At this juncture, the Chicago Bears’ season is effectively over. At 3-4, having let a golden opportunity to get to 4-3 against an inferior Los Angeles Chargers team (at home) slip away, there’s not much hope left.
They’re last place in the NFC North and the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings are decisively ahead of them. The rest of the NFC is pretty stacked, so the Wild Card hopes are faint, too.
Essentially, the Bears are playing out the final nine games now. The main goal now is to see if there is *anything* left to salvage in QB Mitch Trubisky.
The Bears travel to Philadelphia this week to take on the Eagles. What seemed like a fun, NFC Wild Card revenge game story before the season has, well, fizzled a bit. Both the Bears and Eagles are struggling, but with Philadelphia in a weak NFC East division, their hopes are still very much alive.
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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.
Mailbag
I’m not sure which decisions you consider worrisome. Matt Nagy is the head coach and is responsible for week-to-week management and in-game decisions. Ryan Pace is the general manager and, while they certainly discuss philosophies and other high level items, the main control lies with Nagy.
I was not in love with the decision to travel so late to London. I do think going against a much more rested and acclimated Oakland Raiders team (that is tough and physical anyway) hurt them, especially in the beginning. But other teams have won this way before, including one of Nagy’s in his own personal experience. So who are we, really, to argue with that?
There have been many gripes about his decision to kneel before the final field goal attempt. Frankly, I was good with it. First of all, a 41 yard field goal is absolutely within the realm of “comfort”. If you don’t trust your kicker to make a 41 yarder, then you don’t have a kicker. Also, while historical probabilities may indicate that there was a higher chance of Eddy Pineiro missing his FG than something going wrong mid-play, the way the Bears have executed on offense this season (and the two drives prior to the final one), certainly made it understandable. Rashaad Coward had been whistled for three penalties in the game, Bobby Massie was struggling with Joey Bosa, and Mitch Trubisky wasn’t playing well overall. I get it. It didn’t work out, but the process was fine.
If Mitch Trubisky isn’t absolutely sensational in all of the final nine games, then he won’t be the Bears’ unquestioned starter going into 2020. They won’t pick up his fifth year option, but they won’t cut him, either. He’ll be part of the QB mix next season.
Expect Ryan Pace to bring in plenty of competition — one that I believe will consist of a veteran (or two) and a draft pick. Some names that have links to Nagy (but may not be possible due to injury and/or contract) are Nick Foles and Alex Smith. Marcus Mariota is set to be a free agent next year and could fit very well in this offense. Teddy Bridgewater is another potential option.
Expect a lengthy, detailed competition come training camp — one that will at the very least bridge the way with competent QB play until the Bears have a first round pick again in 2021. If they’re lucky, maybe they’ll find an answer before then.
That might very well be the case. Adam Hoge of WGN Radio did a piece on this that highlighted in great detail how the Bears might be built to be more of a downhill, tough, ground and pound team. And their quarterback is someone who needs the ease of reading half the field in play-action.
The Mark Helfrich Oregon-style running concepts that the Bulls are running are basically useless. The Bears haven’t seen much success in 1.5 years — it’s clear Jordan Howard wasn’t the problem there. When the Bears traded up for David Montgomery and he didn’t have success rushing it in the first six games, it was clear the Bears had a scheme problem. In fact, props to Montgomery for gaining positive yards at all — the infrequency with which he’s had open running lanes is crazy. The number of times he’s had to break tackles in the backfield (and does) is crazy.
The Bears shifted to a more power style running game against Los Angeles this past Sunday and it was a rousing success. The Bears dominated the line of scrimmage in the running game, Montgomery displayed his excellent vision and tackle-breaking ability, and Chicago rushed for over 150 yards.
Matt Nagy indicated in his press conference on Monday that more I-formation runs were coming. Based on what we’ve seen, that’s a great thing for this offense.
There are a few places I’m definitely looking to upgrade next season on defense:
EDGE is critical. Leonard Floyd has been next to useless opposite Khalil Mack. Not only do the Bears need a starter, they need depth, too.
CB is another one. It’s clear Chuck Pagano doesn’t trust them with more aggressive press-man schemes that he likes to use. With Prince Amukamara likely on his way out, this is another position that could use an upgrade.
The Bears will also likely need a starter at safety opposite Eddie Jackson, depending on what happens with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. And with Danny Trevathan’s (and Nick Kwiatkoski’s) contract set to come off the books, the Bears will need a starter at ILB with Roquan Smith.
The defense will look different next year — on the bright side, the Bears may have more cap space than envisioned as they will likely make Kyle Long a cap casualty and won’t have to pay a struggling Mitch Trubisky a franchise QB deal.
