Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace, not Matt Nagy, should be on the hot seat

Ryan Pace is the culpable party for the state of the Chicago Bears.

The Chicago Bears are back to being the mess they’ve been since they fired Lovie Smith in 2012. During that time, they have just one season with a winning record. Also, finished in last place in the NFC North four times. They currently have a winning record, but the way they are spiraling, that might not be the case at season’s end.

The Bears started out the season with a 5-1 record and atop the NFC. Three weeks and three losses later, they are currently out of the playoff picture. The next three weeks will be extremely important. They face all three of their division foes. They can easily go from second place down to last place if they don’t fix their problems.

As a result of the team’s struggles, head coach Matt Nagy’s seat is warming up. People’s calls for his firing went from a whisper to a yell. Yes, when a team struggles people look to the head coach. He’s the guy making the moves that work, or in this case, don’t work. He’s the easy person to go after.

I’m not here to absolve Nagy from his part in the offense’s struggles. He came here with the reputation of being a quarterback whisperer and an offensive guru. Neither has happened yet. The Bears have ranked near the bottom of every offensive category since last season.

Also, his playcalling and game management haven’t been the greatest. Thankfully, it seems like he’s coming around and might be close to handing over the playcalling to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.

While Nagy has his deficiencies, he isn’t the main problem on the team. That falls on the shoulders of general manager Ryan Pace. He’s the one who constructed this team. He drafted the players, traded for the players, and negotiated the contracts. This team, as assembled, isn’t one that’s built to win.

Matt Nagy isn’t perfect but Ryan Pace is the bigger issue for the Chicago Bears.

Pace has made some big errors in building this team. He has a bad history of drafting in the first round, for example. Only one first-round pick he made is still on the team, let alone playing well. That is linebacker Roquan Smith. He’s done a pretty good job of drafting later but first-round picks are important to hit.

Additionally, while Pace did a good job of building an elite defense, he’s had trouble building the offense, mainly the offensive line. Yes, he spent two second-round picks on Cody Whitehair and James Daniels, two linemen who have done a good job.

However, he gave two subpar linemen, Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie big contract extensions when they had outlier seasons. Because of those contracts, Pace and the Bears need to wait until it’s financially feasible before attempting to part ways with them.

What Pace didn’t do this season is almost criminal. It started this offseason. Nose tackle Eddie Goldman opted out of the season due to COVID-19. At the time, there were a number of available players who could have helped, including Damon Harrison, aka Snacks. He even stated that he was interested in playing for the Bears.

Pace stood still and decided that moving defensive end Bilal Nichols over to the nose was the best move. The Bears’ rush defense suffered while Nichols goes through his growing pains learning a new position.

Because of the big contracts given to Leno and Massie, the only position Pace could fill was at right guard after Kyle Long retired (or was pushed out if you believe him). He signed Germain Ifedi, a first-round pick who was struggling at tackle. He hasn’t been too bad at guard but he hasn’t been overly good either.

One of the problems with the offensive line last season was depth. When players went down, the Bears didn’t have good enough backups to fill in and do a good job. Guess what? It’s happening again this season. Daniels is out for the season. Whitehair is suffering from a calf injury. Massie is on injured reserve because someone rolled up on his leg.

Because of the injuries, the offensive line is in shambles. The trade deadline was last week and Pace indicated that he was looking at getting help. What did he end up doing? Absolutely nothing.

He did do something after the deadline, though. He picked up Eric Kush to help. The same Kush he felt was not good enough to play for the Bears almost two seasons ago. The same Kush who hasn’t played a snap this season. Well, he is well-rested I guess.

Let’s also talk about the running back situation. Backup running back Tarik Cohen hurt his knee and had his season ended back in Week 3. We are in Week 10 now. In that time, Pace decided to go after injured Lamar Miller. Miller hasn’t played since 2018 when he hurt his knee. Pace signed him on Oct. 5.

He has yet to be activated from the practice squad. Meanwhile, the New York Jets released Le’Veon Bell on Oct. 14. By the 17th, the Kansas City Chiefs signed him to the practice squad then had him on the field.

As a result of not getting any help at running back, starter David Montgomery has taken over 70 percent of the snaps. Last week, he suffered a concussion and his status for the Week 10 game is up in the air.

Pace also has trouble with contracts. Allen Robinson is playing his heart out for this team. His contract is up at the end of the season. He saw the Bears take care of other players at the beginning of their final seasons. The Bears even did that for Cohen.

For some reason, though, they haven’t done the same for Robinson. They reportedly stopped contract talks just before they re-signed Cohen. It appears that the only way Robinson comes back is if the Bears franchise him. What are the odds that happens?

Pace is the man who should have a white-hot seat. He’s had six seasons to get the Bears on track to become a contender but hasn’t done it. Has he done enough to earn another chance? That’s up to the Chicago Bears’ ownership. We all see what is on the field and have our opinions, however.