Chicago Bears: Loss to 49ers should start the breakup
After another lackluster performance in a loss, the Chicago Bears front office should now consider breaking up the team, starting with the head coach.
The Chicago Bears laid another egg in Week 13. Again, they ran a pedestrian offense and again they made it easy for the opposition to come back and win. The offense couldn’t extend any drives. They had the ball for just 21 minutes to 39 minutes for the San Francisco 49ers. The defense didn’t perform badly, but in the end it was gassed and could not make any key stops.
Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky‘s development continues to disappoint. There is nothing he’s learning anymore. All he’s doing on the field at the moment is just taking up space and trying not to get killed. Opposing defenses already understand the Bears’ game plan (run, run, pass) and dare the Bears to use the pass to beat them.
There were no throws deep downfield. The only way to soften the defense is to throw some deep balls. Trubisky doesn’t even need to complete all (or many) of them. Just the threat of going downfield forces the defense to drop back at least a little. But nope, this incompetent coaching staff, directed by head coach John Fox, expects Trubisky to complete the precious few passes he makes to receivers who are covered like white on rice.
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Now, Fox and his defenders will point out that the run/pass breakdown was pretty even. It was, at 19 rushes and 17 passes. However, that adds up to 36 plays. Compare that to the Niners, who ran 73 plays. With the opposition keying in on the run, Jordan Howard cannot gain the yards needed to keep a drive going. I was amazed a few weeks ago when he ranked third in the league in rushing even though teams are locking in on him as the main force of the offense. It’s catching up to him and the Bears now.
The Bears’ coaching staff is too lazy to change up the offense and let Trubsiky do what he can do. As a result, the scoring suffers. Since the third quarter of their Week 6 game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Bears offense scored just six total touchdowns. This is not a misprint and I double-checked it. Yes, SIX offensive touchdowns in 25 quarters. Want to know something more amazing? Half of those touchdowns came against the Detroit Lions.
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This is not the way to win any games or develop anyone. In fact, I’m not sure this team can win another game the rest of the way, and yes, I know the winless Cleveland Browns are on that list.
It is time to let Fox go…now! He already packed it in. If he hasn’t, then his players have. It’s time to infuse new blood to see if the team gets a win or two to show progress. Try someone who will try new things and not jeopardize Trubisky’s development.
For that matter, they need someone who can get Tarik Cohen more touches. Cohen was electric again, getting a punt return touchdown. He also had another big return late in the game but a penalty wiped it out (that almost never happens with this team, right?). When used correctly, Cohen is instant offense. The trouble is this staff cannot use him correctly.
Someone needs to take a look at Kyle Long as well. He got hurt once again and left the game. Someone has to make the decision to shut him down for the rest of the season and make a tough call on whether or not the team moves ahead with him. This staff won’t do it because they feel he can help win games when he’s in there. He doesn’t need to be in there, though. He needs to fully heal before he steps onto the field again.
I know this is an old-school, traditional franchise that finds it difficult to change. No one expects them to make a change now and start the new search early, even though everyone knows they need to. This also helps Fox. He’s a lame-duck coach and having him continue hurts him and the team.
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Someone in Halas Hall needs to get through to them, though. Their franchise is at a crossroads — they’re improving, but not getting led the right way. Get the right coaches and this team can contend soon. Mess this up and the franchise is lost for another decade. This time, however, let Ryan Pace pick the new coach.