Now is Not the Time for Loyalty

If you’re a Chicago Bears fan you’re probably already sick of the season. This team came in as as a Super Bowl contender and looks far from it. After the double doink sent coach Nagy’s squad home early last season another year in the offense and that vicious young defense growing up meant contending with the NFC North. Instead the offense is terrible and the defense is wearing down.

The new trend is to pair your young QB with an offensive mind to make him comfortable and build something. Last year it looked like something with all the movements but the saying is give them an off season and they’ll figure you out. The verdict is out for the Bears. Despite drafting a new running back coach Nagy seems unwilling to run the ball. Chicago ran seven, SEVEN, times for 19 yards against the Saints.

It was 12-10 at half and all the coach could say was it wasn’t getting first downs but passing the ball was. First of all, no it wasn’t coach. Second, the running game is about patience and wearing a team down. With a beat up offensive line and a very good New Orleans’ front seven your game plan was to have your inaccurate QB throw 54 times?! That is no formula to succeed, nor is it doing Trubisky any favors.

More concerning, with extra time to prepare Nagy has been killed. The opening game against the Green Bay Packers was an absolute embarrassment. With a bye week, at home and a Saints team missing some key pieces Chicago was barely in the game. If it wasn’t for the Cordarrelle Patterson kick return there wouldn’t have been really any points in the first half. That self-scouting didn’t work coach and you got out worked with extra time, not a great sign. Now is not the time for loyalty from GM Ryan Pace and the Bears front office. We’re less than two seasons in to Matt Nagy’s tenure and less than three in to Trubisky, but loyalty is what sets teams back. Maybe, maybe, Nagy needs more time but the jury seems to be out on Trubisky. Yes he was coming off an injury going in to the Saints game but he has massively regressed from last season. He was the number two overall pick, that Pace traded up for, but if he can’t take advantage of the window the defense has then don’t waste it by saying with something that doesn’t work. Now Pace is human and admitting he got the QB pick wrong could cost him his job but staying with Mitch could set the team back even more. What happens when this team does nothing and you have to decide to pay Eddie Jackson, Leonard Floyd, Roquan Smith, Tarik Cohen, etc? Loyalty to Trubisky, who doesn’t deserve that big contract or maybe even his fifth year option picked up, means other players would have to leave. That would be a mistake.

Everyone knows what this defense is capable of but now the poor offense is clearly hurting the defense. In back-to-back games they’ve given up over 100 rushing yards. Maybe they’re being exposed, the performance in the first half against the Raiders was awful, but the pressure of having to play perfect because Trubisky and the O can’t do anything will wear on them. They held Teddy Bridgewater and the Saints to just 10 points in the first half before folding in the second. Last year the Bears were 12-4 and hosted a playoff game but sports is a win now business. It may not be time to call for Nagy’s job, yet, but even the most loyal fans have to be honest bout Trubisky. This offense is doing nothing and has looked better with Chase Daniel under center, which isn’t saying much either. Windows don’t last long and loyalty in the wrong case could cost the Bears theirs. We’ll see how they bounce back after a player’s only meeting and the reeling Chargers coming to town next, but it’s not looking good.

Two games with the Lions, Green Bay and Minnesota on the road, Kansas City and the Cowboys are still on the schedule. 1-5 anyone? The Chargers, Philly, Rams and Giants are the rest of the schedule and this team could find itself at possibly 8-8 and maybe back in the cellar of the NFC North without their first round pick in 2020.