Nobody should be surprised that the national media are down on the Chicago Bears. Historically it always sways with the popular wind. Teams that played well the previous year get all the love. Teams that didn’t tends to be overlooked. That is what happened to the Bears. After going 12-4 in 2018, they crumbled to a disappointing 8-8 last season. Many are starting to think that division title was a fluke season.
One where the defense had to put up near historic numbers to make happen. Beneath the surface, it was a one-sided team with average QB play and an underachieving running game. That reality came to light in 2019. Now the Bears have spent the entire offseason trying to fix it. They traded for Nick Foles to add competition at QB. Germain Ifedi adds beef up front to help the ground game. Jim Graham, Cole Kmet, and Ted Ginn Jr. add a little more pass-catching potential. Combine that with the arrival of Robert Quinn to bolster the pass rush?
Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic dug deep into the metrics of last year. He believes the Bears are better than people think and sit in a good spot for a postseason run.
“William Hill has the Bears’ over/under for wins at eight. That’s how many games they won last year, and their record wasn’t flukey. The Bears ranked 13th in injury luck, 13th in fumble luck and were 6-5 in one-score games. Special teams was a big question mark going into the year, but the Bears ended up ranking 13th for the season. One thing potentially working in their favor is the Bears had the ninth-toughest schedule last season and have the sixth-easiest projected schedule this year.
It’s not hard to see the Bears making the playoffs. They won eight games last year with terrible quarterback play and a below-average pass rush. If they can get mediocre quarterback play from Foles and/or Trubisky and a really good pass rush, with their schedule they could produce a winning record.”
Chicago Bears have the talent. All they need are some bounces
People forget how close the Bears were to being 10-6 last season. If the defense stops the Raiders from marching 97 yards in the 4th quarter in London and Eddy Pineiro hits a 41-yard field goal against the Chargers? They’re in the playoffs. It’s not like they were a bad team that caught all the breaks to reach a .500 record. They were a good team that suffered a number of setbacks but still almost got the job done.
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Now one could argue this roster is deeper than last year. It’s true at several positions including quarterback, tight end, wide receiver, and outside linebacker. This doesn’t even mention how much more experienced they got on the coaching staff with Bill Lazor, John DeFilippo, and Juan Castillo. Or how about the real possibility that Green Bay and Minnesota could take a step back?
If this team plays close to its potential, it will be in the playoffs.
