The Bears Formula
This post is for my fellow angry Bears fans out there.
I’ve allowed myself a cooling off period following the absolutely woeful performance by yet another Bears’ offense in Sunday’s playoff loss to New Orleans. Presently I’m somewhere between frustration and disgust. The Saints were favored. Make no mistake about that. I had no delusion about the state of the Bears either. So I can’t be angry. Anger would have been thinking they had an actual chance, and I couldn’t make myself go that far. However, like any other fan when you sit down for the opening kick off with your favorite beverage you have hope that today will be different. Today might be an upset that’ll surprise you.
There were no surprises.
The Bears defense was strong keeping the offense in the game. In fact they were beyond strong holding the Saints to a 4 point lead at the half (7-3). How many years have we watched the Bears’ defense stay on the field for far longer they they should have? 2:1 time possession? 3:1? Only to eventually fade in the second half, and even then still holding the Saints offense to 21. Yes, no surprises there.
None on the offense side of the ball either. When Javon Wims let the ball go through his arms as if he were a ghost for a sure touchdown pass part of every Bears fan died. On a spectacular play at that. Looking back you can say it was the defining moment. For fans it was a gut punch. For the team it marked the moment they quit. Yes, quit. Maybe not on the part of the players, but definitely from the coaching staff and Nagy himself. It spooked them. From that moment on how many passes over 10 yards did you see (not counting that final drive for garbage points that ended the game)? From that point on it was buck the middle of the line and just try and play for 3 yards at a time (if you’re lucky). 21 points in 2021 should not be enough to win football games unless there is sleet, rain, and a gale sweeping in off Lake Michigan — and this game was played in the Super Dome. This game affirmed my notions in my previous post, The Cooper Effect. For all the reasons the Bears lose to the Packers is why they lost to the Saints. Strong defense. Inept on offense. Hope to get some turn overs and score on defense and special teams. It is the quintessentially The Bears Formula that has been around far longer than Nagy, but he has done nothing to deviate from it. If anything he has kicked the can a little further down the road, and by that point has marked a substantial regression from his initial season of 12-4. Please don’t tell me Nagy was the 2018 NFL Coach of the Year. I know that. Know matter how nice the personal achievement — it was supposed to be the beginning of a midway turnaround; not the end of the journey.
By comparison the Buffalo Bills never fully recovered from the Music City Miracle game. That game was the start of a downward spiral that turned into a 17 season playoff drought. While it is true the Bears backed into the 2020 playoffs at 8-8 there is little indication of them turning this around next season. The team, or maybe more accurately the coaches, have not fully recovered from double-doink — it is their Music City moment. In fact there’s a better argument to be made with the never ending questions regarding the offense, what to do with Mitchell Trubisky, etc., that they could very well be a 3 or 5 win team in 2021. Unless there is a committed urgency to address The Cooper Effect there are far fewer wins for the Bears moving forward. It didn’t matter if the Bears lost to the Saints or Packers yesterday. The problems are the problems. Unless these are addressed by Halas Hall 8-8 might become the good old days real fast.