Chicago Bears face new expectations like champions

The Chicago Bears will return the exact same team that just won 12 games, now with expectations. Considering how quickly the team found success, and how few holes there are to fill, the Bears are handling it like champions.

After a precipitous jump into the upper echelon of the NFC, the Chicago Bears appeared a year ahead of schedule. Thanks to their major trade for Khalil Mack that cost them their 2019 first-round pick, the Bears were one of the best teams in the conference. The rough thing for their peers is that the Bears are primed to repeat and build on their success.

Chicago has exactly one starter on either side of the ball who is set to become a free agent. Unless someone is dumped for cap purposes, everyone else will be returning. That is a good thing since the team has little space to operate and no first-round pick. But it is an even better thing because of how well both sides of the ball played in 2018. Said another way, this is a good team to run back!

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Chicago Bears in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

Bears’ management likely hopes to bring back Adrian Amos at safety — the lone departing starter — and Bryce Callahan at nickel corner. There may be some movement on the other side of the ball if a trade develops for the underachieving Jordan Howard. And with kicker Cody Parkey set to be released after his disastrous season, that is one more spot that could look brand new. Other than that, not much is set to change for the Chicago Bears.

This all begs the question, is running back this version of Chicago good enough? It obviously wasn’t technically good enough this past season to even win a playoff game, but specific postseason outings are bound to be fluky. The literal way the Bears were eliminated was as fluky as it can get. But if the organization has sights on a Super Bowl title, is this iteration good enough?

The defense certainly was a year ago. That can change despite returning the same personnel. Just look at Jacksonville. But the Bears have talent at all three levels. They also managed to beautifully blend talent and experience at all three levels. This group’s success should be repeatable. Offense is a different story.

Howard’s poor 2018 was part of the problem. So was Mitch Trubisky’s inconsistency. He grew tremendously between year one and two, which is a good sign he can continue to get better. That is the key. The Bears don’t need to change much of anything if Trubisky makes another leap. Tarik Cohen will need help in the backfield from either Howard or whomever takes his place, but it comes down to Trubisky regardless.

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As a rookie, he was one of the worst passers in the league. As a sophomore, he jumped into the middle of the pack. He ranked 16th in passer rating and 18th in yards per attempt. Thanks to being the second-most valuable running quarterback in the league, he did rank third in the sport in QBR. It is up for debate how useful that piece of information is. Running quarterbacks certainly add pains for the defense, but no one would have wanted Trubisky over someone like Philip Rivers, despite the latter’s complete lack of rushing value and inferior QBR.

Call me bullish on Trubisky’s future and, by extension, the future Chicago offense. While it should have worked against Matt Nagy in Coach of the Year voting, I actually like that an offensive coach needs to improve his team’s offense and not the defense. There is room for improvement here, and I think it can improve. Running back a first-round playoff exit shouldn’t be a viable plan. It is in Chicago’s case.

Dan Salem:

What worries me about the Chicago Bears is their competition. Green Bay had a down year in 2018 and the Vikings fell short of expectations. Improvement by one or both of those teams makes Chicago’s schedule that much harder. While I love the team that the Bears have, I can’t help but feel like something is missing.

No one on their offense currently scares me. Trubisky’s continued improvement may transform him into a player to be feared by opposing defenses. He was pretty close last season with his legs alone, but we all know that quarterbacks cannot prosper long term without being an accurate passer or deep ball threat.

The issue for Chicago is that they lack a receiver that definitively makes Trubisky better. The team leader last year was Allen Robinson with 754 receiving yards and only four touchdowns. If the Bears can grab one of the few receivers available in free agency, it may just push them fully over the top into the NFL elite.

Its no easy task to replicate your “out of nowhere” success from a season ago. Just ask Jacksonville how last season went, or the Eagles for that matter. Neither reached the same heights as before, but the Chicago Bears thankfully return their entire team in 2019. I too am bullish on the Bears, because winning with great defense is the proven formula for sustained success.

No one in the NFC North has a defense like Chicago. Adding a receiver and reliable kicker likely fills in the holes on offense. Then its up to the team and coaching staff to mix things up, because everyone will see them coming this year.