John Fox certainly seems confident that he’s in no danger of losing his job. It’s hard to understand how that could be. His team is 3-5 at the bye week. This means they would have to go 5-3 to just reach .500. He claims the playoffs are a possibility. Considering the Bears are 0-2 in the division and 1-5 against the NFC, the odds of that happening for beyond long. So could his self-confidence be denial at reality?
The increasing belief is that outside of a playoff run there is only one way Fox can save his job. That’s by proving he has what it takes to properly develop Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. Thus far it’s not looking too good. Trubisky has looked under siege a lot during his first four games. He’s completed a mere 47.5% of his passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also hasn’t cracked 200 yards in a game yet.
Now Fox and others would have people believe this is due to a glaring lack of talent at wide receiver. In fairness there is plenty of truth to that. Trubisky is essentially throwing to a pair of rookies and an ex-first round pick who was cut by his original team. The thing is though, that is way too simple a reason. The coaches bare some responsibility for the issues, more than they’d care to let on.
Deonte Thompson success puts John Fox and staff is bad light
Ironically enough it’s a former Bear who could end up being the undoing of Fox. Wide receiver Deonte Thompson was considered a solid member of the roster, both on offense and special teams. He was a nice reserve receiver and their primary kick returner. However, in a bit of a surprising move he was cut after the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
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Another receiver who couldn’t do much of anything right? Well that’s the thing. Since leaving Chicago it appears Thompson has found new life in Buffalo. Over the past three games he has 197 yards and a touchdown. This despite having no training camp or preseason to prepare. That’s more than every Bears receiver on the roster combined over that same span.
What does this have to do with Fox? Well the problem is much of Thompson’s sudden success is less to do with his talent and more to do with how the Bills coaches are utilizing him. Here’s an example.
This is proof Thompson has ability. What he hasn’t had is a coach who can consistently put him in position to use it. That falls at the feet of Fox and his coordinator Dowell Loggains, who have run one of the most vanilla offenses seen in years, even for Chicago. If people think GM Ryan Pace isn’t taking notice of things like this, they’re wrong.
Thompson may not be a star but it’s clear now he could’ve helped the team. Most importantly he could’ve helped Trubisky. The inability of the coaches to recognize that could be the straw that breaks the camels’ back come January.
