Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky needs John Fox gone

While the Chicago Bears defense rises, the offense continues to struggle and John Fox’s gameplan is to the detriment of Mitchell Trubisky’s development.

Seeing the Chicago Bears win is fun. Watching the defense hit hard again and seeing it progress to what it once was raises hopes. While we enjoy the upswing of the team, we need to keep an eye on the future.

This offense is inept. It ranks 26th in points, 30th in yards, and 29th in turnovers. Yes, the rushing attack is pretty good. It ranks 5th in attempts, seventh in yards, and 15th in touchdowns. The passing offense is a completely different story, however.

The Bears’ passing attack ranks last in attempts, 31st in yards, and 26th in touchdowns. In the up-tempo, pass-happy NFL, this won’t make you a real contender. An offense needs to be able to score quickly and put pressure on the opposing defense.

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This is something we see from the Bears’ next opponent, the New Orleans Saints. They depend on the arm of quarterback Drew Brees. They’ve gone years winning with a porous defense. This season, they own a 4-2 record and find themselves in first place in the NFC South despite ranking 23rd in total defense, 21st against the pass, and 20th against the run. On offense, though, the Saints rank fourth in total yards, seventh in points scored, and third in passing yards.

With the defense the Bears have, if they have a decent offense they can be dangerous. Having John Fox as the coach keeps that from happening.

John Fox is an old-school coach. He wants a great defense and strong running game. Passing isn’t something he really cares for. In fact, he took a horrible offense in Denver under Tim Tebow to the second round of the playoffs in the 2011 season.

Fox also admits he doesn’t like to take chances. He said so to the Chicago Sun-Times recently:

"“You just don’t take a lot of risks. ‘It’s a little bit like investing your money. I don’t know if you want to be 100 percent in tech stocks. You might want to have some bonds. You might want to have some money in cash. Everything is risk/reward, including football.”"

Sometimes, though, you need to take a chance to win. If you stay conservative, you’ll get a few wins, but you’ll never be a real contender. After that playoff win with Tebow, the Broncos took on the New England Patriots and got thoroughly thrashed 45-10.

Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains receives a lot of criticism for the play-calling, but he only tries to fulfill the head coach’s vision. The Sun-Times‘ Adam Jahns doesn’t put the blame on Loggains, though. On a podcast, he said this (via Da Bears Bros):

"I get the criticism of Dowell Loggains but everybody seems to be ignoring John Fox’s influence on the game plans. He [Fox] doesn’t call Loggains’ plays but he really leads the design of the game plan. John Fox wants to run the ball so Dowell Loggains is going to run the ball."

Also, many like to criticize the lack of quality wide receivers on the roster. Well, maybe they aren’t as bad as advertised. The Bears released Deonte Thompson two weeks ago. He had 249 receiving yards last season. This season, he had 232 yards. Not impressive.

The Buffalo Bills picked him up, and, without much time to adjust, he caught four passes for 107 yards. Remember, this is an offense devoid of wide receivers, just like the Bears. Additionally, they have one of the worst offensive lines in the league.

If you want Mitch Trubisky to succeed, you have to let him play. Sure, he’ll make some mistakes. All rookies make mistakes. He can’t learn if he doesn’t throw, though. If he is indeed a worthy No. 2 overall pick, he’ll shine through. I’m afraid that won’t happen with John Fox as the Chicago Bears head coach.

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