Over the past few weeks, it’s been difficult to determine what the future might hold for the Chicago Bears. After their six-game losing streak concluded over three weeks ago, people were certain a housecleaning was on the way. Head coach Matt Nagy? Gone. GM Ryan Pace? Gone. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky? Gone. However, a three-game winning streak soon followed. Now the Bears are one win away from the playoffs.
This has left the picture of the 2021 team clouded. Nobody is certain what fate awaits any of those three men. Based on the latest rumblings? Word around the league is fairly certain Nagy will return at this point. His ability to pull the Bears out of their slump, the revival of the offense, and his contract still having two years left should be enough to secure him a seat at the table. Trubisky has also shown signs of life. Enough to at least earn a limited extension in hopes he may finally be figuring things out.
Pace? He is the only one nobody seems to know for sure.
That is probably because his fate still hangs in the balance. Kalyn Kahler of Bleacher Report spoke to several scouts and executives around the league about the Bears’ situation. Most agreed on Trubisky deserving a chance to return. Few of them spoke on Pace’s status. One scout though has a pretty good idea of what will happen and it depends entirely on the results of this Sunday at Soldier Field.
“If they make the playoffs, Nagy is safe for sure,” said one veteran scout. “If they beat [Green Bay], everyone stays.”
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. No team determines fates in Chicago quite like the Packers. A 35-21 loss to them in 2011 cemented the Bears’ failure to make the playoffs. GM Jerry Angelo was fired after the season ended. The 55-14 massacre at Lambeau Field in 2014 was the catalyst for Phil Emery being fired. Pace is currently 2-9 against the Packers in his career as Bears GM. If his team loses to them yet again? Not even backing into the playoffs at 8-8 is liable to save him.
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Fate of Ryan Pace is fittingly in hands of his greatest mistake
There are a number of instances people can point to where Pace went wrong. Yet the overwhelming majority know exactly where this entire thing went off the rails. It was April of 2017 when he traded up in the 1st round of the NFL draft to select Trubisky. Pace hitched his wagon to a still-untested quarterback out of North Carolina over more proven commodities like Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes.
Every failure the Bears have experienced since that fateful day can be traced back to that decision. So how perfect is it that the destiny of Ryan Pace the GM may hinge on Trubisky’s performance against the Packers? A team he has a 79.0 career passer rating against and had three turnovers forced off of in their first meeting. All of this while Pace’s best achievement, the defense, continues to show signs of steady decline.
Pace needs a win. There is no denying this reality.
The Bears aren’t likely to let him run the show with only one year left on his contract. Would they give him even a limited extension if they lose to Green Bay but somehow make the playoffs anyway? That would be like giving out a participation trophy. Rewarding somebody for being mediocre. That isn’t what Pace was hired for.