National news outlets would love to have you think they aren’t biased against anyone or anything. Especially when it comes to sports. The reality is far, far different. There are teams that certain programs favor and certain teams they take every opportunity to slander. Most of the time they’re subtle about it. When it comes to CBS Sports and the Chicago Bears though? Subtlety died long ago.
Longtime CBS reporter Jason La Canfora has waged a crusade against the Bears. Most likely because he hates being wrong with his inside info on them all the time. Now though it seems his colleagues have taken up the fight alongside him. Take Cody Benjamin for example. He recently released his ranking of every head coach in the NFL going into 2021. Matt Nagy sat unceremoniously at #19. Behind Matt Rhule of the Panthers who went 5-11 last season. Not to mention Brian Flores in Miami who has yet to make the playoffs and Mike Zimmer of the Vikings who Nagy has owned for the past three years.
19. Matt Nagy (Bears)
Season: 4th with Bears and as HC
Career record: 28-20 (.583)
Playoff record: 0-2He’s clearly on the hot seat (and deserves to be) thanks to sputtering offense and two straight 8-8 finishes. On the flip side, he’s flashed the ability to get the most from his signal-callers, guiding Mitchell Trubisky to two playoff appearances. If/when Justin Fields debuts, maybe he finally strikes gold. But he’s gotta be smarter and more creative when it counts.
Nobody is saying Nagy is perfect.
He has his flaws. Bears fans would admit that. Yet to say a guy who has a winning record and two playoffs trips with Mitch Trubisky as his quarterback is only 19th in the league? That is more than a little unfair. Yet the madness didn’t end there. Another CBS Sports member took things a step further. Jared Dubin produced a ranking of the 10 best pass rushers in the NFL. Not only was Khalil Mack not near the top? He wasn’t on the list at all.
What the hell is a “Jared Dubin”, and has he never heard of Khalil Mack? pic.twitter.com/jWi9XJwKgp
— /r/CHIBears – Reddit.com (@bearsreddit) July 1, 2021
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Keep in mind that Nick Bosa, Chandler Jones, and Danielle Hunter all failed to finish 2021 due to injuries. To have them on the list at all, let alone in their respective spots is the ultimate show of disrespect to Mack. The man has 30 sacks in his past three seasons, has only missed two games with injury, and generated a boatload of extra pressures on top of that. That list is a joke.
They aren’t the only Chicago Bears disrespected either
The list goes on. Another player who actually knows about what CBS Sports is doing is running back David Montgomery. He openly called them out for placing him so low on their running back rankings. When doing some research? Yeah. He has a legitimate beef. According to their fantasy experts, Montgomery ranked 20th, 20th, and 18th. For context? Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Najee Harris, and Myles Gaskin were some of the names ranked ahead of him.
In all honesty? It is probably a blessing in disguise that this is happening. One challenge for every season is finding enough motivation to play hard every week. The Chicago Bears are getting a boatload of bulletin board material from CBS Sports alone. It should serve as more than enough juice for Nagy, Mack, Montgomery, and others to deliver on a big season in 2021.
One that will silence all doubts.
Then again something like this isn’t likely to change. Whoever runs that media outlet encourages such things. Targeted people who have no issue rendering the Bears irrelevant. Chicago won’t mind. They love playing the role of underdog anyway. Here is hoping somebody in Halas Hall keeps information like this available.