Bear Down and Cover Your Eyes

 

September 6, 2021

L

Last year the Bears backed into the playoffs finishing at 8-8. They lost 21-9 scoring their lone touchdown on the last play of the game.

The asinine decision to bring Matt Nagy back as coach boggles the mind. He was hired to rejuvenate the offense and develop Mitch Trubisky. He has failed miserably on both accounts. He is hung up thinking he is a genius and that his offensive schemes are great. The problem is the Bears don’t score enough points to win. It is time for him install an offense that the players can execute instead of them “adjusting” to his system. He is also not a good game coach, calling plays that make you want to pull your hair out.  I’m just wondering how many times after a loss he will tell the media that “They had a great week of practice.”

With Trubisky gone, Nick Foles was the only quarterback on the roster. Once Carson Wentz was traded to the Colts, the Bears went into fantasy land. The Bears thought they had a shot at Houston’s DeShaun Watson or Seattle’s Russell Wilson. Watson was accused of alleged sexual abuse and Wilson wasn’t on the trading block. In desperation, the Bears acquired Andy Dalton. This would have excited me five years ago, his last winning season. The Bears also drafted a possible franchise QB, Justin Fields who will sit and watch Dalton. I wonder how long it will take Nagy to realize Fields is a better option.

The Bears have one of the best wide receivers, Allen Robinson, as well as Darnell Mooney, who had an outstanding rookie season. They have no other threats. Anthony Miller is gone. Nagy and GM Ryan Pace said he didn’t develop the way they were expecting. This would been hard to do from the bench and not calling plays for him. Tight End Cole Kmet had a nice rookie season and should improve. Nagy has to know he should get the majority of playing time over Jimmy Graham. David Montgomery had 1070 yards rushing which averages out to just under 67 yards per game. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry, which is pretty good. The problem is that Nagy can’t install a running game in his pass happy offense. Montgomery should be getting more touches. He is also great at catching the ball out of the backfield. Nagy continues to make the mistake on running Montgomery into the line in short yardage situations. 

Vic Fangio protégé Sean Desai, replaces the woeful Chuck Pagano as Defensive Coordinator. While the Bears’ calling card has always been their defense, there a myriad of question marks to see if that will still be the case. The front three has Akiem Hicks and Bilal Nichols on the ends. The hope is that nose tackle Eddie Goldman can return to the impact player he was in 2019. Outside linebacker Khalil Mack is still a dominant player and I don’t know if there is a better inside linebacker than Roquan Smith. The questions remain on the other side. Nine year veteran Alec Ogletree replaces the oft-injured Danny Trevathan and the Bears are hoping for a bounce back year for the underachieving Robert Quinn. Jaylon Johnson at cornerback, looked pretty good until he had a season ending injury. He is probably still learning. The other corner, a 2020 fifth round pick, Kindle Vildor has no experience. The Bears gave safety Eddie Jackson a contract extension for his “ball hawking” ability. Last year he had zero interceptions and no fumble recoveries. He is also a terrible tackler. The other safety is veteran Tashaun Gipson.

2019 sixth round pick, Duke Shelley, has the inside track to be the nickel back.

Kicker Cairo Santos may be this team’s MVP. The Bears have to settle for a lot of field goals. He has made people forget Robbie Gould converting on his last 27 kicks. Third string running back, Khalil Herbert will get a chance to replace Cordarrelle Patterson returning kickoffs.

The Bears will probably end up at best 9-8; not good enough to make the playoffs, not bad enough to get a good draft choice. If you’re read this column, let me know what you think about what the Bears’ record will be, post your predictions below.