Last season was a painful one for the Chicago Bears. A year that probably felt way too familiar in the worst way. They fielded a great defense. The offense didn’t pull its weight and quarterback play was spotty. Worse still, they were swept by their rival Green Bay Packers and had to watch them go to another NFC championship game for a shot at the Super Bowl. Wasn’t it supposed to be their time after almost a decade of ineptitude?
No sense dwelling on it. All they can do is look towards 2020 and getting back on track. GM Ryan Pace had himself an aggressive offseason. Somewhat of a surprise given the limited resources he had to work with. He managed to upgrade the pass rush with Robert Quinn, overhauled the tight end position, added speed at wide receiver, and of course traded for Nick Foles. The former Super Bowl hero will have a chance at redemption of his own after his one-year flop in Jacksonville.
The big question of course is obvious. Did Pace do enough to even the playing field with Green Bay? Matt Schneidman of The Athletic was asked about this on the Hoge & Jahns podcast. His answer was pretty telling.
Chicago Bears have no reason to think they’re not in Packers’ league
Schneidman has a point. There is no question Green Bay is a good football team, but their record last season was a bit deceiving. Of their 14 wins including the playoffs, nine were decided by eight points or less. By contrast, three of their four losses were blowouts by 15 points or more. The Bears held them to 10 points in their first meeting and almost erased a 21-3 deficit in the final moments of the second if not for a mistimed lateral.
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Most agree the Bears improved in a number of areas this offseason. The same can’t be said for the Packers. Their draft was widely panned by experts, viewed as a series of “future” moves that did little to help the team now. A quarterback? A tight end/H-back? A running back they don’t need? It was baffling. At best they’re the same team they were last year, and things rarely stay exactly the same in the NFL.
One last thing to note is their health. Green Bay was very fortunate on the injury front. Not a single starter ended up on injured reserve or even missed significant time. That is rare in this sport. The odds of it happening twice are…let’s just say they’re long. This is still a good team, but the Bears are good enough to challenge them.
