The most consistent aspect of the Bears this season is that they’re not consistent at all. After an upset win against the Minnesota Vikings and coming off a bye week the Bears failed to take care of business against a mediocre Tampa Bay Buccaneers team.
One would think that the Bears would use the momentum from that Monday night victory against the Vikings and use the bye week to get some much-needed playmakers back on the field, to get their second victory in a row.
Clearly, I was wrong along with many Bears’ fans.
After an embarrassing loss to the Bucs, this brings up the question:
What should we expect to see from the Bears after the season is over?
You should expect to see some new faces in the Bears’ organization in 2017.
Through John Fox’s first 25 games as head coach, he is an alarming 8-17. That’s worse than, hold your breath … Marc Trestman – who was 11-14 through his first 25 games.
Each week it seems like the Bears made the wrong choice in 2012 by firing Lovie Smith.
Despite, Fox’s record I believe he will stay with the team after this season. Firing back-to-back coaches after two years would only create more problems for the Bears moving forward. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a winning football team.
But, it’s inexcusable that Fox didn’t have his team ready after having 13 days to prepare for the Bucs. The offense went out and had its sloppiest game of the year – turned the ball over five times. And the defense gave up the most points this season, 36.
Jay Cutler accounted for four of those turnovers – throwing two interceptions and losing two fumbles, one resulted in a safety. The problem with Cutler is that he is inconsistent. One game he will be the reason for a Bears’ victory and the next a devastating defeat.
Clearly, the 11-year veteran is not the answer for the organization moving forward and his eight-year tenure with the Bears should come to an end after the season.
A person who should be leaving with Cutler is offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. He was a former quarterback’s coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and that should have raised a red flag from the start. Loggains has put together two good offensive games this season, against the Lions and Vikings. The only two victories the Bears have this season.
Loggains has had more than half a season to create an identity for the Bears’ offense and has failed miserably. Are the Bears a team that likes to run the ball with Jordan Howard or do they rely on numerous targets to Alshon Jeffery to get the offense going?
Speaking of Jeffery, he was just suspended four games for a PED violation. He is currently playing under the franchise tag and this suspension could be the final deciding factor to whether he returns to the team next season.
Some other notable players who should get the boot are kick returner/wide receiver Deonte Thompson, defensive end Mitch Unrein and cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc. Each one of these players have made minimal contributions and as of this point in the season have been disappointing.
With the way the team just performed, a high draft pick is most likely certain for the Bears. Both Loggains and Cutler should be gone and that creates an opportunity to draft a new face of the franchise. This would be a great opportunity for general manager Ryan Pace to finally draft a quarterback, which is something he has been reluctant to do in his first two seasons with the Bears.
Even though quarterback definitely isn’t the only problem with the Bears, it is a position that has been long overdue for a facelift.
The guy I’ve had my eye on is North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky. He has a strong arm, is accurate, good with his legs and isn’t afraid to make any throws. So far through 10 games he has 22 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 350 passing attempts.
He will be one of the top quarterbacks on every team’s radar in next years draft and if Pace has a chance to bring in someone who can provide a fresh start for the Bears, he can’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
Change is coming for this organization and it is much needed if the Bears want to one day become consistent in becoming actual competitors in the league.
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