Troy Aikman is a Hall of Fame quarterback. He’s also watched a lot of offense in his career as a color analyst for NFL on FOX alongside Joe Buck. So one can imagine he has certain opinions in regards to what is or isn’t good on that side of the ball. Based on his reactions during the Sunday broadcast against the New Orleans Saints? The man was given way more than he could take by the Chicago Bears.
This was the second time in 2020 Aikman had watched a game involving the Bears offense. As things went along, anybody listening could audibly hear the frustration and disgust grow in his voice. Everything from the penalties to the dropped passes and poorly-timed fights piled into one long showcase of bad football.
Yet it may have been Nick Foles who got the worst of it.
The stats of 272 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception may not look too bad. Yet they don’t tell nearly the whole story of that game. Foles struggled and struggled a lot. Never was it clearer than whenever the Bears tried to call a straight drop on pass plays. Their injury-riddled offensive line had problems handling that.
Aikman took notice of this. Especially as Foles kept taking bad sacks and unloading ill-advised throws off his back foot. When one such pass was nearly intercepted early in the 4th quarter, the Hall of Famer took a jab at the coaching staff for letting this sort of thing continue.
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“Well, it is interesting that they are 100 percent behind Nick Foles. And there’s no consideration whatsoever of going back to Mitch Trubisky. But for him, the things that they miss with him not being the quarterback is his ability to create plays on the ground…”
The hot takes didn’t start there either. Earlier in the 3rd quarter when Foles threw a brutal interception to Marshon Lattimore, Aikman couldn’t understand why Matt Nagy wasn’t at least considering a change.
“It’s been awful. It’s been a total team collapse,” Aikman said afterward. “Starting with last possession of the first half, this defense, which I think is really good, was awful. And this offense has been atrocious here in the first two possessions (of the second half). I know Matt Nagy said, No, he was not going to go with Mitch Trubisky at any point. But boy, if I was the head coach, I’d start thinking about it.”
2️⃣3️⃣ making moves 👐 @Shonrp2
📺: Fox | #SAINTS pic.twitter.com/8pOkSM0aZH
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 1, 2020
3. Nick Foles has taken some brutal sacks since becoming the starter.
This one might be the most unforgivable.
I get he's not a runner but Foles has at least 5 yards of open grass right there.
That sack was both deflating and noticeably altered field position. #Bears pic.twitter.com/UGwb4V3jW5
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) November 2, 2020
Troy Aikman is voicing similar complaints from many
This is hardly an isolated case. More than a few analysts around the NFL believe it might be in the Bears’ best interests to put Trubisky back in. If for no other reason than he’s able to move around better and isn’t quite as reckless with the football. With a patchwork offensive line that is only getting worse, Foles is basically a sitting duck.
Truth be told though, would it make a big difference? Probably not. There are so many problems with this offense that go beyond the quarterbacks. Even simple things like substitutions and getting to the line of scrimmage before time expires are a chore for these guys. Penalties, dropped passes, and blown blocking assignments too.
Foles is less the cause and more a symptom of what really ails the Bears. Head coach Matt Nagy promised results and hasn’t delivered. If anything his system has only gotten worse as time goes on. Good coaches find solutions to problems. Bad coaches sit helplessly while those problems get worse.
Nagy can try going back to Trubisky as Troy Aikman suggests. Truth be told it doesn’t feel like it will matter. The offense will continue to struggle regardless. That entire side of the ball needs a reboot from the top down. If Nagy must go to make it happen? So be it.
