Ask a Chicago Bears fan what the most frustrating thing about this team is and most will give the obvious answer. They’re losers. The Bears are going to finish with their fourth-straight losing season. They haven’t had a winning season in a half decade. People have begun to think that this is the new, permanent reality of Chicago football. Truth be told though this isn’t what’s infuriating fans the most.
It’s that we don’t know for sure who this team actually is. Let’s review for a moment. This is a Bears team that endured the hardest first 11 games of an NFL season since 1925. They beat the currently 9-2 Pittsburgh Steelers with Mike Glennon at QB. A few weeks later they shocked the Ravens (who are 7-5) in Baltimore. Last but not least they took down the now 8-4 Carolina Panthers despite little to no output from their offense.
This isn’t counting the fact they were one dropped touchdown away from knocking off the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons or taking down the 10-2 Minnesota Vikings. There have been glimpses of this being a good team. Then the losses to Green Bay, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia come roaring back to mind.
Who is this team? Nobody knows. Such a thing makes fans feel helpless.
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Ceiling of these Chicago Bears is clouded by coaching problems
The fact of the matter is a team doesn’t beat quality opponents like the Bears have without having some talent. Sure they aren’t a completed project yet. There are holes left to fill. However, the glaring issue at hand is the coaching. Week by week this staff continues to lose credibility and common sense. They’re using close defeats and injuries to mask their own shortcomings.
John Fox is of course at the head of all this. His lackadaisical approach and baffling game management reached new heights over the past month. He challenged a play that resulted in the ball actually going over to the other team . Then he chose to try blocking a 24-yard field goal with no time left on the clock rather than allow a touchdown so as to give his offense 90 seconds to respond.
John Fox on why he didn’t let the #49ers score a TD at the end: “We felt good about the block we had on the potential field goal. Neither one of those are great options at the 5 and 4 yard line."
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 3, 2017
Loggains disaster isn’t helping his case either
Dragging him down further is the ongoing nightmare on offense. Dowell Loggains is supposed to be a quarterback specialist. Yet his management of rookie Mitch Trubisky most of this season is almost vomit-inducing. Through eight starts the #2 overall pick is completing just 54.9% of his passes for 1,237 yards and five touchdowns with four interceptions. He’s also been sacked 21 times in those eight games.
Loggains shows a constant inability to mold the offense around what Trubisky does best. They don’t utilize the zone-read hardly at all and rarely throw slants, both of which he’s gotten good production from. Instead it feels like the coordinator is trying to mash Trubisky into a more traditional system. This without adequate wide receivers to make it work.
Never mind the fact he continues to keep big play threats like Tarik Cohen and Adam Shaheen on the sideline in favor of guys like Dion Sims and Bennie Cunningham. Week by week it becomes clear he’s unequal to his task.
Until the Bears bring in a staff that gets this roster to play with more discipline and urgency, there’s just no way to know for sure how good (or bad) it is.
