Chicago Bears: What other story will franchise give fans now?

With everything falling around them, what’s the next story the Chicago Bears give fans to placate them?

The 2014 season was very embarrassing for the Chicago Bears. The had a record of 5-11. The defense couldn’t stop a cold, giving up 50+ points in consecutive games. Reportedly, Virginia McCaskey was so “pissed off” that the team fired both general manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman.

The story the Bears front office gave fans was that ownership was just as frustrated as the fans were with the losing. They promised to find the best team possible to turn things around. What did they do? They hired a young, modern-thinking general manager and teamed him up with an old-school head coach whose better days were behind him.

The result of that pairing is a record of 12-31 and three straight last-place finishes (I include this season). In addition, the embarrassment hasn’t ended. The latest occurred in Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles. They lost 31-3 and it wasn’t even that close. Also, the celebrations by the Eagles really hit a nerve.

Watching Eagles players dance after interceptions or go bowling after former Bear wide receiver Alshon Jeffery really hurt. The fans want to see celebrations coming from Chicago.

Fans were sold a bad bill of sale on John Fox

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The Bears told the fans that John Fox was the guy to turn around. They pointed to his record in his second year with a team. After a 7-9 season 2002 with the Carolina Panthers, he led them to the Super Bowl. In his second season with the Denver Broncos in 2012, his team was 13-3 after going 8-8 in 2011. He’d do the same with the Bears, right? Not even close. After going 6-10 in 2015, the Bears regressed in 2016, going 3-13.

Fox still employs the same type of offense he did in Carolina a decade and a half ago. He’s all about run, run, run, and then pass. This is a passing game now and that run first philosophy doesn’t work anymore.

That old-school philosophy hurts rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky‘s development. I keep hearing all this talk about the Bears’ wide receivers being bad but they haven’t had a real chance to play. The passing game is an afterthought in this system. Trubisky looks like a robot on the field. He does only what he’s told to do, and what he’s told to do is pedestrian.

Fans aren’t buying the Fox narrative anymore

Many Bears fans actually felt the team had a shot at the playoffs this season. When the Bears were 3-4 and just a game out of the last spot in the playoff chase, they raised those hopes. However, a three-game losing streak dashed those hopes. The losses ran the gambit — uninspired play against a hated rival, a heartbreaking loss, and a blowout. No more talk of playoffs anymore. It’s time to think of free agency and the draft.

Most Bears fans don’t buy anything that has to do with Fox. We all should see now that Fox isn’t the coach to lead this team. The only question is whether or not the front office does the chopping now or after the season. All signs point to the team taking part in Black Monday, however silly that seems. The developments of not just Trubisky but also Tarik Cohen and Adam Shaheen.

The Bears have nothing to say that convinces most fans to keep Fox. He is a dead man walking. When Jeffery scored his touchdown, the camera caught a fan in the stands with the new, unofficial Chicago Bears logo. It is the Mozilla logo; you know, Mozilla FireFox? That logo pops up everywhere now.

The Bears ownership can say all they want but unless they empower general manager Ryan Pace to hire his own guy to coach this team the losses will continue to pile up. The ownership actually does a good job at not interfering once the hires are made, why can’t they do that during the hiring process?

Next: 7 Possible replacements for John Fox

Time for the Chicago Bears to stop giving us stories and start giving us wins. The fans have been patient enough. It’s time for them to reward that patience.