Bears Playoff Hopes Vanish

 November 17, 2020

I guess it doesn’t really matter who’s calling the plays. The Bears death spiral continued with a 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. They have now lost four in a row. Unbelievably, the Bears continue to reach new
lows as the season progresses. The offense gained a total of only 150 yards, running 50 plays to Minnesota’s 70. The Bears reached the Vikings' red zone twice (one was a first and goal from the seven yard line) and came away with two field goals. This was another embarrassing performance in front of a national television audience. With a bye week, instead of recapping the game, let’s talk sports about why the Bears are where they are.

The problem starts at the top with GM Ryan Pace. With the exception of Roquan Smith, Pace has missed on all his other first round picks. Although he has drafted some good players in later rounds, it’s the first round where you find playmakers. His biggest blunder was trading up from the number three pick to number two to select Mitch Trubisky. Prior to this, he bid against himself to sign QB Mike Glennon. The plan was for Trubisky to be mentored and learn by watching. However, Glennon was so bad that former coach John Fox started Trubisky in game four. He had typical rookie struggles. In his second year, he didn’t show much improvement. He regressed in year three and lost his job this year. Instead of Trubisky, Pace should have made a pick to fill a need. In the next draft there were five quarterbacks picked in the first round.

This past year, instead of trying to improve the running game, the mistakes continued. He signed Robert Quinn to replace former first round pick Leonard Floyd. Floyd was picked up by the Rams and had two sacks against the Bears. This is more than Quinn has all year. Ted Ginn Jr. was signed as a receiver. He spent most of his career as a kick-off returner, where the Bears are covered. He couldn’t crack the receiver rotation so they gave him a job as a punt returner. After many critical mistakes, he is no longer with the team. They signed over-the-hill tight end Jimmy Graham. When he is in the game, opposing defenses can take running the ball out of the equation. Then they used their first pick in the draft on another tight end. They paid a lot of money to sign QB Nick Foles. He replaced Trubisky in game 3 and led the Bears to a victory. As a starter, he is 2-4. When at his best he is erratic and as mobile as the Willis Tower.

Pace' other colossal mistake was hiring Matt Nagy as coach. He must have bowled the Bears brass over with visions of a high flying passing attack. His other major responsibility was to develop Trubisky. He failed on both accounts. When the Bears won the division in 2018, an elite defense overshadowed Nagy’s offense deficiencies. He continues to make baffling play calls. He has had problems with clock management. The offense is at the bottom of the league in all statistical categories. They are wasting a very good defense by
not being able to score 20 points.

The defense is and has always been the Bears' calling card. However, I have questions about defensive coach Chuck Pagano. The personnel is not much different than the group he inherited from Vic Fangio, yet it doesn’t compare. The turnovers and sacks are down. He couldn’t even figure out a scheme to stop Vikings QB, Kirk Cousins.

Sorry Bear fans, this isn’t going to get any better. There are no sure wins left on the schedule, but there are many sure losses. If Foles and Trubisky can’t play, who starts against Green Bay? Tyler Bray is next up unless the Bears find another QB on the scrap heap.