By Ken Foyle ‘20

The Chicago Bears have managed to disappoint their fans consistently for the past 10 years, and this year is no different.

Every season, fans expect the Bears to perform better than they did the previous season, but the Bears never fail to fall just shy of mediocrity.

Fans had high hopes with the arrival of Mitch Trubisky in 2017 alongside the powerhouse of a defense that they have managed to build up since 2015.

After a disappointing 16-15 playoff loss to the Eagles in 2018, fans were ready for the Bears to come back better than ever and maybe even contend for the Super Bowl.

Then, reality set in.

The first regular season game against division rivals, the Green Bay Packers, ended in a disappointing 10-3 loss, leaving fans wondering what they had just witnessed. Bears fans were truly shocked at how bad both the offensive performance of Trubisky and the playcalling of head coach, Matt Nagy, was.

It seemed as if every play was designed for the purpose of gaining negative yards. Nagy calls way too many screen-plays, and most of the time, the screens barely get them back to the line of scrimmage.

The defense is also underperforming compared to last year, but there is good reason for their shortcomings. They have to play way more than a typical defense would normally play in a game due to the lack of offensive possession time after punts and turnovers.

The Bears’ main issue is their lack of offense, with a struggling quarterback and a weak offensive line.

Also, Nagy’s play calling seems to be playing a lead role in losing the team games, as, quite often, they struggle to convert on third down plays. However, Nagy shouldn’t be blamed for everything because I’m certain that he is limited by both Trubisky’s skills and the lack of quarterback protection. Between these two issues, the Bears are left struggling to convert consistent third downs and failing to score in the red zone, the most crucial part of the field. To prove my point, the Bears had only nine total yards of offense against the Los Angeles Chargers last week, and that is an astoundingly bad stat.

Even fans can’t see the Bears edging out the current NFC North Division Leaders, the Packers, to get into the playoffs. However, coming off an important 20-13 division win against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 10, 2019, the Bears aren’t completely out of the race as there is still room for them in the Wildcard race, even though the current leaders in the race are the 8-2 Seahawks and the 7-3 Vikings.

If the Bears could manage to work out their offensive kinks, the defense would play less minutes, resulting in a more energetic and dynamic defensive front. However, the quarterback problem in Trubisky will take a few years to correct, as the Bears don’t get a first round draft pick in 2020 because of giving it to the Raiders in the trade for defensive end Khalil Mack.

Don’t get your hopes up for a successful Bears season in the next few years as they will most definitely disappoint.

Sources

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/standings/

https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-passing-yards-per-game