Don't Underestimate the Fallout of a Chicago Bears Loss to Cleveland

Sure John Fox is gone. Everybody can pretty much guess that. The guy is 13-33 with two games left in his third season. Too many times he's mismanaged games for one reason or another. There's no denying he finds a way to get his team to play hard, but too often they don't play smart and that's been his downfall with the Chicago Bears. So here things stand. They are 4-10, out of the playoffs for the seventh-straight season and hurtling towards a great unknown. All fans have to cling to at this point is the prospects of an exciting young roster led by quarterback Mitch Trubisky and a developing defense. The man who built this foundation, GM Ryan Pace, appears to have the green light to go after another coach. The problem is he isn't in the clear yet either. Most would like to pass off the final two games as meaningless. That's certainly true from a postseason standpoint. However, people cannot overlook this upcoming matchup with the Browns. More may be riding on it than people realize.

Chicago Bears failures fall at feet of Ryan Pace too

To this point it's fair to say Pace has done his job fairly well for the Bears. He's drafted good players, especially over the past two years. Sure he's made some mistakes but it's clear he's grown. At the same time there is an inescapable reality to this situation. The Bears are still 13-33. He's the general manager. That record is as much his to bear as it is Fox's. He drafted Kevin White. He signed Mike Glennon and Markus Wheaton. Pace may have the edge over Fox for safety, but the margin is not as wide as people think. So try to imagine what happens if this Bears team falls to the 0-14 Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field. Just think about it. Falling to a team that has one victory since the start of the 2016 season. The humiliation would know no bounds, and everybody knows the Bears ownership doesn't like being humiliated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWRfgHc9lFg Don't forget the last time George McCaskey made a significant change to his team, he fired both the head coach and the GM. He may have promised to be patient when Pace took over, but enduring the most difficult stretch arguably in Bears history might be just too much. Suffice to say Pace better hope Trubisky can deliver on his declaration they won't be the team that falls to Cleveland.