Chicago Bears: Tumultuous season ends, rebuild must begin

With the Chicago Bears eliminated from the playoffs, a desperately needed rebuild must begin.

Just like everyone outside of the Windy City predicted, the Chicago Bears bowed to the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card Round of the 2021 NFL Playoffs. They didn’t think Chicago deserved to be there and expected a blowout. The final score of 21-9 bears that out

However, the Bears scared many of these vocal naysayers for about 40 minutes when the score was just 7-3. The defense ultimately tired from being on the field for so long and things fell apart in the final 20 minutes.

The Bears’ defense really made up for its poor performance for most of the final six weeks. During that time, it gave up 27 points per game and allowed an average of 353 yards per game. While the unit ranked first in third-down conversions and red-zone touchdowns allowed, they dropped to eighth and fifth, respectively.

Things were different against the Saints, however. The defense pressured Drew Brees and Taysom Hill, even forcing a turnover by Hill. The coverage was better and if the offense showed even a little bit of life things could have been different.

The old Chicago Bears offense reared its ugly head

Speaking of offensive life, the Chicago Bears offense went back to the struggling unit that was mainly responsible for their six-game losing streak earlier in the season. There was no running game and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had trouble making good decisions.

From going out of bounds before getting to the sticks on fourth down to checking down to a three-yard play on a big third-and-long, Trubisky reverted back to the quarterback that frustrated many fans and coaches.

To be fair, there was one play that the Bears executed perfectly that could have changed the team’s fortunes.

The coaches called a Wildcat formation. Running back David Montgomery got the snap and handed it off to Cordarrelle Patterson. Trubisky, who split out at the slot as a receiver, then got the ball from Patterson. He then threw a perfect 40-yard bomb to Javon Wims. The defender fell down so he was all by himself. However, he failed to get his hands on the ball. You cannot even call it a drop because despite the ball being thrown perfectly, Wims just missed the ball.

In 2018, the Bears suffered through the “Double Doink” as the lasting image. In this playoff appearance, it will be the “Whiff.”

The Bears’ offense, after scoring 30+ points in four of their last five games, was ugly. They had just 11 first downs, but five of them came on their final drive in the fourth quarter. In fact, they didn’t convert a third down until there was 1:53 left in the game.

Just like it’s been for years, the defense did its best to keep the Bears in the game but the offense failed to do its part.

Now the Chicago Bears rebuild begins

Now that the season is over, the Chicago Bears need to make some changes. Yes, it’s nice to make the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, but one-and-done isn’t something the fans deserve. This is a storied franchise but recent history doesn’t show that. In the past 30 years, Chicago made just eight playoff appearances.

Furthermore, they haven’t won a playoff game since 2010. With the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns ending their long streaks without a victory, the Bears now own the sixth-longest streak without a playoff victory. Again, the fans deserve better.

The Bears need to build this team right and put a real contender on the field. They cannot continue to go years without getting to the playoffs and even more years without winning games in the playoffs. They might have a good season here and there but there needs to be more consistent winning. They need to build a team that is a serious contender.

Big decisions are now on the table for ownership

Chairman of the Board George McCaskey has some big decisions to make this offseason. CEO and team President Ted Phillips has done a great job with the financial part of the team, but he has no idea of what are or are not good football decisions.

General manager Ryan Pace is left to make the decisions on his own. As long as he can present it as financially feasible, Phillips will rubber-stamp it. He did the same with Phil Emery, Jerry Angelo, and all the previous general managers who also failed.

There are reports that Phillips could retire this offseason to avoid getting fired. That makes McCaskey’s job of hiring a football guy easier.

Before the game, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Bears were unlikely to bring Trubisky back.

Waiting for Trubisky to fulfill the promise the Bears had for him has the team stuck. They cannot get better until he does, and waiting for him wastes the good pieces (like the defense) the team does have. He shows flashes at times, then reverts back to the struggling quarterback he’s been most of his time in Chicago.

At some time, the team needs to say “enough is enough” and cut ties. The team cannot continue to think the flashes he shows are enough to keep him. He had a four-game stretch in which he performed well, but it was against some very bad defenses. When he played better defenses in Week 17 and the playoffs, he couldn’t move the offense.

This time the offensive line cannot take the blame. Against the bad defenses and against the better defenses down the stretch, the line did a good job of protecting Trubisky. He had a clean pocket for the most part, and the line allowed just one sack each against the Green Bay Packers and the Saints.

Despite that, we saw Trubisky make bad decisions and show horrible mechanics when making throws. The decision to let Trubisky walk should be an easy one.

If that decision is indeed made, then the man who drafted him should be gone as well. Pace basically put his job on the line for Trubisky and his failure is Pace’s failure. Additionally, signing Mike Glennon and trading a fourth-round pick for Nick Foles, as well as Chase Daniel, shows that he shouldn’t be trusted to make an attempt at bringing in another franchise quarterback.

The roster could be very different next season

Trubisky isn’t the only player who might have seen his last snap in Chicago. Wide receiver Allen Robinson will be a free agent and likely doesn’t return. He’s still hurting that the Bears cut contract talks early in the season. Recently, the Bears have done a good job of rewarding their players with new contracts entering their final season of the previous deal.

Robinson, with 1,901 yards in the two seasons before this one, certainly showed he deserved a new contract. He’s been the most targeted (by a lot) and most dependable receiver on the roster.

In his three seasons with the Bears, he was targeted 23.4 percent of the time. In each of the three seasons, the second-highest targeted player was different. Combined, they received 17.3 percent of the targets. Rookie Darnell Mooney had a good first season, but do we want him to take over as the top receiver next season?

Many still feel there is a chance Robinson re-signs with the Bears but Robinson’s words feel like the Bears missed that opportunity. Speaking to reporters, Robinson spoke on entering the offseason without a new contract. While he said everything was on the table, this is what he also said about negotiations.

That doesn’t sound promising. The Bears still have the franchise tag but that would only make things worse. Yes, he’ll likely take it but it will just about guarantee that he’ll bolt after that.

Tight end Jimmy Graham is also one who could exit. The Bears received a lot of grief for the signing, but he had a good season. In the regular season and in the playoffs, he combined for nine touchdown catches. The entire tight ends unit caught just two touchdown passes all of 2019.

Graham had a good season but he’s at the end of his career and the Bears have Cole Kmet ready to take over. In addition, the team gets a salary cap relief of $7 million by letting him go.

Anthony Miller has given the coaching staff and fans a lot of frustration after his good rookie season. Everyone keeps waiting for a breakout season but he continually disappears for stretches. Mooney took over as the second target behind Robinson this season.

The final straw might have been his ejection from this game. He got into a verbal altercation with safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Miller then punched Gardner-Johnson, earning his ejection.

Gardner-Johnson also got into it with Wims in the previous matchup in the regular season and the coaches spoke to the team about him. The man gets people so irritated that he reportedly even had his own teammate, Michael Thomas, punch him.

The talk didn’t work with Miller and, after not having Mooney in the game because of an ankle injury, the offense was down a second receiver. That probably won’t sit well with the team. The team could cut him and save about $1.2 million in cap space.

We could be seeing a completely different Chicago Bears team in 2021. Hopefully, the steps taken put the franchise back on track to becoming a true contender.