When it comes to the Chicago Bears, every fan has an opinion. Good or bad, no matter what someone’s opinion is, they can find thousands of other fans who share the same point of view.
Fire Poles. Fire Eberflus. Trade Fields. Build around Fields. Bagent should start. Pay Jaylon. Trade Mooney. Tank to secure the top two picks in 2024.
While it is true the season could not have started any worse, there are finally signs of progress. No one expected the team to lose 5 of their first six games. Now that the team is getting healthy they have won two of their last three. And thee have been very competitive in five of their first seven games.
Looking back at the first seven games we the struggles of a young team. After all the preseason hype on how much the offense had improved, we didn’t see it at all early. The offensive line was riddled with injuries. Fields continued to take too much time working through his progressions. The lethargic play of Chase Claypool cerainly didn’t help.
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Defensively, there seemed to be no improvement from last year. Opponents scored at least 25 points in each of the first four games. The consecutinve game streak allowing 25 or more points hit a dubious 14 games, dating back to last season. One full calendar year without a win at home had never happened in the history of this franchise.
Injuries also hit the defense. Every starting defensive back has missed time.
There are still starters that will be unavailable this week: At the time of this writing Braxton Jones and Khalil Herbert are on the injured list. And Nate Davis is nursing an ankle injury. Without those starters, the offense is starting to run the ball well. Moving Teven Jenkins back to right guard and getting Cody Whitehair out of the center position seemed to settle the line. Hopefully we see more of that in the coming weeks.
The trade deadline is Tuesday, October 31st. Many have speculated the fate of two Bears that could be dealt: Darnell Mooney and Jaylon Johnson.
That would be a HUGE mistake!
Johnson is playing at an elite level. A home grown product that has earned the right to be a staple on this roster. Darnell Mooney is also due for extention talks. Many thought he would battle Chase Claypool for a new contract, but Claypool was traded recently.
This is a team that could easily have 4 or 5 wins and competing for a playoff spot. The poor offensive showings in the games with Tampa and Minnesota as well as the defensive collapse in the Denver game has saddled them with their 2-5 record.
There are some winnable games ahead. The next three games are the Chargers, Saints and Panthers. All three are games the Bears should win. If that happens, they will head to Detroit with a record of 5-5 and a team full of confidence.
