The 2018 Chicago Bears are going to be different. Perhaps wildly different. The old school era of John Fox is over. Matt Nagy is the new head coach. He’s bringing in fresh faces, many of whom have never served on the NFL level before. It’s a much younger and by all accounts a much more forward-thinking group. That may be why GM Ryan Pace made that hire.
That’s all fine and good but it doesn’t aide fans with the bottom line. They want to know the answer to one question. When will the Bears be winning team again? Each passing day the luster of the Urlacher era fades a little further in the rearview mirror. Chicago hasn’t seen a winning season in six years and hasn’t tasted playoff football in eight. Though it’s not nearly as bad as the 14-year drought from 1964 through 1976, nobody wants to challenge that record.
So how far is this team from making a run? That’s hard to say. Changes are likely to happen under the new coaching staff. Then there’s the NFC North itself. Last year proved it’s still one of the strongest, toughest divisions in the league. Getting through it will be a chore. Are the Bears strong enough yet for that? Doubtful. Thus it’s a matter of determining how far away they are.
2018 Chicago Bears likely two steps away from readiness
Sean Wagner-McGough did a tremendous breakdown of Mitch Trubisky recently. He explained how the rookie quarterback displayed qualities of greatness. Qualities that this Bears franchise hasn’t seen in decades. If his progression continues under Nagy, the Bears will likely see their timetables to success accelerate. However, the big roadblock remains. The rest of the roster still needs a lot of work.
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“The Bears don’t have one or two holes. They have a Titanic-sized hole at receiver and then some smaller leaks that need patching. This might not take one offseason. It’ll likely take two. But the Bears can take solace in the fact that they already did the hard part. The Bears acquiring a potentially transcendent quarterback is like the Browns finding a way to win a game. It’s not impossible, but it almost never happens. This time, it actually happened. Now, it’s time to give him a supporting cast that can accelerate his development.”
That might not be what fans want to hear, but it’s a fair assessment. The Bears don’t have nearly as many holes in their roster as they did to start 2017 but glaring problems remain. Wide receiver isn’t the only one. Edge rusher and cornerback are threatening to become ones too. Pace has work to do and he may not have enough money or draft picks to cover every problem.
Jaguars offer the best example of what the Bears face
If there is one team that might mirror what Chicago is facing, it’s the Jacksonville Jaguars. GM David Caldwell understands perfectly what Pace is going through. He inherited a depleted and aging roster in 2013 that was going to need a rebuild from top to bottom. Fans hoped for a three-year swing like normal but they didn’t realize how bad the situation actually was. The Jaguars endured four seasons of 4-12, 3-13, 5-11, and 3-13. It was ugly.
Then, finally, after one more strong push in the 2017 off-season, they won the AFC South and reached the AFC championship behind a young and hungry roster sprinkled with able veterans. The hard work paid off and now Jacksonville looks like they aren’t going anywhere in the Super Bowl picture. This is what the Bears are striving for. All they ask is a little more time to put on the finishing touches.
