After prolonging what felt like the inevitable for a week, the Chicago Bears season is officially in hibernation following their 17-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It drops them to 4-6 and is the veritable nail in the coffin of their playoff hopes. But it also served as a stark reminder of just how broken this team, and organization, is from top to bottom.
Bears Season Into Hibernation
Time to Pull the Plug
Bears head coach Matt Nagy finally pulled quarterback Mitchell Trubisky late in the loss on Sunday Night Football. But only, according to Nagy, because Trubisky was dealing with a hip injury sustained…well that’s the thing. Trubisky said it happened in the first half but his coach said he found out about it a few series before pulling him in the fourth.
The obvious issue is if the Bears knew he was injured (he was reportedly checked at halftime) then a poorly executed RPO early in the third is questionable at best and irresponsible at worst. This screams to a larger disconnect that as being felt this season from what we saw from this team in 2018 and the mess that is 2019.
History Repeating Itself
Chicago is on pace to score 270 points this season. That is just six more points than the team scored in John Fox’s last season and 49 fewer than Marc Trestman’s final year. There isn’t much left to say regarding blame. We have dressed down Trubisky at every turn, second-guessed Nagy, and called out general manager Ryan Pace.
All that remains is a call to ownership but, it is likely more productive to lay out exactly where things have gone wrong and how to fix them. With numerous issues, there is no quick-fix solution. But they have to address a roster that was subpar offensively even during last season’s run to the Wild Card. The defense has been good but not as good and that hasn’t been enough.
A complete overhaul, staff included, is likely not being considered but it should be. The biggest failings of Pace have been in the first round of the draft and his free agency track record leaves a lot to be desired. Deficiencies in those areas are what set organizations back for years and the Bears are heading in that direction one way or another.
Top of the Food Chain
It would be easy to look at this and say that Nagy has only been here for two years. Some ultra-loyalists might even say that Trubisky is still only in his third year. But, Pace has been here for five years. This team and all those that are apart of it are a direct reflection of his tenure. With that, the Bears are now 14 games below .500 after two head coaches under Pace.
Turnover for the sake of turnover is never a strategy for success, but the shortcomings have been backbreaking. Kevin White’s injuries are one thing, but the selection of Trubisky has come back to haunt him time and time again. It is a bed he made when he traded up and should be handled as such now that we see how wrong many were about Trubisky.
The misses in free agency are often factored in when talking about Pace. But the trade for Khalil Mack has also turned squarely in favor of the Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders. Pace sped up his team’s timeline, attaching what was left of his career viability to the Trubisky-wagon. Again, a decision that has hamstrung the organization and needs to be addressed as such.
A Poor Conductor
It does not absolve Nagy that the parts weren’t all they were thought to be. Drops, stopping on routes, running the wrong routes, even pass interference has been an issue for this group of pass-catchers. But the head coach has done much to the detriment of his team with his play-calls, clock management, and now this confusion over Trubisky’s injured hip.
Nagy was brought in to rejuvenate the offense but got by largely on smoke-and-mirrors last season. Now the rest of the league has seen it and Nagy seems incapable of calling a game by the numbers. It is bizarre to see a coach constantly sabotage his own offense with handoffs to wide receivers on third-and-one situations.
Sunday night featured many plays that just looked like guys running around with no clear objective. If that was because of design, then it is on the coach. If it is because of player execution then it is on them but ultimately falls on the coach again. Also, if Pace goes Nagy is likely to follow; a new general manager has to be allowed to hire his coach.
Hips Don’t Lie
Trubisky is not who he was drafted to be. What ultimately becomes of his career is very much so still unwritten. But whatever it is it needs to happen somewhere other than in a Bears uniform next season. There has been enough seen from him to make the move and the recent examples of what happens when you wait to make the move aren’t promising.
In his defense Trubisky neither asked to be drafted when he was nor did he ask his team to go all-in by trading a large chunk of their future for a single defensive player. One that, despite his dominance, cannot save them now. No, that was the quarterback’s job and he hasn’t been good at it. So much so that it could cost those around him their jobs.
At bare minimum Trubisky must go. His stats from Sunday’s loss (24-43, 190 yards, one touchdown, and one interception) are the epitome of what he is. A game manager that gets into trouble if relied upon in crunch time. Speculation will continue to surround his hip injury and whether or not it was just a mercy benching before things eroded any further.
Mack Attack Sacked
When a team trades a package that includes two first-round picks to acquire a single player, they likely expect to get more than what the Bears have gotten out of Mack this season. Sure advanced numbers say he has still been a dominant force, but his impact has been mitigated. It is a tough situation and Oakland is making out like a bandit in.
The question of if the Bears can move on from Mack this offseason is moot. With 2022 the earliest they can feasibly get out from under that deal barring a trade, the Bears will have to get creative elsewhere. Mack will have to do a better job but defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano needs to do more to spring his prized pass-rusher free.
Trading for Mack seemed like a no-brainer if you were sold on Trubisky, which Pace clearly was. It is a move he would likely say he would do many times over. But his misevaluation of where the team was at quarterback cost the Bears a chance to improve via the draft from last year to this one and now will severely hinder the ability to move on from Trubisky.
Air Raided
This team misses Hicks’ presence but perhaps none more than Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara. Possibly missing the zone concepts Vic Fangio used to run as well, the island Pagano leaves them on has left them exposed with the pass-rush failing to get home. Not generating consistent pressure outside of Mack has forced the secondary to cover longer.
The Bears were praised for matching the Green Bay Packers offer to Fuller and he has earned his contract. But this scheme doesn’t play to his strengths. Ditto for Amukamara who has graded better and cut down on his penalties but still allows too many completions. Pagano should use them better but they have not been good individually, either.
Safety has been ok with Eddie Jackson and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix with the latter playing the role of ballhawk this season. Nickelback Buster Skrine is one of only two members from our player hot-seat feature this past offseason to beat expectations (the other is Allen Robinson). He is the second-highest graded member of the secondary according to Pro Football Focus.
Cody, Is That You?
Because the Bears obviously can’t have nice things, Eddy Pineiro missed two more kicks (47 and 48 yards) and has made just three of his last seven kicks after hitting nine of 10 to start. He is actually hitting a lower percentage of his kicks (though both missed five) and has directly cost the team more games than Cody Parkey through this point last year.
Punter Pat O’Donnell might be the most consistent member of this team. But it could just be that he is the player we have seen mot. He is second in punts and gross yards but 21st in yards per punt. O’Donnell’s never had a big leg so the mediocre average is no surprise. And while he is a lowly 29th in percentage of punts inside the 20, he is eighth in touchback percentage.
The Bears spent an entire offseason trying to get their kicking game right. It took enough focus off of improving offensively that they have fallen off a cliff. But they still appear to need a kicker. This is a double-whammy, apropos for the team invariably attached to the double-doink.
Bears Need Changes with Season in Hibernation
There is a laundry list of things the Bears need to improve upon. The issues listed above only scratch the surface of what is at the root of the dysfunction. The Chicago Tribune article laying out the whys and hows of drafting Trubisky just served to highlight what many thought coming into this year.
This rebuild has been gone awry and everyone is culpable. But the longest-tenured of the bunch, outside of ownership, is Pace. He’s overseen two head coaches and multiple first-round blunders, including the most important one. It’s time to consider changing the highest-ranking football voice. Even if that likely means Nagy has to go as well. The teardown is next.
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