The
Chicago Bears' season effectively ended in Week 10 when they flopped at home against the Brett Hundley led Green Bay Packers, losing 23-16 in an inexcusable fashion at Soldier Field. That loss shattered any good will the team garnered prior to the bye week, and all but
guaranteed that John Fox and the rest of the coaching staff will be fired on New Year's Day.
Since that (dooms)day, Bears fans have been clamoring for the team to lose out and ensure that they secure a higher draft pick. And after the Bears dominated the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium yesterday, it's amazing how many fans resented that win. If you scour Twitter, you'll see.
Here's the deal: While the coaching staff is on its way out, a large part of the Bears' future core is already on the roster. They need to learn how to win, and actually experience obtaining those wins, so that they can build on that success going into next year.
You might ask, "why".
Well, here's a list of guys that are locks, or virtual locks, to be here next season: Mitch Trubisky, Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Adam Shaheen, Dion Sims, Kevin White, Charles Leno, Kyle Long, Cody Whitehair, Jordan Morgan, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Jonathan Bullard, Roy Robertson-Harris, Leonard Floyd, Danny Trevathan, Nick Kwiatkoski, Eddie Jackson, Adrian Amos, and Pat O'Donnell.
That list doesn't even include guys who will likely be back or whom the Bears may want to bring back, pending free agency or roster cuts: Cameron Meredith, Dontrelle Inman, Kendall Wright, Christian Jones, Kyle Fuller, and Prince Amukamara. I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few.
That's a potential list of at least 25 players. So that means roughly 50% of the roster will be here when the new coaching staff arrives and the Bears are expected to take the next step and contend. That also means that roughly 50% of the roster will be counted on to contribute and lead the Bears to victory next season.
Remember, the Bears have played 13 games so far in 2017. They've won four, and lost nine. Two of their wins came in overtime, and six of their losses occurred on a final drive of some sort. Sure, there were many plays throughout each game that contributed to putting the Bears in spots where they needed a score or a stop late to win the game. And guess what? Most of the time they failed.
What's going to help them get over that hump? Tanking for a few spots of draft positioning? Or learning what it takes to win those games consistently and then actually going out and winning them?
Look, nobody's development is more crucial to next season's success than Mitch Trubisky's. On Sunday, Trubisky made tremendous strides and displayed very good command of the offense. He was confident and decisive with his throws. He made the right reads and decisions. He was accurate. In all, he was great.
Said Trubisky after the game, "I just feel confident I'm getting better each week. Yes, it's from the play, but feedback from my teammates. I can tell they're confident in me ... and I know how to prepare."
He certainly has gotten better each week, but the Bears' killer losses were adding up and taking a toll on the team. Before the bye, they lost a frustrating game in New Orleans. Then after the bye, the Brett Hundley Game happened. Then Connor Barth shanked a game-tying field goal try as time expired against Detroit at Soldier Field. Then Chicago got blasted out of Philadelphia. Then they lost a face-palming, idiotic game to San Francisco at home in Robbie Gould's Revenge Game.
Talk about a brutal stretch for a rookie quarterback to endure.
WGN Radio Bears beat reporter Adam Hoge wrote this about Trubisky's progress in his post-game column following the Bears' demolition of the Bengals:
... those traits have been evident throughout Trubisky’s nine NFL starts. But they’ve also come with a fair share of rookie moments on what was a 3-9 football team. Praise and potential only carry so much weight when you aren’t winning football games.
Here we come back to the key point: Winning football games is the bottom line.
For those of you that think draft positioning matters more than anything else, my question is, why?
In 2015, Ryan Pace held the seventh overall pick and took Kevin White. The poor guy hasn't been able to stay on the field since then, and looks to be on his way out after next season. Meanwhile, Vic Beasley was taken the pick after White. Marcus Peters was found at 18th overall. Landon Collins was taken at 33rd overall. Tyler Lockett was taken 69th overall.
In 2016, Pace traded up to ninth overall to grab Leonard Floyd. Floyd has been an impact defender when on the field, but he too has suffered his share of injuries. I like Floyd a lot, but keep in mind, William Jackson III was taken 24th overall. Hunter Henry went 35th. So strong talent is available even for teams that don't tank the way many fans want them to.
And that's the thing: Scouting and player evaluation means a hell of a lot more than draft positioning does. Yes, picking higher, in theory, gives you a better *chance* to get a franchise-altering talent. But the draft is a complete and utter crapshoot. Every draft pick, first round or sixth round, is a calculated bet. Sometimes bets work, but often times they don't. And the thing is, you don't know if you won that bet until years later.
Promise is great, but as Hoge mentions, that promise has to eventually lead to wins. That's the end goal. And learning how to translate that promise and effort into wins becomes paramount for the large number of players on this current Bears team that will be part of the future. They got off to a good start with their destruction of the Bengals on Sunday. Building on that means a ton more to this team going forward than hearing Roger Goodell call the Bears' pick a few minutes sooner in 2018.
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