With a chance to extend their season one more week, the Chicago Bears saw the hope of 2019 fizzle away on the woeful Lambeau Field turf on Sunday, dropping a dismal 21-13 football game to the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears trailed 7-3 halftime, 21-3 in the blink of an eye in the third quarter, and crawled back to 21-13 with three chances in the final seven minutes to tie it up. But they couldn’t. Mitch Trubisky was picked off by Dean Lowry in Bears’ territory. They then turned it over on downs on the following possession at midfield. And the final possession was the most exciting — ending at the Green Bay 2-yard line following a wild lateral sequence.
Alas, close, but not close enough. The story of the 2019 Bears. And now we look forward to the final two games to evaluate for 2020. First up? Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs coming to Chicago for a prime time clash. How empty will Soldier Field be now that the Bears are eliminated?
With that, I reach into this week’s Bears Mailbag. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. I always appreciate the participation. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
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Mailbag
Let me ask: What does good play calling mean to you? I assume the drives that you think are outstanding are the ones that result in Bears touchdowns? Because yes, those are brilliant. But there are plenty of drives that don’t result in touchdowns that are still called well.
There is a lot that goes into play calling. Rhythm, game situation, down and distance, defensive strengths and weaknesses, defensive formation/coverage, etc. To me, what I look for is creating mismatches, and whether the scheme did its job. Plays are called for a reason: You think it is designed to beat what the defense is doing in that situation and to keep the offense on schedule. And when plays work, you can build plays on top of plays that look the same (personnel, formation, motions, etc.) but that do something entirely different. That keeps defenses completely off balance.
When I watch the Bears’ All 22 tape, there are numerous occasions where a block has been missed, progressions weren’t made, or the right read wasn’t made. And if the right read was made, then the throw or catch wasn’t made. These issues PLAGUED the Bears for over half the season. But in many situations, there were receivers schemed open all over the field. Everywhere. When that’s happening, that means the play is working, and the execution is what needs to improve.
(The run-blocking hasn’t been excellent this year, but there are too many situations where an RPO was called, the run was the right defense beater, but Trubisky pulled it back and threw it.)
Can Matt Nagy improve as a play caller? Sure. He does have a tendency to get a little extra cute at times. I remember the Chargers game in the red zone had a couple plays that had me scratching my head (the Cordarrelle Patterson jetsweep comes to mind.) But these instances are few and far between. But Mitch has repeatedly butchered brilliantly designed plays, which causes the offense to be scaled back again and again. When the offense is scaled back, it’s easy to prepare for. And when an offense is easy to prepare for, it seems like the plays aren’t working. And then the misplaced questions get louder.
The Bears need their quarterback to be smarter and more decisive. Trubisky has shown very, very few instances of this this season, but when he has, the offense has hummed. It’s not an accident. They need more of THAT to get back to the promised land.
The Bears have a ton of decisions to make at key positions this off-season — ones that go further beyond the players you’ve mentioned here. But for the sake of this question, here’s what I’d say (assuming the Bears make enough cuts to clear salary cap space:)
Danny Trevathan — Move on, mainly because the Bears can only afford to pay one ILB and Nick Kwiatkoski makes more sense (younger, more durable, much better than originally anticipated.)
Nick Kwiatkoski — Re-sign, see above.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix — Re-sign. He’s been a very solid presence at safety this year, improved his tackling, and is still young. His chemistry with Eddie Jackson in the secondary is evident. At the right price, he’s worth it.
Brent Urban — At the right price, re-sign. Solid depth. Otherwise, move on.
Leonard Floyd — Chicago picked up his fifth-year option, but I think they should cut him. He’s not worth $13M or so for such poor results rushing the passer.
Nick Williams — Re-sign. He’s been a gem of a find for depth. He should be back.
I do think the Bears will make some changes to their staff. Namely, Mark Helfrich — his fingerprints are all over the offense and I think this off-season would be a good time to bring in an offensive consultant to help make some changes to the playbook.
Matt Nagy probably won’t give up play calling. And he shouldn’t. See above.
Ryan Pace’s seat is definitely warm. This season has been a disappointment, but not a disaster. Mitch Trubisky being bad is the number one reason for his seat being warm. This is why I think the Bears should (and will) bring in competition at QB. This roster is ready to win now. They just need a QB.
The Bears have plenty of holes to fill for next year. They’ll first have to determine cut candidates to clear salary cap, as well as whom all to re-sign (the Bears have plenty of free agents-to-be of their own right now.) Guys like Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Nick Kwiatkoski (or Danny Trevathan), and Roy Robertson-Harris may need new contracts. They’ll also have to plan extensions for guys like Allen Robinson, Eddie Jackson, and perhaps even Tarik Cohen.
Once they do that, they’ll have an accurate gauge of where the roster holes are. But regardless, I do think the Bears will (and should) invest heavily in QB for 2020. A solid veteran (think Marcus Mariota or Case Keenum) should be brought in for direct competition. And the Bears should also spend a draft pick (no matter the round) to get a head start on future planning as well. The competition at QB is the single most important item heading into 2020.
In all, the Bears have the following drastic holes to address in some fashion for 2020: QB, TE, OL, EDGE, CB, S (unless they bring back Clinton-Dix.)
I think the Bears need to figure out what they’re going to do at QB in general — not just back-up. Mitch Trubisky’s current level of play just isn’t good enough, and this roster is ready to win now. They HAVE to be competent in 2020.
Chicago should have an all-out QB competition this offseason and training camp. Trubisky, a solid veteran presence, and a draft pick should all be competing for the job. Guys like Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray are likely gone.
From a veteran perspective, the Bears should investigate the following names to see if they’d be available (or willing) to particpate: Marcus Mariota, Case Keenum, Alex Smith, Nick Foles.
From a draft perspective, the following names could be in play, depending on when the Bears draft: Shea Patterson, Jake Fromm, Anthony Gordon, Steven Montez.
