Safe to say after going 3-13 and only making five picks in the draft, people aren't too confident in the Chicago Bears 2017 record being anything special. The general feeling is they're locked in the middle of a massive rebuild and are probably still 2-3 years away from becoming a legitimate playoff contender again. That may not be what fans want to hear but it's the reality of the moment.
Until the team actually proves it can start winning football games, that perception won't change. However, it seems some people think the Bears will end up being even worse this year than they were last season. Count Jonathan Jones of Sports Illustrated among them. He didn't pull any punches in his predictions for all 32 teams, believing Chicago will battle the Cleveland Browns for rights to the #1 overall pick next year.
How bad will it be?
Projected Bears 2017 record: 2–14
"Neither Mike Glennon nor Mitchell Trubisky nor an Alshon Jeffrey–less receiving corps will strike fear in anyone, and opponents won’t be afraid of throwing against the Bears when they have the ball. Chicago has finished in last place in the NFC North three years running, and it will probably be four in John Fox’s third year as coach. They have the misfortune of opening against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Green Bay."Ouch. Now listen. Nothing against Jones but this feels like a lazy prediction to be honest. A huge reason why the Bears were so bad in 2016 was a ludicrous amount of injuries to key players. In all a total of 21 names ended the year on injured reserve. It's really difficult to win football games when that happens. As to the Alshon Jeffery point, sure it's a loss but they were 2-10 in games he played last season and 1-3 without. It's not like his presence was making a huge difference anyway. Also their secondary is significantly improved on paper than it was last year. Quintin Demps, Eddie Jackson, Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper all represent upgrades at both safety and cornerback. It's not a star-studded cast by any means. Then again the Bears had the seventh ranked pass defense last season with what they had. So there's that. Truth is the Bears won't be good in 2017. They won't be that bad though. Despite their forward-thinking draft moves this year, it's still an improved roster. Presuming better health and decent contributions from new additions they should have a better record than last season.
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