{"id":127893,"date":"2022-01-10T20:32:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T01:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=127893"},"modified":"2022-01-10T20:55:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T01:55:32","slug":"george-mccaskey-remained-defiant-even-while-admitting-chicago-bears-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/01\/10\/george-mccaskey-remained-defiant-even-while-admitting-chicago-bears-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"George McCaskey Remained Defiant Even While Admitting Chicago Bears Failures"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a bizarre turn of events, starting at 1 p.m. locally, the Chicago Bears<\/a> took whatever goodwill they built up with fans earlier in the day and flushed it. What\u2019s worse, they wrapped it in napalm and lit it on fire. Also, the toilet doesn\u2019t work. That\u2019s what it felt like as team chairman George McCaskey<\/a> opened his press conference that was intended to address major changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

He did eventually address the dismissal of Ryan Pace<\/a> and Matt Nagy<\/a> as general manager and head coach, respectively. But he took a circuitous route to get there. He first chose to admonish fans that chanted during Nagy\u2019s son\u2019s football game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those chants \u2013 which took place at several arenas in Chicagoland \u2013 occurred in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, there was McCaskey, using the passing of Bears beat writer, Jeff Dickerson, and his surviving son to chastise fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

George McCaskey, Chicago Bears Built Fans Up Just to Tear Them Down in Presser<\/span><\/h2>\n

Giveth and Taketh<\/span><\/h3>\n

Fans got their wish. News broke the Bears had indeed fired Nagy less than 24 hours after the Bears blew a 14 point lead and allowed the Minnesota Vikings to score 31 unanswered points to finish the season with a 6-11 record. The coach, who has been faced with his fate since Thanksgiving, sounded comfortable with it in his postgame presser.<\/span><\/p>\n

After essentially twisting in the wind for the past month and a half, he didn\u2019t have to wait long after the Bears season was officially over to learn of his new reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was a forgone conclusion, though, with the real surprise being Pace\u2019s firing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last few weeks have been littered with smoke signals that Pace could return for an eighth season despite being the architect behind what would have been the second rebuild under his watch.<\/span><\/p>\n

His tenure ends with a 48-65 record, while Nagy\u2019s stands at 34-31. The duo combined for two postseason appearances and no playoff wins. The success of 2018 was fleeting and probably bought him more time than was warranted when viewed with an objective eye. Nagy was stubborn to the end, going for it on fourth down multiple times in Week 18 and failing.<\/span><\/p>\n

To hear them tell it, they are just a piece or two away. The reality is that they are leaving it slightly better than how they found it.<\/span><\/p>\n

That will be especially true if Justin Fields<\/a> pans out.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Chairman George H. McCaskey's end-of-season press conference is underway.@Hyundai<\/a> | #DaBears<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/FeKZTDb95k<\/a><\/p>\n

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 10, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n