Michael Lombardi – Why the Chicago Bears keep sinking:

When the anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald arrives, many of my NFL friends text one another to say the real season has started. It’s a tradition. Every November 10th is the date we all believe the new season begins for some teams and ends for others. If a team isn’t playing well when the church bells ring twenty-nine times, their season’s end is a formality. Teams that are stalling and having a tough go fit into the famous line from the Gordan Lightfoot version of the song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. “When the old cook comes on deck saying, fellas, it’s been good to know you.” Which brings us to the Chicago Bears.

This morning, we learned that Shane Waldron won’t be running the Chicago Bears’ offense any longer. Thomas Brown will now be captaining the Bears’ ship. The Bears are sinking, and they needed to make a move. It’s kind of fitting they are in the sinking category as they reside near a Great Lake. (It was a Great Lake that took down the Fitzgerald.)  The Bears are nowhere near White Fish Bay (another line in the song), and everyone is blaming head coach Matt Eberflus for their struggles. We already know Waldron was thrown overboard, so we cannot blame him any longer.  The Bears’ Over win total was heavily bet this offseason, as everyone expected them to rise and do what the Commanders have done. All Bears fans believe they should be the talk of the league, not Washington. The difference between the two is not as simple as Jayden Daniels playing better than Caleb Williams. Yes, that’s true, but the issues are deeper and run from the front office to the field. 

 

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All offseason, the Bears behaved like a kid in his basement playing Madden. They stocked up on skill players as if they were competing in a 7-on-7 league, ignoring that they play in Chicago, which requires toughness, a ground game, and an offensive line to compete with Minnesota, Green Bay, and most of all, Detroit.  General manager Ryan Poles gave away rich contracts to DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, investing over 40 million combined in both players. So far, they have averaged under 10 yards a catch combined on their 66 catches and scored five touchdowns.

Then, he tripled down and used his second top-ten pick on Rome Odunze to give the offense more firepower.  He signed tight end Cole Kmet to a new deal, added backup tight end Gerald Everett, and came out swinging on the first day of free agency, signing running back D’Andre Swift. His only move for the offensive line was signing guard Nate Davis, who has since been benched and traded for Ryan Bates. What looked like an explosive offseason on offense hasn’t occurred as the Bears have now gone 23 possessions without scoring a touchdown, their longest streak since Mitchell Trubisky was under center as a rookie. 

For a team that had visions of never punting, they rank 26th in punts per play, 31st in yards per play, and 32nd in plays over ten yards. So much for explosiveness. With all disasters, there needs to be an understanding of why they have failed. Unlike determining the cause of the Fitzgerald sinking, we can determine why the Bears offense is at the bottom of the NFL. The blame lies in all three areas of their team: coaching, players and scheme, yet the biggest blame lies with Poles believing his offensive line was good enough. 

For any rookie quarterback to not feel protected makes the development harder.  To not have a power run game in Chicago is a crime. Poles has to understand he needs to gain control of the game, run the ball with power, and most of all, build a team with mental and physical toughness. The Bears have no toughness in their offense, which must drive Brown crazy. They are the 31st team in converting third or fourth and one in games, a clear indication of no power or physicality. Add in the fact they are the worst team in the NFL in gaining yards when they enter the red zone, a place where toughness and physicality must shine. Brown putting in new plays isn’t going to change the way the Bears play up front. There is no time for padded practice, no time to work on fundamentals, and the development of these traits must occur during training camp and September. 

Changing coaches doesn’t change the personality of an offense. The Bears have tough players. They just don’t play with grit and toughness, which can only be developed in the summer. The move to Brown was made to save Caleb Williams, which was the same move the Panthers made last year when they went from Frank Reich to Thomas Brown to save Bryce Young. That didn’t work, in part, because it’s hard to change an offense in midstream. Do you think Jeff Hafley is worried about this change as he prepares his Packers defense for their game?  The answer is no.  The Bears are who they are—and because of their lack of line play, they cannot reroute their direction. 

Poles should have invested in hiring the right offensive coach. He should have set up the team to be more Midwest-friendly, with more toughness matching the style of their fan base.  Now, the Chicago Bears are grasping for straws, and unless it changes dramatically, there will be more changes coming.  And then the church bells might be ringing.

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