use that timeout, which is what we end up trying to do when we ran the ball on fourth-and-1 and didn't get it.So, I know for sure that Allen was trying to do both; he was trying to get the first and get out of bounds. He did get out of bounds. He didn't get the first."

And Besides All That ...

Two other aspects of the collapse, subplots if you will, went totally unmentioned by Nagy: 1) How the defense went into a fetal position on second-and-goal from the 5 after Trubisky's fumble and 2) the offense's inability to put it away when given the chance.

If they force a field goal after Trubisky's fumble, the last Bears drive only needs to be only for a field goal to win it. They reached the Detroit 20. Cairo Santos has made 16 straight. They should win. Jaylon Johnson and Roquan Smith both had good chances to stop Adrian Peterson on his 5-yard go-ahead TD run but couldn't take him down. And Smith was leading the NFL in solo tackles.

As for the offense, they had just as much responsibility as the defense.

The defense got them the ball back with Bilal Nichols' interception of a Matthew Stafford fourth-quarter screen pass. They had it in Detroit territory on consecutive series after that pick while owning a 30-20 lead. They punted both times.

Change any of these things and Detroit goes home a loser, but instead the Lions made up for their own blown win in the first game of the year by putting the onus of shame back on the Bears.

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The Anatomy of a Collapse: AKA, How Bears Did the Impossible - Bear Maven